LOUIS SACHAR has become a
popular author with children in the USA due to the series of books titled
"Sideways Stories from Wayside School". "Wayside School
is Falling Down' is one of those books
written in answer to thousands of letters from children who asked to continue
the stories.
There are 29 kids in Mrs.Jewls's
class and this book is about all of them. There is Todd, who got in trouble
every day... until he got a magic dog; Paul, whose life was saved by Leslie's
pigtailss; Ron, who was lucky to try the cafeteria's Mushroom
Surprise— and all the others who turn a day at Wayside School into one
adventure after another. Here is one of the stories with other characters.
A
GIGGLE BOX, A LEAKY FAUCET, AND A FOGHORN
Every day after lunch Mrs. Jewls read a story to the class.
Dana hated stories.
The last book Mrs. Jewls had read was a story about a pig and spider.
The pig was really cute and the spider was very wise.
Dana thought it was a horrible book. It made her laugh too much.
Everyone else laughed too, but the problem was that Dana always kept laughing
long after everyone else in the class had stopped. It was very embarrassing .
And sometimes she broke out laughing at a part that wasn't even funny because
she remembered something funny that had happened earlier.
John called her a giggle box.
That only made her laugh harder.
Once she broke out laughing in the
middle of an arithmetic test because she remembered something funny the
pig had said.
"There goes the giggle box," said
John.
She hated John.
But
that wasn't the worst part of the book. In the end, the spider died.
Dana couldn't stop crying. And she thought it
was so silly, too, because in real life she didn't even like spiders! She
squashed them all the time.
John called her a leaky faucet. "Somebody better call a plumber '
to fix the leaky faucet," he said.
She
laughed through her tears. She hated John.
Once
in music, they had learned a song about a dragon. When the song begins the
dragon is very brave, but then he loses his only friend, so he isn't brave
anymore. He just goes back to his cave, where he is sad and lonely for the rest
of his life.
The song always made Dana cry. Every interval John and Joe would chase
after her, singing it. She'd run across the playground with her hands over her
ears and tears falling down her face.
The bell rang. Lunch was over. Dana nervously walked up the stairs to
Mrs. Jewls's room. Mrs. Jewls would start a new book today. She hoped it
wouldn't be funny or sad. She hoped Mrs. Jewls would read a dull story with no
jokes.
When she got to class, John and Joe
were standing by her desk waiting for her.
"Happy birthday, Dana," said John. He was holding a present.
It was wrapped in green paper and had a pink bow. "But it's not my
birthday," said Dana. "Well, that's okay," said John. "You
can have it anyway. Since I'm always teasing you." He and Joe smiled.
Dana eagerly tore off the wrapping paper. Maybe John wasn't so bad after
all, she thought. It was a box of tissues. John and Joe laughed hysterically.
"That's not funny!" said Dana. She raised her fist and started to
chase after them.
Mrs. Jewls rang her bell, and all
the children sat quietly in their seats.
"We are ready to begin a new
story," said Mrs. Jewls. She held up the book. It's called
"Stinky."
Dana laughed at the title, then quickly covered her mouth.
"It's about a cute and playful skunk ," said Mrs. Jewls.
"Oh, no!" said Dana. She knew animal stories always made her cry. The
animal's mother would be killed by human hunters. Or else humans would build
shopping centre and destroy the animal's home. She hated humans. But she knew
that was silly, because she was a human, and so were all her friends. The only
human she really hated was John. And she didn't think he was even human!
Mrs. Jewls read:
"It was such a beautiful day. Stinky and his mother went for a walk
across the forest. "Hi, Stinky,"
said Charlie, the chipmunk. "Hi, Charlie," said Stinky.
"Come along, Stinky," called his mother. Stinky hurried after
her. They came to a road. Suddenly Stinky heard a noise he had never heard
before. It was very loud, like thunder. A car, driven by humans, was speeding
toward him! "Look out!" shouted his mother.
Stinky stopped in the middle of the road and watched the rushing car. He
had never seen a car before. His mother pushed him out of the way just in time.
He was safe, but unfortunately, the car ran over his mother.
"Mama, Mama." he sobbed over and over again, but his mother
didn't answer. She was dead."
Dana cried.
"Uh-oh, there goes the leaky faucet," said John. He and Joe
laughed.
Dana wiped her eyes, but the
tears wouldn't stop. She just kept thinking about poor Stinky. "What would
he do without his mother?"she wondered. Maybe he could go live with
Charlie, the chipmunk, she hoped.
She pulled a tissue out of the box John had given her and loudly blew
her nose.
"There goes the foghorn," said John.
Dana laughed into her tissue. She blew her nose again, even louder.
"It must be a very foggy day ," said John.
The next day after lunch Dana hurried up the thirty flights of stairs before
the bell rang, so she could talk to Mrs. Jewls before class started.
"Yes, Dana?" said Mrs. Jewls.
"Can I leave the room when you read today?" asked Dana.
"Why?" asked Mrs. Jewls.
"Because I hate stories," said Dana. "They make me laugh
and cry too much."
"You don't hate stories. Dana," Mrs. Jewls told her. "You
love stories. I wish everybody laughed and cried as much as you."
"Really?" asked Dana. She couldn't believe it. All this time
she thought she hated stories when really she loved them. She was glad she
really loved stories.
Suddenly she changed a face. "Oh..!" she said.
"What is it?" asked Mrs. Jewls.
"What if I really love John, too?"
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