Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Horrible Sounds

  Mr. Cardini Takes Over

  Harry Stays After School

  The Horrible Christmas Gift

  Holiday spirit was in the air ... and on the floor!

  Miss Mackle turned the page and rocked in her chair.

  Krikkity krikk.

  Krikkity krekk.

  “... not a creature was stirring, not even a—aaaaaaaugh!”

  Suddenly the creaky chair tipped all the way back and the bottom fell through!

  Miss Mackle landed on the floor with a THUD! and KABOOM!

  “MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!” she shouted.

  There was our teacher, sitting on the floor, on broken pieces of wood!

  BOOKS ABOUT HORRIBLE HARRY AND SONG LEE

  Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion

  Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise

  Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom

  Horrible Harry and the Dungeon

  Horrible Harry and the Green Slime

  Horrible Harry and the Holidaze

  Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding

  Horrible Harry and the Mud Gremlins

  Horrible Harry and the Purple People

  Horrible Harry Goes to the Moon

  Horrible Harry Goes to Sea

  Horrible Harry at Halloween

  Horrible Harry in Room 2B

  Horrible Harry Moves Up to Third Grade

  Horrible Harry’s Secret

  Song Lee and the Hamster Hunt

  Song Lee and the “I Hate You” Notes

  Song Lee and the Leech Man

  Song Lee in Room 2B

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

  Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England

  Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

  Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2

  Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

  First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,

  a division of Penguin Books USA Inc., 1991

  Published in Puffin Books, 1993

  Reissued 1998

  Text copyright © Suzy Nine, 1991

  Illustrations copyright © Frank Remkiewicz, 1991

  All rights reserved

  THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE PREVIOUS PUFFIN EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

  Kline, Suzy.

  Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise / by Suzy Kline;

  pictures by Frank Remkiewicz. p. cm.

  “First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,

  a division of Penguin Books USA Inc., 1991”—T.p. verso.

  Summary: When their teacher ends up in the hospital, the members of

  class 2B find a way to include her in their holiday celebration.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-07680-4

  [1. Schools—Fiction. 2. Christmas—Fiction.]

  I. Remkiewicz, Frank, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.K6797Hnj 1993

  [Fic]-dc20 93-15137 CIP AC

  RL: 2.4

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  Horrible Sounds

  Krikkity krikk.

  Krikkity krekk.

  The teacher rocked back and forth in her old reading chair.

  Harry leaned on his elbow and made a wide smile. I could see his pink gums where his two front teeth used to be. “Don’t you love that sound, Doug?”

  Krikkity krikk.

  Krikkity krekk.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. But Harry would. He loves things like that... slimy things, creepy things, hairy things, and horrible sounds. I know. I sit next to him in Room 2B. Harry’s my best friend. Even his cat’s name has a horrible sound—Googer. Sometimes he just calls him “The Goog,” which sounds kind of scary.

  Suddenly a fire truck zoomed by South School sounding its siren.

  DEE doo, DEE doo, DEE doo.

  Harry jumped out of his seat and ran to the window. “Look! There it goes, speeding in the snow!”

  “Harry!” Miss Mackle called. “Sit down.”

  DEE doo, DEE doo, DEE doo.

  Harry watched the fire truck zoom up and over the hill. Then he sat down, folded his hands, and gave the teacher a gummy smile.

  “I think we’re ready now for a story,” Miss Mackle said. “It’s a very special story because it’s been read over and over for 168 years!”

  Sidney threw his hands in the air. “Why read it if everyone’s read it so much?”

  “Because it’s so good, Sidney.”

  “If I’ve heard it, I don’t want to hear it again,” he said, plugging his ears.

  “READ THE STORY!” the rest of us shouted.

  Miss Mackle rocked in her chair as she opened her big, heavy storybook and turned to the right page.

  “’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house ...”

  “I love that story,” Mary exclaimed.

  “Me, too!” Sidney said, taking his fingers out of his ears.

  While everyone was clapping and cheering, Ida said, “Miss Mackle, you look pretty today in your green dress and green sparkly earrings.”

  Miss Mackle whispered “thank you” as she turned the page and rocked in her chair.

  Krikkity krikk.

  Krikkity krekk.

  “... not a creature was stirring, not even a-aaaaaaaugh!”

  Suddenly the creaky chair tipped all the way back and the bottom fell through!

  Miss Mackle landed on the floor with a THUD! and KABOOM!

  “MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!” she shouted.

  There was our teacher, sitting on the floor, on broken pieces of wood!

  The big heavy storybook went flying in the air! It knocked the globe off its stand, and sent the world bouncing into the hallway.

  THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

  One of Miss Mackle’s green sparkly earrings took a nosedive into the fish tank.

  BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

  Three guppies took a quick look and then swam away fast!

  Everyone got out of their seats and rushed to the teacher. We stood there in a circle with our mouths open.

  “Are you okay?” we all asked.

  Miss Mackle started to giggle. “Well, I’m glad I fell gracefully. I could be standing on my head.”

  While the rest of the class was laughing, I covered my eyes. I didn’t want to picture the teacher standing on her head!

  After we helped her get up, we took the wood pieces and dropped them in the big wastepaper basket.

  CLUNK, BONG, THUNK!

  “That was a dumb old rocker!” Sidney said, slapping his hands clean.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Harry replied. “I liked that krikkity old chair.”

  “You just like horrible things!” Sidney replied.

  “You are just off your rocker!” Harry said, holding up a fist.

  “Now! Now!” Miss Mackle said, limping back to her desk chair. “Christmas is only four days away. It’s time for peace and goodwill.”

  Just then the principal showed up at the door. “Anybody in here need a world?” he asked, holding up the globe.

  “We do!” Miss Mackle exclaimed. Everyone laughed as the principal returned the world to the globe stand.

  “Miss Mackle, are you going to finish the story?” Mary asked.

  “What story
is Miss Mackle reading?” Mr. Cardini asked.

  “The Night Before Christmas,” Mary replied. “It’s 168 years old.”

  “That old, huh? Well, I haven’t heard it yet this year! May I join you?” he said, pulling up a little blue chair from the library table.

  “What do you think, class?” Miss Mackle asked.

  “YEAAAAAASSSSSS!”

  Miss Mackle opened her big heavy storybook and turned to the right page. “Why doesn’t everyone help me read the story this time!”

  Everyone sat up and waited for their cue.

  “’Twas the night before ...”

  “Christmas!” we called out.

  “And all through the ...”

  “House,” Mr. Cardini boomed.

  “Not a creature was ...”

  “Stirring,” we replied. Harry made monster hands.

  “Not even a ...”

  “Mouse!” Mr. Cardini twisted his moustache and squeaked.

  Song Lee giggled.

  Sidney laughed so hard he was snorting like a pig.

  Room 2B is full of sounds. Some of them are horrible, and some of them are fun.

  Mr. Cardini Takes Over

  When Harry and I got to the classroom the next morning, Miss Mackle wasn’t at her desk.

  “Where is she?” we asked.

  Mary looked at the fish tank. “She’s not putting in a new filter.”

  Ida looked at the science table. “She’s not making sugar water for the ant monitor.”

  Song Lee looked at the plant corner. “She’s not putting a bug in the terrarium for the Venus’s-flytrap.”

  Harry looked at the drama corner. “She’s not trying on her Mother Goose costume for our Christmas skit.”

  “She’s not changing the clothespins on our monitor chart,” Sidney said.

  “WHERE IS MISS MACKLE?” the class asked.

  I held up a finger. “I’ll go down the hall and see if she’s still having coffee with the teachers in the teachers’ room. The late bell hasn’t rung yet.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Harry said.

  As we walked down the hall, we saw the first-graders and kindergartners hanging up their winter jackets, and putting their caps and mittens carefully in their jacket sleeves.

  The kindergarten teacher was standing by the door with her hands behind her back. “Hello, Harry and Doug. We’re looking forward to your skit this afternoon, ‘Merry Christmas from Mother Goose.’ ”

  Harry and I smiled at Mrs. Chan. We had her in kindergarten.

  “What happened to your teeth, Harry?” she asked.

  Harry showed off his pink gums. “I rammed into a wall.”

  Mrs. Chan took a closer look. “Hmmmmm. I also see some new ones coming in!”

  Harry nodded. He was happy about that. “Did you see Miss Mackle?” he asked.

  “No, I didn’t. I’ve been mixing fingerpaint all morning.” Then she wiggled her red gooey hands at us! “We’re painting Santa Clauses today!”

  Harry and I took a big step back. “Let’s get out of here!” I said.

  When we got to the teachers’ room, we knocked.

  Mrs. Michaelsen, the librarian, opened the door. We could smell coffee and something buttery. “Good morning, boys,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

  Harry drooled when he saw the tray of frosted Christmas cookies on the table. I liked the big computer printout that hung from the lights. MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANUKKAH! JOY TO ALL!

  “We’re looking for Miss Mackle,” I said.

  “She’s usually in her room by now. Go back and check. Maybe her car stalled. It was 15 degrees this morning!”

  We rushed back down the hall and into the classroom just as the final bell rang.

  Mr. Cardini was standing in front of the class. He was not smiling. Harry and I wondered if we were in trouble. Quickly, we rushed to our seats.

  “Boys and girls,” he said. “I have some bad news.”

  Room 2B was pin-quiet.

  “Miss Mackle went to the emergency room early this morning about her knee. Remember how she fell yesterday?”

  Everyone nodded their head slowly.

  “She thought she would just get it checked and then limp back to class. She didn’t want to miss all the special activities you had planned.

  “Well, when the doctor had her knee X-rayed, he discovered she had torn a ligament. She’s going to need special surgery and was just admitted to the hospital. She called me as soon as she could.”

  Everyone groaned, “The hospital!”

  I noticed Harry wiped his eyes with his sweater sleeve. I think he was trying not to cry. “When will she be back?” he asked.

  “After Christmas vacation, Harry. And then, she’ll be teaching in a wheelchair for a while.”

  “Oh ...” Sidney grumbled, “we won’t be able to do our Christmas skit.”

  Harry leaned over the aisle and put a fist next to Sidney’s nose. “Who cares about the skits? Our teacher is in the hospital!”

  “Wait a minute,” Mr. Cardini said. “Why can’t you still give your skits?”

  “We don’t have a teacher!” Mary complained.

  “Yes, you do.”

  “WHO?” we all asked.

  “Me.”

  “But you’re the principal!” I said.

  “Most principals were teachers before they became principals.”

  “They were?” Sidney made a face.

  “Yes. And sometimes when a principal can’t get a substitute at the last minute, he has to take over a teacher’s classroom.”

  Sidney pounded his fist on the desk. “We’re doomed,” he whispered. “We have Mr. Cardini for a teacher.”

  “No, we’re not!” I whispered back. “Remember when I put mousse on his head in my demonstration talk? He liked his hair spiked. Mr. Cardini is a cool guy.”

  “But who would play Miss Mackle’s part in our Christmas skit today?” Mary moaned.

  “I can!” Mr. Cardini said.

  We all laughed. Sidney snorted like a pig.

  “What’s so funny? What part do I have to play?”

  “MOTHER GOOSE!” we shouted.

  Mr. Cardini fiddled with his moustache. “I can do Mother Goose. Where’s her costume?”

  Mary ran to get it in the costume box in the drama corner. “Song Lee’s mother made it.”

  We all stared at the principal as he put the elastic skirt over his head, then the blouse with the big collar, and then the flowered apron.

  “Song Lee, come up and tie this for me, please.”

  Song Lee got out of her seat and made a nice bow. “You need the bonnet,” she said softly. And she went back to the costume box.

  When Mr. Cardini put the white bonnet on his head, we all laughed again!

  “I never knew Mother Goose had a moustache!” Sidney cackled.

  “Okay, boys and girls, the show will go on.”

  Everyone cheered except Harry. He had his head down on his desk.

  Mr. Cardini went over to him and patted his back. “Are you feeling horrible, Harry?”

  Harry nodded. He didn’t like this kind of horrible. “I don’t feel like being Georgie Porgie. Miss Mackle is in the hospital. I just want to be sad.”

  “Well, I know it would make your teacher sad if her accident kept you from doing your Mother Goose skits.”

  “It would?” Harry put his head up.

  “Yes. She would want you to give them as planned for the kindergarten and first-grade classes.”

  “Could we dedicate our performance to our teacher?” Harry said, wiping his eyes again with his sleeve.

  “I’ll let you make the announcement before the skit begins. Okay, Georgie Porgie?”

  Harry sat up and smiled. Then he lowered his thick eyebrows. I knew he had just gotten an idea. “Can we videotape it for Miss Mackle?”

  “That’s a great idea, Harry,” Mr. Cardini said. “Mrs. Michaelsen has a camera. Let’s ask her.”

 
“YIPPEE!” we cheered.

  After lunch everyone went to get their costumes. Harry put his thumbs in his ears and wiggled his fingers. “GIRLS BEWARE! Georgie Porgie is ready to get you!”

  Mary, Ida, and Song Lee put their hands over their eyes. Harry had the horrible part of trying to kiss the girls and make them cry.

  Mr. Cardini rolled his eyes. I think he was beginning to learn that there are two kinds of horrible.

  “AAAAAUUUGH!” Mary screamed.

  “HELP!” Ida shrieked.

  Harry was chasing Song Lee, Mary, and Ida around the room.

  “GEORGIE PORGIE IS TRYING TO KISS US!” the girls yelled.

  Harry Stays After School

  Tick tock.

  Tick tock.

  Harry sat with his hands folded on his desk while the classroom clock ticked loudly. It was 3:15. I was finishing my get-well card to Miss Mackle at the library table.

  “Are you about finished, Doug?” Mr. Cardini asked. “I want to take the letters and the videotape of our skit up to the hospital.”

  “I just need to color in my Indian’s headband. I gave him 15 feathers.”

  “You’re putting an Indian on Miss Mackle’s get-well card?”

  “Well, sometimes the Indians didn’t have a very good Christmas. It was cold and there wasn’t always enough food. I just thought it would make Miss Mackle feel better if she knew the Indians had hard times, too.”

  “Good thinking, Doug. There’s a saying for that—misery likes company.”

  Mr. Cardini got up from his desk, and walked over to Harry’s.

  It was pin-quiet again. The second hand on the clock seemed louder than usual.

  TICK TOCK.

  TICK TOCK.

  It wasn’t a happy sound.

  “You know why I am keeping you after school?”

  “I chased too many girls?”

  “Right. You overdid it, Harry. You started chasing girls at noon recess. The aides complained to me about it.”