Gooney Bird and All Her Charms Read Online Free Page A

that your brain is at work. You have a rap coming on, don’t you?”
    He nodded, with a grin.
    â€œOkay, let’s hear it,” she said.
    Tyrone stood, snapped his fingers, wiggled his hips, and chanted,
“Stuffing it full don’t cause no pain
,
cuz that be the job of Mister Brain”!
    â€œLemme hear it!” he called to the class.
“Mister Brain!”
they all chanted.
    Tyrone twirled in a circle and began his next verse.
“That noise you hear, is it a car or a train? Who knows the difference?”
He cupped his ear with his hand as if to listen.
    â€œMister Brain!”
    â€œYou eat fried clams, or you eat chow mein?”
Tyrone twirled again and made an eating motion as if he were lifting a fork to his mouth.
“Who knows the difference?”
    â€œMISTER BRAIN!”
the second-graders called loudly, laughing.
    Tyrone bowed, and they all applauded. “I got more,” he said. “But I’ll save it.”
    â€œSave it in your brain!” Gooney Bird said. “And my brain’s ready now with my idea.”
    The class was silent, waiting.
    â€œWe need to take Napoleon traveling,” Gooney Bird said, “so that the other classes can meet him and learn about him.”
    â€œTraveling?” Chelsea said. “How can he travel?”
    Gooney Bird pointed out the small wheels that allowed Napoleon’s stand to move. “We roll him to his destination,” she explained. “Then we’ll lift him down and put him in his place. Remember Uncle Walter said we could sit him in a chair if we were careful?”
    â€œWhat place? Where are we taking him?” Barry asked.
    â€œYou look worried, Barry,” Gooney Bird said. “But look at Napoleon. He’s not worried at all.”
    It was true. “He’s smiling,” Keiko said. All of the children stared at Napoleon’s head. They made big smiles, showing their teeth.
    â€œAs for where we’re taking him? We’ve been studying his brain. So we need to show him
using
his brain. Where would that be, in this school?”
    Mrs. Pidgeon smiled. “I know!” she said. “The library! Of course,” she added, “I hope you all use your brains
everywhere
. But I bet anything the library is what Gooney Bird has in mind.”
    Gooney Bird nodded.
    â€œGooney Bird,” Mrs. Pidgeon went on, “I think you should go consult with Mrs. Clancy to be sure it’s all right with her.”
    Gooney Bird was already at her cubby, looking for the hat that she always wore when she paid a call on someone important. And Mrs. Clancy, the school librarian, was certainly important.
    â€œWhile I’m gone,” Gooney Bird suggested, “maybe you could think about how Napoleon should be dressed in a brain-using outfit for his visit to the library.”
    She adjusted the flowered hat over her red hair, left the classroom, and disappeared down the hall.
    â€œDressed?”
said Mrs. Pidgeon, turning to the class. “
Brain-using outfit?
Oh, dear.”

4
    Barry and Ben, who had lifted Napoleon very carefully from his stand, sat him down in the chair that the class had selected. The library was filled with tables and chairs, but it also had a cozy reading corner furnished with a soft couch and a comfortable rocking chair. Sometimes Mr. Leroy sat there and read the newspaper in the middle of the morning, but not very often. He really liked drinking coffee with the newspaper, and Mrs. Clancy said, “Absolutely not. No coffee in the library.” She let Mr. Leroy take the newspaper to his office, instead.
    â€œYes, that one’s fine,” Mrs. Clancy agreed when the second-graders pointed out the rocking chair they had chosen for Napoleon. “I think he’d look very contented there. Let’s give him a cushion.” She took a soft pillow from the corner of the couch and placed it on the seat of the rocker.
    Napoleon’s