Summertime with Geraldine Woolkins by Karin Kaufman

Author:Karin Kaufman [KARIN KAUFMAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winter Tree Books
Published: 2023-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

BACK TO SCHOOL

Late August had one bad thing about it and one good thing about it. The bad thing was that it was as hot as the cookstove in the Woolkins family kitchen. The good thing was that school started again.

Mama had said that school would be different this year. Now that Geraldine was a middle mouse, it was time to learn more than reading, writing, and adding numbers. There would be lessons in history, in plants and wildflowers, in how to read and draw maps, in fractions, and in what Mama mysteriously called “the solar system.”

And there would be field trips—exciting journeys to the Maple Forest and beyond.

On the first day of school, Geraldine woke early—even earlier than Button—and hurried to the kitchen. Mama had laid out a special breakfast of field mushrooms, wild carrots, and blackberries with crabapple jam for her and Button.

Geraldine’s papa, being an early riser, had already eaten breakfast and was carrying two books from the living room to the kitchen when Geraldine entered.

“Are you ready to learn?” he asked her.

“I’m excited, Papa,” she said as she took her seat. “I’ve been excited for days.”

“Where’s Button?”

Geraldine grinned. “I got up before him.”

“My, you are excited,” Mama said. She took a few steps in the direction of the bedrooms and shouted, “Button, breakfast!”

Button shuffled into the kitchen a moment later, rubbing his eyes and groaning about the early hour. Then he sat with a plop at the table and stared grumpily at his plate.

“Button, look at the crabapple jam!” Geraldine said. “And after we eat, we get to start school!”

“I want to play,” Button groused.

Papa held up the books he’d brought from the living room. “I want you both to take good care of these,” he said before laying them on the table. “They’re new, from a bookmaker in the Southern Lands.”

“New books, Papa?” Geraldine took one. “It’s stupendous!”

“I’d rather play,” Button said.

Mama sat. “You can play after school, dear. Now eat your breakfast. Clara Huckleberry will be here soon. She’s teaching your first course today, all about maps.”

“Penelope’s mama is a teacher?” Geraldine asked. This was another something new this year. Someone besides Mama would be teaching school.

“It turns out that Mrs. Huckleberry is an expert on the subject,” Mama said. “She sees the land from above, so she knows how to read it in a map, and that means she knows how to draw a map.”

“Is Penelope coming?”

“Yes. It’s her class too. Her sister and brothers are too young for school this year, but they’ll join next year.”

“Stupendous, Mama.”

“Stop saying that word,” Button grumbled.

Papa arched his back and stretched, as he often did after breakfast and before starting his daily chores. “I’m off to Where the Blueberries Fall. Children, be industrious, behave yourselves, and use your time well. At dinner I want to hear what you learned today.” He kissed Geraldine’s mama on the cheek, picked up a burlap satchel from the floor, and headed out the door.

Mama ate her breakfast, and in between

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.