by ABBY KLEIN

  illustrated by JOHN MCKINLEY

  To Toesie, who one day

  will get a hamster of her own.

  Lots of love,

  A.K.

  I have a problem.

  A really, really, big problem.

  It’s my turn to bring Harold,

  the class pet, home for

  the weekend, but my mom

  doesn’t allow us to bring

  animals into the house.

  Let me tell you about it.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Dear Reader

  Chapter 1: Harold’s Adventures: Part One

  Chapter 2: The King of Responsibility

  Chapter 3: Happy Hamster Day

  Chapter 4: Harold at Home

  Chapter 5: The Great Escape

  Chapter 6: Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

  Chapter 7: The Morning After

  Chapter 8: Harold’s Adventures: Part Two

  Freddy’s Fun Pages

  FREDDY’S SHARK JOURNAL

  Hamster Word Search

  Hamster Hideout

  About Hamsters

  Freddy’s Other Adventures!

  Copyright

  DEAR READER,

  I am a kindergarten and first-grade teacher. My friend, who is also a teacher, really does have a hamster named Harold in her classroom. The students in her class get to take Harold home for the weekend. They write about their adventures with Harold in a special “Hamster Journal.” The stories in that journal gave me ideas for this book. One little girl in her class really did paint Harold’s toenails with pink polish! I thought that was hilarious!

  I hope you have as much fun reading Stop that Hamster! as I had writing it.

  HAPPY READING!

  CHAPTER 1

  Harold’s Adventures:

  Part One

  “Boys and girls, it’s time for Chloe to share what she did with Harold when she took him home with her for the weekend,” said my teacher, Mrs. Wushy.

  “This should be good,” Jessie whispered in my ear.

  “Oh, yeah,” I giggled. “Real good. I feel sorry for Harold already.”

  “Chloe, come on up, and bring the Hamster Journal with you,” said Mrs. Wushy.

  Chloe bounced to the front of the room and sat down in the teacher’s chair. She smoothed her skirt and cleared her throat—”hmmm, hmmm.” Then she carefully opened the journal to her page. “Harold and I had a marvelous weekend,” she began.

  “Oh, boy, here we go,” my best friend, Robbie, muttered under his breath.

  “First, I took Harold to the beauty parlor.”

  “The beauty parlor?” Max interrupted. “Hamsters don’t go to the beauty parlor. That’s only for people.”

  “Max,” said Mrs. Wushy, “please do not interrupt. That is very rude. Right now it is Chloe’s turn. If you want to make a comment, please raise your hand.”

  “As I was saying,” Chloe continued, glaring at Max, “I took Harold to the beauty parlor, my beauty parlor, at my house. His fur was looking a little messy, and he smelled stinky, so I thought I’d give him a little wash and a quick blow-dry.”

  “A wash and a blow-dry?” I snickered. “Does she realize that Harold is a hamster?”

  “I put him in the sink and washed him with my special pink Strawberry Sparkle shampoo, the one that makes my curls so shiny and bouncy,” she said, fluffing her hair. “I covered him in soapy bubbles, and he looked like a little, puffy, white cloud.”

  “Is she kidding?” Jessie whispered to me. “I can’t believe the little thing didn’t jump out of the sink and run away. I know I would have!”

  I looked at Robbie. He was just sitting there, shaking his head.

  “I rinsed him off and wrapped him up in my super-soft princess towel. He looked so adorable!”

  “Do you know that Harold is a boy?” Max interrupted again.

  “Stop interrupting me, Max,” Chloe snapped. “It’s not your turn!”

  “Well, boys don’t like sparkly shampoo and princess towels. You are such a weirdo.”

  “I am not a weirdo. Mrs. Wushy, make him be quiet. He’s ruining my story.”

  “Max,” said Mrs. Wushy, “you may not yell out like that and interrupt people. I’ve also talked to you many times about calling people names. If you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t open your mouth at all! I already gave you one warning. Now you need to go sit in a chair. If I have to talk to you again, then I’m sending you to the principal’s office. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes,” Max muttered under his breath.

  “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Wushy.” Max got up and went to go sit in a chair. He gets sent to that chair so many times, it ought to have his name on it!

  “Now where was I?” Chloe continued.

  “Almost done, I hope,” I whispered to Jessie.

  “Don’t count on it,” she whispered back. “She’ll go on all day if you let her. She loves to hear herself talk.”

  “After Harold’s bath, I got out the blow-dryer and fluffed him up. Then I tied a little ribbon in his hair.”

  I heard Max groan from the back of the room, but he bit his lip and didn’t say anything. He had already been to the principal’s office once this morning. I don’t think Mr. Pendergast would be too happy to see him again.

  “I took a picture of him, so you could all see how cute he looked.” Chloe held up the journal where she had taped a picture of Harold with a pink ribbon tied on the top of his head. “Doesn’t he look precious?”

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Robbie said.

  “Only one more minute, Chloe,” Mrs. Wushy said.

  “One more minute! There’s no way I can finish telling you about everything Harold and I did together in one minute.”

  “Well, choose one more thing you want to share about your weekend with Harold. The class can read the rest when it’s their turn to take the journal home.”

  Chloe scrunched up her nose. “It’s so hard to choose. Ummmm. Oh, I know, I painted his toenails with pink polish and …”

  “OK. Well, thank you, Chloe,” Mrs. Wushy said, cutting her off.

  “But wait. I’m not finished.”

  “Oh yes you are,” Jessie whispered in my ear.

  “Oh yeah,” I nodded. “She’s finished, all right.”

  “Chloe, we’ve run out of time,” Mrs. Wushy continued. “Thank you for taking such good care of Harold. It sounds as if he had a wonderful weekend.”

  “It sounds to me like he couldn’t wait to get out of there,” Jessie said. “Poor little Harold. How did he survive?”

  “Let’s see…. Who’s next on the list? Freddy, it looks like it’s your turn, but I know your mom doesn’t let you have animals in the house, so …”

  “Oh, it’s OK…. It’s … uh … fine with her.”

  “It is?” Robbie whispered in my ear. “When did you ask her?”

  “Well, I haven’t actually asked her yet, but I know she’s going to say yes,” I whispered back.

  “Dream on,” Robbie said.

  I swatted his face away with my hand.

  “Are you sure it’s OK?” Mrs. Wushy asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure. She thinks Harold is really cute, and she said I could bring him home for the weekend.”

  “Listen to you! Now you’re just talking crazy,” Robbie muttered.

  I glared at him and then turned back to Mrs. Wushy. “My mom will be here on Friday after school to pick up Harold.”

  “Well, all right,” said Mrs. Wushy. “How nice of your mom.”

  “Yes, how nice,” Robbie said, smiling at me.

  I let out a big sigh, and hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Think, think, think,” I muttered. I really had my work cut out for me. How was I ever going to convince my mom to let me bring Harold home?

  CHAPTER 2

  The King of Responsibility

  I spent the whole afternoon planning how I was going to ask my mom about bringing Harold home. I would have to somehow sneak it into the conversation.

  As I sat down to dinner, I was feeling pretty good about my plan. I would just ask sweetly and look at her with my “sad puppy” eyes, and Harold would be mine for the weekend.

  “So, honey, how was school today?” my mom asked.

  “It was OK.”

  “Just OK? You must have learned something interesting.”

  “I learned that hamsters do not like to be blow-dried.”

  “Blow-dried?” My dad chuckled. “Who would use a hair dryer on a hamster?”

  “Chloe. That’s who. She took Harold home last weekend and gave him a whole makeover.”

  “A makeover!” Suzie said, laughing. “That is hilarious. I wish I could have seen that!”

  “It was hilarious. You should have seen the pictures.”

  “She took pictures?”

  “Oh, yeah. Poor Harold looked miserable. He was fluffed up like a big piece of cotton candy. He had a pink bow tied in his hair, and his toenails were painted pink!”

  “That girl is something else,” my mom said.

  “She’s a lulu,” Suzie added.

  “Suzie, that’s not very nice,” said my mom.

  “Well, she is.”

  “When I bring Harold home, I won’t torture him like that.”

  There. I did it. I just casually slipped it into the conversation. My plan worked!

  “Did you just say, ‘when you bring Harold home?’” Suzie asked, slowly turning in my direction.

  And there went my plan. Right down the drain.

  “That’s the funniest thing I ever heard,” Suzie said, laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall off her chair. “Bring Harold home. That’s a good one, Freddy.”

  OK. She can stop laughing now. She’s ruining everything. “What’s so funny?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s so funny,” Suzie said between bursts of giggles. “You actually thought … Mom was going to … let you bring a hamster into the house? That’s a good one, Freddy!”

  “No it’s not!” I yelled.

  “Oh yes it is!”

  “All right. Enough, you two,” my dad interrupted. “Suzie, you need to stop laughing at Freddy, right now.”

  “But he just told the best joke.”

  “It’s not a joke,” I complained. “I’m serious.”

  “Serious about what, sweetie?” my mom asked, confused.

  “About Harold. It’s my turn to bring him home this weekend.”

  “Freddy, honey. You know I love you, but you also know that I don’t allow animals in the house.”

  “I know, Mom. But Harold won’t really be in the house. He’ll be in his cage the whole time.”

  “Nice try,” Suzie muttered under her breath.

  I gave her the evil eye and turned back to my mom. “I promise I won’t take him out of his cage.”

  “Hamsters are smelly, and at some point during the weekend, he’s going to need to have his cage cleaned. What are you going to do with him then?”

  “I can put him in his little exercise ball. He can just run around in that while I clean the cage. He’s so cute. I’ll keep him in my room and just watch him play.”

  “Do you know that hamsters are nocturnal?” my dad asked. “He’s going to be doing most of his playing while you are asleep.”

  “That’s OK. He’ll keep me company.”

  “I can’t believe you are even having this conversation!” Suzie said with a snort.

  “Last time I checked,” said my dad, “you were Freddy’s sister, not his mother or his father. This is not for you to decide, Suzie.”

  Go, Dad!

  Suzie flopped back in her chair, folded her arms, and gave me the death stare. I smiled at her and turned back to Mom. “So, Mom, what do you say? Can I bring Harold home?”

  “I don’t know, Freddy.”

  Don’t give up now, I thought. She said, ‘I don’t know.’ She didn’t say, ‘No.’ There’s still hope. “Please, Mom. It’s just three nights. That’s all. No big deal.”

  “Taking care of a pet is a very big deal, honey. It’s a big responsibility. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to Harold while he was staying with us.”

  “I’ll take really good care of him. I promise. You won’t have to do anything. I’ll do it all myself. You won’t even have to see him. I’ll keep him in my room the whole weekend.”

  “Well….” My mom turned to my dad. “What do you think, Daniel?”

  “I think it might be a very good lesson in responsibility for Freddy,” said my dad. “He isn’t a baby anymore.”

  I heard Suzie snicker, but I ignored her. I had to stay focused on the conversation. I was so close to victory! “That’s right. I’m not a baby.” I looked at my mom with my “sad puppy” eyes and pleaded. “Please, Mom, please … please … please!”

  “How can I resist that adorable face?”

  “Ughhhh,” Suzie groaned.

  “I have an idea,” my mom said. “I’ll tell you what. You can bring Harold home for the weekend, but you have to let Suzie take care of him, too. Mrs. Wushy didn’t have a hamster when Suzie was in her class, so Suzie never got this special opportunity. Both of you can share the responsibility. Freddy, you can take care of Harold and keep him in your room one day, and Suzie can keep him in her room the next day. And neither of you are allowed to take him out of his cage. Do we have a deal?” my mom asked.

  “Deal!” I said, and I threw my arms around her and gave her a great, big hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom. You’re the best!”

  “Suzie, does that sound fair?”

  “Oh yeah!” Suzie said, giving my mom a huge squeeze. “I love that idea! Thanks, Mom. I’m so excited!”

  “Hey, what about me?” my dad said. “Don’t I get a hug?”

  We both ran over to him and gave him a giant bear hug.

  “Thanks, Dad. I promise I won’t let you down. I will be the king of responsibility.”

  “And I’ll be the queen,” said Suzie.

  My dad laughed. My mom smiled. Suzie clapped her hands, and I did a little happy dance around the kitchen.

  CHAPTER 3

  Happy Hamster Day

  The week seemed to drag, but Friday finally arrived. I was so excited I could barely concentrate in school. Robbie was going to have a sleepover at my house because he is a science genius and an animal expert. He knows everything you need to know about taking care of animals, and he promised he would show me how to take care of Harold.

  When the bell rang at the end of the day, we had to wait for my mom to pick us up because I couldn’t take a hamster home on the bus.

  While we were waiting for my mom, Robbie and I were planning what we were going to do with Harold.

  “So what’s the first thing you want to do with Harold?” I asked.

  “Let’s build him a castle out of Legos, and he can run around the castle and be the king of the land!”

  “Didn’t I tell you that I’m not allowed to take him out of the cage?”

  “You’re not?”

  “Nope. That was one thing I promised my mom. You know how she is about pets. She didn’t want Harold at all, but I promised her that I would only take Harold out to clean the cage, and even then, he would just stay in his exercise ball.”

  “That doesn’t sound like too much fun.”

  “Well, it was that or nothing,” I said. “I really wanted to bring Harold home, so I had to agree to her rules. Sometimes I wish I had a mom like yours who lets you have all the pets you want.”

  “Yeah, my mom’s cool that way. I’m really lucky. Don’t worry, though, Freddy. We’ll still have a good time.”

  “Yeah. I can’t wait!”

  “We can still build the castle and put Harold and his cage inside. We can pretend that he was put under a magic spell by an evil witch who locked him in the tower, and we have to rescue him.”

  “Great idea, Robbie! You and me and Harold are going to have so much fun!”

  Just then my mom came running in. “So, where is he?” my mom asked.

  “Over there! Over there!” I yelled, pointing to the far corner of the room.

  Mrs. Wushy got up from her desk and came over. “Hi, Mrs. Thresher. Freddy is so excited about taking Harold home,” she said, “but I have to say I’m a bit surprised you said yes. I thought you didn’t like to have any animals in your house.”

  “I don’t,” my mom said, “but I felt Freddy would be missing out on a wonderful opportunity, so we made an agreement.”

  “You did?” said Mrs. Wushy. “Freddy, what was the agreement?”

  “I promised my mom that I would not take Harold out of his cage, except to clean it. And Suzie and I are going to share the responsibility over the weekend.”

  “That’s a great idea. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I know Suzie and I can take care of Harold together!” I said, jumping up and down. “Let’s get him.” I ran over to pick up the cage.

  “Slow down a minute, sweetie,” my mom said. “We have to get instructions from Mrs. Wushy. You need to listen carefully, since you’re the one taking care of him. And you’re going to have to tell all of this to Suzie.”

  “Freddy, I have all the instructions taped right here on the side of the cage in case you forget anything I tell you, OK?”

  “OK.”

  “First, here are the shavings for the bottom of Harold’s cage. You need to change them once over the weekend. Just dump out the old shavings, and line the bottom of the cage with a fresh layer.”

 

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