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