Winter According to Humphrey (9781101591222) by Betty G. Birney Page B

a song for you!” Then he sang, “Jingle bells, your feet smell . . .”
    â€œHurry-Up-Harry! We’ve got to get to lunch,” Slow-Down-Simon shouted.
    â€œSee you later, Humphrey,” Harry said.
    After he left, I sniffed my paws. Harry was right. My paws smelled like strawberries and carrots and my favorite Nutri-Nibbles. I think they smelled hamster-licious.

    When I woke up a little later, I heard a voice say, “Are you in there, Humphrey ? I can’t see you.”
    I poked my head out of the sleeping hut, but all I could see was a gigantic eyeball!
    I didn’t dare leave my little house with a thing like that outside.
    But then the eye blinked and then a face moved and I could see that the eyeball belonged to Just-Joey.
    I scurried out to show him I was there after all.
    â€œHi, Joey!” I squeaked.
    â€œOh, there you are,” Joey said. “Mrs. Brisbane said I could give you some fresh water.”
    A giant hand reached in the cage and removed my water bottle. “I’ll be right back.”
    It’s a little disturbing when someone removes my water bottle, but so far, no one has ever forgotten to bring it back, not even Forgetful-Phoebe.
    Sure enough, Joey quickly returned and put it back in place.
    â€œHere you go, Humphrey,” he said. “It’s raining, so we couldn’t go out for recess.”
    I looked out of my cage and saw that the rest of the class was busy drawing and cutting things out and talking to each other.
    â€œMrs. Brisbane said we could work on our costumes for the Winter Wonderland show.” Joey sighed. “I wish there wouldn’t even be a Winter Wonderland show.”
    I wiggled my nose. Did he mean that ?
    â€œWhat’s the point ? I can’t even sing because my voice is so bad,” he said.
    â€œIt’s not that bad,” I squeaked, but Joey didn’t understand.
    â€œJust as well,” he said. “My dad doesn’t think he’s going to be able to come. He lives far away, and he doesn’t know if he can get off work on time. And the roads will be bad if it snows.”
    â€œEeek!” I squeaked. I knew that Joey wished he could see his father more.
    â€œCome on, Joey. We’ve got to work on our tails,” Thomas said.

    When the break was over, Mrs. Brisbane made my classmates put away their costume pieces and talk about science again.
    â€œIt’s too bad it’s raining and not snowing,” she said. “Then we could go out and gather snowflakes and study them.”
    â€œWouldn’t they melt right away ? ” Sophie asked.
    â€œYes, but I have an idea about that. We would have to look at them quickly,” Mrs. Brisbane said.
    She went on to explain how snow actually helps crops grow by protecting them from the cold.
    It was interesting, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the Winter Wonderland program was making everybody feel GOOD-GOOD-GOOD except for Joey.
    It was making him feel BAD-BAD-BAD.

    When Og and I were alone after school, I was still thinking about the problem. “I think Joey sings fine, don’t you ? ” I said.
    â€œBOING!” Og replied.
    â€œNot like a frog at all,” I said. Then I quickly added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with the way a frog sings.”
    Og dived into the water and splashed around.
    A little later, Aldo came into the room to clean. He greeted us as usual, then went about his work, dusting and sweeping Room 26.
    And, since Aldo is generally a happy human, he even sang a little song about a reindeer with a red nose.
That
would be something to see!
    But he didn’t talk until it was time for his dinner break.
    Then he pulled a chair close to the table by the window where Og and I live and took out his paper bag.
    â€œWell, fellows, the holidays are almost here,” he said.
    â€œYES-YES-YES!” I squeaked.
    Aldo took a tiny carrot out of his