Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid Read Free

gave the newt skin a place of honor on his desk. Right next to his gold Sacagawea dollar, his state quarters, and his French cootie catcher.
    The newt skin just sat there. Lonely. Empty. Dead.

    Deader than a doorknob.
    Stink decided to do his homework. Homework always made him feel better.
    Stink drew a still life of the newt skin for art class. He read a poem called “Who Has Seen the Wind?” He wrote one called “Who Has Seen the Newt?” and he used all his homework phrases in sentences.
    Taking care of a newt is
easier said than done.
    I hope Newton does not get
cold feet
out on the river.
    If your class pet goes down the drain,
go back to the drawing board.
    Judy came up to his room. “I’m sorry, Stink,” she said. “I’m super-duper sorry. But I bet Newton slipped right down the pipes and on down to the river before I even flipped the switch.”
    Stink put down his pencil. “You think?”
    “Newton is having the time of his life. Think of it like
Stuart Little.
He’s probably sailing down the river right now on a raft, having a big, fat, newt adventure.”
    “What am I going to tell Mrs. Dempster? And my class?”
    “They’ll understand. It’s all part of the life cycle, Stink.”
    “The garbage disposal is NOT part of the life cycle!” said Stink.
    Stink finished his homework. He wrote the last entry in his journal.
    Sunday 5:21 NEWTON GOES DOWN THE DRAIN





 
    On Monday morning, when Stink told Mrs. D. about the G.D.I. (Garbage Disposal Incident), she said, “Let’s just tell the class Newton ran away. It’ll be our little secret.” She wasn’t even mad. She told Stink she was going back to New Hampshire for Presidents’ Day weekend, and she could get another newt.
    Class 2D wrote stories about the adventures they thought Newton was having in the big, wide world. Webster wrote about Newton joining a baseball team called the Newt York Yankees. Sophie of the Elves wrote about a magic kingdom where Princess Salamandra was under an evil spell and a newt in shining armor came to rescue her. And Stink wrote about Newton sailing down the river on a raft to Legoland and riding the roller coaster.

    The stories made everybody feel much better. Especially Stink. Mrs. D. even told Stink he could keep Newton’s skin. As in, for real. For good. For
ever.

    Mrs. Dempster talked about Presidents’ Day for the rest of the week. Stink’s class made cotton-ball portraits of George Washington. They made milk-carton-and-pretzel-stick log cabins in honor of Abraham Lincoln. Everybody said how tall Abe was. How tall his hat was. Tall, tall, tall. They acted like Abraham Lincoln was a giant.
    “What’s so great about living in a log cabin?” Stink asked Webster.
    “Lincoln carved his math problems on the walls, right in the logs.”
    “He should have gotten in trouble for writing on the walls!” Stink said.
    All week, nobody said a word about Stink’s favorite president, James Madison. Not one peep. James Madison had a birthday, too. March 16.
    Mrs. Dempster told the class, “Okay, 2D. Homework is on the board.”

    “I know! I know!” said Calvin. “Presidents’ Day means you see flags.”
    “It means we don’t have school on Monday,” said Webster.
    “It means you can buy stuff on sale, because presidents are on money,” said Heather S.
    “Let’s not give away all our ideas,” said Mrs. D. “I want everybody to write one page about what Presidents’ Day means to
you.
”
    “Can we draw something, too?” asked Lucy.
    “Can we write a poem?” asked Sophie of the Elves.
    “Can we dress up?” asked Stink.
    “Yes, yes, and yes,” his teacher said. “But I still want my one page.”
    Stink took out his Big Head book of presidents. He flipped to the best president ever. President number four, James Madison.

    Stink and James Madison were a lot alike. James Madison was from Virginia. Stink was from Virginia. James Madison had the name James. Stink had the name James! James Madison wore