"On. He shook it through my glove. Then we talked and had tea, and suddenly..."
Everyone grinned again, and waited.
"...he ordered twenty-two brand-new dictionaries, and here they are."
When the dictionaries had been distributed to every student, Mrs. Pidgeon moved the empty carton to the coatroom. "Gooney Bird Greene," she said, "you are indefatigable."
The students tried to say the word.
"Indefeat..."
"Undeff..."
"Indeteff..."
Mrs. Pidgeon wrote it at the top of the board, in large printing. "Class," she said, "get out your dictionaries. We will have a lesson in dictionary use."
Gooney Bird and the Room Mother
2.
Gooney Bird and the Room Mother
The word INDEFATIGABLE was still on the board, in the upper-right-hand corner, followed by its definition: never showing any sign of getting tired. Now, after the discussion about matching socks, Mrs. Pidgeon carefully wrote ENNUI at the end of the word list, because Gooney Bird had said that wearing matching socks gave her a feeling of ennui. The children knew exactly what to do when a new word appeared. They each got out a dictionary and began to look carefully through the pages.
"I found it!" Tricia called out, with her hand raised.
Mrs. Pidgeon pointed to Tricia and she read the definition aloud carefully. "A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction."
"That's right," Gooney Bird said, nodding her head. "That's exactly how I feel when I wear matching socks. Weary and dissatisfied.
"May I be right smack in the middle of the Muriel, Mrs. Pidgeon?" she asked. "I want to work on Squanto. I want to color his feather."
"It's mural, GooneyBird," Mrs. Pidgeon said. "Not Muriel."
"I know that," Gooney Bird replied. "I just like to call it the Muriel. Because of Muriel Holloway in the office."
Muriel Holloway was the school secretary. She had spiked hair and fancy fingernails. If you threw up in school, first you went to the school nurse, and then Muriel Holloway called your mom to come and get you.
"May I be right smack in the middle and do Squanto?"
Mrs. Pidgeon nodded. Gooney Bird knelt in front of Squanto and began to examine her crayons.
"Everyone choose a place on the, ah, mural," Mrs. Pidgeon said. "We want to get it finished before the pageant. Nicholas, could you work on the forest in the background? Chelsea, how about you? Could you do the turkey?"
Gooney Bird had begun to color Squanto's feather blue. But all of the other children remained standing. They were all looking at their own feet. They looked weary and dissatisfied.
"My feet match," Felicia Ann whispered. "I have a feeling of ennui."
"Mine too," Tyrone said loudly. "My feet are the boringest ones in the whole room. I feel a whole lot of ennui. Can I switch one sock with Nicholas?" He sat on the floor and pulled off one white sock.
"Trade with me!" Barry Tuckerman called. He was grabbing at Ben's left foot.
"Me!" Malcolm called loudly. "Someone switch with me!"
"My goodness, class!" Mrs. Pidgeon said. "Can we keep our voices down, please? Look how carefully Gooney Bird is coloring Squanto. We must all get busy on this mural!"
But the class wasn't listening. The children were examining their own feet and their classmates' feet. They were comparing socks and grabbing and yelling.
"You've lost them, Mrs. Pidgeon," Gooney Bird said with a sigh, "and it was my fault. I apologize. I'll try to make it up to you." She stood up. "Class!" she said.
Gooney Bird had a very loud voice when she wanted to use it.
"CLASS!" she said again.
The children looked up. They became quiet.
"Here is what we are going to do," Gooney Bird announced. "Arrange yourselves in a circle, please. Try not to step on the Muriel."
She reached out and took the hands of the children nearest to her, Tyrone on one side and Ben on the other. Tyrone reached for Chelsea. Ben took Beanie's hand. One by one the children arranged themselves in a circle around the mural.
Mrs. Pidgeon entered the circle by taking the hands of Nicholas and Chelsea and standing between them.
"Now," Gooney Bird announced, "at the count of three, we will each remove our left sock. One. Two."
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Pidgeon said, "I'm wearing pantyhose. I think I'd better drop out."
Gooney Bird nodded. "You be the supervisor," she suggested.
"Ready?" Gooney Bird said loudly. "THREE. Left socks off."
Every child, including Gooney Bird, removed a left sock.
"You'd better help Malcolm, Mrs. Pidgeon," Gooney Bird said. "Remember, he has that problem with left and right?"
Mrs. Pidegon nodded. She went to Malcolm and pointed out his left foot.
"Ready?" Gooney Bird said. "Everyone got that left sock off?"
The children nodded. They wiggled the toes on their bare left feet and waited for their instructions.
"At the count of three, pass your left sock to the person on your left. That will be the person beside your bare foot. Malcolm, Mrs. Pidgeon will help you. One. Two. Ready? THREE."
Each child handed a sock to another child.
"I got a girl sock," Tyrone said. "I don't want no girl sock."
"A sock is a sock," Gooney Bird said. "Anyway," she added, "you happen to have Chelsea's sock, and Chelsea is one of the smartest girls in this class. Some of her smarts may still be in that sock and they may rub off on you, Tyrone. You've got a very lucky sock there.
"Now. You can all guess what comes next, on the count of three. You put on your new sock. One. Two. THREE."
In a moment all the children were wearing unmatched socks. Even Gooney Bird's original pair of one red, one yellow, had become a pair of one red, one white with a blue stripe.
They all looked down and admired their feet.
"There is not a single pair of boring feet in this classroom now," Gooney Bird announced.
"Except mine," Mrs. Pidgeon said with a laugh.
"Except Mrs. Pidgeon's," Gooney Bird agreed. "Now, class, on the count of three..."
"Do we switch socks again?" Beanie asked.
"Nope. We get to work on this Muriel, because it needs to be done by the pageant. One. Two.