Never Swim in Applesauce by Katherine Applegate

4
Happy Apple Orchard
    When I first heard about our field trip, I was pretty excited.
    Almost as excited as my teacher, Ms. Diz.
    She told us about the trip in a very thrilled way, with tons of exclamation points in her voice.
    â€œChildren!” Ms. Diz said first thing that morning. “I have a wonderful surprise! ThisFriday we are going on a field trip! The first one for our class!” She grinned. “And the first one for me since I became a teacher!”
    Ms. Diz is a brand-new teacher. I help her out whenever I can.
    I know a lot because I am a retired kindergartner.
    â€œMy brother’s class went on a trip to a bakery and they got free doughnuts,” I said.
    Then I raised my hand real quick because sometimes I forget to remember that part.
    You aren’t supposed to talk until you put your hand up in the air and wave it like crazy because that is better than just yelling at the top of your lungs.
    â€œIf we can’t go on a bakery field trip, maybe a cotton-candy factory wouldbe good. Or an aquarium with giant, kid-eating sharks,” I added.
    Sometimes my imagination button gets stuck on fast-forward.
    â€œThose are great suggestions, Roscoe,” said Ms. Diz. “But we’ve already made plans for this trip. I’ll give you a hint, class. What have we been learning about the past few weeks?”
    â€œIf you squeeze your juice box hard, you get a gusher!” said Dewan.
    â€œDo not pick your nose during snack time,” Coco said.
    For some reason, she looked right at me.
    â€œThe pencil sharpener is not for crayons,” Gus offered.
    Ms. Diz held up her hands to make a T . Like a coach taking a time-out.
    She does that when she wants us to bequiet. Which is pretty often, come to think of it.
    â€œWe’ve been learning about where our food comes from ,” Ms. Diz reminded us.

    She said the last part very slowly. So our brains could catch up with her mouth.
    â€œRemember we talked about how vegetables and fruits come from farms?” Ms. Diz asked. “And about how the farmers grow the food and pick it, then send it on trucks to stores where we can buy it? I know how much you guys love applesauce, and apple pies, and taffy apples,” Ms. Diz said. “That’s why we are going to visit—”
    I finished for her. “THE GROCERY STORE!!!” I yelled. “I LOVE the grocery store because I push the cart for my mom and dad except not anymore because I knocked over a watermelon pile and that knocked over a lemon pile and whoa, that was cool because it looked just like pink lemonade!”
    â€œRoscoe,” said Ms. Diz while I stoppedto take a breath, “I need you to think before speaking. Okay?”
    I thought for a while. “Okay!” I said after I figured I’d been thinking long enough.
    â€œAs I was trying to say,” said Ms. Diz, “we are going to an apple orchard!”
    â€œYou mean where they make apples?” Gus asked.
    â€œThey don’t make apples, they grow them,” said Ms. Diz. “There are hundreds of apple trees at Happy Apple Orchard. They produce all kinds of apples. Green and red and yellow, sweet and sour. We’ll each get to pick our own apples!”
    That was way better than a field trip to a plain old field!
    We did a lot of cheering and jumping out of our chairs and clapping.
    Until Ms. Diz had to ring her gong.
    It is a very loud bell that helps us Stay Focused.
    Staying Focused is when you Stop Acting Like Preschoolers, Class.
    â€œThey make lots of food at Happy Apple too,” Ms. Diz said when we were quiet. “We’ll get to see them bake apple pies and make applesauce. We might even get to eat some! But only if you all are on your best behavior.”
    Pie and applesauce? That was too much great news.
    Ms. Diz had to gong four times before we settled down.
    But who could blame us?
    We were going on a field trip to see happy apples!

5
The Magic