by Mike Thaler
“Safari who?” we ask.
“Why do we have to walk
safari?!” he laughs.
Chapter 10
fast food
Finally, we reach a river and
cross it by stepping on croco-
diles. One eats Doris’s backpack
and all. I guess that’s the toll. It’s
sort of a potluck dinner. Without
any luck . . . we’ll be the dinner. I
hope that a giraffe doesn’t
swallow me. The fall could be
huge—or worse, I could be
sucked up an elephant’s nose.
Snot a nice way to go!
I don’t want to be a baboon’s
breakfast, a lion’s lunch, a
crocodile’s dinner, or a snake’s
snack. I run and hold up a sign
that says
PLEASE DON’T FEED THE
ANIMALS.
I hope they can read.
Chapter 11
in the grand sand
By noon, we come to a desert.
The good news is there’s no
more jungle. The bad news is
there’s a lot of sand. We’re very
thirsty. Unfortunately, there are
no public water fountains. The
only good thing about a desert is
that if you add another s it would
be a dessert!
Kids are dropping like flies.
I’ve never seen a fly drop, but
I’ve seen fly droppings. Anyway,
it’s hot, and it’s lunchtime.
I even miss the school
cafeteria. I’m losing it. I ask if we
can stop and eat. “Not until the
lunch bell rings,” says Mrs.
Green. I hear a lot of bells.
Then I start seeing things. . . .
A Pizza Mutt wiggling in the heat
waves. A swimming pool full of
rubber ducks.
I even see a school bus. Wait, it
is a school bus! It drives up.
On the fr
ont of it are printed
the words CLASS TRIP.
Mr. Fenderbender opens the
door and I get on. All the kids are
sitting there bright-eyed and
excited.
Mrs. Green says we’re going
to the zoo to see a lot of wild
animals. Hey, that’s baby stuff.
They’re all in cages. A zoo is
pretty tame after you’ve seen the
real thing.
Maybe next time we’ll blast
off to a space station, climb
Mount Everest, or water-ski up
the Amazon River.
Now that would be a trip!
THE CLASS TRIP
FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!
Take a trip to the Black Lagoon!
Brush your teeth with shoe polish. Then survive a ride
with Mr. Fenderbender, the scary bus driver. Afterward,
swat mosquitoes as large as Count Dracula. Finally,
try having fun when your teacher is mean Mrs. Green!
All that happens and more, but only in
Cover design by Steve Scott
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