Read Spring According to Humphrey for Free Online

tadpoles,’ she said. ‘But I’m not sure we need the blankets. It’s a beautiful day!’
    ‘Really?’ I squeaked. Because I couldn’t see anything.
    Once my cage was uncovered, I was back on the table by the windowsill in Room 26.
    ‘BOING-BOING!’ Og’s strange voice rang out.
    ‘Be prepared, Og!’ I squeaked back at him.
    ‘You’re going to see something surprising.’
    Joey’s mum set the aquarium on the table between Og’s tank and my cage, then hurried off to work.
    Soon, all my classmates were crowded around the table, asking Joey what was in the aquarium.
    Mrs Brisbane told them to take their seats. ‘After the bell rings, we’ll talk about our signs of spring. Then Joey will explain what’s in the tank.’
    My friends looked disappointed as they went back to their tables.
    I was pretty sure they’d be even more disappointed when they found out that there was nothing in the tank but two specks.
    The bell rang and Mrs Brisbane took the register.
    ‘Now can we see what’s in the tank?’ Slow-Down-Simon asked.
    Mrs Brisbane smiled and said, ‘Try to be a little bit patient. Now, raise your hand if you’d like to share a sign of spring that you found this weekend.’
    A lot of hands went up. Mrs Brisbane turned to Rolling-Rosie first.
    ‘It’s staying light longer in the evening. And it was so warm today, I didn’t have to wear my winter coat – just a light jacket,’ she said.
    ‘Yes.’ Mrs Brisbane nodded. ‘The days start to get longer in the spring. Remember, we set our clocks forward an hour for daylight-saving time. So the skies are light a lot longer now.’
    Hurry-Up-Harry raised his hand. ‘But it’s darker in the morning. It’s hard to get out of bed when it’s dark.’ He yawned a big yawn.
    Some of my friends laughed, but Mrs Brisbane agreed. ‘I have to admit, it’s hard for me to get up, too, Harry.’
    Lots of my classmates had seen leaves budding on trees, grass springing out of the ground and flowers growing.
    Helpful-Holly said her mum had taken her shopping for spring clothes.
    ‘That’s a great sign of spring,’ Mrs Brisbane said.
    ‘The stores are full of Easter eggs,’ Thomas said. ‘But my mum won’t buy one for me. She says Easter is a long way off.’
    His comment brought more giggles.
    Small-Paul got up and showed the class a new chart he’d made of spring temperatures over the last ten years. ‘We’ve been having average temperatures for spring,’ he said as he pointed to wavy lines and explained them.
    At last, it was Joey’s turn. ‘My dad sent me two signs of spring. May I show them now?’ he asked Mrs Brisbane.
    Our teacher said yes, and Joey walked over to our table.
    ‘In the spring, lots of animals come out of hibernation and have new babies,’ he said. ‘Including these!’
    All eyes were on Joey as he pulled the small blanket off the aquarium.
    I heard a gasp, then silence.
    The only one who made a sound was Og. ‘BOING-BOING-BOING!’
    ‘These are tadpoles,’ Joey said. ‘I mean, they’re going to grow into tadpoles. And tadpoles grow into frogs. They just look like dots now, but pretty soon they’ll grow tails and legs and start to become frogs.’
    Everybody was quiet until Og twanged, ‘BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!’
    That made everybody laugh.
    Stop-Talking-Sophie’s hand shot up. ‘Was Og a tadpole once?’
    Joey nodded. ‘Sure. All frogs were.’
    My friends started chattering away. I knew why, because I couldn’t believe that Og was once a tiny speck, either.
    ‘Can we see them?’ Felipe asked.
    Mrs Brisbane asked my friends to queue up so that each one could have a good look.
    ‘You might be disappointed!’ I squeaked. ‘They don’t do much!’
    One by one, they came up to the aquarium to look at the specks with Mrs Brisbane and Joey.
    ‘What’s that goo?’ Not-Now-Nicole asked.
    ‘It’s like the inside of an egg,’ Joey said. He looked up at Mrs Brisbane. ‘Right?’
    ‘Yes, I think so,’ she