by Abby Klein
“Good luck, you guys,” I whispered.
“Thanks, Freddy.”
“The team captain for Room 3 will be … Jessie Sanchez.”
The class clapped.
“As the team captain, you get to wear this special pin on your hat. Come on up, so I can put it on.”
Jessie got up and proudly walked to the front of the room.
“Now that we have our team captain,” Mrs. Wushy said, “it looks like we’re ready to go. Everyone, grab your coat and line up behind your captain. Let’s go show Room 4 what we’re made of!”
CHAPTER 7
Go, Team!
When we got outside, Room 4 was already there waiting for us. I gulped. Some of the kids in that class looked really big.
“Before we get started, boys and girls,” said Mrs. Wushy and Mrs. Brown, “you all must take the athlete’s oath. Raise your right hand and repeat after us.”
We all raised our right hands.
“I promise to play by the rules and be a good sport.”
“I promise to play by the rules and be a good sport,” we all repeated.
“Let the games begin!”
“Is the Snowshoe Race first?” asked Max.
“No. The first event is the Snowball Stack. Everyone who is participating in that event, please step forward.”
Robbie had signed up, and he was really good at making the perfect snowball. He knew exactly how to pack the snow so it wouldn’t fall apart.
“OK, the person who can stack the most snowballs wins. On your mark, get set, go!”
All the kids started making snowballs as fast as they could and stacking them up. Most of the kids only got about seven or eight in their stack before it fell over. Only Robbie and a girl named Jen from Mrs. Brown’s class were left. Robbie was already up to ten snowballs, and he was still going.
“Come on, Robbie. You can do it!” I yelled.
“Robb-ie, Robb-ie, Robb-ie!” the class chanted.
When Jen put on her next snowball, her stack started to wiggle, but it didn’t fall over.
“That makes eleven for Jen,” said Mrs. Brown smiling.
Robbie carefully put on snowball number eleven. His stack didn’t even move.
“We’re going to win this for sure,” I said to Jessie. “Robbie is so good at this.”
As soon as Jen went to place her twelfth snowball on top, her whole stack toppled over.
“Awwwww!” moaned Room 4.
“Robbie still has to put on number twelve for us to win this event,” said Mrs. Wushy.
I held my breath.
Robbie slowly placed snowball number twelve on the stack and stepped back. The pile wobbled slightly, but it did not fall over.
“That’s a winner,” said Mrs. Wushy.
We all cheered.
“Way to go, Robbie,” I said, patting him on the back.
“That’s one point for Room 3. Time for the next event, the Long Jump.”
In this event, the teachers were just going to measure who could jump the farthest in snow boots. The students jumped one at a time. Room 4 has a boy named Josh who has the longest legs you’ve ever seen. He easily jumped farther than anyone. No one else even came close.
“The score is one point for Room 3, and one point for Room 4.”
“That wasn’t really fair,” Max grumbled. “His legs were so long.”
“That’s OK,” said Jessie. “Come on, Room 3. Let’s win the next event.”
“That’s the way to encourage your team,” said Mrs. Wushy.
“The next event is the Snowball Toss,” said Mrs. Brown. “If you are in this event, please stand on this line.”
Jessie walked to the line.
“Come on, everybody,” I said. “Let’s cheer for our team captain.”
“Jess-ie, Jess-ie, Jess-ie!”
The kids took turns throwing. A boy named Nick in Mrs. Brown’s class threw the ball so far, it landed next to the fence on the edge of the playground.
“Wow!” I whispered to Robbie. “That went really far.”
“I know. We might be in trouble.”
“I bet you can’t beat that, little girl,” Nick said to Jessie.
“Oh yes she can!” I yelled back.
“Yes she can! Yes she can!” the whole class started to chant.
Jessie took a step back, lifted her arm, and threw with all her might. The snowball sailed over the playground fence into the street.
“I’d say that’s a winner,” said Mrs. Brown.
We all screamed and cheered.
“That makes the score two to one in favor of Mrs. Wushy’s class. Next up is the Sled Pull.”
“Oh, that’s me! That’s me!” shouted Chloe. “Come on, Julie,” she said to the only person in the class who would be her partner. “Let’s go!”
Chloe sat down in the sled, fixed her hat and scarf, and smiled a big movie-star smile. “Now remember, Julie, you have to pull as hard as you can. We have to come in first.”
“On your mark, get set, go!”
Chloe and Julie only got about five feet when Chloe fell off of the sled. “Oh no! Oh no! Now look what you’ve done, Julie. You’ve ruined the hat and scarf my nana brought me from Sweden!”
“Get back on! Get back on!” we all yelled, but Chloe ignored us and continued to pout, and a team from Mrs. Brown’s class crossed the finish line.
“Thanks a lot, Little Miss Priss!” Max yelled. “We lost that event because of you!”
“That’s OK, Max,” said Jessie. “We’ll win the next one.”
Jessie was such a good team captain. I’m glad the class chose her.
“The score is tied,” said Mrs. Brown. “This last event will decide who wins this year’s Winter Olympics.”
“Oh great!” I muttered to myself. “Just great!”
I felt a slap on the back and Max’s hot breath in my ear. “Time to race, wimp. Let’s go!”
CHAPTER 8
The Race
I strapped on my snowshoes and walked to the starting line. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up.
“Everybody ready? On your mark, get set, go!” called Mrs. Wushy.
Max took off like a rocket. Boy, was he fast.
I tried to focus on my feet, so my snowshoes wouldn’t get caught on each other.
I could hear Jessie and Robbie yelling, “Come on, Freddy! You can do it!”
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my chest.
I wasn’t sure I could make it all the way around the school.
The classes were chanting, “Room 3! Room 4! Room 3! Room 4!”
I looked up to see how much farther I had to go, and that’s when I saw it … Max fell flat on his face. I couldn’t believe it! It was my lucky day!
As I got closer to him, I could see that he was struggling to get up, but his strap was caught in the other snowshoe.
I could have run right by him and won the bet, but then I thought about what Mrs. Wushy had said about being a good sport. I wouldn’t be a very good teammate if I just left him there and didn’t help.
I stopped running and bent down to help Max untangle his strap.
“What are you doing?” asked Max.
“Helping you. Your strap is caught in your other snowshoe.”
Max just stared at me for a minute. I think for the first time in his life he didn’t have anything to say.
I untangled the strap. “There you go,” I said. “It’s all fixed. You can get up now.” I reached out to help him up.
“But … but … but … what about the bet?” he asked. “And why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because we’re teammates, and that’s what teammates do. They help each other.”
When we were both on our feet again, Max whispered, “You go ahead, Freddy. You should be the winner.”
I took off like lightning. A boy in Mrs. Brown’s class had passed me when I stopped to help Max. I had to catch up to him if I
had any chance of winning the race.
I took a deep breath and ran with all my might. “You can do it! You can do it!” I said to myself.
I could hear my classmates cheering for me: “Fredd-y, Fredd-y, Fredd-y!”
The other boy and I were neck and neck. I gave one last push and beat him over the finish line by a hair. Then I collapsed on the ground.
All the kids in the class came rushing over and piled on top of me.
“Freddy, you’re our hero!”
I smiled.
“Come on over here, boys and girls. It’s time to award the trophy,” said our teachers.
We all gathered around.
“This year the Winter Olympics trophy goes to Mrs. Wushy’s class. Congratulations to everyone for your hard work.”
We all cheered. “We’re number one! We’re number one!”
“I am so proud of you,” said Mrs. Wushy, “and I am especially proud of Freddy. He really showed us today what it means to be a teammate and taught us what good sportsmanship is all about. And that is more important than any trophy.”
I smiled a big smile and winked at Max. And for once, I think he may have smiled back.
Freddy’s Fun Pages
FREDDY’S SHARK JOURNAL
RECORD BREAKERS
The fastest shark is the mako, which can reach speeds of up to 60 mph.
The shark that lives the longest is the spiny dogfish. It can live to be about 70 years old.
The shark that lives in the coldest waters is the sleeper shark.
The shark that gives birth to the most pups is the whale shark. It can give birth to several hundred pups in one litter.
The rarest shark is the megamouth. Only 14 have ever been seen.
WINTER OLYMPICS TRIVIA
How much do you know about the Winter
Olympics? Take this little quiz to find out!
1. When did the first Winter Olympics take place?
2. Which country has won the most gold medals in the Winter Olympics?
3. How many times has Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympics?
4. Can you name three sports in the Winter Olympics?
5. What was the first tropical island nation to compete in the bobsled event in the Winter Olympics?
6. What is the Olympic motto?
7. Who is the youngest figure skater to win a gold medal?
ANSWERS
MARSHMALLOW SNOWMAN
Even if you live where it never snows,
here’s a snowman that you can make!
YOU WILL NEED:
three large marshmallows
a tube of icing
assorted small candies
one toothpick
one thin pretzel stick
one chocolate kiss
1. Spread icing between the marshmallows and stick them together with the toothpick.
2. Add dots of icing to glue on the candy, and then decorate the face and the body.
3. Break the pretzel stick in half and stick into the sides of the middle marshmallow for arms.
4. Stick the candy kiss on the top marshmallow for a hat.
5. Try drawing on your snowman with the icing, and enjoy!
SNOWFLAKES
Make these beautiful snowflakes
to decorate your room for winter.
YOU WILL NEED:
popsicle sticks
various shapes of dried pasta
white glue
white paint
small paintbrush
glitter
string or yarn
1. Glue two popsicle sticks together to form an “X,” then glue one or more across at a diagonal.
2. Glue various shapes of dried pasta on top of the popsicle sticks. You could use wagon wheels, bowties, penne, etc.
3. When the glue has dried, paint the pasta and sticks white.
4. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle your snowflake with glitter.
5. Tie or glue a piece of string or yarn around the top of the snowflake and hang it up in your room.
Have you read all about Freddy?
Don’t miss any of Freddy’s funny adventures!
Copyright
Text copyright © 2009 by Abby Klein
Illustrations copyright © 2009 by John McKinley
All rights reserved.
Special thanks to Robert Martin Staenberg.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. SCHOLASTIC, THE BLUE SKY PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 2008034299
First printing, January 2009
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-29598-7