1.语文

一年级-上册

2.数学

3.英语

一年级-下册

日语

ドラえもん

英语 自然拼读

作者：J.F. Blane

插画：Joel Snyder

Written by J.F. Blane 
Illustrated by Joel Snyder

好吧，我承认有一点是真的。 就是在我小的时候， 我做过很多不应该做的事情。 比如说，当我把一条死金鱼放在格林医生的鱼缸里的时候， 我从未想过在候诊室里的其他小孩子会如此大声的尖叫， “啊，死金鱼！” 我又怎么会知道，他们歇斯底里的叫声会把小婴儿也弄哭了。 他们的母亲们也都露出极度不安的表情， 而护士们也手忙脚乱，窜来窜去， 嗯，犹如离水的鱼一般。

Okay, it’s true. I admit it. I did a lot of things 
when I was younger that maybe I shouldn’t
have. Like when I put a dead goldfish into
Dr. Green’s fish tank. I never thought the other
kids in the waiting room would scream, “Dead
fish!” so loud. And how was I to know that 
their screaming would get babies crying, 
moms all jittery, and nurses jumping around
like, well, fish out of water.

其实，严格上来说，鱼缸打翻，腥水流满这个地毯，以及里面的装饰品掉出来，这都不是我的错。其次，如果你迫切的想知道当死金鱼漂浮在水面上的时候， 是正面朝上，还是背面朝上的时候，你或许也会做同样的事情。（但是事实上，它是侧浮。我现在告诉你，以后你就可以避免同样的错误啦。）

And, technically, it wasn’t my fault that 
the fish tank got knocked over —spilling fishy
water and little fishy castles all over the
carpet.Then again, you might have done the
same thing if you wanted to find out whether
a dead fish floats upside down or right side
up. (It actually floats on its side, which I’ll tell
you to keep you from making the same
mistake I did.)

我还记得，我那时九岁。我现在10岁了，已经在读四年级了。所以我要努力变的成熟起来，变得更有责任心。这也是爸爸想看到的，也是他在新的一年里，对我特别的期望。顺便说一下，要想变得成熟起来，你可以像加蒂，我姨婆苔丝一样发音，发成“ma-toor”，因为它和“door（门）”是押韵的，而不要发成“ma-chewer”因为它和“sewer（下水道）”是押韵的。这是那天她来我们家喝茶的时候告诉我的。“查利曼，如果你想让别人把你当做小姐，淑女来看待，请一定在言行举止上 ma-toor（成熟些）。

Remember, also, that I did that back when
I was nine. Now I am ten and in fourth grade, 
so I have become mature and responsible. Well,
that’s what my Dad says he wants me to try to
be, especially now with it being a new year. 
By the way,if you want to be mature, you
can say it like Gattie, my Great Aunt Tess: 
“ma-toor,” which rhymes with door; not
“ma-chewer,” which rhymes with sewer. 
That’s how she said it the other day when
she came over for tea. “Please, Charlemagne, 
if you want to be treated like a young lady, 
you must act ma-toor.”

首先，在未来的至少20年或者30年里，我可不想变成一个淑女。再者，我不喜欢喝茶，除非搭配曲奇。第三件事就是，我讨厌“查利曼”这个名字！这个名字不是我自己取的，而是爸爸妈妈帮我取的。这个名字给我的感觉像是，用小的白色茶杯饮茶，还微微翘着小指一样矫情。仔细想想，第三件事是最令人厌恶的。但是我的人生又无法摆脱“查利曼”这个名字，我猜，可能还会用至少20年到30年。所以我自己根据“查利曼”这个名字起了个小名“查利”。这个名字听起来像是浸在热可可里面的曲奇，那可是我的最爱。

First off, I don’t want to be a young lady 
for at least another 20 or 30 years. Secondly,
I don’t like tea, except for the cookies that go
with it. The third thing is that I hate that name
Charlemagne! I didn’t pick it;my parents did.
That name is like . . . drinking tea out of little
white cups with your pinkie out. Come to think
of it, my third thing should have been my first. 
But I’m stuck with the name Charlemagne, 
which I guess I might end up using in 20 or 30
years. I did pick my nickname from it: Charly. 
That name is more like dunking cookies into
hot cocoa, which I adore.

但我们还是先会到变成熟的这个主题上来吧，你想怎么发音都可以。事情是这样开始的，今天早上， 爸爸下楼来吃早餐的时候，看起来特别暴躁。我问他发生了什么事情，爸爸说，“我今天是从错误的一边起床的。”这就是爸爸，会经常说一些让我摸不着头脑的话。我从来都不知道，床还分为正确的一边和错误的一边。所以，我来到爸爸的房间一探究竟。

But let’s get back to being mature, any way
you say it. It started this morning when Dad
came down to breakfast in a grumpy mood. 
When I asked him what was the matter, he
said, “I got up on the wrong side of the bed.” 
That’s my Dad for you, always saying
these sayings that I don’t understand. I never
even knew there was a right side of a bed. 
So, I went to Dad’s room to investigate.

我一进房间，就发现了问题所在。 爸爸的床，有一边是靠着墙的。 我估计，当他想从这一边起床的时候， 碰到了墙， 所以脾气才这么暴躁。 所以如果我把床挪到一个墙阻碍不了的地方， 那爸爸就不会有这个困扰了， 也就不会臭脾气了。 
但是这个床很难移动，我打起精神用力推， 但是，当我顺着地板推的时候，我滑倒在毯子上， 不小心把爸爸床头的床头柜弄倒了， 结果上面的台灯掉到了地上，摔得粉碎。 
“查利曼！”啊，完了！ 当爸爸叫我平时不怎么用的全名的时候，准没好事。 “到书房，马上！” 彻底完了，当爸爸叫我到书房的时候，事情更糟糕。 在书房里，我们一般都会谈论那些我不该做的事， 或者或是一些我本该做却没有做的事。


I saw the problem immediately. One side
of Dad’s bed was up against a wall. I figured
he must have banged into that wall trying to
get out of bed, and that’s what put him in a
grumpy mood. If I could just move the bed 
so there was no wall in the way, then Dad
couldn’t get up on the wrong side! No more
grumpiness! 
The bed wouldn’t budge. I tried bracing
myself, but as I pushed against the floor, my
feet slipped on the rug, which knocked over
the nightstand, which sent Dad’s reading
lamp crashing to the floor. 
“Charlemagne!” Uh-oh. It’s never a good
sign when Dad calls me by my full name, the
one I did not pick. “To my study—now!” It’s
an even worse sign when Dad calls me into
his study. That’s where we have our talks
about stuff that I did that I wasn’t supposed to
do, and stuff that I didn’t do that I was
supposed to do.

“你已经十几…….”爸爸说道，“十什么？”
“十几。以一开头的两位数。十或者十以上。一和零。” 
“可是一加零不还是等于一吗，”我反驳道，可是声音小到只有我能听到，因为我知道现在不是纠正爸爸数学错误的时候。在加上，他一脸严父的神情，这种神情只有当他很认真，很严肃的时候才会表现出来。
“你知道一个人十几岁意味着什么吗？”他问道。


He said, “Now that you are into double
digits—” 
“Double what?” 
“Double digits. Two numbers in one. Ten
or more. One and zero.” 
“One and zero is one,” I said, but to myself, 
figuring now wasn’t the time to correct Dad’s
math. Plus, he had on that being-a-Dad face 
that he uses when he wants to look I-mean-it
serious. 
“Do you know what being at an age of
double digits means?” he asked.

“嗯…,”我一时语塞。“我可以得到双倍的零花钱？”这次，我不得不把内心的悄悄话大声说出来。不过，没有那么糟糕，因为爸爸暂时放下了严父的神情，露出了慈父的表情。

“Hmmm,” I hmmmed. “ That I get my
allowance doubled?” This time, I had to say
out loud what I was saying to myself. And it
was okay, because Dad let down his being-a-
Dad face for a moment, and I saw his doting-
Dad face peeking out.

“错。这说明，
你到了一个要为自己的行为负责任的年龄了。
你也是时候改变自己了。（但是我理解的是，你也是时候翻开一片新叶子了）”
“我为什么要翻开叶子呢？”我不解的问道。
“我又不是要找虫子。”
“这时一种修辞手法，
你为什么理解事物总是这么表面呢？
它的意思是，你需要改变你的一些做事方式——成为一个新的自己。”

“No. It means you are getting to an age 
when you need to be more responsible
for your actions. It’s time you turned over
a new leaf.” 
“Why would I turn over leaves?” I asked.
 
“I’m not looking for worms.” 
“That’s just an expression. Why do you
always take things so literally? It means
you need to change some of your ways—
be a new you.”

这时，门铃响了，我想我终于得救了，谈话终于可以结束了。  但是爸爸说，  除非这个人继续敲门才行。  实际上，真的有敲门声，  “咚，咚……咚，咚。”  
“我打赌，肯定是戴莉拉在敲门，”爸爸说道，  “她肯定 又把钥匙给丢了。”  
一开门，居然真的是迪阿姨。  迪阿姨比我妈妈年纪小，  而且她都和我们住在一起  ，除非她去外地出差。  从妈妈过世之后，便是如此。  但是她经常去外面出差 ， 因为她是一名机场的飞行员。  我已经有好几周没有见到迪阿姨了。


That’s when I was saved by the bell, to use
another one of Dad’s sayings, except the bell
was actually a knock. Actually, the knock was a
“knock-na-na-knock-knock . . . knock-knock.” 
“I’ll bet that’s Delilah,” said Dad. “She must
have lost her key, again.”
 Aunt Dee was here! Aunt Dee was my
mom’s younger sister. Aunt Dee lived with us 
whenever she wasn’t somewhere else; at least
she had since my mom died. And she was
somewhere else a lot since she was an airplane
pilot. I hadn’t seen Aunt Dee in weeks.

“迪阿姨，迪阿姨，你这次给我带了什么礼物啊？”我唱道，每次她出差回来，我都会如此。这是我没长大之前，我们经常会玩的游戏。迪阿姨边笑，边递给我一个水晶球。这是阿姨从俄亥俄州桑达斯基的世界游乐园买回来的。它里面有雪花，还有一个过山车的模型，是那种美国最古老的木质过山车。“这种过山车，我坐过24次。每次坐，感觉身体里206块骨头，有205块在嘎嘎响，”迪阿姨说道。“果然还是你，宝刀未老啊，”老爸边说，边露出一种悲伤地笑容。“也是时候停止这种动荡的生活，安顿下来了吧？（但我的理解是种野生燕麦）”“吉米，过这种生活永远不会有年龄的限制。”

“Aunt Dee, Aunt Dee, what did you bring me?” I sang out, which I always did when she came back from her travels. It had been our
game since I was much less ma-toor. Aunt Dee chuckled and handed me a snow globe from the Play World Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. Inside was a model of “The Rattler,” one of the oldest wooden roller coastersin the United States. “I rode that coaster 24 times, 
and it rattled 205 of the 206 bones in my body,” Aunt Dee said. 
“Still the same old Dee,” said Dad with one of his sad-smile
looks. “Isn’t it time you settled down and stopped sowing your wild oats?” “Jimmy, you’re never too old—or too young—to sow wild oats.”

一开始是翻树叶，怎么现在又来种燕麦了？难道每个人都成农民了？
“戴莉拉,你真不愧是弗朗西丝卡的妹妹啊，”爸爸说道。“那是，我可是相当荣幸，”迪阿姨回道。“她以前斗牛的时候，可是抓住过公牛的角。”“哇哦！”我惊讶的说道。“我知道妈妈之前做过消防员，但我从没听说过妈妈还是个斗牛士。”这时爸爸和迪阿姨哈哈大笑起来，还把自己的胳膊搭在对方的胳膊上面。“欢迎回家，迪，我来帮你拿包，”爸爸说道。然后转向我，用严父的表情对我说，“小姐，我们过会再继续我们的谈话。”


First it’s turning over leaves, and now it’s sowing oats? Was everyone becoming a farmer? “Delilah, you are truly Francesca’s sister,”said Dad. “And glad of it, too,” said Aunt Dee. “She grabbed the bull by the horns!” “Whoa!” I said. “I knew Mom had been a firefighter, but I never knew she had been a bullfighter, too.” That’s when Dad and Aunt Dee laughed and threw their arms around each other. “Good to have you back, Dee. Let me take your bags,” said Dad. Then he put his Dad face back on and said to me, “We’ll finish our conversation later, young lady.”

“小姐？”爸爸上楼之后，迪阿姨边说，边向我使眼色。“爸爸说我现在已经十岁了，又到了新的一年，我要改变自己。”“你爸爸的意思是新的一年要有新的计划，这个主意很不错，查利。你今年想要完成什么事情呢？”我想了一会儿.

“Young lady?” said Aunt Dee to me with a wink after Dad had gone upstairs. “Dad says that now that I am ten and it’s a new year, I need to turn over leaves.” “He means make some New Year’s resolutions. That’s a good idea, Charly. What do you hope to accomplish this year?” I had to think about that one for a while.

“哇哦，责任重大啊。”  我不得不认真的想一下。 过了一会，我终于给出了答案 “我想做一些好的有意义的事情， 让每个人都能够开心。” “你已经往成功的方向迈进了，”迪阿姨说到。 “因为这个主意已经让我很开心了。 那我们就把晚饭前的冰淇淋作为改变自己， 改变生活的第一步吧。” “这个主意不错，”我回应道。 在和迪阿姨去吃冰淇淋的时候， 我突然想到一个好主意， 一个关于在新的一年里如何改变自己主意。

“Whoa, heavy responsibility.” I had to think about that one for another while. “I would like to create something beautiful that puts a smile on everyone’s face,” I finally said. “Ah, you are succeeding already,” said
Aunt Dee. “That idea has already put a smile on my face. Let’s say we go turn over some leaves and sow some wild oats, starting with ice cream for dinner.” “Sounds great
to me,” I said. While walking to the diner for ice cream with Aunt Dee, I came up with an idea about how I could start my leaf-turning New Year’s Revolution.

噢喔!查利接下来将会做些什么呢？
让我们在下一章“查利的新年变化”中找答案吧。


Uh-oh! What will Charly do? Find out next
time in “Charly’s New Year’s Revolution.”

回答道:“第一，要保持房间内整洁，这样的话，苔丝姨婆就不会念叨我了。第二，上课的时候尽量少说话，除非阿罗约夫人允许。最后一个，尽量不做错事情，尽量不在书房被爸爸训话。”

“First，keep my room neater so Great Aunt Tess won’t nag me. Second, Not talk in class so much unless Mrs Arroyo calls on me. Third, Try not to have so many talks in Dad’s study.”

“这些都是些琐碎的计划，”迪阿姨继续说着。“未来是属于像你一样的年轻人的，所以为了让世界变得更美好呢，你会做一些什么事情呢？”

“Those are all solid goals,” said Aunt Dee. “But the world’s future is in its youth, like you, so what are you going to do to make the world a better place?”

Charly Did It

Welcome to Alaska
 At the very top of North America lies a cold,
wild land: Alaska. Alaska is west of Canada.
It sits on the Arctic Circle, between the Pacific
and the Arctic Oceans. The climate there is
stormy and cold. But Alaska has beautiful
scenery, amazing wildlife, and great natural
resources. Because it has such huge, empty
spaces, some people call Alaska “The Last
Frontier.” Alaska has an exciting history and a
bright future. This book will tell you all about
America’s last frontier.

Alaska’s Land
 Alaska is enormous, covering over 1.7
million square kilometers (about 660,000
sq mi). The coastline of Alaska is longer than
the coastline of the rest of the United States
put together. Alaska is almost as large as the
entire country of Mexico!
 Because it is so big, Alaska includes many
different landscapes. Southeast Alaska lies
along the Pacific Ocean next to Canada.
It has weather similar to Vancouver, British
Columbia, or Seattle, Washington, with a great
deal of rain and relatively warm winters.

Southcentral Alaska also lies along the
Pacific coast. It includes Alaska’s largest city,
Anchorage.

Do You Know?
Alaska is home to Mount McKinley, the tallest
mountain in North America. Mount McKinley towers
6,194 meters (20,320 ft) above sea level. That’s as tall
as over 1,000 houses stacked on top of each other!

Most of the land in Alaska is in what many
Alaskans call “the Interior.” The Interior is
full of mountains, glaciers, and Arctic tundra.
The climate is freezing cold, and it can also
be quite dry. Very few people live in this part
of the state.

Do You Know?
 The most northern part of Alaska is known as the “land of
the midnight sun.” Above the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not fully
set for 24 hours during the summer solstice. But during the winter
solstice, the Sun does not fully rise for 24 hours. The amount
of sunlight varies as Earth’s tilt causes the Arctic Circle to turn
toward and away from the Sun. Summer temperatures can be
above 32 degrees C (90o F), while winter temperatures can drop
below –50 degrees C (–60o F).

Alaska is famous for its snowy mountains,
giant forests, crystal-clear lakes, and beautiful
coastline. This wild land is home to grizzly
bears, moose, polar bears, wolves, bald eagles,
and caribou. Whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters,
and fish live in its waters. Many animals in
Alaska have thick fur or blubber to keep warm.

Alaska’s History
 Native Americans first came to Alaska
over ten thousand years ago. Many Native
Americans fished
and hunted sea
mammals such as
seals. They used
kayaks to travel
along the coast
and dogsleds to move on land. They made
warm clothes from caribou fur and waterproof
boots from sealskin.

Because Alaska is so far north and so cold,
Europeans did not come there until 1741.
Russian fur traders were among the first
Europeans to come to Alaska. Alaska even
belonged to Russia for a while. By the 1800s,
American fur traders were also coming into
Alaska from the south. In 1867, the United
States bought Alaska from Russia.

Many Americans thought Alaska was
worthless until a sudden discovery in 1896.
Gold was found in Canada’s nearby Yukon
Territory. Miners from all over the world came
through Alaska, hoping to get rich.
 Alaska finally became a U. S. state on
January 3, 1959. Children were invited to
create its state flag. Seventh grader John
Benson created the winning design.

On March 27, 1964, a giant earthquake
shook Alaska, destroying parts of Anchorage.
The “Good Friday Earthquake” killed 131
people. It is still one of the most powerful
earthquakes ever measured.
 In 1968, oil was discovered on Alaska’s
northern coast. Oil has completely changed
Alaska’s economy. It is the biggest business
in Alaska today.

Alaska Today
 Although Alaska has the largest area
of any U.S. state, it has almost the smallest
population. In 2009, the population of Alaska
was about 698,000 people, which is only about
the population of Fort Worth, Texas. Most
of Alaska’s people live in the cities. Anchorage,
the largest city, has the state’s largest port.
Alaska’s capital is Juneau (JOO-noh). But
there are no roads going to this city. You can
get there only by sea or by air!

The economy of Alaska is
based on natural resources.
Oil is the biggest business in
Alaska. The Trans-Alaska
Pipeline is a giant oil pipe
that stretches across the
entire state from north to
south. It carries oil from
wells on the northern coast
to a port on the Pacific coast. From there, ships
carry the oil to the rest of the United States.

Do You
Know?
 The state of
Alaska makes so
much money on
oil that it doesn’t
have to charge
income tax or
sales tax. In fact,
the citizens of
Alaska actually
get money from
their government.
Some Alaskans
receive almost
$2,000 per year!

Fishing is also very important in Alaska.
Alaskan boats catch cod, salmon, crab, and
other delicacies.
 Today, Alaskans are proud of being tough
and different. Many Alaskans enjoy outdoor
sports such as hunting, fishing, and riding
snowmobiles. Alaskans have a great spirit
of individualism in their politics and in their
daily lives.

Alaska’s Beauty
 The beauty of Alaska touches every part of
life. During the darkest days of winter, the sky
above Alaska sometimes fills with light. The
aurora borealis, or northern lights, shine
when tiny particles from the Sun get pulled
toward Earth by the planet’s magnetic field.
 One of the fastest-growing parts of the
Alaskan economy is tourism. People from all
over the world come to see Alaska’s beautiful
landscapes and amazing wildlife.

Each year, thousands of tourists come to
Alaska. They go on cruise ships to see icebergs
and whales. They ride snowmobiles to see
snow-covered mountains. They hike through
national parks hoping to see grizzly bears
or moose. The beauty of Alaska is one of the
state’s greatest natural resources.


But not everyone agrees about how to
preserve this beauty. Alaskans make most
of their living from oil. Some people say that
drilling and shipping oil hurt the state’s
wildlife and natural beauty. Many people
want to set aside huge areas of Alaska that
cannot be drilled for oil or changed by
humans in any way. But other people say this
is a waste of resources.

Climate change may also hurt Alaska’s
beauty. If the climate warms up, Alaska’s
glaciers will likely melt, and polar bears
will have a more difficult time finding food.
However, people in this cold land often enjoy
warmer winters. And the ice-filled Arctic Ocean
may soon be open for shipping and fishing.
 Alaska’s future will definitely be like its
history—full of adventure and excitement. The
state’s huge size, small population, amazing
beauty, and cold climate will continue to keep
it America’s “Last Frontier.”

Alaska: The Last Frontier

Introduction
 Ask people about their favorite sweet thing
to eat, and they’ll probably say it’s chocolate.
People around the world love chocolate. They
love it so much that every year they eat more
chocolate than any other sweet.

Where Chocolate Comes From
 It might surprise you to learn that
chocolate actually grows on trees. That
doesn’t mean that you can pick a chunk of
chocolate from a tree branch and eat it. In fact,
the chocolate growing on trees looks, tastes,
and smells nothing like the chocolate you eat.
 The tree that gives us chocolate is the cacao
(kah-KOW) tree. Chocolate comes from beans
that are found in large pods on the tree. Cacao
trees grow near the equator, where it is hot
and wet.

Today, most cacao trees are grown on farms
called plantations. The trees have lots of small
white or yellow flowers that bloom during the
year. Some of the flowers change into pods,
but most do not.

The pods are shaped like little footballs.
The pods are green when they first form, but
they change to a golden or reddish color as
they get ripe.

Preparing the Beans
 Taking the pods from the cacao trees is
the first step in making chocolate. But it’s
not the pods that are important—it’s the 20
to 50 beans found inside the pods, which are
actually the tree’s seeds. It takes a lot of beans
and a lot of work to make chocolate. First, the
pods are gathered. Then, someone using a
large blade called a machete (mah-SHET-ee)
cuts the pods open.

The beans are then scooped out of the open
pod. The beans are not brown, as you might
expect. Instead, they are cream colored and
covered with a soft pulp. These beans are a
long way from being the chocolate you know.

The pulp-covered beans are put into piles
or boxes and covered. As the beans come in
contact with the air, they begin to change from
a cream color to a purple color. The beans
also change on the inside in a process called
fermentation. Fermentation can take more
than a week, but the fermented beans still do
not taste or smell like chocolate.

After the beans have fermented, they are
dried. As they dry, the beans are turned. Once
the beans are dry, they are placed in large cloth
bags and shipped to makers of chocolate.

From Beans to Chocolate
 Making chocolate from the fermented,
dried beans is a very long and complicated
process. First, the beans need to be cleaned,
which removes any remaining pulp or pieces
of the pods. Then, chocolate makers blend
different varieties of beans to make sure the
chocolate has just the right flavor.
 The cleaned and blended beans are roasted
in order to bring out the chocolate flavor. This
is the stage when
the beans begin to
smell like chocolate.
As the beans are
roasted, the thin
shell that covers
them grows brittle.
The beans pass
through a special
machine that cracks
their shells and
blows away the
pieces of shell with
fans.

After the shells are removed, only
the meaty part of the bean, called the nib,
remains. The nibs are ground up and crushed
until they become a liquid. The liquid is
poured into molds where it cools into bars of
bitter, unsweetened chocolate. The bars are
then pressed until the most important part
of the chocolate, a yellow liquid called cocoa
butter, is removed. The cocoa butter drains
through a screen and is collected to make the
chocolate we eat.

Word Origins
 Cacao or Cocoa?
 When the products of the cacao
tree made their way to English-speaking
countries, the Spanish word cacao
became the English word cocoa. Writers
and speakers of English today still use the
word cacao when discussing the tree
and its flowers, pods, and beans.
People usually use the word cocoa
when discussing the many products that
come from the beans.

After the liquid cocoa butter is removed, the
solid part of the bar is ground into a powder.
Cocoa powder is sent to dairies and bakeries to
flavor baked goods and dairy products.
 The chocolate we eat is made in the final
step, called conching (KONCH-ing). Conching
takes place in machines with big rollers. Sugar,
cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and other
ingredients are rolled and mixed until smooth.
The smooth mixture is poured into molds and
cooled. After it has cooled and solidified, the
chocolate is removed from the molds and
wrapped in packages for shipping.

History of Chocolate
 As near as historians can tell, people living
in Mexico and Central America were using
chocolate almost 2,000 years ago. These people
enjoyed a drink made from chocolate. But if
you were to try this drink today, you’d find
that it tastes much different from the chocolate
drinks you enjoy. In fact, it was a very bittertasting
drink—kind of like coffee.
 Christopher Columbus brought some cacao
beans back from the New World to show to the
king and queen of Spain. But Europeans did not
know what to do with the beans, so they mostly
ignored them. They were more interested in
spices and other things Columbus brought back.

A Spanish explorer by the name of Hernando
Cortez helped Europeans begin to see that there
was value in cacao beans. The great Aztec ruler
Montezuma had served Cortez a drink made
from cacao beans. The Aztecs told Cortez that
it was the drink of the gods. They believed
that cacao beans gave them added wisdom and
strength. They placed so much value on cacao
beans that they used the beans as a form of
money. Cortez saw much more value in the
beans as money than as a drink. He planted
cacao trees so that he could use the beans, not
for chocolate, but as money. It was his way of
growing money on trees.

Cortez brought back knowledge of how to
make the chocolate drink, but it still was not
popular outside the New World. Not until the
Spanish began mixing sugar with the drink did
chocolate begin spreading in popularity.
 Until the 1600s and 1700s, chocolate was a
luxury food for royalty and powerful church
officials. But during the 1600s, people began
grinding large amounts of cacao beans in mills,
producing much more chocolate and lowering
the cost. The invention of smooth milk chocolate
also increased the treat’s popularity. The first
chocolate shop in London, England, was opened
in 1657. In the 1700s, a steam-driven chocolate
grinder was invented, allowing factories to
quickly make tons of affordable chocolate.
Today, chocolate is a favorite and affordable
treat in many countries.

History of Chocolate
 200-The first use of chocolate by people
in Mexico and Central America
 900-Chocolate used as money by people
of Mexico and Central America
 1502-Columbus brings cacao beans
back to Europe
 1528-Hernando Cortez brings cacao
beans and knowledge of how to
make a chocolate drink to Spain
 1657-A Frenchman opens the first
chocolate shop in London, England
 1828-Cocoa press is invented
 1847-First solid chocolate bar is sold
 1875-A man in Switzerland makes and sells
the first milk chocolate
 1894-Milton Hershey establishes Hershey
Chocolate Company
 1913-Invention of a method for
making chocolates filled
with other sweets
 2007-World consumes over
3,000,000 metric tons
of cacao beans

Chocolate Today
 Most of the chocolate made in factories
today is used to make chocolate candy. Other
chocolate goes into ice cream, chocolate drinks,
and baked goods such as cakes and doughnuts.
Even a sauce called mole (MOLE-ay), used in
Mexican cooking, is made from chocolate.

Do You Know?
 Recent medical studies show that there
are definite medical benefits in eating
chocolate. The benefits are linked to dark
chocolate, rather than milk chocolate. Some
of the medical benefits include a reduction
in heart disease and blood pressure.

Each year people around the world
consume, or eat, tons of chocolate. The people
of Switzerland consume more chocolate per
person than anyone else in the world. They
are joined in their love of chocolate by people
in many other European countries. The table
below shows chocolate consumption in the
top ten chocolate-consuming countries.

Try This! Yummy Chocolate Brownies
 Make sure you have an adult to help you
with any cutting or handling of hot foods.
 1 Gather these ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
4 squares (1oz. each) of unsweetened
chocolate (also called baker’s chocolate)
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
 2
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Rub grease
over a 9x13-inch (15-cup) baking pan.
 3
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat
on the stovetop. After the butter is melted, take
it off the heat and stir in the chocolate until it is
melted and mixed in. Add the eggs one at a time,
stirring thoroughly. Then add the sugar and vanilla,
stirring the mixture until smooth.

Conclusion
 It took a long time for chocolate to become
popular outside the regions of Central and
South America where cacao trees come from.
Over the years, people added things such as
sugar and milk to the long and complicated
process of making chocolate from cacao beans.
Today, people around the world eat millions
of kilograms of chocolate, making it the
world’s most popular sweet.

4
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking
powder. Gently pour the butter, chocolate, and
sugar mix into the flour and stir it until the flour
is completely wet.
 5
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and spread
it evenly.
 6
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the brownies begin
to pull away from the sides of the pan.
 7
Let the brownies cool in the pan before you cut
them. Makes 12 brownies.

All About Chocolate

Written by Elizabeth Austin
Illustrated by Maria Voris

Introduction
 Few things are as bright and energetic as .
a sky filled with colorful, dancing kites! Each
design is competing for your attention—longtailed
dragons, spinning metallic stars, and
favorite cartoon characters. Kites are no .
longer just simple toys. Modern, aerodynamic
materials and engineering techniques make
new kite designs bigger, lighter, and stronger
and allow them to perform like aerial acrobats.

History of Kites
 Thousands of years ago, the first toy.
kites were named after the kite bird, a large,
graceful bird with a very wide wingspan. In
imitation, many early kites were shaped like
birds, but people continually experimented
with kite designs. Slowly, kites became
increasingly elaborate and took on identifiable
characteristics and consistent flight patterns.
Kite flying so captured people’s imaginations
that stories were written about flyers. One
famous Chinese legend tells a story about a
man who used a kite to attack a fort. Unable
to penetrate the walls, he tied himself to a
huge kite, flew over the fort’s high walls, and
frightened the soldiers away.

Some kites have made history. The famous
American diplomat and inventor Ben Franklin
loved testing ideas. He used a kite to prove
his idea that lightning was made of electric
current. On .
a stormy day, .
he and his son .
tied a metal key .
to a kite string .
and flew their .
kite high into .
the storm .
clouds. Just .
as he predicted, .
electricity from .
the clouds ran .
down the wet .
string to the .
metal key. When .
he reached toward the key, the electricity
jumped from the key and gave him a shock!
 Warning: Don’t try this experiment! When
Franklin tried it again, he was hurt badly.

Unusual Uses for Kites
 Fishing: Fish like to chase things in the
water. To reach fish that swim far from shore,
some people attach a shiny, baited fishhook to
the long tail of a kite. The airborne kite skips
the bait through the water so the fish can see
it, bite it, and be caught and reeled in.
 Weather charts: For years, scientists used .
a specially built box kite to carry delicate
weather instruments aloft—to chart and
record wind speeds and air temperatures.

Real wind power: Long-distance cargo
ships burn large amounts of fuel and
contribute to air pollution. One German
shipping company is experimenting with
special kites to help reduce both problems.
The big kite helps to pull the ship so the .
ship’s engines will burn less fuel every day.
As they burn less fuel, the amount of air
pollution the engines produce will also .
be reduced.

Not all spies are well-trained human
snoops. For years, armies attached small,
powerful cameras to kites to fly over and spy
on enemy locations. Armies have also used
kites for shooting practice. These special kites
could twist and dive, dodging bullets and
imitating the evasive moves of military .
fighter planes.

Watching a kite sail lightly through the sky
still makes everyone smile—just as watching
the kite bird did long ago. With a little
practice, almost anyone can assemble a kite
and learn to fly it. One day, you may want .
to test your new kite-handling skills with
multiple-stringed stunt kites. Or you may
want to participate in an extreme kite sport,
such as kitesurfing—where a big power kite
pulls your surfboard!

Make Your Own Kite
 You’ll need:
 • two lightweight, smooth sticks, one 3 feet
(90 cm) long, the other 2 feet (60 cm)
 • a large plastic trash
bag, cut open
 • a long strip of
lightweight cloth or plastic for the tail
 • scissors
 • strong tape
 • a very long string
 Step 1:
 Form a cross shape with the sticks.
Wrap tape around the
sticks where
they meet.

Step 2:
 Cut off a 4-foot (120 cm) piece of string.
Tape each end of the string to each end
of the long stick. This string is called the
bridle. Tie one end of the rest of string to
the middle of the bridle.
 Step 3:
 Lay the cross on the open plastic bag.
Cut a diamond shape around it. Make
sure to cut the diamond shape wider
than the ends of the sticks.

Step 4:
Fold the corners of the diamond over
the ends of the sticks. Tape the corners
tightly to the sticks.
Step 5:
For a tail, tape the strip of cloth
or plastic to the bottom of the kite.

Kite Safety
 • Remember to choose an open,
safe place to fly your kite.
 • Don’t fly your kite near power lines.
Keep away from trees, roads,
and airports.
 • Don’t fly a kite in the rain or when
you hear thunder.
 • Be sure nothing is on the ground to
trip over.

When it’s time to test your first kite, pick .
a breezy day and take it to a flat, open area,
even a beach, if one is nearby. Look around
you to be sure that there are no power lines .
or big trees to tangle your kite. Make sure that
there is nothing on the ground that you could
trip over.
 Ready to start? Hold your kite up by the
bridle and run into the wind. When you feel .
it tug, let go of the kite! Let out a little string,
slowly, until you feel the wind pulling your
kite. Keep letting out more string until your
kite is flying high!

All About Kites

A Snack, Anyone?
 If you lived in prehistoric times, a snack
might have meant nuts and seeds that you
found in the forest. You might have picked
wild berries and mushrooms. You might
even have found a tasty insect to munch on.
 Now, you go to the cupboard, refrigerator,
or even a vending machine for a snack. You
can select from fruit, bread, cheese, or even
soda and candy. Because there are so many
choices, the study of food—nutrition—is
more important than ever.

Nutrients
 A nutrient is any substance your body
needs to live, stay healthy, and grow. All of
the nutrients you need come from the foods
you eat and liquids you drink. This is why
it is very important to eat foods that contain
the right kinds of nutrients. On the next few
pages, you will find out about different kinds
of nutrients, what they do for your body, and
what foods you can eat to get them.

Try This!
 How many
meals might you
eat in your life?
 1 Use a calculator.
 2 Multiply:
3 meals a day
times
365 days a year
times
90 years
 Wow!
That’s a lot!

What Is a Protein?
 Proteins make up the building
blocks of your body, helping build
and repair cells. Proteins are
especially important for strong
muscles. Foods that contain
protein include
meat, fish, eggs,
dairy products,
beans, nuts, and
some grains.

What Is a Carbohydrate?
 Carbohydrates are the nutrients your body
uses to make energy. Some carbohydrates are
especially good for you because they give you
energy over a long period of time. These are
found in foods such as vegetables, many fruits,
oatmeal, whole grains, and whole-grain bread.
Other carbohydrates, called sugars, create an
energy flood followed by an energy crash,
which is stressful to your body. These not-sogood
carbohydrates include
the sweet sugars in candy
and the starches in cakes,
cookies, white potatoes,
bagels, and many breads.

Do You Know?
 Type 2 diabetes is a disease
caused by too much sugar in
the blood. Your body works to move sugars from
your blood into your cells, where the sugars turn
to energy. Poor eating habits, including eating too
many sweets, can increase your risk of diabetes.
In some countries, including the United
States, type 2 diabetes is increasing at
an alarming rate.

What Is a Fat?
 Another nutrient your body needs is fat. Fats
have gotten a bad rap, but they are essential for
building cells, absorbing certain vitamins, and
storing extra energy. Fats occur as animal fats
in meat and cheese, and vegetable fats in olive
oil, nuts, and seeds.
 Some fats are better for you than others.
Vegetable fats from nuts and seeds are
better than animal fats from meat and butter.
Fats called trans fats are processed fats
in pre-made foods such as snacks, cheese
products, fried foods, and desserts. They are
often called “hydrogenated”
or “partially hydrogenated”
oils. Studies have shown
that these fats are not good
for the body.

Vitamins, Minerals, and Water
 Other nutrients include special
chemicals called vitamins. Vitamins
help control how your cells use
energy, and they help your body
build the chemicals it needs to see,
digest food, and fight diseases.
 Your body needs nutrients called minerals
to help your bones, blood, and other parts
grow and function. Minerals also help your
brain and nerves send signals to your body.
Many people get the vitamins and minerals
they need from pills called supplements.

Water is also essential for life. It helps you
digest food by carrying nutrients to all the
cells in your body.
It is found in many
foods, such as fruits,
vegetables, meats,
and even bread. But
you should also drink
six to eight glasses of
water each day.

Calories
 A calorie is a bit of energy that you get
from food. High-calorie foods can give you
lots of energy. But if you eat more calories
than your body burns, you will store those
calories as body fat. If you eat more calories
than you burn over a long time, you will gain
an unhealthy amount of weight.
 There is a way to keep your body at the
proper weight. Balance the calories you eat
with the calories you burn through exercise.
Desserts usually have lots of calories. So can
you have a piece of birthday cake at a friend’s
party? Of course! But balance it out with an
active game of hopscotch.

How Many Calories
Do You Use?
 Watching TV
43 calories per hour
 Cleaning your room
115 calories per hour
 Playing ping-pong
171 calories per hour
 Washing the car
193 calories per hour
 Swimming
300 calories per hour

Smart Eating
 There are many different opinions about
what foods people should eat to be healthy.
But many people agree that certain
foods are good for your health, and
other foods are not as good. Every
day, be sure to eat protein, complex
carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lots
of colorful vegetables and fruits. As
the old saying goes, an “apple a day”
is a good way to stay healthy.
 Get to know which kinds of
foods you enjoy from each of these groups.
Try different kinds of proteins, grains,
vegetables, and fruits to learn which
ones you like best. And remember
that many snack foods that are
ready to eat from a bag or box
are probably not healthy choices.

PROTEIN
 Eat more: fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, lean
meat (without much fat), low-fat dairy
Eat less: meat with lots of fat or with
breading; fried and deep-fried meats; highly
processed meats like lunchmeat; high-fat dairy
 CARBOHYDRATES
Eat more: colorful vegetables and
fruit, oatmeal, brown rice, whole
grains, whole-grain bread, whole-grain
pasta
Eat less: sugar, white bread, cakes, white
potatoes, white flour pasta
 FATS
Eat more: nuts, most vegetable oils, fish oil
Eat less: saturated fat (the fat
in meat and dairy products)
Avoid: trans fats (found in processed foods)
 WATER
Drink a lot!

Some recipes contain foods from each of
the main food groups. Can you match each
food above to the right group?
 Mmmm . . . tasty!

Nutrition Facts
 Look at a box of cereal, a granola bar
wrapper, or a bottle of juice. You will
probably see a chart like the one below called
the nutrition facts. The nutrition facts tell you
what kinds of nutrients are in the food.
 The first lines of the nutrition facts tell you
the serving size, or how much of the food you
should eat at one meal
or snack. It might
surprise you to see that
a container, such as a
bag of chips or bottle
of soda, contains two
or more servings.
When you eat or drink
the whole container,
you are getting two
servings, with double
the calories and
nutrients.

The calories are listed
below the serving size. This
jar of sauce has 70 calories in
one serving.
 The nutrients are listed
under the heading “Amount
Per Serving.” The nutrition
facts divide fats into saturated
and unsaturated, and they
divide carbohydrates into
sugars and fibers. Saturated
fats and sugars are less
healthy than unsaturated fats
and fibers.
 Most nutrition
facts also list all of the
ingredients in order
from most to least.
For instance, this jar of
sauce is made mostly
of tomato puree and
tomatoes, and has just
a little lemon juice.

It’s a Choice!
 Right now, the caring adults in your life
make many of your food choices. Your parents
may prepare your breakfast and dinner. You
may eat lunch in the school cafeteria. Even
your soccer coach or your scout leader may
provide refreshments for your practices and
meetings.

As you get older, you will have more and
more chances to select what you eat. Knowing
about the types of nutrients will help you
stay healthy. You will also need to think about
calories. Begin to follow healthy habits now.
Eat well, exercise, and drink plenty of water.Keep a happy, positive attitude. It’s a choice!

Try This!
 ◆◆Smart Eating
 You can use the Smart Eating section
of this book to plan your meals for a day.
Be sure to include healthy foods from each
of the three main food groups. If you eat
something from a not-so-good list, try to eat
something healthy at the same meal, or have
another meal during the day that includes
healthier foods. And remember to eat a good
breakfast each morning. You’ll have energy all
day, and you’ll do better in school.
 Breakfast____________________
Morning Snack_____________________
Lunch___________________
Afternoon Snack____________________
Dinner_________________
Bedtime Snack_____________________

An Apple a Day

Written by Rus Buyok 
Illustrated by Thomas Boatwright

As I walk into Principal Taylor’s office, I
wonder who glued Mrs. Shoemaker to her
chair. It would have been a hilarious April
Fool’s prank if the old, faded glue bottle hadn’t
been hidden in my desk.

My best friend, Sarah, sits on a bench in the
office with other students, crying like a baby. 
“I didn’t write those things,” she moans, tears
streaming down her face. “I was practicing my
tuba all morning!” 
She explains how someone wrote nasty
messages about Mr. Kendall on the board in
her handwriting. Each of the other students
is in trouble for some prank they claim they
didn’t commit.

Someone covered the gym floor with
vegetable oil and blocked the toilets in the
bathrooms with handfuls of dead leaves. 
Someone also stuck old bologna under the
cafeteria tables, so the whole place stinks like
a garbage dump.

The phone rings, and Ms. Nathan, the
secretary, answers it and swiftly hangs up. 
“All morning, kids keep calling
and laughing,” she says. 
After a while, Principal Taylor comes out
of his office. “You’ve all been very busy,” he
begins. 
Sarah starts denying everything, and the
rest of us follow suit.

Principal Taylor waves his hands to silence
us, but as he’s about to speak, the phone rings. 
Ms. Nathan answers it with an abrupt “Hello!” 
She points to Sarah and says, “It’s for you.” 
Sarah takes the phone and says, “Hello? 
I can barely hear you. Jake, is that you?”

When my little brother’s name is
mentioned, I go to the phone, and Sarah
cradles it between us so I can listen. 
“Basement . . . find . . . are . . . tee . . .” It’s a
young boy’s voice, but I can’t tell if it’s Jake’s. 
“Basement . . . find . . . the . . . are . . . tee,” he
repeats before the phone suddenly floods with
laughing children and then goes dead.

“I’ve spoken with your teachers, and they
have some pretty compelling evidence,” Mr.
Taylor continues. “As punishment, you will
stay after school until all these pranks are
cleaned up.” 
We all groan, and a few of us offer more
protests of our innocence. 
“I’ll call all your parents to inform them 
you’ll be remaining late on school grounds 
today and why. Now, return to class.”

As Sarah and I shuffle down the hallway, 
she groans, “I’m in so much trouble.” 
“What was with that phone call?” I ask. 
“We’ve heard that creepy laughter before.” 
“I was trying not to think about it,” Sarah
whispers. 
“It seems to follow us. The voice said we
need to look around the basement.” 
“No way I’m going down there!” Sarah
hisses. 
“The principal thinks we’re in class, and
our teachers think we’re in the office, so now’s
the perfect time.”

Sarah whimpers, but she follows me as we
sneak to the basement doors. 
“We have to be quiet in case the janitors are
down there,” I say. Surprisingly, the doors are
open. 
Sarah and I squeeze inside, listening to the
water rush through the old pipes around us
and fluorescent lights buzz overhead.

We quickly descend the stairs. The
basement is huge, with many walls hidden in
darkness. Sarah points to the other side of the
room, and we split up to start looking around. 
I walk slowly past shelves filled with old
textbooks and sporting equipment but find
nothing. Looking over, I see Sarah stop, eyes
widening as she covers her mouth to stifle
a scream.

I sprint to the opposite side of the basement. 
Sarah points in front of her and whispers, “I
saw someone over there.” 
“A janitor?” I ask. 
She shakes her head, and that’s when I hear 
the footsteps, as if someone is rushing past us. 
Sarah grabs my arm, and we take a few
steps forward, then a few more. Something
moves in the shadows in front of us, and I
move to follow it.

My foot hits something soft, and I reach
down and feel lumps under thick cloth. I think
I hear laughter, but it could just be the furnaces
or something. Grabbing onto the cloth, I pull
a large bag into the light. 
Somewhere behind us, a little girl laughs, 
and then another off to our right. 
“Hey, is someone down there? No kids
allowed in the basement,” a janitor’s voice
calls.

I grab the bag. The janitor walks the room, 
shining a flashlight back and forth. When he
shines his light away from us, Sarah and I
sneak quickly and quietly behind the shelves
and up the stairs.

“That was close,” I say when we reach the
safety of the hallway. I drop the duffel bag and
unzip it. 
“This is Rob Turtle’s duffle bag; his initials
RT are on the straps,” I say. Inside are old cans
that say “cooking oil” on the side and a paper
wrapper glued to the side of the bag that
smells really awful. A rough burlap sack holds
dirt, leaves, and sticks, and half buried, I find
an ancient-looking pair of scissors.

“I think I’ve seen those scissors before,” 
Sarah says, staring at them. 
I hand the scissors to Sarah. “This doesn’t
tell us who the laughing kids are, but it looks
as if Rob Turtle framed us all.” 
“He said he lost his gym bag the other day,” 
Sarah replies, “in the Hollow.”

“He also said that this would be the best 
April Fool’s Day ever,” I say. 
“What do we do now? If we give the bag
to Principal Taylor, he’ll think we’re trying
to make Rob look bad,” Sarah says. 
“Let’s leave it in the cafeteria,” I suggest. 
“Someone will turn it in to the lost and
found.”

We leave the bag in the stinky cafeteria 
and return to class. After lunch, Rob Turtle is
called to the office, and as the day progresses, 
more students are found with evidence of
pranks. 
Someone put dirt in the coffee in the
teacher’s lounge and made all the lights flicker
in the east wing.

At the end of the day, Principal Taylor has
corralled a surprising number of students into
clean-up duty. Rob, Sarah, and I are assigned
to the cafeteria. 
“How did you arrange all these pranks?” 
I ask Rob. “You must have been in school all
night.”

“I didn’t, and I don’t know where the stuff
came from. I accidentally left my bag in the
Hollow a few days ago,” he replies. “I had
some pretty amazing pranks planned,
though.” 
Sarah and I share a look—neither of us
believe him, but it’s also true that he couldn’t
have done this alone.

When we finish, we wait for our parents. 
In the office, we hear Ms. Nathan answer the
phone. 
“Those laughing kids again!” she yells. “I’ll
be so happy when this day is over.”

April Fool

Written by Rus Buyok
 Illustrated by Thomas Boatwright

As I walk into Principal Taylor’s office, I
wonder who glued Mrs. Shoemaker to her
chair. It would have been a hilarious April
Fool’s prank if the old, faded glue bottle hadn’t
been hidden in my desk.
 My best friend, Sarah, sits on a bench in the
office with other students, crying like a baby.
“I didn’t write those things,” she moans, tears
streaming down her face. “I was practicing my
tuba all morning!”
 She explains how someone wrote nasty
messages about Mr. Kendall on the board in
her handwriting. Each of the other students
is in trouble for some prank they claim they
didn’t commit.

Someone covered the gym floor with
vegetable oil and blocked the toilets in the
bathrooms with handfuls of dead leaves.
Someone also stuck old bologna under the
cafeteria tables, so the whole place stinks like
a garbage dump.
 The phone rings, and Ms. Nathan, the
secretary, answers it and swiftly hangs up.
“All morning, kids keep calling
and laughing,” she says.
 After a while, Principal Taylor comes out
of his office. “You’ve all been very busy,” he
begins.
 Sarah starts denying everything, and the
rest of us follow suit.

Principal Taylor waves his hands to silence
us, but as he’s about to speak, the phone rings.
Ms. Nathan answers it with an abrupt “Hello!”
She points to Sarah and says, “It’s for you.”
 Sarah takes the phone and says, “Hello?
I can barely hear you. Jake, is that you?”
 When my little brother’s name is
mentioned, I go to the phone, and Sarah
cradles it between us so I can listen.
 “Basement . . . find . . . are . . . tee . . .” It’s a
young boy’s voice, but I can’t tell if it’s Jake’s.
“Basement . . . find . . . the . . . are . . . tee,” he
repeats before the phone suddenly floods with
laughing children and then goes dead.

“I’ve spoken with your teachers, and they
have some pretty compelling evidence,” Mr.
Taylor continues. “As punishment, you will
stay after school until all these pranks are
cleaned up.”
 We all groan, and a few of us offer more
protests of our innocence.
 “I’ll call all your parents to inform them
you’ll be remaining late on school grounds
today and why. Now, return to class.”
April Fool’s

As Sarah and I shuffle down the hallway,
she groans, “I’m in so much trouble.”
 “What was with that phone call?” I ask.
“We’ve heard that creepy laughter before.”
 “I was trying not to think about it,” Sarah
whispers.
 “It seems to follow us. The voice said we
need to look around the basement.”
 “No way I’m going down there!” Sarah
hisses.
 “The principal thinks we’re in class, and
our teachers think we’re in the office, so now’s
the perfect time.”

Sarah whimpers, but she follows me as we
sneak to the basement doors.
 “We have to be quiet in case the janitors are
down there,” I say. Surprisingly, the doors are
open.
 Sarah and I squeeze inside, listening to the
water rush through the old pipes around us
and fluorescent lights buzz overhead.
 We quickly descend the stairs. The
basement is huge, with many walls hidden in
darkness. Sarah points to the other side of the
room, and we split up to start looking around.
 I walk slowly past shelves filled with old
textbooks and sporting equipment but find
nothing. Looking over, I see Sarah stop, eyes
widening as she covers her mouth to stifle
a scream.

I sprint to the opposite side of the basement.
Sarah points in front of her and whispers, “I
saw someone over there.”
 “A janitor?” I ask.
 She shakes her head, and that’s when I hear
the footsteps, as if someone is rushing past us.
 Sarah grabs my arm, and we take a few
steps forward, then a few more. Something
moves in the shadows in front of us, and I
move to follow it.

My foot hits something soft, and I reach
down and feel lumps under thick cloth. I think
I hear laughter, but it could just be the furnaces
or something. Grabbing onto the cloth, I pull
a large bag into the light.
 Somewhere behind us, a little girl laughs,
and then another off to our right.
 “Hey, is someone down there? No kids
allowed in the basement,” a janitor’s voice
calls.

I grab the bag. The janitor walks the room,
shining a flashlight back and forth. When he
shines his light away from us, Sarah and I
sneak quickly and quietly behind the shelves
and up the stairs.

“That was close,” I say when we reach the
safety of the hallway. I drop the duffel bag and
unzip it.
 “This is Rob Turtle’s duffle bag; his initials
RT are on the straps,” I say. Inside are old cans
that say “cooking oil” on the side and a paper
wrapper glued to the side of the bag that
smells really awful. A rough burlap sack holds
dirt, leaves, and sticks, and half buried, I find
an ancient-looking pair of scissors.

“I think I’ve seen those scissors before,”
Sarah says, staring at them.
 I hand the scissors to Sarah. “This doesn’t
tell us who the laughing kids are, but it looks
as if Rob Turtle framed us all.”
 “He said he lost his gym bag the other day,”
Sarah replies, “in the Hollow.”
 “He also said that this would be the best
April Fool’s Day ever,” I say.
 “What do we do now? If we give the bag
to Principal Taylor, he’ll think we’re trying
to make Rob look bad,” Sarah says.
 “Let’s leave it in the cafeteria,” I suggest.
“Someone will turn it in to the lost and
found.”

We leave the bag in the stinky cafeteria
and return to class. After lunch, Rob Turtle is
called to the office, and as the day progresses,
more students are found with evidence of
pranks.
 Someone put dirt in the coffee in the
teacher’s lounge and made all the lights flicker
in the east wing.

At the end of the day, Principal Taylor has
corralled a surprising number of students into
clean-up duty. Rob, Sarah, and I are assigned
to the cafeteria.
 “How did you arrange all these pranks?”
I ask Rob. “You must have been in school all
night.”
 “I didn’t, and I don’t know where the stuff
came from. I accidentally left my bag in the
Hollow a few days ago,” he replies. “I had
some pretty amazing pranks planned,
though.”
 Sarah and I share a look—neither of us
believe him, but it’s also true that he couldn’t
have done this alone.

When we finish, we wait for our parents.
In the office, we hear Ms. Nathan answer the
phone.
 “Those laughing kids again!” she yells. “I’ll
be so happy when this day is over.”

April Fool’s

Written by Dina Anastasio 
Illustrated by David Cockcroft

The First Arrow 
Poloma was tossing her new ball high into
the air when she discovered the first arrow
in the forest. When her ball came down, it
bounced off a tree trunk, hit a log, and came
to rest at the base of a boulder. 
She was digging the ball out from the
heavy undergrowth when she noticed the
arrow. It was carved into the lower part of the
massive rock.

Poloma grabbed her ball and raced
home. Her grandfather was resting on the
porch swing. His eyes were closed, and for
a moment she wondered if she should wake
him with the news. 
“You’ve discovered something,” he said
softly, when she was settled beside him. “I can
tell by the way you’re fidgeting.”

“I’ve found an arrow, Papa!” Poloma said. 
“And where is this arrow that excites you
so much?” her grandfather asked.
Poloma told her grandfather about the
bouncing ball, the boulder, and the strange
arrow carved into the rock.

“Do you think the arrow is a glyph like
the ones in my code books?” Poloma asked. 
“Maybe it’s a Mayan hieroglyphic. The
Mayans used tiny pictures instead of words
and letters. Maybe they carved that arrow,”
Poloma guessed.

Papa pulled himself out of the swing and
smiled down at his granddaughter. “That’s an
interesting idea,” he said. “But I doubt the
Mayans were carving rocks around here. The
Mayans lived farther south, in Mexico and
Central America. However, your arrow might
be part of a code of some kind. 
“Come on,” her grandfather said, “I think
we should visit this mysterious arrow.”

Poloma’s grandfather knew a lot about
codes. In fact, he had won a medal for his
code work during World War II. Papa and
other Native American Code Talkers had
helped the United States and its allies win the
war by sending secret messages.

Poloma loved to hear the story of the Code
Talkers, even though she had heard it many
times before. She especially liked to hear
about Mississippi Choctaw Code Talkers like
her grandfather. 
As they made their way toward the
boulder, Papa told Poloma how the Code
Talkers sent messages that only other Code
Talkers could interpret.

Questions 
“We spoke into walkie-talkie radios,” he
explained. “There was a Code Talker on each
end, and we would only use Choctaw words 
that no one else could understand. Someone
would give me the message that I was to pass
on, and I would speak the words in Choctaw. 
If the enemy was listening in on the radio, 
they wouldn’t be able to understand what we
were saying.”

When Poloma and her grandfather arrived
at the boulder, they knelt and Poloma pointed
to the roughly carved arrow. “What do you
think it means?” she asked.

Papa ran his fingers back and forth over
the carving. “I’m not sure,” he said. “It’s a
very old carving, but it’s hard to determine its
age. It takes a lot of time and effort to figure
out how old something like this is.” 
Poloma stared at the arrow for a long time. 
Suddenly, she had an idea.
“I know!” she shouted. “Why don’t we
follow where the arrow is pointing?”

The arrow pointed to another boulder
nearby. Poloma and Papa examined the
boulder the arrow was pointing toward and
found a second arrow almost immediately. 
The second arrow pointed in the same
direction as the first, so they followed that
one, too. It led to another boulder, and
another arrow, which led to yet another, and
then another arrow. 
There were six arrows in all.

They continued on, and the arrows led
them straight toward a stream. 
“What should we do?” Poloma asked. 
“Let’s cross the stream. It looks shallow. 
If we tiptoe from stone to stone, maybe we’ll
find another arrow on the other side. Hold my
hand tight; we’ll cross together.”

Answers 
They crossed the stream, holding hands, 
stepping carefully. When they reached the
other side, they almost crashed into the next
boulder. It was hidden in a grove of old
pine trees.

“I found something!” Poloma shouted, as
she leaned closer to the boulder and scraped
off some moss with her fingers. “It’s not an
arrow at all. A bunch of letters are carved into
the bottom of the boulder! I wonder if we can
make them out.” 
“I’m afraid you’ll have to read them to
me.” Papa stood up slowly and rubbed his
knees. “My eyes are too old to make out those
tiny letters. I’m afraid my knees aren’t too
good either.”

Poloma leaned closer to the boulder and
studied the letters. “They don’t make any
sense,” she said. “I’ll read them to you, but I
don’t think they mean anything.” 
Poloma read each letter out loud,
very slowly. 
g p m m p x u i f e s j o l j o h h p v s e 
“What do you think the letters mean?”
Poloma asked. 
“I’m not certain,” Papa said, “but I think
it’s a cipher.”

Poloma knew what a cipher was. It was a
code that substituted letters or numbers for
the real letters in a message. She knew ciphers
were used in wars to keep the enemy from
learning about battle plans. Now they had to
crack the code.

“Did you use a cipher in the war?”
Poloma asked. 
“I saw them used in World War II. Ciphers
that substitute letters for other letters have
been used since the time of Julius Caesar, 
more than two thousand years ago,”
said Papa.

Cracking the Code 
“I wonder if these letters were used in a
war,” Poloma said.
Papa had to think about that. He paced for
a very long time, and then he stopped beside 
his granddaughter and cleared his throat. 
“I think I remember something,” he said. 
“As you know, a great war took place right
around here.”

“The Civil War—right, Papa?” Poloma said. 
“Yes. About 150 years ago, the Civil War 
was fought to free the slaves in the South. 
I can recall reading that the soldiers and spies
in the North used a special code.”

“Do you remember what the code
was, Papa?” 
“Read the letters again and maybe that will
help me.” 
Poloma read the letters slowly. 
g p m m p x u i f e s j o l j o h h p v s e 
She was about to ask her grandfather what
the letters meant when she noticed something
in the cipher that she had seen in codes
she had deciphered before. Most sentences
contained at least one small common word, 
and this one was no different.

“I think I see some interesting letters,” she
said. “Let’s say the letters form words. One of
the words has three letters. Let’s guess that it’s
a common word.” 
“. . . like and?” suggested Papa. 
Poloma and Papa were quiet for several
minutes as they thought about the three
letters. “I don’t think it’s and,” Papa said.
“The letters don’t make sense.” 
“Maybe the letters uif stand for the in
some way,” Poloma said.

Papa smiled. “What letter comes before u
in the alphabet?” he said. 
“T,” Poloma said. “And the letter h comes
before i, and the letter e comes before f. This is
a substitute-letter cipher, Papa!” 
“Yes! I remember now! During the Civil
War, some Northern spies used a code called
the advance cipher. They advanced each letter
one letter of the alphabet.”

The Drinking Gourd 
Once they cracked the code, it was not
difficult to read the message. 
“I know what it says, Papa! It says, ‘Follow
the Drinking Gourd.’ But I don’t know
what the message means.

Do you know
what it means?” “The Drinking Gourd is the group of seven
stars now called the Big Dipper, which can
always be found in the northern sky. Escaping
slaves followed the Drinking Gourd from
safe house to safe house until they reached
their freedom.”

The sun began to set, and tiny slivers
of light flickered through the branches. 
Meanwhile, Poloma took her flashlight from
her backpack, turned it on, and grabbed her
grandfather’s hand. By the time they returned 
to the other side of the stream, the sun had
completely disappeared. Poloma stopped and
studied the sky.

“Are you looking for the Drinking Gourd?” 
her grandfather asked.
“There it is!” Poloma pointed to a bright
shape in the sky. “Shall we follow it?” 
“It’s your decision. Are we heading north?”

Poloma had to think about that for a
minute. The Drinking Gourd would lead them 
back across the stream, past the boulder with
the cipher, on to places north. 
“We need to go south, Papa. That’s where
we live.” 
Poloma and Papa turned. They moved
slowly, like creeping night creatures. The
glowing beam from Poloma’s flashlight led
them away from the North Star, past the
arrows pointing the other way, out of the
woods, and home.

Arrows

Introduction
 In the United States in the 1920s, few
 women flew planes, and it was unthinkable
 that an African-American woman could fly.
 Yet Bessie Coleman did just that. Bessie was a
 brave African-American woman who fought
 discrimination to follow her dream of
 becoming a pilot. Her determination opened
 doors for other African-Americans and
 women who came after her.

Growing Up In Texas
 Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas,
 in 1892. Her mother was African-American
 and her father was of African-American and
 Choctaw Native American descent. Her
 parents were sharecroppers. Bessie was one
 of thirteen children.
 Two years after Bessie’s birth, the family
 moved to Waxahachie (WAK-sah-HACH-ee),
 Texas, where Bessie’s father hoped that the
 busy town would offer good jobs. Bessie
 started school in Waxahachie. She had to walk
 miles each day to an all-black school. She
 loved reading and books, and she was a whiz
 at math.

Bessie’s father was disturbed by the racial
 barriers in Texas. He believed that the family
 would be treated better if they moved to
 Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.
 Unable to convince his wife to accompany
 him, Bessie’s father left the family when
 Bessie was nine years old. Around that time,
 Bessie’s older brothers grew up and also
 moved away. Bessie’s mother worked as a
 maid, while Bessie helped take care of her
 younger sisters.

In Texas, cotton growing was big business.
 During the cotton harvest, everyone in the
 family worked in the fields for extra money.
 Bessie hated picking cotton. It was hot, boring
 work, and during the harvest, African-American
 children couldn’t go to school. Even though she
 worked in the fields, Bessie managed to finish
 all eight grades in the local school. She decided
 that she wanted to go to college, so she got a job
 washing people’s clothes to save money. In
 about four years, she had enough to begin
 school. She enrolled in a college for African-
 Americans, but after one year she ran out of
 money and had to return home.

Moving To Chicago
 Two of Bessie’s brothers had traveled east
 to Chicago, Illinois, in search of work and a
 better life. One day, one of her brothers,
 Walter, contacted Bessie. He thought she
 could get a good job in the big city.
 At the age of 23, Bessie boarded a train
 and made the trip to Chicago. It was a long
 and uncomfortable trip. African-Americans
 were forced to sit on hard wooden benches in
 a separate part of the train from white people.

When Bessie arrived in Chicago, she
 moved in with her brothers, Walter and John,
 and their wives, making five people in one
 small apartment. Bessie took a class to learn 
 to become a manicurist, and soon she found a
 job at the White Sox Barbershop on Chicago’s Southside.

Do You Know?
 In Chicago in the beginning of the 20th century,
 most African American people had to live in separate
 neighborhoods from white people. In the Southside
 neighborhoods, African-Americans owned all the businesses.
 They had barbershops, like the one where Bessie worked, and 
 stores, restaurants, banks, and nightclubs. Many became wealthy.

When America entered World War I, John
 and Walter enlisted in the army and went to
 France to fight. Bessie read newspaper stories
 about the fighting in Europe and worried 
 about her brothers’ safety. She also read 
 about the brave pilots and was especially 
 inspired by one, Eugene Bullard, an
 African-American who flew for the French.
 When her brothers returned, they told
 Bessie stories about the war. John teased her,
 saying that French women were braver than
 American women, and that they could fly
 airplanes. Hearing stories about the brave
 pilots made Bessie realize what she wanted
 to do. She wanted to become a pilot. But who
 would teach her? No one she asked would
 teach a black woman to fly.

Traveling To France
 Bessie did not give up. Her friend Robert
 Abbott, the editor of a newspaper for black
 people, told her that she could go to
 France to learn to fly. Bessie would need a
 lot of money to pay for the trip and the
 lessons. She got a new job managing a
 restaurant and saved her money. She also
 took French lessons and quickly learned
 the language. Robert Abbott and other friends
 helped her pay for the trip as well.
 In 1920, Bessie traveled on a ship to
 France. She was pleased to find that there was
 no discrimination against African-Americans
 in France. She could eat in any restaurant and
 ride wherever she wished on the trains.

Bessie found a school run by two brothers
 named Caudron, who said they would teach
 her to fly. The training plane they used was
 called a biplane. It had two pairs of wings
 and two open cockpits. The instructor sat in
 the front cockpit, and Bessie sat in the rear
 cockpit, watching as he moved the controls.
 It was very difficult to hear her teacher’s
 instructions over the roar of the wind and
 the engine. Bessie was a good student, and
 in a few months, she was ready to fly solo.
 In 1921, at the age of 29, Bessie became
 the first African-American female pilot. She
 also became the first African-American to
 earn an international pilot’s license.

Do You Know?
 Early planes had extremely simple controls. 
 A stick, like a joystick, controlled the 
 plane’s up-and-down movement. A rudder bar 
 on the floor controlled the side-to-side
 movement. Pilots pushed the rudder bar back 
 and forth with their feet.

Triumphant Return
 In the fall of 1921, Bessie returned to
 America. Both black and white Americans
 learned of Bessie’s accomplishment. She was
 interviewed by reporters and invited to
 special events. She was greeted with applause
 and respect.
 Bessie’s dreams did not end with becoming
 a pilot. She wanted to start a flying school for
 others, especially African-Americans. But she
 would need money to start the school, and
 the best way for a pilot to make money was
 to perform at air shows.

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