by Abby Klein
I looked through the binoculars one more time. “He’s looking the other way! Now’s our chance! Come on!”
“Wait, Freddy, first put the binoculars away,” said Josh. “You wouldn’t want to lose them.”
“That’s for sure!” I said. “I’d probably have to clean up Suzie’s room for the rest of my life!” I carefully put the binoculars into my jacket pocket.
“Ready?” Robbie whispered.
“Ready!” we both said, giving a thumbs-up.
Robbie motioned for us to follow him. “Stay low to the ground.”
We practically slid out of the bush on our bellies and crawled quickly along the side of Max’s house. When we got to Max’s front yard, we took off running like we were being chased by a bear, and we didn’t stop until we were safely back at my house.
That night at dinner Suzie said, “So? Who’s your secret person for Secret Santas? Didn’t you pick the names today?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” said my mom, “but you ran right upstairs when you came home from school, so I didn’t get to ask you.”
“Did you pick Josh like you thought you were going to?” asked my dad.
“No.”
“Ha! Told you so,” said Suzie.
I glared at her.
“Did you pick Jessie?” asked my mom.
“I wish. But no.”
“I know who he picked,” Suzie said grinning.
“You do?” said my mom.
“Yep,” said Suzie. “Just look at Freddy’s face. Does he look happy?”
“Not really,” said my mom.
“That’s because he picked Max. Right, Freddy?”
I didn’t answer.
“Right, Freddy?” Suzie repeated.
I nodded my head slowly.
“So why do you look so upset?” said my dad.
“Because now the whole Secret Santas thing is ruined!” I whined. “I don’t even want to do it anymore!”
“Freddy,” said my dad. “Where is your Christmas spirit?”
“ ’Tis the season of happiness and joy,” said my mom.
“Well, I’m not feeling very happy right now,” I said.
“You need to change your attitude,” said my dad. “Right now you have a really bad attitude.”
I hung my head and continued pouting.
“Your teacher is organizing this really special thing for all of you, and you just want to whine and complain,” said my mom, “because you didn’t pick your best friend’s name out of the hat.”
“I would have been fine with anyone else, just not Max!”
“Come on, Freddy,” said my dad. “Max is a kid just like you.”
“Not really. He’s mean to everyone. He’s the biggest bully in the whole second grade!”
“I know he’s not always kind,” said my mom, “but maybe if kids did more nice things for him, he’d start to change.”
“This is your chance to do something nice for him,” said my dad.
“Let’s turn that frown upside down,” my mom said, reaching over to draw a big smile on my face with her finger.
“I know how to make him smile,” said my dad. He reached over and tickled me in the ribs. I tried to hold back from laughing.
“Oh … oh … I think I see that smile coming … there it is right there,” my dad said, poking my cheek. He tickled me one more time, and I burst out laughing.
“Much better,” said my mom. “Christmas is a time of joy and laughter, not whining and pouting.”
“So what are you going to make for him?” asked Suzie.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I had a ton of ideas for Josh, but I don’t have any for Max.”
“Well, what does he like?” my mom asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not really sure.” I said. “I think he likes to build stuff.”
“Really? Like what?” said my dad.
“Little toy houses and cars, stuff like that.”
“How do you know that?” asked Suzie.
“I uh … I uh …” I stammered. I had to think fast. I didn’t want them to know that I had been spying on Max. “He brought one of the cars in for show-and-tell one day.”
“Well, that’s pretty cool,” said my dad.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I agreed.
“I think I have an idea of what you could make for him,” said Suzie.
“What?”
“Since he likes to build so much, why don’t you make him a toolbox to keep all of his tools in?”
“That’s a great idea!” I said.
“I know,” Suzie said smiling. “I’m full of great ideas.”
“That is a really good idea,” said my mom. “It is a very thoughtful gift.”
“I think Max will like that a lot!” I said.
“I’m happy to help you build it,” said my dad. “When does it have to be finished?”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” I said. “We are going to be giving each other the presents on Friday, so we only have four days.”
“No problem,” said my dad. “I think I have some scrap pieces of wood in the garage left over from when I built the fence. We can use some of those pieces to make the toolbox.”
“Great! When can we start?” I asked.
“We can start tonight right after dinner if you want,” my dad said.
“Oh boy! Really?” I said, bouncing around in my chair. “That would be awesome! Thanks, Dad.” I picked up my spoon and started shoving the rest of my peas into my mouth.
My mom grabbed my hand and stopped it in midair. “Freddy, we talked about this last night,” she said. “You need to eat slowly. You are going to choke on those peas! You are holding a spoon, not a shovel.”
“I just want to get done so Dad and I can get started on the project.”
“I understand that,” said my mom, “but you need to finish your dinner first without gobbling.”
“The project can wait five minutes,” my dad said.
I scooped up the last spoonful of peas, chewed them quickly, then washed them down with a big gulp of water. “Okeydokey! I’m ready to get started,” I said, jumping out of my chair.
“I need about another ten minutes,” said my dad.
“I don’t think I can wait that long!”
“I’m glad you’re so excited,” said my mom. “That’s a big change from a few minutes ago when you didn’t even want to do Secret Santas.”
“Tell you what, Freddy,” said my dad. “Why don’t you go down to the basement and start getting things set up. I’ll meet you down there when I’m done.”
“Okay, Dad!” I said as I headed out of the kitchen. “Hurry up. Don’t take too long!”
“I won’t,” he said, laughing.
“ ‘You better watch out … you better not cry … you better not pout … I’m telling you why … Santa Claus is coming to town,’ ” I sang as I disappeared down the basement stairs.
When my alarm clock rang on Friday morning, I leaped out of bed, threw on my clothes, brushed my teeth, and raced downstairs.
“Wow! You’re up bright and early,” said my mom.
“I know. Today’s the big day!” I said.
“You mean today is the day you stop being so annoying?” said Suzie.
“Ha-ha, very funny. No, today is Secret Santas day!”
“Oh, that’s right,” said my mom.
“Do you have the present?” asked my dad.
“Oops! I almost forgot it,” I said, laughing. “I’ve got to go back upstairs and get it.”
I ran up the stairs two at a time, grabbed the toolbox from my room, and flew back down the stairs.
“Got it!” I yelled as I skidded back into the kitchen.
“Do you want me to help you wrap it?” asked my mom.
“No thanks, Mom. Miss Clark said that kids might be able to figure out who their Secret Santa is by the way the gift is wrapped, so we are just supposed to put it in a brown paper bag.”
> “Sounds like Miss Clark has really thought about this.”
“Yes, she has. She even made a name sticker to put on the bag so that kids can’t try to figure out the handwriting.”
I pulled the brown bag out of my backpack, gently put the toolbox inside, then stuck the sticker that said MAX on top.
“All set!” I said, and smiled. I put the gift into my backpack.
“I don’t think you’re all set,” said Suzie.
I frowned. “Why not?”
“You don’t look like Santa.”
“Of course I don’t look like Santa,” I said, laughing. “I don’t have a beard or a belly like a bowl full of jelly!”
“You need a Santa hat,” said my mom.
“Great idea!” I said. “The only problem is I don’t have one.”
“Suzie does. She got one last Christmas.”
“Can I borrow it? Can I? Can I?”
“I don’t know,” said Suzie.
“I’ll take really good care of it! I promise.”
“Come on, Suzie, let your brother borrow your hat for one day.”
“Oh, all right. Just for today.”
I threw my arms around her and gave her a great big hug. “You are the best sister ever!” I said.
“I know,” said Suzie. “Don’t you forget that.”
Suzie went up to her room and came down carrying the fuzzy red hat with the big white pom-pom. She plopped it on my head. “There, now you look like Santa.”
I patted my belly. “Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!”
“All right, Old Saint Nick. You’d better eat your breakfast or you’re going to be late for the bus,” said my mom. “I made you something special this morning — gingerbread pancakes.”
“Gingerbread pancakes! That sounds awesome!” I said, licking my lips. “That’s probably what Mrs. Claus makes for Santa’s breakfast. Can I put whipped cream on them?”
“As long as you don’t use it to make another beard!” said my mom.
I sprayed on a mountain of whipped cream, gobbled up three gingerbread pancakes, and dashed off to catch the bus. When Josh got on, we both started laughing.
“Nice hat, dude,” said Josh, pointing to my Santa hat.
“Yeah, nice hat,” I said, pointing to his Santa hat.
Max stood up and yelled, “Look at the little twinsies. Aren’t they so cute in their fuzzy hats?”
“Sit down, Max,” said Jessie. “You’re just jealous that you don’t have a cool hat like that.”
Max looked at her. Then he sat back down.
“Jessie, you rock,” said Josh.
Jessie smiled.
The bus pulled up to school, and we all raced off.
“Have fun!” Robbie called after us.
“Thanks! We will!” Josh and I yelled back.
When we got into the classroom, we all secretly gave Miss Clark our gifts.
“I just can’t wait!” Chloe squealed. “This is going to be so exciting! My nana got me this outfit just for today.”
She had on a Santa hat, a matching red velvety dress with furry white trim, and shiny black party shoes.
“Watch me, everybody!” said Chloe.
“Do we have to?” Josh whispered.
“Do we have a choice?” said Jessie.
Chloe started twirling around the room and almost crashed into Max’s desk.
“Hey, ding-a-ling! Watch where you’re going!” yelled Max.
“I’m doing a dance from the famous ballet The Nutcracker.”
“You are a nutcracker!” Max said, chuckling.
“No I’m not!”
“Yes you are!” said Max.
Miss Clark stepped in between the two of them. “Really? I’m surprised at the two of you. This arguing is ridiculous! It stops right now, or you both can skip the whole Secret Santas celebration. Do you understand me?”
Oh no! I thought to myself. If Max misses the celebration, then he won’t get my present!
Chloe nodded. “Yes, Miss Clark.”
“Max?”
Max nodded. “Yes, Miss Clark.”
“Good. Now everybody come to the rug. We’re going to pick numbers out of my Santa hat, and that will determine what order we will go in to open gifts. If you pick number one, you go first, number two, you go second, and so on.”
“I’m going to go first,” said Chloe.
“How do you know?” said Josh. “We haven’t even picked yet.”
“I just know,” Chloe said, smiling at Josh.
I turned to Josh and whispered in his ear, “I think she likes you.”
Josh just shook his head. “No way, dude!”
Miss Clark walked around with the hat so we could pick our numbers. “Okay, now everybody open up your paper to see what number you got.”
Max jumped up, pumped his fist in the air, and yelled, “I got number one! I got number one!”
“That’s not fair,” Chloe whined.
“It’s very fair,” said Miss Clark. “We picked out of a hat. It was totally random. Chloe, you just have to wait for your turn.”
“I don’t think she knows what the word ‘wait’ means,” said Jessie.
“Or the word ‘turn,’ ” said Josh.
Miss Clark handed Max his present. “Here you go, Max. This is from your Secret Santa.”
My heart started beating like crazy. What if he doesn’t like it? I thought to myself. I tried not to show any emotion on my face. I didn’t want to give my secret away.
Max pulled the toolbox out of the bag. He just stared at it.
Oh no! I thought. He hates it! He really hates it!
All of a sudden, a big smile spread across his face. “This is awesome!” he said. “I’ve never had a toolbox of my own. This is one of the best presents I ever got!”
Merry Christmas, Max, I thought to myself. Merry Christmas!
YOU WILL NEED:
flesh-colored construction paper
red construction paper
cotton balls
two googly eyes
a small pink pom-pom
a red marker
scissors
glue
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut a circle out of the flesh-colored construction paper to make the face.
2. Cut a Santa hat shape out of the red construction paper and glue the bottom of the hat to the top of the flesh-colored circle.
3. Glue one cotton ball at the tip of the hat and a line of cotton balls along the bottom of the hat.
4. Glue a bunch of cotton balls along the bottom and sides of the face to make Santa’s beard.
5. Glue two googly eyes on the face.
6. Glue on a small pink pom-pom for the nose.
7. Cut a cotton ball in half and glue a piece above each eye to make eyebrows.
8. Cut another cotton ball in half, stretch it apart, and glue it under the nose for a mustache.
9. Draw a red smile under the mustache.
HO, HO, HO!
YOU WILL NEED:
clear washable glue
white washable glue
liquid starch
water
red food coloring
a measuring cup
4 bowls and 2 spoons
DIRECTIONS:
1. In one bowl mix:
½ cup of water
½ cup of CLEAR glue
a large amount of red food coloring
2. In another bowl measure out ½ cup of liquid starch.
3. Slowly mix the glue into the starch with a spoon and then mix it with your hands for a while. Let it sit.
4. Now mix:
½ cup of water
½ cup of WHITE glue ONLY (NO red food coloring!)
5. In another bowl measure out ½ cup of liquid starch.
6. Slowly mix the glue into the starch with a spoon and then mix it with your hands for a while. Let it sit.
7. After about an hour, your slime is ready to be played with (or wrapped up to give away a
s a gift)!
Have fun making pretend candy canes, Santa hats, Christmas cookies, or anything else you can think of!
Why does Santa have three gardens?
He likes to HOE, HOE, HOE!
What is Santa’s favorite candy?
Jolly Ranchers
What do you get when you cross an apple with a Christmas tree?
A pineapple
What goes “Oh, oh, oh!”
Santa walking backwards
What do Santa’s elves learn at school?
The ELFabet
ABBY KLEIN has been a first-grade and kindergarten teacher for twenty years. She and her husband and two children live in Vermont. They have four dogs.
JOHN McKINLEY has been drawing all his life. For the Ready, Freddy! books, he hides the word “fin” in every picture. He and his family live in Northern California.
#1: Tooth Trouble
#2: The King of Show-and-Tell
#3: Homework Hassles
#4: Don’t Sit on My Lunch!
#5: Talent Show Scaredy-Pants
#6: Help! A Vampire’s Coming!
#7: Yikes! Bikes!
#8: Halloween Fraidy-Cat
#9: Shark Tooth Tale
#10: Super-Secret Valentine
#11: The Pumpkin Elf Mystery
#12: Stop That Hamster!
#13: The One Hundredth Day of School!
#14: The Camping Catastrophe!
#15: Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble
#16: Ready, Set, Snow!
#17: Firehouse Fun!
#18: The Perfect Present
#19: The Penguin Problem!
#20: Apple Orchard Race
#21: Going Batty
#22: Science Fair Flop
#23: A Very Crazy Christmas
#24: Shark Attack!
#25: Save the Earth!
#26: The Giant Swing
#27: The Reading Race
#1: Second Grade Rules!
#2: Snow Day Dare
#3: Secret Santa Surprise
Text copyright © 2015 by Abby Klein
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by John McKinley
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.