Red, White, and Achoo! Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Chapter I

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Teaser chapter

  For Mandy and Ian, who make every day a

  celebration (or almostevery day, anyway!)—N.K.

  To a Little Girl, who doesn’t like sneezes.—J&W

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  Text copyright © 2010 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright © 2010 by John and Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009015678

  eISBN : 978-1-101-18451-6

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  Chapter I

  “Achoo!” Katie Carew sneezed as she picked up her ringing telephone. “Huddo?”

  “Hello,” the voice on the other end said. “And gesundheit.”

  “Dank you, Emma,” Katie said to her friend, Emma Weber. “How was school today?”

  “Just a regular day,” Emma told Katie. “Mr. Guthrie dressed up like President Teddy Roosevelt. He carried around a teddy bear.”

  Katie smiled. That didsound like a typical school day—at least in class 4A. Her teacher was always dressing up in funny costumes. Presidents’ Day was coming up soon. That’s why Mr. G. must have dressed up like President Roosevelt.

  “Mr. G. told us the teddy bear was named after Teddy Roosevelt,” Emma told Katie. “I had no idea.”

  Katie was about to say, “Me neither.” Instead she let out another sneeze.

  “Gesundheit again,” Emma said. “I guess your cold isn’t getting any better.”

  “It is, a little,” Katie told her. My mom says if I rest all weekend, I can probably go to school on Monday.”

  “That’s awesome!” Emma exclaimed. “School’s not as much fun without you.”

  “Danks,” Katie said. She blew her stuffy nose. “Do we have any homework?”

  “No,” Emma told her. “Next week we’ll be researching stuff for our Presidents’ Day learning adventure.”

  Mr. G. thought school should be an adventure, so he called each new unit a learning adventure.

  “Do we get to pick which president we want to learn about?” Katie asked excitedly. Doing a report on President Obama would be really fun.

  “No,” Emma said. “Mr. G. pulled names from a hat. Your president is Millard Fillmore.”

  “Who?” Katie asked.

  “Millard Fillmore.”

  “I’ve never heard of him,” Katie said disappointedly. “Who did you get?”

  “Thomas Jefferson,” Emma said. “He wrote the Declaration of Independence. Ms. Folio helped me find some information about him in the library today.”

  “You’re lucky,” Katie said. “You got a good president. I got some guy no one’s heard of.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emma said.

  “It’s not your fault,” Katie said. Then she sneezed again. “I’m not feeling so well. Maybe I should hang up now.”

  “Okay,” Emma said. “I hope you feel better.”

  As she hung up with Emma, Katie coughed hard. Then she sighed. “Millard Fillmore. That really stinks. I wi—”

  Katie stopped herself. She’d almost made a wish. That would have been a big mistake. Katie knew first hand that the only thing worse than having a really stuffy nose, being stuck inside for a whole weekend, and having to do a project about Millard Fillmore, would be having a wish come true.

  After all, wishes could be dangerous things.

  Chapter 2

  It had all started one horrible day back in third grade. First, Katie had missed the football and lost the game for her team. Then she’d fallen in the mud and ruined her new jeans. Worst of all, she’d let out a giant burp right in front of the whole class. The kids had really teased her about that. Especially George Brennan. And he could be a really bad teaser.

  It had definitely been one of the most embarrassing days of Katie’s whole life. And that night, Katie wished she could be anyone but herself. There must have been a shooting star flying overhead when Katie made her wish, because the very next day the magic wind came.

  The magic wind was unlike any wind Katie had ever seen before. It was a wild, fierce tornado that only blew around Katie.

  But the worst part came after the wind stopped blowing. That’s when the magic wind turned Katie into someone else. One . . . two . . . switcheroo!

  The magic wind could turn Katie into anyone. The first time it appeared, it changed her into Speedy, the hamster in her third-grade classroom. Katie spent the whole morning going around and around on a hamster wheel, and chewing on Speedy’s wooden chew sticks. Blech!They tasted worse than the food in the school cafeteria!

  The magic wind had come back many times after that. One time it turned her into her own mom—right in the middle of a big tap dancing competition. Katie’s feet got all twisted up, and she fell smack on her rear end. That had been really embarrassing, especially for Katie’s mom.

  That was the biggest problem with the magic wind. Whoever it turned her into wound up smack in the middle of a real mess. And when the wind switcherooed Katie back into herself, it was up to her to figure out how to clean that mess up!

  That was why Katie didn’t make wishes any more. They caused too much trouble.

  Rrring. Rrring.It was the phone again.

  “Heddo,” Katie said.

  This time it was her best friend, Suzanne. “Boy, you sound awful, Katie,” Suzanne said.

  “I just have a stuffed-up nose,” Katie explained. “But I’m getting better. It was really nice of you to call to check on how I’m feeling.”

  “Oh, yeah, you were absent today. I forgot,” Suzanne said.

  “So you aren’t calling to see how I feel?” Katie asked.

  “Oh,
sure, yeah,” Suzanne said. But she didn’t sound very convincing. “I was going to ask how you were feeling afterI told you about this really cool calendar my dad got for me.”

  “Oh,” Katie said. “Well, I’m feeling better.”

  “I know, you just told me,” Suzanne said. “So I don’t have to ask. But aren’t you going to ask meabout my calendar?”

  Katie sighed. A calendar didn’t seem as important as being sick. But Suzanne obviously thought it was.

  “What kind of calendar?” Katie asked her.

  “It’s pink with all kinds of glitter flowers and stickers on it,” Suzanne said. “And there’s a holiday on practically every day.”

  “A holiday every day?” Katie asked her.

  “Practically every day,” Suzanne corrected her. “Like tomorrow is Toothache Day.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a very happy holiday,” Katie said. “How do you celebrate Toothache Day?”

  “Well, I’m going to call Dr. Sang, my dentist, and wish him a happy Toothache Day,” Suzanne explained. “Toothache Day is great for dentists. It means more business for them.”

  Katie didn’t think dentists actually wanted their patients to get toothaches. In fact, she was pretty sure they wanted people to brush and floss everyday so they wouldn’t get them. But Katie didn’t feel like arguing with Suzanne. She was getting a headache, and her throat hurt too much.

  “Um, Suzanne, I’m kind of tired,” Katie said. “I think I want to take a nap.”

  “Good idea,” Suzanne agreed. “You want to rest up and feel better for Monday.”

  “Yes. I hate missing school,” Katie said to her.

  “No. I wasn’t talking about school. Monday is Umbrella Day,” Suzanne replied.

  Katie sighed. “I sure don’t want to miss an important holiday like that,” she teased.

  But Suzanne didn’t hear the teasing tone in Katie’s voice.

  “I know,” Suzanne agreed. “It’s going to be so much fun!”

  Chapter 3

  Monday was a bright, sunny day. So a lot of kids were really surprised when Suzanne showed up on the playground with an open umbrella. But Katie wasn’t surprised at all. She knew Suzanne would celebrate Umbrella Day, rain or shine.

  “Nice umbrella.” Katie complimented her friend as she looked at the yellow, green, and pink-striped umbrella Suzanne was carrying.

  “Thanks,” Suzanne replied. “It’s my mom’s favorite. But I didn’t think she’d mind if I borrowed it for such an important holiday.”

  “What holiday?” Miriam Chan asked.

  “Umbrella Day,” Suzanne told her.

  “That’s not a real holiday,” George Brennan insisted.

  “Sure it is,” Suzanne said. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her new calendar. “See, it says so right here!”

  The kids all looked over Suzanne’s shoulder. Sure enough, it said “Umbrella Day” in little red letters.

  “Do you guys know what can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a chimney up?” George asked the other kids suddenly.

  They all stared at him. What a weird question.

  “An umbrella,” George said, answering his own riddle. Then he started laughing.

  It took Katie a minute, but then she got the joke. “That’s a really good one, George.”

  “Thanks, Katie Kazoo,” George replied, using the way-cool nickname he’d given her in third grade.

  “Umbrella Day is nothing to laugh at,” Suzanne insisted. “It’s a very important holiday. The rest of you should be celebrating with me.”

  Suzanne may have been celebrating Umbrella Day, but in Katie’s class, the big celebration was for Presidents’ Day. Mr. G. had gone wild decorating the classroom. There were flags; red, white, and blue streamers; and pictures of United States presidents everywhere. And the kids had all decorated their beanbag chairs for the holiday, too.

  Emma W. had taped a picture of Thomas Jefferson and a copy of the Declaration of Independence to her chair.

  Andy Epstein had used construction paper and cut-out stars to turn his beanbag into an American flag.

  Kevin Camilleri had built a nest of pipe cleaners, and put a picture of an American eagle in it.

  Mandy Banks decorated her beanbag chair with a big picture of the White House.

  Katie’s beanbag looked like a big, green frog. She’d decorated it that way last week, when they were studying amphibian animals.

  “Mr. G., can I still decorate my beanbag for Presidents’ Day?” Katie asked her teacher.

  “Sure you can,” Mr. G. told her. “And while you’re doing that, I’m going to tell the class about the great field trip we’re all going on this Thursday.”

  The kids got very excited.

  “A field trip!” George exclaimed. “How awesome is that?!”

  “Really awesome,” Kadeem Carter agreed. “Remember the field trip to the aquarium?”

  Katie sighed. How could she forget? The magic wind had come right in the middle of the trip, and turned her into a fish! But of course Katie didn’t say that. She just kept her mouth shut and concentrated on decorating her beanbag.

  In the back of the room, Katie searched through the decorations in a big carton. She didn’t see any pictures of Millard Fillmore. Finally, Katie pulled out a funny picture of a man with a white beard and a red, white, and blue top hat. George leaned over and whispered, “That’s Uncle Sam. We learned about him yesterday.” Katie wasn’t sure who Uncle Sam was. Still this looked like something good for Presidents’ Day. So she taped it to her beanbag chair.

  “Where are we going on this field trip?” Emma Stavros asked Mr. G.

  “The Cherrydale Arena,” Mr. G. told her. “We’re going to see a very special show about America’s presidents.”

  “Oh, I saw a commercial for that on TV,” Mandy Banks said. “There’s all kinds of singing and dancing.”

  “And they have actors playing the presidents,” Andy added.

  “I want you dudes to know a lot about the presidents before we see the shows,” Mr. G. said. “So on Wednesday, you’ll each do an oral report on the president you’re studying.”

  “Can we dress up like our president?” George asked. “I want to wear a white wig, like George Washington did.”

  “That’s a great idea, George,” Mr. G. said. “Anyone who wants to dress up as their president can definitely do that.”

  Mandy said, “I can wear a beard and a top hat like Abraham Lincoln.”

  Katie frowned. Mandy was lucky. It would be easy for her to dress like Abraham Lincoln. How was Katie supposed to dress up like Millard Fillmore? She had no idea what he looked like! And she had only two days to learn about him.

  Chapter 4

  Katie was very quiet while class 4A walked down the hall to the library later that day. Her head was hurting a little again. And she wasn’t really looking forward to reading about Millard Fillmore, either.

  “I liked the way you decorated your beanbag with the picture of Uncle Sam today,” Mr. G. said as he walked beside Katie. “Do you know who he is?”

  Katie shook her head. “I just liked the picture. Whose uncle is he?”

  “Uncle Sam isn’t a real person,” Mr. G. explained to Katie. “He’s a symbol—kind of like the eagle—for our government.”

  “Oh,” Katie said. She got quiet again. Then finally, she looked up at her teacher and asked, “Mr. G., I have Millard Filmore and I was wondering . . . Can I research a different president?”

  “Why, Katie?” Mr. G. asked.

  “I want to learn about an important president. One that really did something great,” Katie told her teacher.

  “I understand your point. But look at it this way. In the whole history of our country, only forty-four men have gotten to be president.” Mr. G. smiled. “Every one of them has tried his best to help our country,” he explained. “Some have done more than others, but they have all tried to make America a better place.”

 
“Even Millard Fillmore?” Katie asked.

  “Yep,” Mr. G. said. “Wait until you read about him. You’ll see.”

  A few minutes later, Katie was sitting at a desk in the library. Ms. Folio, the librarian, had helped her find information about Millard Fillmore in a few books. Katie opened up one and began to read.

  At first, Katie learned some not-so-interesting information, like the fact that Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin in New York. When he grew up, he became a lawyer. And he was the thirteenth president.

  Unfortunately, none of that was particularly fascinating. How was Katie ever going to find some way to give an interesting report on this guy?

  Then, Katie read something that changed her mind about President Millard Fillmore. Something that really, reallyinterested her:Millard Fillmore was an animal lover. Although he did not bring any pets of his own to the White House, he started a chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Buffalo, New York. He also helped pass laws that made it illegal to hurt or injure animals.

  “Wow!” Katie exclaimed happily. “Millard Fillmore and I have something in common.”

  “Shhh ... You’re in a library,” Mr. G. whispered to Katie. But he wasn’t angry. In fact, he was smiling.

  “Maybe Millard Fillmore wasa pretty good president,” Katie whispered to her teacher.

  “I’m sure the animals thought so,” Mr. G. agreed.

  Chapter 5

  The next morning, when Katie arrived at school, the playground was almost empty. That wasn’t very surprising. After all, it was pouring rain.

  What wassurprising was seeing Suzanne standing outside all by herself—without an umbrella. Instead, she was holding a ball of string and a pink and yellow plastic kite in her hands.

  From under her umbrella, Katie asked her friend, “What are you doing?”