Gooney Bird on the Map by Lois Lowry Read Free Book Online

the puzzle piece Gooney Bird handed her. "Hmm," she said. "Pennsylvania. Thanks!"
    Then it was time for Nicholas. "Abracadabra,
Magic
!" said Gooney Bird, and gave him Nebraska. Malcolm got Massachusetts, and Keiko smiled when she looked down and saw Kentucky on her piece. "
What's Up
?" asked Felicia Ann with a giggle, and was given Florida. "Here you go,
QT
" Gooney Bird said to Chelsea next, and presented her with the long narrow wooden piece that was California. Then she placed the maroon jigsaw puzzle box on the top of her desk and looked around the room. "Everyone got a state with an initial that matches yours?" she asked, and the children held up their puzzle pieces. All but three.
    "I don't!" called Beanie.
    "Neither do I!" Barry said.
    "Where's mine?" asked Ben.
    "Oops!" Gooney Bird responded. "Let me look in the box again. There are a lot more pieces." She shook it, and the wooden pieces rattled inside. She opened the lid, shuffled the pieces around, removed some, and then said, "Nicholas? Here you are!"
    Nicholas came forward and she filled his cupped hands. "He already had Nebaska," Gooney Bird explained. "Now: presto!
Magic!
He has Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and North Dakota." Nicholas looked astonished at first. Then he grinned and went back to his desk with the stack of puzzle pieces.
    "That's not fair!" Ben called loudly.
    "Well," said Gooney Bird, "there are more pieces. Let me take another look." She shuffled the remaining pieces around in the box.
    "Wow! This guy's really a
Class Act
!" Gooney Bird exclaimed. "Come get yours, Malcolm! Hold out your hands!" Malcolm stood, tripped over his own untied shoelace briefly, then righted himself, and came to collect the pieces as she named them. "Malcolm already had Massachusetts. Now he gets Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Montana!" Malcolm, who so often looked unhappy, was grinning broadly as he went back to his desk. All of the children clapped and cheered. All but three.

    "Where's mine?" called Beanie.
    "Here, Chelsea, two more for you!" Gooney went to Chelsea's desk and handed her Colorado and Connecticut.
    "EXCUSE ME?" Barry Tuckerman stood up and put his hands on his hips. Gooney Bird ignored him.
    "And Keiko? You get Kansas."
    "Thank you," Keiko replied politely, as she took the wooden piece shaped like Kansas. "It goes very nicely with Kentucky."
    "I WANT ONE!" Ben bellowed.
    "Me too!" Beanie said angrily.
    "I'm going to tell on you, Gooney Bird!" Barry announced loudly.
    "Tell what?" Gooney Bird asked.
    "That you cheated! You could have used the
world
puzzle! I could have been, ah, Belgium! Or Bolivia!"
    "We don't even
have
a world puzzle, Barry," Chelsea pointed out.
    "Well. We
should
" Barry muttered. "I'm gonna complain to the principal. I could be Bulgaria!"
    "What is Mr. Leroy's first name, Mrs. Pidgeon?" Gooney Bird asked.
    The teacher thought for a moment, trying to remember. "John," she said.
    "Oh," said Gooney Bird. "What a shame. No state for him, either. Well, let's have a moment of silence in his honor."

9.
    "Before we go outside and work again on our map project," Mrs. Pidgeon directed, "let's all open our dictionaries and look up the word
gloating.
." She wrote the word on the board.
    "Us too? Me and Beanie and Ben? Even though we didn't get any states?" Barry asked.
    "I would say especially you three," Mrs. Pidgeon told him.
    All of the second-graders took their dictionaries out of their desks and began to turn the pages. Keiko, who was a very fast reader, raised her hand almost immediately.
    "Let's wait until we've all read it silently," Mrs. Pidgeon said. She sat at her desk and watched all the second-graders with their heads bent over their dictionaries. After a moment she stood up.
    "All right," she said. "Now let's think about
gloating.
It means to feel pretty smug because you're better off than someone else. Maybe you've accomplished something, or you have