St. Patrick's Day from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series Book 19) Read online

  o

  #19

  19

  ®

  BLACK LAGOON

  ST. PATRICK'S DAY

  F R OM THE

  ®

  THE

  ST. PATRICK’S DAY

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  The Black Lagoon®

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  #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

  3

  by Mike Thaler

  Illustrated by Jared Lee

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  ®

  THE

  FROM THE

  ST. PATRICK’S DAY

  BLACK LAGOON

  For my Patty, every day.

  —M.T.

  To Lori Brumley.

  —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 978-0-545-37568-9

  Text copyright © 2011 by Mike Thaler

  Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  scholastic and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks

  of Scholastic Inc. black lagoon is a registered trademark of Mike Thaler and

  Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc. All rights reserved.Lexile is a registered trademark

  of MetaMetrics, Inc.

  First printing, February 2011

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Coming Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

  Chapter 2: March On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

  Chapter 3: Pinch an Inch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

  Chapter 4: Patty’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

  Chapter 5: A Green Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

  Chapter 6: Capping the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

  Chapter 7: A Little Shoe Biz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

  Chapter 8: Somewhere Over the Rainbow . . . . . . 40

  Chapter 9: A Green Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

  Chapter 10: Launch Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

  Chapter 11: Love a Parade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

  CHAPTER 1

  COMING

  ATTRACTIONS

  Today Mrs. Green announced

  that St. Patrick’s Day is a week

  away. I don’t know much about

  that holiday except that we don’t

  6

  7

  get off from school and we are

  all supposed to wear something

  green. Mrs. Green is already set

  for sure.

  What do I have that’s green? I

  have old underwear. I guess that

  won’t work. I don’t have much

  else. I’m really in a pickle. That’s

  it. I could be a pickle! Well, at

  least I’ve got a whole week to

  think about it.

  8

  9

  CHAPTER 2

  MARCH ON

  We’re going to have a parade.

  Mrs. Green says we can dress

  up as lots of things, perhaps a

  leprechaun.

  10

  Eric raises his hand. “Is that a

  kind of leopard?”

  “No,” answers Mrs. Green.

  “More like an elf,” she continues.

  11

  Eric raises his hand again.

  “But I can’t sing,” he says.

  “Elves don’t sing,” states Mrs.

  Green.

  “Elves Presley does,” declares

  Eric with a big smile.

  12

  After we’re done laughing and

  Eric has left for the principal’s

  office, Mrs. Green continues.

  14

  “You can also be a four-leaf

  clover, a rainbow, a pot of gold,

  or a shamrock.”

  15

  I think of asking if I can be a

  sham–rock and roll, but decide

  that silence is the best principle.

  16

  17

  CHAPTER 3

  PINCH AN INCH

  On the school bus home,

  everyone’s talking about what

  green thing they’re going to

  wear. Doris has a dance dress,

  Freddy has a chef’s hat, Derek

  has a football jersey, and Penny

  has a velvet ribbon. They are all

  set and I am green with envy.

  18

  19

  Eric says if you’re not wearing

  something green, everyone can

  pinch you. Then he smiles and

  makes pinching motions with

  both hands in the air. I wonder

  what I can wear so that I’ll be

  pinch-proof.

  20

  21

  CHAPTER 4

  PATTY’S DAY

  When I get home, I tell Mom

  my dilemma. We put on our

  thinking caps. Unfortunately,

  they’re not green. Mom knows all

  about St. Patrick’s Day. It started a

  long time ago in Ireland. St. Patrick

  drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

  He must have had a big car.

  22

  23

  24

  He also brought the first book

  to Ireland. He was sort of an early

  librarian. I bet Mrs. Beamster

  knew him. The most important

  thing is the kids in Ireland do get

  the day off from school. Life is

  not fair. And, I still have a mean

  green problem.

  25

  CHAPTER 5

  A GREEN DREAM

  Before I go to bed, Ilook

  through my drawers and my

  close
t. Mom says it’s a good

  opportunity to straighten up.

  Bummer. I like this holiday less

  and less, so I just go to bed. Bad

  move because I have a greenmare.

  26

  27

  It’s St. Patrick’s Day and

  everything in the world is green.

  The sky, the sun, the houses, the

  cars, and all the people. I’m the

  only thing that’s not.

  28

  Everyone is chasing me,

  making pinching motions in the

  air. Even the snakes are chasing

  me. I wake up and pinch myself

  to see if I’m still dreaming.

  29

  CHAPTER 6

  CAPPING

  THE PROBLEM

  The next day on the school

  bus, I look out the window and

  see a big billboard that says GO

  GREEN.

  30

  31

  32

  This is too much. In art class,

  I ask Miss Swamp for green

  construction paper. She brings

  some over and shows me how to

  make a leprechaun cap. It looks

  a little weird, but it will do in a

  pinch. Now I’m ready to face St.

  Patrick’s Day.

  33

  CHAPTER 7

  A LITTLE SHOE BIZ

  Mrs. Beamster didn’t know St.

  Patrick, but she knows all about

  leprechauns. They are little old

  men about two feet tall, who

  dress all in green, wear leather

  aprons and little caps like mine,

  and make tiny shoes. They earn

  pots of gold — I guess there are

  lots of people with small feet.

  34

  35

  Instead of putting it in a bank,

  they hide the gold at the end of a

  rainbow. I guess they can’t reach

  the teller window. They don’t get

  much interest, but it’s a colorful

  investment.

  36

  37

  Mrs. Beamster says the way

  to find a leprechaun is to follow

  the sound of his little hammer

  tapping on shoes. Eric starts

  hitting his pencil on the bottom

  of the table, and everyone spends

  the rest of the period looking for

  a leprechaun.

  38

  39

  CHAPTER 8

  SOMEWHERE

  OVER THE RAINBOW

  At the end of the day, there’s

  a spring shower. When we get

  out of school, there’s a rainbow.

  I decide to find the end of it and

  see if there’s really a pot of gold

  there. Eric, Derek, Randy, and

  Doris all say they’re going to walk

  home. We wave good-bye and go

  our separate ways.

  40

  41

  I duck between houses, climb

  over fences, and go down alleys.

  Every so often I see one of my

  friends doing the same thing. At

  the end of the day, we all run into

  each other. We all have muddy

  shoes and are dead tired. We all

  agree rainbows may have an end

  or two, but none of us could find

  them.

  42

  43

  We all go together to the ice

  cream store, pool our leftover

  lunch money, and get a waffle

  cone with two scoops of rainbow

  ice cream. We all get our licks in

  and are as happy as if we found

  the pot of gold. Instead, we have

  a potluck, or a pot-lick.

  44

  45

  CHAPTER 9

  A GREEN SPACE

  The big day is finally here. I

  put on my leprechaun cap and

  wait for the school bus. When it

  pulls up, T-Rex is wearing green

  suspenders. On the way to school,

  I’m glad he doesn’t pretend all

  the stoplights are green.

  46

  47

  When we get to school, Mr.

  Bender, the principal, is wearing

  a green tie and Mrs. Green’s

  room is decorated with rainbow

  streamers and yellow and green

  48

  balloons. There are little green

  footprints all over the school,

  and we follow them looking for

  four-leaf clovers and little rocks

  painted gold.

  49

  Mrs. Green says we can use

  the rocks to buy treats in the

  cafeteria and that four-leaf clovers

  will bring good luck.

  50

  51

  CHAPTER 10

  LAUNCH TIME

  The cafeteria is something

  else. Miss Belch has hung green

  shamrocks all around and put out

  green tablecloths, green plates,

  and green napkins.

  52

  53

  And the food! We have green

  hamburgers, green pizza, green

  mashed potatoes, green pudding,

  green cookies, and green milk.

  54

  I pass on the green milk, but

  Freddy eats everything, plus

  seconds. Then he turns green

  and runs to the bathroom.

  55

  56

  CHAPTER 11

  LOVE A PARADE

  After lunch, we all get into our

  costumes.

  Eric is a leopard, Doris is a

  fairy godmother, Penny is a harp,

  and me, Derek, and Freddy are

  a rainbow. Freddy is the green

  part.

  56

  57

  We march up and down the

  hall singing “When Irish Eyes

  Are Smiling” and go into all the

  classrooms handing out candy

  kisses. It is a great day. I even

  found a four-leaf clover. Someday,

  I’m sure I’ll find the end of the

  rainbow.

  57

  60

  61

  “Knock knock.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Irish.”

  “Irish who?”

  “Irish you a happy St. Patrick’s

  Day!”

  St. Patrick’s Day Riddle

  www.scholastic.com

  Re ading Le veL: 2.9

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  ui de d Re ading Le ve L: N

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  e x i Le®: 760L

  ®

  It’s St. Patrick’s Day and Hubie needs to

  find something green to wear for the

  big class parade. Leprechauns, four-leaf

  clovers, pickles—how can he possibly

  make a decision with all these great

  options? He better decide quickly, because

  there’s a rainbow out and everyone is

  looking for the pot of gold at the end of it.

  Go green!

  STILL FEELING LUCKY?

  READ THESE OTHER FANTASTIC ADVENTURES.

  Become a Lagoony:

  www.MikeThaler.com

 

 

  Mike Thaler, St. Patrick's Day from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series Book 19)

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