The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series Book 9) Read online

  THE

  CHRISTMAS PARTY

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  #1: The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon

  #2: The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon

  #3: The Class Election from the Black Lagoon

  #4: The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon

  #5: The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon

  #6: The Field Day from the Black Lagoon

  #7: The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon

  #8: Valentine’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #9: The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon

  #10: The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon

  #11: The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon

  #12: April Fools’ Day from the Black Lagoon

  #13: Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon

  #14: The New Year’s Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon

  #15: The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon

  #16: The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon

  #17: The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon

  #18: The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon

  #19: St. Patrick’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #20: The School Play from the Black Lagoon

  #21: The 100

  th

  Day of School from the Black Lagoon

  #22: The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon

  #23: Earth Day from the Black Lagoon

  #24: The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon

  #25: Friday the 13

  th

  from the Black Lagoon

  The Black Lagoon

  by Mike Thaler

  Illustrated by Jared Lee

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  THE

  CHRISTMAS PARTY

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  To Tina Lee,

  for all her T.L.C.

  —M.T.

  To Jaden, Seth, and little Roman—J.L.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into

  any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

  whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without

  the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding

  permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557

  Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN: 978-0-545-37581-8

  Text copyright © 2006 by Mike Thaler.

  Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC, Little Apple, and associated logos are trademarks and/or

  registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, December 2006

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Plan A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

  Chapter 2: Hunch Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..10

  Chapter 3: Go for Broke . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

  Chapter 4: Deck the Mall . . . . . . . . . . . .16

  Chapter 5: Mauled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

  Chapter 6: Ho, Ho, Oh! . . . . . . . . . . . .23

  Chapter 7: Screamin’ Dreamin’ . . . . . . .. 27

  Chapter 8: Change of Heart . . . . . . . . ... 30

  Chapter 9: Sock It to Me . . . . . . . . . . .33

  Chapter 10: The Tree Musketeers . . . . . .. 36

  Chapter 11: The Turning of the Scrooge . 39

  Chapter 12: The Reason for the Season . . 43

  Chapter 13: Made by Hand . . . . . . . . . . 46

  Chapter 14: Too Many Santas . . . . . . . . .. .53

  Chapter 15: Presents of Mind . . . . . . . . ..56

  CHAPTER 1

  PLAN A

  Mrs. Green says we’re going

  to have a Christmas party. She

  has put everyone’s name in a hat.

  I pulled out Penny’s name.

  Nobody wanted to trade me, so

  now she and I have to exchange

  presents.

  I don’t know what to get her,

  but I’m sure she’ll tell me. I hope

  it’s in my budget.

  6

  7

  If I had picked Eric, it would

  have been easy. He’d want the

  latest Captain Thunderpants

  book, or an official whoopee

  cushion.

  8

  If it had been Freddy, his

  present would have been from

  one of four major food groups.

  But Penny is a girl. I don’t

  know what girls want. But like

  I said, I’m sure she’ll tell me.

  9

  CHAPTER 2

  HUNCH TIME

  Well, I was right. Penny sits

  down next to me at lunch and

  spends the entire noontime

  giving me hints. She also gives

  me a list just in case I missed

  anything. It’s about four feet

  long.

  She wants something for

  her Barbie collection. I make a

  joke, “What about some Barbie

  Wire?” . . . not appreciated. Or

  she wants the latest Flower

  Fluff Girl book, or some hair

  curlers.

  10

  11

  Boy, oh, boy, this is going to

  be an education—to say nothing

  about embarrassing. I’m glad

  she doesn’t want pink nail polish,

  or anything with polka dots. I

  wish I had picked Eric.

  12

  CHAPTER 3

  GO FOR BROKE

  When I get home, I go over

  Penny’s list with Mom. We

  ponder the problem over milk

  and cookies. She says when she

  was a girl, she liked perfume

  and the Beatles. Sounds like

  smelly bugs to me.

  13

  It’s hard to picture Mom as a

  little girl, but she says she was

  one once. I’ll have to take her

  word for it.

  While munching on a chocolate

  chip cookie, I go confer with my

  piggy bank. I have exactly $2.98.

  It seems I always have $2.98. I

  think I’m stuck in a financial time

  warp!

  14

  15

  CHAPTER 4

  DECK THE MALL

  Mom and I go to the mall. She

  says she’ll help me shop. The

  mall is brimming over with

  Christmas spirit.

  There are forty Santas—short

  ones, tall ones, smiling ones,

  and grouchy ones. There are

  two hundred reindeer and a

  thousand elves.

  It’s full of crisp jingles and

  Kris Kringles—and it’s only

  November. Christmas seems to

  come earlier and earlier every

  year. Eventually it will start in

  January.

  16

  17

  18

 
We make our way to the girls’

  department. I’m glad Mom is

  with me.

  All of a sudden, everything is

  pink, fluffy, and has feathers. It’s

  like falling into cotton candy or

  sliding down a birthday cake.

  Everything has three flowers and

  a bow.

  Let me out! I’ve got to find a

  dinosaur and get back to reality.

  19

  CHAPTER 5

  MAULED

  Well, our mall visit was not

  very fruitful. I felt like I was

  drowning in pink lemonade. Only

  forty-four more shopping days

  left till Christmas, and I still

  don’t know what to give Penny.

  Maybe I should write Dear

  Abby Claus, or try Googling

  “gifts for girls.” This is silly!

  Why doesn’t Penny just buy

  something she would like, and

  I’ll get something I would like?

  It would be a lot simpler.

  20

  21

  But Mom says that’s not the

  spirit of Christmas. She says it’s

  about giving. I’m beginning to

  think it’s about giving up.

  22

  CHAPTER 6

  HO, HO, OH!

  That evening there’s a movie on

  the horror channel called Santa

  Claws. It’s about a monster who

  goes out for a slay ride.

  23

  I turn to another channel.

  There’s a musical on called

  Santa Jaws. It’s about an

  overweight shark with a beard

  that goes out caroling.

  24

  All the other channels are full

  of ads telling me about things

  I need to buy. Somehow, I don’t

  think they’ve caught the spirit of

  the season.

  25

  I think Christmas should be a

  celebration . . . not a sell-ebration

  I press the pause button. I need

  a Santa pause.

  26

  CHAPTER 7

  SCREAMIN’ DREAMIN’

  That night I have a dream. A

  singing shark is chasing me. I’m

  in a Santa outfit and keep tripping

  over my beard.

  27

  There’s also a big Christmas

  tree ornament with a fuse, rolling

  after me—it’s lit and sparkling.

  Penny is running after me,

  too, waving her list. As fast as

  I run, they keep getting nearer

  and nearer. They’re about to

  catch me . . . when I wake up

  sweating.

  28

  Now I’m glad Christmas comes

  only once a year like my visit

  to the dentist. It’s a lot like

  pulling teeth.

  29

  CHAPTER 8

  CHANGE OF HEART

  The days fly by, and soon

  it’s December. Mrs. Beamster,

  our librarian, reads us a book

  about Christmas. It’s called The

  Worst Christmas Pageant Ever.

  It’s funny!

  30

  In class, Mrs. Green says

  Christmas isn’t about presents,

  but about kindness. She

  says all year people think

  about themselves. Then comes

  Christmas, and for one day,

  they think about others.

  They’re polite and considerate

  of one another.

  31

  Then the day after Christmas,

  they are pushing and shoving to

  return the presents they don’t

  want—wrong size, wrong color,

  wrong present.

  Mrs. Green says if the spirit

  of Christmas lasted for 365 days,

  the world would be a better

  place. I bet all the shops at the

  the mall would agree with her.

  32

  CHAPTER 9

  SOCK IT TO ME

  Mrs. Green said we all should

  bring in a stocking to be filled

  by Santa. I looked and looked

  all over my house, but all I

  could find that was clean was a

  gym sock.

  33

  Doris brought in a leotard,

  and Penny brought in pantyhose.

  But Eric brought in the biggest

  sock that I’ve ever seen. It must

  have belonged to a dinosaur or

  been an elephant’s nose warmer.

  You could put a Mini-Cooper

  in it.

  34

  Once we hung up our socks,

  it was time to decorate the

  Christmas tree. Everyone

  brought in an ornament we had

  made. I took an old tennis ball

  and glued buttons on it. Freddy

  baked a gingerbread Santa. Doris

  made a little ballet dancer out

  of ice cream sticks. And Derrick

  made a star for the top. Eric said

  he was still working on his

  ornament.

  35

  CHAPTER 10

  THE TREE MUSKETEERS

  Mrs. Green made a big pot of

  popcorn. Then we strung the

  pieces together and placed them

  on the tree. We ate as much as

  we decorated with.

  Mrs. Beamster came in to

  see our tree and she read us

  a poem called “The Night Before

  Christmas.” I like the part

  about . . . “When what to our

  wondering eyes did appear, but

  a miniature sleigh and eight tiny

  reindeer.” She also read us a

  book called The Polar Express.

  In music class, we learned all

  36

  the words to “Rudolph the Red-

  Nosed Reindeer.” Then we put

  red balls on our noses and went

  to all the other classes to sing it.

  37

  Our Christmas party is four

  days away, and we’re starting to

  have a ton of fun! By golly, it is

  the season to be jolly.

  38

  CHAPTER 11

  THE TURNING OF THE

  SCROOGE

  Well, I’m so confused. Is

  Christmas about giving or living?

  If it’s about being nice to each

  other—that’s easy. It doesn’t

  cost anything to be nice.

  39

  The next day Mrs. Green

  shows us a video called A

  Christmas Carol. It’s about a

  grumpy old man who doesn’t

  believe in Christmas. His name

  is Scrooge and he only believes

  in money.

  40

  Mrs. Green said, “Scrooge is

  a miser, who causes a lot of

  miser-y.” Anyway, he gets visited

  by three ghosts . . . Christmas

  Huey, Christmas Dewey, and

  Christmas Louie. They give him

  an accounting of his life, and

  when he adds it up—he comes

  out very poorly.

  41

  Scrooge has a change of heart

  and starts spending his money

  and his love to help other people.

  And finally, his humbugs turn

  into big hugs.

  42

  CHAPTER 12

  THE REASON FOR THE

  SEASON

  After watching the video, I

&nbs
p; have an idea. I raise my hand.

  “Yes, Hubie?” asks Mrs. Green.

  “I have an idea,” I say.

  “Yes?” Mrs. Green replies.

  43

  “Instead of giving presents to

  one another,” I say, “why don’t

  we put all our money together

  and help people that need our

  help?”

  Penny jumps up. “I already got

  you a present!” she shouts. “And

  you better get me one.”

  “That’s not the point,” I say. “By

  the way, what did you get me?”

  44

  “I’m not telling,” Penny says,

  holding up five fingers. “But it

  cost a lot!”

  “How much?” I ask.

  “Five dollars plus tax,” says

  Penny, wiggling her fingers.

  “Humbug!” says Eric, wiggling

  all of his.

  45

  CHAPTER 13

  MADE BY HAND

  Well, so much for peace on

  Earth . . . back to the cash

  register, and I’m way behind.

  It’s cash or crash!

  Miss Swamp, the art teacher,

  suggests that we make presents

  for one another. That sounds