A Katie Kazoo Christmas

by Nancy Krulik

  “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?

  Chapter 5

  “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!

  Chapter 6

  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.

  The mall was quiet when Katie and her mom arrived. It was still a few minutes before the shops opened. The store owners were the only ones there.

  “Hey there, Katie,” Louie said as he saw her walking toward the Book Nook. “Are you coming by for a special Christmas slice today?”

  “Definitely!” Katie assured him.

  “I’ve got Christmas plates,” Louie told her. He held up a dish that had a picture of Santa on it. “I’m going to use these every year at Christmastime.”

  “I’ll be back in time for lunch!” Katie promised him. Then she wandered off into the mall.

  Katie walked around for a while. As the stores began to open, more and more people entered the mall. By the time Katie reached Thimbles Department Store—which was pretty far from the Book Nook and Louie’s Pizza Shop—the mall was getting crowded.

  Thimbles Department Store had a whole display of hats in the window. Katie knew she should go buy presents for her parents, but she couldn’t help herself. Katie loved trying on hats.

  She walked into the store and headed straight for the hat department. On the way, she passed the gift-wrapping counter. There was a long line of customers, all waiting for Lauren to work her magic on their presents.

  Katie laughed when she saw Lauren. The gift wrapper looked like a Christmas present! She was dressed in all green and red. There were little reindeer knitted into the back of her sweater. And on top of her head was a hair clip with a red bow on it.

  Katie stopped for a minute to watch Lauren wrap a present. She was incredible. Her fingers flew across the green-and-red paper as she folded the edges down and neatly placed a piece of tape on each edge. Then she took a piece of shimmery silver paper and expertly folded it into a little star, which she glued to the center of the gift.

  “That’s gorgeous!” the woman who had bought the gift exclaimed.

  Katie thought about the presents sitting under her tree at home. The ones from Thimbles looked beautiful because Lauren had wrapped them.

  But Katie had wrapped Pepper’s gift all by herself. It didn’t look so beautiful. It was more like a lumpy blob of paper held together with too much tape. And having it sitting there next to all the beautifully wrapped gifts just made it look worse.

  Katie sighed. She wished she could unwrap all the presents under her tree. That way there wouldn’t be any competition to see which gift was wrapped the nicest.

  And come to think of it, if there was no gift wrapping, the Earth would get a pretty nice gift, too.

  “What a waste,” Katie said out loud.

  “Excuse me?” a woman standing in the gift-wrap line asked her.

  “I mean all that paper,” Katie explained. “Why do we even bother wrapping presents? We just rip the paper off, anyway. And think of all the trees that had to die just so our presents can look good. Wrapping presents is ruining our environment. What kind of Christmas spirit is that?”

  The woman looked at Katie curiously. She thought for a moment. “You know, you have a point,” she said suddenly. “I can mail these without all that wrapping paper.”

  Katie smiled. “Exactly. And then you don’t have to wait in this long line, either.”

  “Come on, Sally,” the woman said to her friend. “This little girl is right. Wrapping paper is a waste.”

  “Save our trees,” Katie said excitedly. She smiled proudly as the women walked away. She felt like she had done something really wonderful.

  But Lauren didn’t feel that way. She had watched the women leave, too. And there was no smile on her face.

  Katie felt kind of bad. She hadn’t meant to upset Lauren. She’d just been trying to save the trees.

  Or was she?

  Deep down, Katie knew that wasn’t exactly true. Actually, she had been kind of jealous of the way Lauren wrapped gifts. That was really why she had said what she did. The trees had just been an excuse.

  Katie sighed. She sure had been feeling jealous a lot lately. And not just of Lauren. She’d also been pretty jealous of Jeremy and his eight Hanukkah gifts. And she’d been kind of jealous of the way Kadeem’s family celebrated two holidays—Christmas and Kwanzaa.

  Jealousy wasn’t a very good feeling. In fact, she felt kind of miserable.

  Katie turned and walked away. She didn’t want to look at Lauren’s sad face anymore.

  Chapter 7

  As Katie walked through Thimbles Department Store, she was surrounded by last-minute shoppers. It was making her crazy. She didn’t want to see any more gifts or any more people. She just wanted to be alone.

  But that was hard to do on a crowded day in the mall.

  In fact, there was only one place Katie could think of where she could be totally and completely alone . . . the dressing rooms at Thimbles!

  Quickly, Katie grabbed a pretty pink-and-white striped sweater from a shelf and hurried toward the dressing room. Then she waited in the long line that led to the little closetlike dressing rooms.

  It seemed to Katie that she was waiting an awfully long time for a dressing room to become free. But finally, she reached the front of the line.

  Katie hurried into the little, private room. She locked the door and sat down on the bench.

  Phew. It was nice to be alone for a second. Katie was tired of the mall being so crowded with holiday shoppers. She didn’t like having to wait in line to buy things, get a snack, or just go to the bathroom.

  She was sick of wrapping paper, presents, and her mom working late all the time.

  In fact, Katie was just plain sick of Christmas! She couldn’t wait for it to be over!

  Just then, Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She gulped. There were no windows in the dressing room. So there was no way that draft was coming from outside.

  Which meant only one thing.

  The magic wind was back! And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

  The magic wind began to circle wildly around Katie. Her red hair whipped around her head. The tornado swirled faster and faster. Katie shut her eyes tight and tried not to cry.

  It seemed like the wind was blowing for a very long time. But it was probably just a few seconds. And then it stopped.

  Katie knew what that meant. Switcheroo!

  Katie wasn’t Katie anymore. She was somebody else.

  The question was, who was she?

  As soon as Katie opened her eyes, she saw a long line of tired-looking people standing in front of her. They were each holding something in their arms—a sweater, a blender, or a necklace. One man was even holding a vacuum cleaner!

  “Lauren, could you fold a little origami Christmas tree for the middle of this package?” a woman asked as she handed Katie a baby doll in a box. “It’s for my niece. And she’s such a special little girl.”

  Lauren?

  Katie turned around, hoping to see the talented gift wrapper standing behind her. But she wasn’t there.

  Oh, no! The magic wind had switcherooed Katie into Lauren. And all of these people wanted her to wrap their gifts . . . now!

  Katie couldn’t even wrap a toy for Pepper. What would she do with a vacuum cleaner? And she had no idea how to fold paper into the shape of a Christmas tree.

  The customers in line were expecting to walk out of Thimbles with beautifull
y wrapped gifts. Katie was a terrible gift wrapper.

  This was so not good!

  Chapter 8

  “Lauren, could you hurry, please?” the woman with the doll urged Katie. “I still have to buy at least five more gifts today.”

  “Uh, well, I . . . I’m not sure . . .” Katie stammered.

  “What’s not to be sure of?” the woman asked. “Just do the same thing you did for me yesterday. You know, Christmas wrapping paper with a little paper tree on top.”

  Katie sighed. There was no way she could do that.

  There was also no way she could get out of wrapping this woman’s gift. That was Lauren’s job. And Katie was Lauren. At least for now.

  Katie was going to have to do her best. She walked over to the giant rollers and tore off a big sheet of red-and-green Christmas paper.

  “I think that’s a bit too much paper,” the woman said. “It’s not that big of a box.”

  “Hey, lady, let her do her job!” the man behind her in the line yelled. “She knows what she’s doing.”

  “I was just . . .” the woman replied.

  “The longer you stand there yapping, the longer we’ll be waiting in this line,” the man told her angrily.

  “I beg your pardon?” the woman said, sounding just as angry as the man.

  Katie gulped. These people certainly did not have the Christmas spirit. It sounded like they were about to start fighting. She had to wrap this gift quickly.

  She laid the box down on top of the paper, just as she’d seen Lauren do. Then she tried to fold the corners up around the box.

  But the woman had been right. There was far too much paper. When she folded it over, the box looked lumpy.

  Katie grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped off some of the wrapping paper. Then she tried to fold the remaining paper over the box.

  But she’d cut off too much paper. Now there wasn’t enough left to wrap the gift.

  “I have to start over,” Katie told the woman.

  “Apparently,” the woman said. She sounded really angry. Katie looked at the line. It seemed to be getting longer and longer by the second. And everyone seemed very impatient.