by Stan
“And what’s the name of this special class?” asked Freddy.
Sister thought for a moment. “Uh…something about democracy,” she said. “It’s called…Formations of Democracy. I think.”
“Formations?” said Freddy. He made a face. “Sounds more like fighter planes.”
“Or football,” said Brother.
“Or stalactites and stalagmites,” said Freddy.
“Okay, okay,” said Sister. “So it’s not ‘formations.’ But it sounds like ‘formations.’”
“Creations?” said Freddy. “Constellations? Vibrations?”
“Vibrations of Democracy?” groaned Brother. “Gimme a break!”
“It’s like building houses,” said Sister. She was thinking very hard.
“Foundations?” asked Brother.
“That’s it!” cried Sister. “Foundations of Democracy!”
“Sounds boring to me,” said Brother. “And which is the lucky class that gets an hour a day with this Dweebish?”
Sister grinned. “Guess.”
“Oh no,” moaned Brother.
“Yep,” said Sister. “Teacher Bob’s class! Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” said Brother. “And congratulations to you, Sis, for getting to miss it.”
“Oh, but I think it will be interesting,” said Sister. “And I won’t miss it, either.”
“What do you mean?” said Freddy. “You’re not in our class. You’re in Teacher Jane’s class.”
“And that’s exactly why Teacher Jane was just telling me all about Mr. Dweebish,” said Sister. “She chose me and Lizzy Bruin as honors social studies students. For one hour each day, we get to move up to your class for Formations of Democracy.”
“Foundations,” said Brother.
“Whatever,” said Sister. “Gimme the ball, Freddy. I want to throw a couple.”
“Say ‘please,’” said Freddy.
“Please,” said Sister.
“Say ‘pretty please,’” said Freddy.
“Pretty please.”
“Say ‘pretty please with sugar on top.’”
“Pretty please with a baseball bat on top of your head,” said Sister.
“Okay, okay,” said Freddy. He handed Sister the ball. “Don’t get upset.”
Sister hurried out to the pitcher’s mound while Brother handed Freddy his catcher’s mitt. “You catch her,” Brother said. “My hand’s tired.” Brother knew something Freddy didn’t know. Maybe Sister was two years younger and a girl. But she had one of the hardest fastballs at Bear Country School. “Better signal for a curveball,” Brother told Freddy.
Freddy looked up. “Why?”
“Trust me,” said Brother.
Freddy shrugged and put down two fingers for a curveball. Sister read the sign and wound up. The pitch came at Freddy like a rocket. It slammed into his mitt. CRACK!
“Yow!” cried Freddy. He dropped both the ball and the catcher’s mitt. Then he started jumping up and down on home plate, shaking his hand. “I signaled for a curveball!” he screamed at Sister.
“I guess the sun was in my eyes,” said Sister with a grin. “Sorry about that. Well, gotta go. I want to tell Mama and Papa about Formations of Democracy.”
“Foundations,” said Brother.
But Sister was already heading home. She was running at top speed.
Brother looked at Freddy. “My little sister can be a real pain in the neck,” he said.
“You mean pain in the hand,” said Freddy, moaning.
Brother laughed. “Not a bad fastball, though,” he said.
But Freddy had forgotten all about Sister’s fastball and his aching hand. He was looking toward the parking lot at the other side of the school grounds. A car he had never seen before was pulling into a space in the teachers’ section. “Look over there,” he said.
Brother and Freddy both turned to get a good look. The driver got out of the car and walked toward the school. Mr. Honeycomb, the principal, was waiting to greet him.
“Must be Mr. Dweebish, the new teacher,” said Freddy.
“Must be,” said Brother.
The new teacher wore a gray hat, a gray suit, and thick glasses that glinted in the afternoon sun. He was almost a head shorter than Mr. Honeycomb. And he was rather roly-poly.
“He kind of looks like his name,” said Brother.
“And let’s not forget nerdish and wimpish,” said Freddy. “What do you think?”
Brother sighed. “I think Too-Tall and his gang will eat him alive.”
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About the Authors
Stan and Jan Berenstain began writing the Berenstain Bears series in 1962, with The Big Honey Hunt. Since then, more than 250 Berenstain Bears books have been published and sales of the series are nearing 300 million. Stan and Jan have left behind a legacy of arguably the best-selling children’s book series ever. Making the books has long been a family affair, with son Mike Berenstain writing and illustrating new stories about everyone’s favorite bear family. You can visit the Berenstains online at www.berenstainbears.com.
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Copyright
THE BERENSTAIN BEARS RIDE LIKE THE WIND
Copyright © 2002 by Berenstain Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
EPub Edition © 2013
ISBN 978-0-06-218887-8
EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2013 ISBN: 9780062188878
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Originally published in 2002 by Random House, Inc.
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