Two Times the Fun

by Beverly Cleary

  Beverly Cleary

  Two Times the Fun

  Illustrated by

  Carol Thompson

  To the original twins

  Contents

  The Real Hole

  Two Dog Biscuits

  The Growing-Up Feet

  Janet’s Thingamajigs

  About the Author

  Other Books by Beverly Cleary

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  1

  The Real Hole

  Jimmy and Janet are twins. They have the same mother, the same father, and the same birthday, too. Jimmy always has Janet to play with and Janet always has Jimmy to play with. Even though Jimmy and Janet are both four years old, they do not always like the same things.

  Janet likes pretend things. She likes to pretend that a block is a cup of tea or that two paper bags are a pair of boots.

  But Jimmy—Jimmy likes real things. He doesn’t want to play with a toy hammer and toy nails. He wants to play with a real grown-up hammer and real grown-up nails. When Jimmy’s father brings him a present, the first thing Jimmy asks is,

  One morning Jimmy said to his father, “I want to dig a hole. I want to dig the biggest hole in the world.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Jimmy’s father, and he found a place in the corner of the backyard where Jimmy could dig a hole.

  Jimmy took his toy shovel and began to dig. He put the shovel into the dirt and pushed it down with his foot, the way he had seen his father dig. When he tried to lift the dirt—snap, crack—the handle of his shovel broke.

  “Daddy! My shovel broke,” cried Jimmy. “I need a real shovel.”

  “The real shovel is too big,” said Jimmy’s father, “but you can try.” He brought Jimmy the real shovel, which was much bigger than Jimmy. Jimmy worked and worked, but the real shovel was too big and heavy for him. The hole Jimmy was digging was hardly a hole at all.

  “I have an idea,” said Jimmy’s father. He went into the garage and came out with a shovel that was just Jimmy’s size. “I had forgotten we had this,” he said.

  “Is it real?” asked Jimmy.

  “Yes, it’s real,” answered Jimmy’s father. “This is the kind of shovel soldiers use to dig trenches. It is called a trench digger.”

  “Real soldiers?” asked Jimmy.

  “Real soldiers,” answered his father.

  While Janet played in her swing, Jimmy began to dig. The real shovel that real soldiers used was just the right size for Jimmy. He could never break the handle of this shovel. No, sir!

  He pushed the shovel into the ground, lifted out the dirt, and tossed it out of the hole. Push, lift, toss. This was the way Jimmy wanted to dig.

  Then Jimmy went to the front yard so he could show his shovel to Mr. Lemon, the mailman, when he brought the mail.

  “Say, that’s a real shovel you have there!” said Mr. Lemon.

  “Yup, I’m digging the biggest hole in the world,” answered Jimmy, and he went back to digging in the backyard. Mr. Lemon liked his shovel!

  “My, what a big hole,” said Jimmy’s mother, when she came outside to tell Jimmy and Janet that lunch was ready. Then she brushed the dirt off Jimmy’s jeans and emptied the dirt out of Jimmy’s shoes.

  After lunch, while Janet galloped around on her hobbyhorse, Jimmy went right on digging. Push, lift, toss. The hole was almost up to his knees when his mother came outside, brushed the dirt off his jeans, emptied the dirt out of his shoes, and took him inside for his nap.

  Jimmy was so tired from digging all morning that he took a good long nap. When he woke up he climbed out of his bed in a hurry, so he could go outside and dig in his hole some more.

  But when Jimmy opened the back door, he discovered that Janet was already awake. She was not only awake, she was out in the backyard sitting in his hole! “That’s my hole!” said Jimmy.

  “I am a little bird sitting on a nest,” said Janet.

  “That is not a nest!” yelled Jimmy. “That is my hole, and I want to dig in it!”

  “Children!” said the twins’ mother. “Janet, let Jimmy have his hole. It’s his, because he dug it.”

  “I just wanted to borrow Jimmy’s hole for a little while,” said Janet, as she climbed out and went to play on the slide.

  “I don’t want Janet to borrow my hole,” said Jimmy, and he began to dig with his real shovel. He dug and dug. Push, lift, toss. The hole grew deeper and deeper. Pretty soon it was up to Jimmy’s knees. Still Jimmy dug. He had never worked so hard, but of course he had never had a real shovel to work with before. Then some dirt around the edge of the hole fell into the hole and buried Jimmy’s shoes. Jimmy was not discouraged.

  He pulled his feet out of the dirt, shoveled the dirt out of the hole, and went on digging. “Jimmy, you look so hot and tired,” said his mother. “Why don’t you rest awhile?”

  “No,” said Jimmy. “I’m digging the biggest hole in the world.” Pretty soon Jimmy’s mother and father came to look at the hole.

  “My goodness,” said his mother. “What are you going to do with such a big hole?”

  “We could pretend it is a place to catch fish,” said Janet. “I could tie a string to a stick and pretend I am catching fish.”

  “No,” said Jimmy. “It isn’t a place to catch fish. It is a real big hole.”

  “What are you going to do with your real hole?” asked his father.

  “We could pretend it is a place where baby rabbits live,” said Janet. “I could get in the hole and pretend I am a baby rabbit.”

  “No!” said Jimmy. “It isn’t a place where baby rabbits live. It is a real hole, and I made it with a real shovel.”

  Then Mrs. Robbins, the lady next door, came over to see Jimmy’s hole. “My, what a big hole!” she said. “What are you going to do with such a great big hole?” Jimmy did not know what he was going to do with such a great big hole. Muffy, the dog that lived next door, came over and sniffed the hole.

  “Muffy could bury bones in the hole,” said Janet.

  “No!” said Jimmy. “Muffy can dig his own hole.”

  Then the man who lived next door came to see Jimmy’s hole. “Say, that is a big hole!” he said. “What are you going to do with such a great big hole?” Everybody thought Jimmy should do something with his hole. Everybody but Jimmy. He liked his hole just the way it was.

  “I am going to keep my hole,” he said.

  “I’m afraid not,” said his father. “If you or Janet ran across the yard and fell into the hole, you might get hurt.” Jimmy looked at his father. Not keep his real hole that he had dug with his real shovel?

  “I want to keep my hole,” he said.

  “Now Jimmy,” said his father. “I don’t want you or Janet to get hurt.”

  “You said I could dig a big hole,” Jimmy reminded him.

  “Yes, but I didn’t know you could dig such a big hole,” answered his father. This made Jimmy feel better. His father hadn’t known he could dig such a big hole.

  “There must be something we could do with such a nice hole,” said Jimmy’s mother. “It’s too bad not to use it for something, when Jimmy has worked so hard.” So Jimmy and Janet and their mother and father thought and thought. What could they do with such a big hole?

  “I know!” said Jimmy’s father.

  “What?” asked Jimmy and Janet.

  “You wait and see. It’s a surprise,” answered their father, and he backed the car out of the garage and drove away.

  “What do you suppose he’s going to get?” asked the twins’ mother.

  “Is it a big water pipe?” asked Jimmy.

  “Is it a family of baby rabbits?” asked Janet.

  “I don’t know,�
� answered their mother. “We will have to wait and see.”

  After a while Jimmy and Janet’s father came back. When he got out of the car he took something out of the backseat. It was a tree growing in a big tin can. “Is it a real tree?” asked Jimmy.

  “Yes, it’s a real spruce tree,” answered his father, “and your hole is just the right size to plant it in.” Jimmy grabbed his shovel. He wanted to help plant a real tree in his real hole.

  His father took the tree out of the can and set it in the hole. With the hose they watered the roots of the tree. Then they filled in the hole with dirt.

  “Now we have a real tree growing in our yard,” said Jimmy’s mother.

  “We can pretend it’s a Christmas tree,” said Janet.

  “It is a Christmas tree,” said her father. “This year we can have two Christmas trees, one in the house and one in the yard.”

  “You didn’t know I could dig a hole for a tree,” said Jimmy, who was pleased with what he had done.

  “No, we didn’t,” said Jimmy’s mother. Then she brushed the dirt off Jimmy’s jeans and emptied the dirt out of Jimmy’s shoes.

  “It was a real grown-up hole,” Jimmy said proudly.

  “Yes, sir!” said Jimmy’s father. “A real grown-up hole!”

  2

  Two Dog Biscuits

  Jimmy and Janet do many things together. They draw pictures of funny bugs and birthday cakes and eggs in a nest.

  They sing “Skip to My Lou.” They pump themselves up high in their swings, and they swat flies.

  Jimmy and Janet like being twins because they always have each other to play with.

  They get up at the same time and go to bed at the same time.

  Janet always has Jimmy to swing with her on the glider, and Jimmy always has Janet to sit on the other end of the teeter-totter.

  “I think twins are a very nice arrangement,” said Mother.

  “What does ‘very nice arrangement’ mean?” asked Janet, who liked big words.

  “It means I’m glad I have twins,” answered Mother. Jimmy and Janet think twins are a nice arrangement, too.

  One morning Jimmy and Janet went next door to see Mrs. Robbins and her dog, Muffy. When they came home Jimmy was carrying a dog biscuit shaped like a bone. Janet was carrying a dog biscuit shaped like a bone, too.

  “See what Mrs. Robbins gave us,” they said.

  “What are you going to do with two dog biscuits?” asked Mother.

  “I’m going to keep my dog biscuit,” said Jimmy.

  “I’m going to keep my dog biscuit, too,” said Janet. “It is a nice little dog biscuit.”

  “All right,” said Mother, “but be sure you don’t eat the dog biscuits. Dog biscuits are for dogs.”

  Janet laid her dog biscuit on a chair. Jimmy laid his dog biscuit on the couch. When Mother started to sit on the couch, she asked, “Whose dog biscuit is this?”

  “My dog biscuit,” answered Jimmy, and put his dog biscuit on the kitchen table.

  Janet put her dog biscuit on the kitchen table, too. She did not want Mother to sit on her dog biscuit.

  At lunchtime Mother said, “Put your dog biscuits away, children. I don’t want you to get mixed up and eat them for lunch. Dog biscuits are for dogs.”

  Jimmy and Janet put their dog biscuits in their pockets.

  After lunch and naps Mother said, “It’s time for some clean clothes.” When Jimmy took off his jeans, his dog biscuit fell out of his pocket. When Janet took off her overalls, her dog biscuit fell out of her pocket, too.

  “My goodness,” said Mother. “Every place I look I see dog biscuits. Why don’t you take the dog biscuits next door and give them to Muffy?”

  “Muffy has dog biscuits,” said Janet. “He has a big bag of them.”

  “Then give the dog biscuits to some other dog,” said Mother.

  “Dogs don’t come to our house,” said Jimmy.

  “Then let’s go find a dog,” said Mother. “Put on your clean clothes, and we’ll go for a walk and find a dog that would like two dog biscuits.”

  So Jimmy and Janet, wearing their clean clothes, went for a walk with Mother. “Be on the lookout for a dog,” said Mother. “What does ‘be on the lookout’ mean?” asked Janet.

  “It means to watch for something,” answered Mother. Jimmy and Janet and Mother were on the lookout for a dog.

  The first dog they met was a big brown dog. “I don’t want to give my dog biscuit to a brown dog,” said Jimmy.

  “I don’t want to give my dog biscuit to a big dog,” said Janet.

  “Oh, dear,” said Mother. “I guess we will have to find another dog.”

  After a while they met a small white dog. “I’m sure this dog is very hungry,” said Mother. The little dog barked. Yip-yip-yip.

  “No,” said Janet. “That is not a nice dog. I want to give my nice little dog biscuit to a nice little dog.”

  “Oh, dear,” said Mother. “I guess we will have to find another dog.”

  Then they saw Mr. Lemon delivering mail across the street. “

  Mr. Lemon!” Jimmy shouted. “We have two dog biscuits!”

  Janet called out, “We’re going to give them to a nice dog!”

  “Lucky dog!” Mr. Lemon called back.

  After a while they met a big black dog. “I’m sure this dog would like two dog biscuits,” said Mother.

  The dog was hungry. He barked. Woof-woof-woof.

  “No,” said Jimmy. “I don’t like dogs that bark.”

  “Oh, dear,” said Mother. “I guess we will have to find another dog.”

  They went on walking. They met big dogs, little dogs, smooth dogs, curly dogs, dogs that sniffed, and dogs that wagged their tails. Each time they met a dog Jimmy and Janet said, “No, I don’t want to give my dog biscuit to this dog.”

  “Oh, dear, such picky children!” said Mother. “It’s almost time for Daddy to come home, and we have not found the right dog to give the dog biscuits to. What are we going to do?”

  Jimmy and Janet thought and thought. What were they going to do? They did not really want to give their dog biscuits to a dog. If Muffy had his own dog biscuits, other dogs must have dog biscuits, too.

  “We could give the dog biscuits to a cat,” said Janet and laughed. What a funny idea, dog biscuits for a cat!

  “Oh, no,” said Mother. “A cat couldn’t eat a dog biscuit, because it would be too hard for his teeth. Dog biscuits are for dogs.” Just the same, on the way home Jimmy and Janet were on the lookout for a cat.

  When they were almost home Janet spied a big tiger cat snoozing on a driveway in the sunshine. “There is a cat,” she said. “I’m going to give him my dog biscuit.”

  “I’m afraid that cat does not want your dog biscuit,” said Mother.

  Janet tiptoed over to the cat and laid her dog biscuit under his nose. “Here is a present for you, kitty,” she said.

  The cat opened one eye. He opened the other eye. He stood up and stretched. He sniffed the dog biscuit.

  Then he sat down and began to eat. It was hard work for him to eat such a hard biscuit, but he crunched and munched and pretty soon the biscuit was gone. The cat licked his whiskers, looked around, and said, “Meow.”

  “He liked my dog biscuit,” said Janet. “He’s saying thank you.”

  “He wants another dog biscuit,” said Jimmy. “Here, kitty. Here is another present for you.” The cat crunched and munched Jimmy’s dog biscuit, and when it was all gone he sat up and began to wash.

  “You didn’t know a cat would eat dog biscuits,” Jimmy said to Mother. “You said dog biscuits were for dogs.” He and Janet laughed. What fun it was to know something a grown-up didn’t know!

  “No, I didn’t know a cat would eat dog biscuits, but now I know it,” said Mother, and she laughed, too. “Oh, look, there’s Daddy coming home from work.”

  “Daddy! Daddy!” shouted Janet, running down the sidewalk to meet him. “We gave our dog biscuits to a cat and he a
te them!”

  “Daddy! Daddy!” shouted Jimmy, running down the sidewalk to meet him. “Mother said the cat wouldn’t eat the dog biscuits, but he did! She didn’t know!”

  Daddy caught Jimmy and Janet and picked them both up at the same time. “Your mother didn’t know a cat would eat dog biscuits!” he exclaimed. “What a big joke on Mother!”

  3

  The Growing-Up Feet

  “When are my feet going to grow up?” Jimmy asked one morning as he wiggled his toes.

  “They’re growing all the time,” said Mother. “They have grown so much that it is time to go to the shoe store and talk to Mr. Markle about new shoes.”

  “For me, too?” asked Janet, Jimmy’s twin sister.

  “For both of you,” said Mother.

  “Our feet are growing up!” shouted Jimmy. “Our feet are growing up!”

  “New shoes, new shoes, we’re going to get new shoes!” sang Janet. Then she said, “And I’m going to surprise Mr. Lemon with new shoes when he brings the mail.” Janet liked to surprise people, especially Mr. Lemon.

  Mother and the twins drove to the shoe store, where they sat in three chairs in a row, with Mother in the middle.

  Mr. Markle pulled up a stool and sat down in front of them. “What will my favorite customers have today?” he asked.

  “Shoes,” said Jimmy. “Our feet are growing up.”

  “No kidding,” said Mr. Markle. He felt the toes of Jimmy’s and Janet’s shoes. Then he took off their shoes and asked each of them to stand on his measuring stick while he slid the wooden piece to the tips of their toes.

  Mr. Markle shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “You kids aren’t ready for new shoes.”