bobbed her head. Cookie wiggled her
butt.
“Gimme kiss!” said Cookie. “Mww!
Mww! Mww!”
43
.
Frank pointed to the poster in the
school lunchroom. His mouth fell
open. A glob of ABC sandwich fell
out.
“Gross!” said Judy Moody and
Jessica Finch.
“Gross!” said Amy and Rocky.
The Awful Waffle Kerfuffle
CHA
p
TER
3
45
.
THE GREAT THIRD-GRADE
BREAKFAST BASH AND WAFFLE-OFF!
This Saturday in the school cafeteria
·
Families welcome ·
· Prizes for best waffles ·
· Proceeds go to third-grade field trip ·
“Look! It’s the Great Third-Grade
Breakfast Bash! We get to come to
the cafeteria on Saturday with our
families and eat breakfast.”
“What’s so great about breakfast?”
asked Rocky.
“It’s only the most important meal
of the day,” Jessica Finch said.
“Breakfast tastes like pencil
shavings,” said Rocky.
46
“But this year it’s a Waffle-Off,”
said Frank. “To raise money for our
third-grade field trip.”
“So we can go to the Smelly Jelly
Bean factory!” said Judy. “Where they
make weird flavors of jelly beans, like
toothpaste and rotten eggs.”
.
48
“What’s a Waffle-Off?” asked Amy.
“The Waffle-Off is the best contest
ever,” said Frank. “It’s to see who can
make the best, most amazing waffle.”
“They give out blue ribbons for all
kinds of waffles,” said Jessica. “Like
Most Blueberries, Whipped Creamiest,
and Best Use of Sprinkles.”
“I’m going to win,” said Frank. “I
can feel it!”
“Are you off your waffle, Frank?”
asked Judy.
“You can’t even cook,” Rocky said.
“Can you?”
“Parents make the waffles,” Jessica
told them. “All you have to do is dress
up your waffle fancy with whipped
cream and sprinkles and stuff.
Then Mr. Todd gives
out ribbons before
they get eaten.”
Frank and his
friends got quiet,
dreaming about
waffles.
.
“I’ve got a great idea for my
waffle!” said Frank.
“Is your waffle a sandwich?”
Judy asked. “Mine is going to be a
whipped-cream sandwich.”
“Does your waffle play sports?”
Rocky asked. “Mine is going to play
sports. And it’s not going to taste like
pencil shavings.”
“My idea snap-crackle-pops! My
idea will blow your mind. It’s all about
the fizz-i-cality. Just you wait.”
.
At last it was Saturday. “Welcome
to the Great Third-Grade Breakfast
Bash,” said Mr. Todd. “Thanks for
coming to our Waffle-Off! I hope
you’re all ready to break an egg.”
Everybody laughed.
“Ready, set, waffle!” Moms and
dads poured batter onto sizzling waffle
irons. Pssh! Fluffy, puffy
golden waffles!
.
Judy’s waffle sandwich was held up
with pizza tables.
Amy’s waffle had her name spelled
in blueberries.
Rocky’s waffle looked like a soccer
ball.
55
.
Then came the Piggy on a Pillow,
made by Jessica A. Finch. A puffy
pink cloud of whipped cream floated
on top of her waffle. It was sprinkled
with sugar glitter. On top was a sugar-
dusted candy piggy with rosy-red
cheeks.
“I can win for the pinkest or
prettiest waffle,” said Jessica.
“Or piggiest,” Judy teased.
56
Frank had hidden his top-secret,
none-of-your-beeswax waffle under
a cake dome. “Ta da!” said Frank.
“Presenting”—
he lifted the lid
—“the
Super-Amazing Exploding Volcano
Waffle!” A hill, a mountain, a tower
of brown jelly beans rose up from
that waffle like a volcano. The Mount
Vesuvius of all waffles.
.
Marshmallow Fluff spewed from
a hole in the top. Pop, pop, fizz, fizz.
Fizzlers, wizzlers, and sizzlers popped
and exploded like lava.
“Wait till Mr. Todd sees this!” said
Frank. “Blue ribbon, here I come!”
Then, all of a sudden, the fizzlers
fizzled and the wizzlers melted into
the sizzlers. Rainbow-colored lava
oozed down the jelly-bean mountain.
Plop! The glop hit the floor in one
giant gluppy glob of gloop.
“OOH! Gross! Bluck!” said all the
kids.
“Mount Vesuvius meltdown!” said
Frank.
Stink came running over to see.
58
.
“What’s all this waffle kerfuffle?”
asked Mr. Todd.
“It’s Frank’s Super-Amazing
Exploding Waffle,” said Judy.
“Super-Amazing Disaster Waffle,”
said Frank. “It was supposed to be an
exploding volcano. But the jelly beans
caved in. And all the Pop Rocks ran
together. Now it just looks like a
giant mud pie.”
He ran to grab a towel from the
kitchen. On his way, he passed the
prize table full of ribbons. Shiny blue
ribbons that called out MOST! BEST
!
BIGGEST
! FANCIEST
! He would never win
the contest now. He would no-way
no-how be taking home a ribbon.
60
.
When he came back with the
towel, Frank could not believe his
eyes. T
here, gleaming in a beam of
sunlight, was none other than one of
those very same big shiny blue prize
ribbons. The ribbon was on his waffle.
The Mount Vesuvius Meltdown.
Stink yelled and pointed. “Hey,
Frank! You won! You won the awful
waffle contest!”
“But not for being awful,” said Judy.
Frank leaned in and read the ribbon.
ONE OF A KIND
! “I won? I actually won
a contest? With a real blue ribbon?”
He looked at Mr. Todd.
63
.
“Your waffle is in a class by itself,
Frank.”
Frank stuck the blue ribbon on his
shirt and grinned.
“It’s one of a kind,” said Mr. Todd.
“Just like you.”
Stink chewed on a jelly bean from
Frank’s waffle. “Hey!” He made a face.
“It tastes like pencil shavings.”
“Told you!” said Rocky.
“I like it! Got any more?”
Frank laughed. “Ha, ha. Those are
Smelly Jelly jelly beans. They look like
maple syrup, but the flavor is pencil
shavings.”
“Clever,” said Mr. Todd. “I like how
you tied it into our class field trip to
the Smelly Jelly Bean factory.”
64
.
“Too bad you don’t win money with
that ribbon,” said Rocky. “Then you
could buy more Smelly jellies.”
Stink reached into his pocket. He
pulled out a dollar bill. “One dollar!
I’ll give you one whole dollar bill for
the one-of-a-kindest, awfulest, most
delicious waffle in the world!”
“Sold!” said Frank.
66
.
Frank Pearl in The Awful Waffle Kerfuffle (Judy Moody and Friends) Page 2
