A Katie Kazoo Christmas (9 page)

“Hey, that’s Mr. G!” Andy Epstein said, laughing.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Kadeem Carter asked their teacher.

“I’m not Mr. G. I’m La Befana!” the person in the robe and scarf answered.

But the kids weren’t fooled. Not for a minute.

“Very funny, Mr. G.,” George said, laughing. “Good one.”

But Mr. G. wasn’t admitting that the kids were right. “I’m La Befana,” he insisted again. “And I’m getting ready to give all the good girls and boys in Italy presents . . . but not until January sixth.”

Katie stared at Mr. G. Her teacher had done some weird things before. But this was definitely the weirdest!

“They don’t get gifts in Italy until January sixth?” George asked.

“That’s right,” Mr. G. told him. “In Italy, the big gifts are delivered by La Befana, instead of Santa. And they don’t come until January.”

“That’s weird,” Kevin said.

“Your Christmas customs would seem weird to kids in Italy,” Mr. G. told him. “Different countries have different traditions.” He took off his fake nose, untied his head scarf, and slipped out of his robe.

“Why do I get the feeling we’re about to have another learning adventure?” George said.

“Because we are!” Mr. G. announced excitedly. “We’re going to go around the world, Christmas style!”

With that, the teacher pushed a button on his CD player. Strange bagpipe music began to play.

“That’s traditional Italian Christmas music,” he said. “It’s played when La Befana comes to town with the gifts.”

“I’ll have to remember to give Louie a present on January sixth,” Katie whispered to Emma Weber. “His family is from Italy, you know.”

“In Italy, it’s cold at Christmastime,” Mr. G. continued. “But down in Australia, December is summertime. Families there celebrate Christmas with beach picnics and backyard barbecues.” He reached behind the igloo and pulled out a beach ball. He hit the ball toward Kadeem.

Kadeem hit the ball to Emma W.

She hit the ball to Katie.

Katie hit the ball to George. She smiled happily. Christmas in Australia was fun!

Emma S. waved her hand high. “I know what they do for Christmas in Greece,” she told Mr. G. “My grandma was born there.”

“Tell us about it,” Mr. G. said excitedly.

“They sing
kalandas
,” Emma S. explained. “They’re kind of like Greek Christmas carols.

My brother and I sing them with our family. And we get our presents on January first, because that’s when they exchange gifts in Greece.”

“That’s really interesting, Emma,” Mr. G. said. “It’s nice to keep family traditions.”

“My family has a cool tradition, too,” Kadeem said. “We celebrate Christmas
and
Kwanzaa.”

“Did you see the
kinara
on the windowsill?” Mr. G. asked him. He walked over and picked up the candle holder that had seven holes.

“We have one at home that my dad made,” Kadeem told the teacher. “We’ll start lighting it on the day after Christmas, when Kwanzaa starts.”

“What is Kwanzaa?” Mandy asked.

“It’s a holiday that’s based on celebrations they have in Africa,” Mr. G. explained. “The name
Kwanzaa
comes from a Swahili word that means ‘first fruits of the harvest.’ ”

“We light one candle a night for seven nights,” Kadeem told his friends.

“Do you get a present every night?” George asked him.

Kadeem nodded.

“Wow! So you get Christmas presents
and
Kwanzaa presents?” Katie exclaimed. “You’re lucky.” She sounded a little jealous.

“The Kwanzaa presents are usually handmade,” Kadeem explained. “They’re supposed to be educational. Kwanzaa’s not really about the presents. It’s supposed to be about connecting to your African roots.”

“Christmas isn’t supposed to be about presents, either,” Emma W. said. “It’s supposed to celebrate the birth of Jesus.”

“We sometimes forget about the true meaning of the holiday season,” Mr. G. said.

“Like peace on Earth,” Emma W. said.

“And kindness,” Mandy added.

“And family traditions,” Andrew suggested.

“Exactly,” Mr. G. agreed. “This time of year, those things are celebrated all over the world. Even here in Cherrydale. In fact, I think it’s time we had a traditional Cherrydale holiday celebration right now! Everybody line up and get ready!”

The kids all stared at one another. What was Mr. G. up to now?

“Okay, everyone, sing out as loudly as you can!” Mr. G. ordered as he led the kids out into the hallway. “And stay together.”

Katie couldn’t believe it. Mr. G. had pulled them out of class . . . right in the middle of the school day. It wasn’t even time for recess yet.

Even weirder, he was telling them to sing so loudly that they interrupted the other classes!

Well, not just sing, actually. Mr. G. was taking class 4A caroling.

“Mr. Kane isn’t going to like this,” Katie whispered to Emma W.

“Sure he will,” Emma assured Katie. “Everyone likes carolers. Even school principals.”

But Katie wasn’t too sure. Mr. Kane liked rules . . . a lot. And one of his rules was no noise in the halls.

Still, Katie couldn’t resist singing along with the rest of her class. She loved Christmas carols.

“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . .” she sang loudly.

One by one, the teachers in the school opened their doors and welcomed the carolers. Most of them seemed happy to see the class.

The only teacher who seemed upset about the caroling was Mr. Starkey. That was
really
weird since Mr. Starkey was the school’s music teacher.

“Wait a minute,” Mr. Starkey shouted at class 4A. “Stop singing.”

The kids quieted down and stared at him in surprise.

“You can’t sing Christmas carols in the hallway,” Mr. Starkey continued with a stern look on his face. Then he gave the fourth-graders a big smile. “At least not without these!”

Mr. Starkey reached behind him and picked up a huge box filled with bells. “Everyone knows you need to have jingle bells with you when you go caroling.”

“Cool,” Kevin said as he grabbed a pair.

“I just love the sound they make,” Emma S. said as she took two wrist bells.

“Me too,” Katie agreed. “They always remind me of Christmas.”

“That’s the point,” Mr. Starkey said. He looked around to make sure all of the kids had bells. “Okay, now you’re ready to go caroling. Have fun!”

“We will,” Mr. G. assured him. “Let’s go, gang! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way . . .”

“Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,” the kids in class 4A joined in as they walked through the halls.

Finally, the gleeful carolers reached the school’s main office. Katie took a deep breath. Any minute now, Mr. Kane would probably run out of his office to stop them.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Mr. Kane
did
come racing out into the hall. But he didn’t get angry at all. In fact, he started laughing.

“Ho ho ho!” he chuckled.

Katie couldn’t believe it. Mr. Kane, their school principal, was wearing a bright red Santa hat on his head. And he was laughing just like St. Nick.

“Ho ho ho!” he laughed again. “What have we here?”

“Carolers,” Mr. G. answered. “We’re starting a Cherrydale Elementary School tradition.”

“How come you’re wearing a Santa hat?” Kadeem asked the principal.

“Well, Santa’s the big guy at the North Pole. And I’m the big guy at Cherrydale Elementary School,” Mr. Kane explained. “We big guys should wear the same hat!”

That made sense to the kids.

“Are you here for a reason?” Mr. Kane asked them.

“We’re here to sing,” Mr. G. replied.

“Then let’s hear it,” Mr. Kane said.

That was all the encouragement the kids needed. They began shaking their bells and singing their songs.

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose,” they sang out.

“And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows,” Mr. Kane joined in.

Katie could hardly believe it. The principal was standing in the middle of the hall, wearing a red Santa hat
and
singing!

The Christmas spirit sure was a powerful force!

The next morning, Katie woke up with a huge smile on her face. VACATION WAS HERE!

Katie dressed quickly and raced downstairs. She was ready to let the vacation fun begin. Today she was going to the mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping.

Mrs. Carew was going to be at the mall as well. But she wasn’t nearly as happy about it as Katie was. That was because Mrs. Carew had to work all day. She was the manager of the Book Nook bookstore in the mall.

“This is the busiest time of the year at the store,” she sighed as she put the coffee on the table. “All the last-minute shoppers will be coming in today. Not only will they be buying books, they’ll be wanting them wrapped, too.”

Mr. Carew nodded with understanding. “That takes a lot of work, dear,” he agreed.

“Don’t I know it,” Mrs. Carew agreed. “And I’m not nearly as skilled at gift wrapping as Lauren at Thimbles is. You should see her. She makes it look so easy.”

“It’s a talent, all right,” Katie’s dad agreed.