Imagination According to Humphrey Read Online Free Page B

them on TV at my friends’ houses.
    It’s such a confusing game! Maybe if I had wings, I could hover over the field and figure it out.
    â€œWhat if it rains ? ” Tall-Paul asked.
    Thomas thought for a second. Then he grinned. “I’d have waterproof feathers.”
    â€œThank you, Thomas,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Why don’t you add the part about the waterproof feathers ? ”
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Thomas answered.
    I climbed up to the tippy top of my cage so I could see all my classmates as they read their paragraphs. It was FUN-FUN-FUN to hear about Rosie flying to the pyramids and seeing that big scary statue called the Sphinx!
    I was HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY to hear about all the places Kelsey would go to watch the ballet.
    And my heart did a little flip-flop when Holly read about how easy it would be to visit her friend Phoebe.
    Mrs. Brisbane called on Joey.
    â€œMine’s kind of short,” he said.
    She told him to go ahead and read it.
    â€œIf I could fly, I’d go to Africa so I could see animals in the wild.” Joey looked up. “That’s it.”
    â€œIt’s a good beginning,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Next, why don’t you name some of the animals you’d most love to see and why you like them ? ”
    Joey looked relieved. “Okay.”
    My whiskers were wiggling when Mrs. Brisbane called on Do-It-Now-Daniel. For one thing, he doesn’t always get his homework done on time. And for another thing, I’m not sure our teacher liked it when he said he wanted to fly back home and go to bed.
    So I was HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY to learn that he
had
done his homework and he’d changed his topic.
    â€œIf I could fly like a helicopter, I’d go see my favorite author,” Daniel read. “His name is D. D. Denby and his books about a magic backpack are really great. I hope he keeps writing them, because I would never get tired of reading more.”
    â€œThat’s a good start, Daniel,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “I’ll bet you said you wanted to fly home and go back to bed because you wanted to finish a magic backpack book.”
    Daniel grinned and nodded.
    â€œTomorrow, I want you to add a descriptive word in front of your noun,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “If you said ‘bird,’ put in a word that describes a bird. Can anyone think of one ? ”
    A few hands went up.
    â€œGraceful bird,” Rosie said.
    Felipe said, “Huge bird ? ”
    Cassie said, “Beautiful bird.”
    â€œMean bird,” Simon suggested.
    Mrs. Brisbane said they were all good. I liked them, too, except for the mean bird.
    â€œUse your imaginations and be as descriptive as you can,” she added.
    Mrs. Brisbane moved on to science and something called gravity. I didn’t understand it all, but if we didn’t have it, we’d all be floating in space. I guess that would be a little bit like flying.
    I decided to take a spin on my hamster wheel. I was HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY that gravity kept me from floating away.
    After lunch, Sophie came into the room first and headed straight for my cage.
    â€œHumphrey, did you hear me reading about going to the Island of the Parrots and talking with them ? Have you ever met a parrot ? Do you like parrots ? Oh . . . I wish you could talk about them with me!”
    â€œMe too!” I squeaked, but I knew she didn’t understand me.
    I have to admit, I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with Sophie, because she talks so much and she talks so fast!

    There’s not a lot of time between the end of the school day and when Aldo comes to clean, but I really wanted to see Gigi before she went to sleep, so I took a chance.
    When the school was empty, I jiggled my lock-that-doesn’t-lock and it swung open as usual.
    â€œOg, I’m going to visit Gigi,” I said. “But I promise I’ll be back before Aldo comes in to clean.”
    â€œBOING!”