Knots on a Counting Rope

WATCH ME ON THE WING

Sweeper: the deeper I can play
the faster I can lay
out my traps for their fullback
moving too close to mid field.
I shine along the sidelines
from mid field
back to our goal.

I am the quickest,
sharpest,
most intelligent,
(and
most modest,) player on
my
team:
in this league.

I have the
superspeed:
I have the need to do a little
more
than play only one position. I
defend. I score. I run lik
wind
across the maïs fields of
this
town.
I am a brown tornado on a
muddy
day.
The opposition knows
I come to play with
all I bring. They
watch:

watch me on the wing.


SWEET

You are at the line. u take a deep breath....

In Ms. Frizzle’s class, we had been learning about animals’ homes for almost a month. We were pretty tired of it.
So everyone was happy when Ms. Frizzle announced, “Today we start something new.”

"We are going to study about our earth!" zei Ms. Frizzle. She put us to work writing reports about earth science.
“And for homework,” she said, “each person must find a rock and bring it to school."

But the volgende day, almost everyone had some excuse.

Only four people had done their homework. And Phil was the only one who had found a real rock.

“I guess we’ll have to go on a field trip and...

Lolly, spin and Sam had a picnic on the beach.
“I’m as full as a tick,” zei Lolly.
“Me too,” zei Sam.
“Hot dogs and limonade always hit the spot.”

“Now for a swim,” zei Spider.
“Oh, no,” zei Lolly.
“Not so soon after lunch.”
“Rats,” zei Spider.

“How about a nap?” asked Sam.
“Oh, no,” zei the others.
“Naps are no fun at all.”
“Very true,” zei Sam.

“Want to hear a story?” asked Lolly.
“I brought along my reader.”
“A fine idea,” zei her friends.
“Then let’s begin,” zei Lolly.

LOLLY’S STORY

The rat saw the cat and the dog.
“I see them,”...

Hermit krab was forever growing too big for the house on his back.

It was time to find a new house. He crawled up out of the water looking for something to hide in, where he would be veilig from the pricklepine fish.
He stepped along the shore, door the sea, in the sand...
scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch

...until he came to a rock.
Is this a house for Hermit Crab?
Turning himself around, Hermit krab backed his hind legs beneath the rock. The rock would not budge. It was too heavy.
So he stepped along the shore, door the sea, in the sand...
scritch-scratch, scritch-scratch

...until he came to a rusty old...

When Ludlow was born, everyone immediately noticed this shape:



It wasn’t a cute little dimple.
It wasn’t an adorable nose.


And as the rest of him grew and developed and changed
IT DIDN’T.
It only opened for food, an occasional Burp! and plenty of grumbling.


Ludlow worked in a complaint department.


At the end of the day, he felt grumpier than ever.
Night after night he came home, grumbling and growling, and went to bed,
But one night something happened.


Ludlow had a dream.
Not just any dream—THE FUNNIEST DREAM IN THE WORLD!!!
(Ludlow: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!)
He giggled. He guffawed....

This morning I asked Mom, “Why can’t I have a dog?”
“Not now,” she said. “Not again.”
And not to bother her when she’s busy.

So I asked Daddy, “Why can’t I have a dog? Last jaar u zei I could have one when I was bigger. And I’m a lot bigger, see? So why not now?”

“Because of tight times,” zei Daddy. He zei I was too little to understand.
“I’m not too little,” I said.
Daddy zei he’d give me a shoulder ride and tell me all about it at breakfast.

He zei tight times are when everything keeps going up.
I had a balloon that did that once.
Daddy zei tight times are...

This is Arthur before he got glasses.
He looked fine, but he couldn’t see very well.
Sometimes he got headaches.

Arthur had to hold his book so close that his nose got in the way.
He couldn’t see the board.
Francine had to read Arthur the problems.
“Are u blind?” she always asked.
Francine got every problem right.
Arthur didn’t.

No one wanted to play with Arthur.

Arthur’s father and mother took him to the optometrist.
Dr. Iris tested Arthur’s eyes.
“You need glasses,” zei Dr. Iris.

Arthur tried on all kinds of frames.
He chose the ones he liked best.
“You look very handsome in your...

One Friday Miss Nelson told her class that she was going to have her tonsils out.
“I’ll be away volgende week,” she said. “And I expect u to behave.”
“Yess, Miss Nelson,” zei the kids in 207.

But at recess it was another story.
“Wow!” zei the kids. “While Miss Nelson is away, we can really act up!”
“Not so fast!” zei a big kid from 309. “Haven’t u heard of Viola Swamp?”
“Who?” zei Miss Nelson’s kids.

“Miss Swamp is the meanest substitute teacher in the whole world,” zei the big kid. “Nobody acts up when she’s around.”
“Oooh,” zei Miss Nelson’s...

In a warm and sultry forest far, far away, there once lived a mother fruit bat and her new baby.
Oh, how Mother Bat loved her soft tiny baby. “I’ll name u Stellaluna,” she crooned.
Each night, Mother Bat would carry Stellaluna clutched to her breast as she flew out to zoek for food.

One night, as Mother Bat followed the heavy scent of ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats.
Dodging and shrieking, Mother Bat tried to escape, but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna into the air. Her baby wings were as limp and useless as...

Owen had a fuzzy yellow blanket.
He’d had it since he was a baby.
He loved it with all his heart.

“Fuzzy goes where I go,” zei Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Upstairs, downstairs, in-between.
Inside, outside, upside down.

“Fuzzy likes what I like,” zei Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Orange juice, druif juice, chocolate milk.
Ice cream, pinda butter, applesauce cake.

“Isn’t he getting a little old to be carrying that thing around?” asked Mrs. Tweezers. “Haven’t u heard of the Blanket Fairy?”
Owen’s parents hadn’t.
Mrs. Tweezers filled them in.

That night Owen’s parents told Owen to put Fuzzy...

Zum. Zum buzzz. Zum. Zum. Buzz. Berlioz had been practicing for weeks, and now just when the orchestra was going to play in the village square for a gala ball, a strange buzz was coming from his double bass.
“Why now?” Berlioz zei to himself.

The musicians arrived with their instruments. As Berlioz watched them climb aboard the bandwagon, all he could think about was his double bass. What if his bas, bass buzzed during the ball? What if the dancers stopped dancing and laughed at him?
Zum, zum, buzz. Zum, zum, buzz, he imagined.

Berlioz picked up the reins and clucked to the mule. Off they went...

Abbie looked out the lighthouse window. Waves washed up on the rocks below. Out at sea, a ship sailed safely by.

“Will u sail to town today, Papa?” Abbie asked.
“Yes,” Captain Burgess answered. “Mama needs medicine. The lights need oil. We need food. The weather is good now. So it’s veilig to go out in Puffin.”
“But what if u don’t get back today?” asked Abbie. “Who will take care of the lights?”
Papa smiled. “You will, Abbie.”
“Oh, no, Papa!” zei Abbie. “I have never done it alone.”

“You have trimmed the wicks before,” zei Papa. “You have cleaned the...

(Helen's mother: "I hope that soep is gone when I come back in there!")

The dag Helen gave Martha dog her alphabet soup,


something unusual happened.
The letters in the soep went up to Martha’s brain instead of down to her stomach.

That evening, Martha spoke.
(Martha: Isn’t it time for my dinner?)


Martha’s family had many vragen to ask her. Of course, she had a lot to tell them!
(Helen: Have u always understood what we were saying?)
(Martha: u bet! Do u want to know Benjie is really saying?)
(Helen’s father: Why don’t u came when we call?)
(Martha: u people are so bossy. Come! Sit!...

Tanya sat restlessly on her chair door the keuken-, keuken window. For several days she had to stay in bed with a cold. But now Tanya's cold was almost gone. She was anxious to go outside and enjoy the fresh air and the arrival of spring.
"Mama, when can I go outside?" asked Tanya. Mama pulled the tray of biscuits from the oven and placed it on the counter.
"In time," she murmured. "All in good time."
Tanya gazed through the window and saw her two brothers, Ted and Jim, and Papa building the new backyard fence.
"I'm gonna talk to Grandma," she said.

Grandma was sitting in her favoriete spot—the big soft...

Once there was a farmer who lived in Mexico. He lived in a little village, in a house which had only one room.

The farmer was not happy.
“Nothing ever happens,” he said.
The people in the village thought the farmer was foolish.
“We have everything we need,” they said.

“We have a school, and a market,

and a church with an old klok, bell that rings on Sundays. Our village is the best there is.”
“But nothing ever happens,” zei the farmer.

Every morning, when the farmer woke up, the first thing he saw was the roof of his little house.
Every morning for breakfast he ate two flat cakes of ground...