Halloween Parade

  This book is in honor of

  the birth of

  Rachel Godwin Allen

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  1 GLASSES

  2 HALLOWEEN

  3 FREE COSTUMES

  4 E E E E

  5 WINNERS

  6 FOUR-EYES!

  7 THE COWGIRL

  8 THE BIG MISTAKE

  9 SQUARE-EYES

  10 NANCY’S GOOD IDEA

  11 THE COSTUME PARTY

  12 THE PARADE

  13 GOBLINS AND PIRATES AND CLOWNS

  14 MOTHER GOOSE

  15 THE SPOOKY NIGHT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  GLASSES

  Hannie Papadakis sat down at her desk in room 2A, Ms. Colman’s classroom. She was one of the first people to arrive at Stoneybrook Academy that Monday morning. Even Ms. Colman had not arrived yet. But the door to Mr. Berger’s room was open. Hannie could peer through it and see Mr. Berger next door. He was at his desk. Hannie knew he was keeping an eye on her classroom until Ms. Colman came in.

  “Hi, Hannie!” called Terri Barkan as she ran into the room.

  “Hi, Hannie!” called Tammy Barkan.

  “Hi!” Hannie replied.

  Terri and Tammy were twins, which Hannie thought was extremely cool. If they dressed alike, Hannie could not even tell them apart. Ms. Colman did not let them sit next to each other, though. Tammy sat in the second row, and Terri sat in the third.

  Hannie sat in the fourth row, which was the back row of the classroom. Her best friend, Karen Brewer, sat in the fourth row too. Hannie did not get to sit next to Karen, but that was all right. Nancy Dawes sat between Karen and Hannie, and Nancy (who was Karen’s other best friend) was getting to be Hannie’s friend too. Hannie wished that one day the three of them could all be best friends, but she had a feeling that might take time. Nancy was still shy around Hannie. And she was a little jealous that Karen was friends with Hannie. Oh well. Hannie could wait. She was a patient person.

  Hannie pulled a book out of her desk. She had just begun to read a spooky Halloween story when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Boo!” yelled the someone.

  “Aughh!” Hannie cried loudly. “Karen Brewer, you scared me!”

  Karen giggled. “Well, you were reading a Halloween book.”

  “Hi, you guys!”

  “Hi, Nancy,” called Hannie and Karen.

  Hannie put her book away. Her friends were there. Now the day had truly begun.

  Hannie and Nancy and Karen watched the rest of their classmates arrive. First Ricky Torres joined them in the back row. He could be a pest, so Hannie was glad when he left the girls alone.

  Then Omar Harris, Ian Johnson, and Hank Reubens came in. Ricky ran to them, and they made a huddle in the corner.

  Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris arrived next. They were best friends. And they were the best enemies of Hannie, Nancy, and Karen. Jannie pulled Leslie into the coatroom to show her something she was carrying in her pocket.

  Messy Natalie Springer entered the classroom by herself. She pulled up her droopy socks, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and sat down.

  Finally Chris Lamar, Bobby Gianelli, Audrey Green, and Sara Ford arrived. Sara dashed to her seat. Hannie was pretty sure she was escaping from Bully Bobby. He was probably up to another one of his mean tricks.

  Sara’s seat was in front of Hannie’s, but before Hannie could ask her about Bobby, Ms. Colman arrived. She set her things on her desk. And the kids in her class scurried to their seats.

  Ms. Colman was Hannie’s favorite teacher. In fact, she was just about everyone’s favorite teacher. Ms. Colman was kind, she was funny, she thought up great projects and activities. And she almost never yelled.

  “Class,” said Ms. Colman a few minutes later, “I have an announcement to make. Tomorrow you will all go to the nurse’s office to have your vision tested. An eye doctor is going to decide whether any of you might need glasses.”

  Karen raised her hand. “Oh, Ms. Colman,” she said. “I will not need to take the test. I just went to my family’s eye doctor, and I already know that I need glasses. I am getting them very soon.”

  “Okay, Karen. I will check that with your mother this afternoon,” said Ms. Colman. “Now, class, please find your reading books.”

  HALLOWEEN

  Hannie thought about the vision test during school that day. She thought about it on the way home. She wondered what the test would be like. Would it be hard? She thought about glasses too. Would she need them? What would glasses feel like resting on her nose?

  Hannie decided to think about something else. “Mommy? Can Karen come over today?” she asked.

  “Sure,” replied Mrs. Papadakis. “Give her a call.”

  Karen lived in another neighborhood. Hannie wished Karen lived closer by so that she could walk to her house. Actually, every other weekend, Karen did live across the street from Hannie. Karen’s parents were divorced, and Karen lived with her father two weekends each month, and with her mother the rest of the time. Her father’s house was across the street from Hannie’s. Two weekends each month was not very often, though, Hannie thought. Plus, Karen’s mother’s house was next door to Nancy’s. Lucky Nancy. Karen and Nancy got to see each other nearly every day after school. That was why they were best friends. If Hannie lived next door to Nancy, maybe they would be best friends too.

  Hannie called Karen. Karen’s mother said she could drive Karen to Hannie’s house if Mrs. Papadakis could drive her back later. And before Hannie knew it, her doorbell was ringing.

  “I’ll get it!” cried Hannie’s older brother, Linny.

  “No, me! No, me!” cried Hannie’s baby sister, Sari.

  “No, me!” said Hannie. “That is Karen. My friend. So I will answer the door.” And she did.

  “Let’s play outside,” said Karen after she had waved good-bye to her mother. “And let’s talk about our Halloween costumes.”

  Karen always had lots of ideas about things to do. Some of the kids in Ms. Colman’s class thought she was bossy. And maybe she was a little bossy. But Hannie liked Karen anyway.

  “I think I might be a magic genie,” said Hannie.

  “I might be a witch,” said Karen. “But I do not know. I am almost always a witch. I have that tall black hat and that — Hannie? Are you listening to me?”

  “What? Oh, sorry. Karen, I just remembered something. The costumes made me think of it.”

  “Think of what?”

  “Well, I was remembering last night when I heard Daddy talking on the phone. He was talking to someone from his office. And I heard him say something like, ‘Everything is ordered, and it should be here in time for Halloween. There will be plenty for everyone.’ And then he said, ‘Yes, it is all free.’ ”

  “So?” said Karen.

  “Well, where does my father work?” asked Hannie.

  “At a company?” replied Karen.

  “At a company that makes costumes.”

  “Costumes? I thought it made uniforms. Like for nurses and police officers.”

  “And it makes costumes. And some other stuff. Anyway, Daddy said everything is ordered, there will be plenty for everyone, and it will be here for Halloween. That must mean costumes. Daddy probably got a whole bunch of free Halloween costumes this year. I bet he will have enough for every kid in our class. And for every kid in Linny’s class.”

  “Free costumes for everyone?” exclaimed Karen.

  Hannie nodded her head. “Yes. It must be a surprise for me from Daddy. I am sure I am not supposed to know about it.”

  “Oh. My. Gosh.”

  “I will tell everyone about it in school tomorrow.
”

  “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I cannot wait!” cried Karen.

  FREE COSTUMES

  Hannie woke up early the next morning. “Daddy? When are you leaving for work?” she asked. “Can you drive me to school early?”

  “Sure,” replied her father. “Why?”

  “Because of, um, because of …” Hannie did not want to spoil her father’s surprise. “Well, just something. I need to get there early, that is all. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Hannie was the very first person to arrive in her classroom that morning. The next person was Sara Ford.

  “Sara! Sara!” exclaimed Hannie. “Good news!”

  “Really? What is it?” asked Sara.

  Hannie followed Sara into the coat-room. “My father works for a company that makes Halloween costumes, and this year he is getting free costumes for everyone in our class!”

  “For everyone?” Sara repeated. “Cool.”

  “Yup.” Hannie glanced at the doorway and saw Tammy and Terri. “Hey, you guys, guess what. My father works for a company that makes Halloween costumes, and this year he is getting free costumes for all the kids in our class. They are really good costumes too,” Hannie added.

  “Wow,” said Tammy.

  “Excellent,” said Terri.

  A few minutes later Chris Lamar showed up.

  “Hey, Chris!” cried Sara. “Guess what. Hannie’s father works for a company that makes Halloween costumes, and he is getting free costumes for all of us this year.”

  “Really good costumes,” said Terry.

  “Truth?” Chris asked Hannie.

  “Truth,” replied Hannie.

  The news about the costumes spread fast in Ms. Colman’s room. Soon everyone was talking about Halloween.

  “I was going to be a scarecrow,” Natalie said to Audrey. “I was going to make my own costume. But now I guess I will wait for the really good free costume.”

  “I hope I can be a bat,” said Audrey.

  “I want to be a firefighter,” said Ian.

  Everyone was talking at once. Ms. Colman’s room was very noisy.

  Hannie waved her hands around. “Hey! Hey, everyone!” she yelled.

  The kids quieted down. “What is it?” asked Karen.

  “One more important thing,” said Hannie. “You cannot tell Ms. Colman or your parents or anyone else about the costumes. See, my father wants to surprise me with them. And I do not want to spoil his surprise. So keep this a secret, okay?”

  “Okay,” said the kids.

  Hannie joined Karen and Nancy in the back of the classroom.

  “Hannie, this is going to be the best Halloween ever,” cried Karen. “I am so glad you found out your father’s secret. I cannot wait to see my costume. Isn’t this cool, Nancy?”

  Nancy had been staring at Hannie. Now she gave Karen a funny look. “I thought you said last Halloween was our best Halloween ever. Remember? You were a witch, and I was your black cat?”

  “I remember,” said Karen. “But those were just silly costumes we made ourselves. Now Hannie is going to get us real costumes.”

  Nancy did not say anything.

  “Hey, here comes Ms. Colman!” cried Bobby. “Run for your lives!”

  The kids in Ms. Colman’s class dashed to their desks. They were sitting quietly when Ms. Colman began the day.

  “All right, girls and boys,” Ms. Colman said. “You may line up by the door. And remember, only soft voices when we are in the halls, please.”

  It was later that morning. And it was time for the vision test.

  “What is the vision test like?” Hannie whispered to Karen as they walked to the nurse’s office. “Is it hard?”

  “Oh, no. It is simple,” Karen replied. “You just have to look at a bunch of letters and read them to the doctor. The letters get smaller and smaller. The doctor wants to see what size letter you can read. If you can only read the big ones, you might need glasses. If you can read the teeny tiny ones, then your eyes are really good.”

  “Oh,” said Hannie. That did not sound too bad.

  The nurse’s office was a busy place that day. Mrs. Pazden, the school nurse, was telling everyone what to do. A teacher was writing down kids’ names. An aide was helping the eye doctor. Just as Ms. Colman’s class arrived, Mr. Berger’s class was leaving.

  “Hi, Mrs. Pazden!” called Karen. “I do not need to take the test, because I am getting glasses very soon. So I will be your helper today.”

  “Well … all right,” replied Mrs. Pazden. “I did not know I was going to have another helper today. But let’s see. Why don’t you help Ms. Colman line up your classmates?”

  Karen’s classmates were already lined up. “Done!” called Karen. “That was too easy. What is next?”

  Mrs. Pazden did not answer, though.

  “Karen, you can help me,” said Nancy. “I am scared.”

  “Scared? What are you scared of?” asked Karen.

  “Glasses. I do not want them.”

  “Neither do I,” said Hannie.

  “Well, you probably do not need them.”

  “You needed them,” pointed out Nancy.

  “Well, that is true.”

  “I know!” said Hannie. “Nancy, let’s not think about glasses. Let’s think about our excellent Halloween costumes instead. The ones my father is going to get for us.”

  “Hannie —” Nancy started to say.

  But Ms. Colman interrupted her. “All right, kids. Listen up, please.”

  It was time for the vision tests to begin.

  One by one, the kids were called into a room inside the nurse’s office. Hannie was the fourth to go in.

  “Uh-oh,” she said.

  “Do not be nervous,” whispered Karen.

  Hannie was only nervous at first. Then she saw that Karen was right. All she had to do was say the names of letters. That was easy, easy, easy. After she had read the rows of letters (right down to the bottom), the doctor asked her to look at some big Es and tell her which way the “legs” were pointing.

  “Right … left … down … up,” said Hannie.

  “That is fine,” said the doctor. “Your vision is excellent. You do not need glasses. Here. Hand this paper to Mrs. Pazden on your way out.”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Hannie when she was standing with Karen and Nancy again. “I passed the test!”

  Hannie was not the only one. The doctor told almost every kid that he or she had passed the test and did not need glasses. Natalie already had glasses, though. The doctor told her to keep wearing them. Then the doctor told Ricky that she was going to call his parents because Ricky needed to see his own eye doctor.

  “Hmm,” said Karen. “I wonder why.”

  “Hmm,” said Hannie and Nancy. Then Hannie glanced at Nancy and smiled. But Nancy walked ahead of Hannie to catch up with Karen.

  WINNERS

  A day went by. The kids in Ms. Colman’s class forgot about the vision tests. They were busy with other things. With reading stories and writing their own stories, and with cutting out pumpkins from orange paper. They made black cats and round yellow moons and ghosts and witches’ brooms too.

  “I cannot wait for the Halloween parade,” said Hank one day.

  “What Halloween parade?” asked Sara. (Sara was new in school.)

  “Our school parade,” Hank told her. “We have it every year.”

  “We bring our costumes to school on Halloween,” added Jannie. “And after lunch we change into them.”

  “Then everybody in the whole school goes to the gym,” said Omar. “And each class gets to march around so everyone else can see their costumes. The teachers give out prizes.”

  “They do? What for?” asked Sara.

  “Oh, for funniest costume, scariest face, stuff like that.”

  “Hey, I just thought of something!” cried Bobby. “With our great costumes this year, we will probably win all the prizes!”

  “Oh, boy!” cried Karen.

/>   The kids in Ms. Colman’s class were growing very excited.

  “What kinds of prizes do they give out?” asked Sara.

  “Good ones,” replied Tammy.

  “Markers,” said Leslie.

  “Little toys,” said Audrey.

  “Once, in kindergarten, I got a coupon for a movie ticket,” said Ian.

  “I cannot wait!” cried Sara.

  “Let’s look at the calendar and see how many days are left before the Halloween parade,” said Nancy.

  The kids crowded around the calendar at the front of the room.

  “There is Halloween,” said Hannie, pointing.

  “Hey, look. It is on Sunday!” exclaimed Sara. “We do not have school on Sunday. Will we still have the parade?”

  “It will be on Friday,” said Karen. “I heard the teachers talking.”

  Hannie began counting the squares on the calendar. “Eighteen days until Halloween,” she announced. “And sixteen days until the parade.”

  “Sixteen days until we win prizes!” cried Chris.

  “Hannie, thank you for getting our costumes,” said Sara.

  “This is going to be the best Halloween ever, thanks to Hannie,” said Audrey. Audrey pulled something out of her desk. “Here, Hannie. This is for you,” she added. Audrey gave Hannie a stick of gum.

  “Thanks!” said Hannie.

  The next day Natalie brought Hannie some stickers. “To say thank you,” she said. “I am so excited about my costume!”

  “This is for you too,” added Omar. He gave her a baseball card. “Because I bet our class is going to win more prizes than any class has ever won. And we are only in second grade.”

  “Wow, thanks,” said Hannie. “Thanks, you guys.”

  The next day Hank let Hannie cut in front of him in the lunch line. Then Jannie let Hannie have the best hopscotch court, the one that had just been painted.

  “I sure am lucky,” Hannie said to Nancy and Karen as they began their game. “Everyone is being so nice to me.”

  “Yeah!” agreed Karen.

  But Nancy did not say anything. Not a word. She just tossed her stone and began the game. “Okay, Karen,” she said finally. “You go next.”