Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
Blackberry Gravy, Blackberry Soup!
Extra Special Scary
Snow Please!
The Biggest Snowball in the Universe
Jayne, the Pain!
Carol Singing
Christmas Spying and Prying
Girl Wonder’s Winter Wordsearch
Spot the Difference
The Terrific Twins’ Tricky Quiz
Answers
About the Author
Also by Malorie Blackman
Copyright
About the Book
From scaring Mum at Halloween to building the biggest snowball the world’s ever seen – Maxine always has a super plan and needs the help of her twin brothers, Anthony and Edward. Together the super siblings make all sorts of mischief . . . Can they fix it before Mum finds out?
These seven funny short stories are perfect for building confidence in new readers, whether reading alone or reading aloud.
For Neil and Lizzy, with love as always.
Blackberry Gravy, Blackberry Soup!
Hooray! Today we’re going blackberry picking. Mum says that “winter is just beginning, when blackberries need picking”.
“Now then, Maxine and Anthony and Edward, I want you three on your best behaviour,” Mum said as we set off in the car.
As if we’re ever on anything else!
We drove to some woods near to where we live. The woods were filled with blackberry bushes with heaps and Loads and TONS of blackberries on them. There were lots of other people there as well. We got out of our car and looked around. Then I had a brilliant idea.
I turned to my brothers and said, “Anthony and Edward, we’re going to pick more blackberries than anyone else here. In fact we’re going to pick more blackberries than everyone else put together.”
“How are we going to do that?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah, how?” Edward said.
So I replied, “I think this is a job for Girl Wonder . . .”
“And the Terrific Twins. Yippee!” the twins shouted.
And we spun around until we were gleefully giddy.
“OK, Terrific Twins,” I said. “We’re going to pick blackberries and not stop until we’ve got tons and tons.”
Mum gave each of us a big wicker basket. We all walked over to one of the mega-tall blackberry bushes and found a space. Then we picked blackberries off the bush and put them into our baskets. We picked and plucked and pulled and we didn’t stop. In fact, the twins and I carried on after everyone else had stopped for a rest.
“Come on, you three. You needn’t work so hard. Let’s stop for lunch,” Mum said.
“We can’t stop. We’re going to pick more blackberries than anyone else,” I replied.
“But I’m hungry,” Anthony moaned.
“But I’m starving,” Edward groaned.
“Come on, Terrific Twins,” I whispered so Mum wouldn’t hear. “We’re superheroes. We have to pick more blackberries than anyone else.”
“Oh, all right then,” grumbled Anthony.
“Ah, OK then,” mumbled Edward.
Sometimes being a superhero is hard work!
So we carried on plucking and pulling and picking the blackberries whilst Mum ate some lunch. After her lunch Mum came back and started working again, but we hadn’t stopped. It was getting quite late when the twins started to complain.
“My arms ache,” muttered Anthony.
“My . . . my hands hurt,” spluttered Edward.
My whole body was hurting by now.
“OK, Terrific Twins. I think that’s enough for today. Our baskets are tip-top full,” I said.
Including Mum’s basket we had four baskets overflowing with blackberries.
It was wonderful.
Mum looked a bit worried though.
“I didn’t expect you to pick quite so many blackberries. What am I going to do with them all?” Mum said.
When we got home, we carried the baskets of blackberries into the kitchen.
“We did a great job, Terrific Twins,” I said.
“A mega-wonderful job,” agreed Anthony.
“An extra super-duper, mega-wonderful, brilliant job,” said Edward.
We had chicken and rice for dinner, followed by blackberries and ice cream, and they were mega-delicious, and we still had whole basketfuls left.
The next morning when we went down for breakfast, I was starving. I knew why too. My brothers and I had had no lunch the previous day. I decided to eat huge amounts to make up for it.
“What’s for breakfast, Mum?” I asked.
“Toast and some blackberry jam I made last night from the blackberries you picked,” Mum replied.
The blackberry jam was scrumptious. And Mum had mashed and crushed some blackberries and added milk to them to make a lovely milkshake drink.
The twins and I played in the garden until lunch time.
“What’s for lunch, Mum?” we asked when we got hungry.
“Sausages, mashed potatoes and blackberry gravy followed by an apple and blackberry pie and a milk and blackberry drink,” Mum replied.
Blackberry gravy?
“Anthony, what do you think of the blackberry gravy?” I asked as we started to eat.
“It’s not too bad,” he said, sniffing it.
“It’s not too good either,” Edward said, whiffing it.
“Hhmm!” I said.
Then came tea time. And what did we have? Blackberry soup to start, followed by fish and blackberries instead of peas, and our pudding was ice cream and blackberries, again. And with our meal we had more mashed, crushed, scrushed blackberries which Mum strained into a jug to make blackberry juice.
“Mum, not more blackberries,” I said, dismayed when I saw our tea.
“Yeah, not more blackberries,” Anthony agreed.
“Oh no! Not more blackberries,” said Edward.
We’d all had enough of blackberries for a while.
“I’m not letting good blackberries go to waste and I’m not going to let them spoil and rot in their baskets either,” Mum said, her hands on her hips. “So we’ll carry on eating the blackberries until they’re all finished.”
“All four baskets?” we asked.
“ALL four baskets,” Mum replied.
Yuk!
Mum went into the kitchen to get some more blackberry juice.
“See what you’ve done, Maxine.” Anthony frowned at me.
“Yeah, we’ll be eating rotten blackberries until Christmas,” said Edward.
“My plan worked though,” I replied. “We did pick more blackberries than anyone else.”
“So what?” Anthony said. “Your plan was mega-stinky.”
“Yeah! Seriously mega-stinky,” Edward agreed.
Being a superhero is definitely very hard work!
Extra Special Scary
“Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh!” I cackled.
I was practising being a witch for Hallowe’en. We were going to my cousin Jayne’s Hallowe’en party.
“You don’t look scary at all,” Anthony said. He was dressed in a ghost costume which was just a sheet with two eye holes cut out of it. “I’m more scary than you. I’m a good ghost. Oooooh! Oooooooooh!”
“I’m the most scary of all,” Edward argued.
He was dressed as a Hallowe’en pumpkin.
“What sort of noise does a Hallowe’en pumpkin make?” Edward asked.
I thought for a moment.
“I’m not sure.” I frowned. “I’m not sure it makes a noise at all. If it does I expect it’s a kind of whee-squiiish,
whee-squiiish sound.”
“Whee-squiiish! Whee-squiiish!” Edward said. Then he complained, “That doesn’t sound very scary.”
Mum came into the kitchen.
“You all look very good.” She smiled.
“But do we look scary?” I asked.
“Yeah! Really scary?” said Anthony.
“Extra special scary?” asked Edward.
“Er . . . you look . . . very good,” Mum replied.
But not scary! Mum must have seen our faces drop.
“The only reason you don’t look scary to me is because I made your costumes,” Mum said quickly. “None of you could ever be scary to me. Cheer up, you three. We’re going to Jayne’s party soon. I’ll just get Jayne’s presents from the living room and then we’ll set off.”
“We’re not scary,” Anthony wailed as soon as Mum left the kitchen.
“Not scary at all,” howled Edward.
“We could be scary . . .” I began.
“How?” asked Anthony.
“Yeah, how?” said Edward.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I think this is a job for Girl Wonder and . . .”
“The Terrific Twins,” said my brothers. And we all spun around until the kitchen dipped and dived around us.
“Do you have a plan, Girl Wonder?” Anthony asked.
“A good plan, please!” Edward added quickly.
I thought and thought. Then I had a wonderful idea. But then my ideas are always wonderful. (Which is why I don’t understand why they often get us into a lot of trouble. This one wouldn’t though. Mum would like this one!)
“Mum says that we don’t frighten her, but if we could make her jump, that would prove that we’re super-duper scary. The scariest!” I said.
“So what should we do to make her jump?” Anthony asked.
“Drop an ice-cube down her back?” Edward suggested.
“I don’t think she’d like that, somehow.” I shook my head.
“How about if we drop a worm down her back?” Anthony said, excited.
I thought for a moment.
“I don’t think she’d like that one either,” I sighed.
It was a shame because both the ice-cube and the worm were good ideas.
“How about . . . how about if we get a frog from Miss Ree’s pond and drop that down Mum’s back?” Anthony said.
“That’s it!” I said.
“Brilliant!” said Edward.
We all thought that was a wonderful idea. There was just one problem. How could we get into Miss Ree’s garden, get the frog and get back home without being seen? Miss Ree is our grumpy next door neighbour and if she saw us in her garden we’d be in big, BIG trouble!
“I know!” I grinned. “We could drop Frodo, my rubber frog, down Mum’s back and pretend it’s a frog from Miss Ree’s pond.”
“Will that scare Mum?” Anthony asked.
“No, it won’t,” Edward said.
“Yes it will, if we do it right,” I argued. And I told the Terrific Twins my super-duper, wonderful plan.
“Not bad,” Anthony said, surprised.
“Not too bad,” agreed Edward.
We all dashed up to my bedroom to get Frodo off my pillow where he slept every night.
“OK, Terrific Twins,” I said. “I’ll get Mum to stand in the hall. Edward, you have to creep down the stairs without Mum hearing you. When you’re close enough you can drop Frodo down the back of Mum’s blouse. Then you, Anthony, must make a noise like a mad frog.”
“This is going to be fun,” laughed Anthony.
“Yes it is!” Edward clapped his hands.
“This is sure to make Mum say we’re the scariest,” I said happily.
Anthony and I ran downstairs whilst Edward crouched on the landing.
“Mum! Mum! Come and look at this,” I called out.
“What is it?” Mum asked, coming out of the living room.
“Mum, look at that,” I said, pointing up at the wall above the living room’s door frame.
“I can’t see anything.” Mum frowned.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Edward tip-toeing down the stairs. But Mum was too far away from the banisters for Edward to reach her.
“You’ll have to move back a bit to see it,” I said to Mum.
“To see what? What are you talking about, Maxine?” Mum asked.
“Stand back here against the banisters, Mum,” I said. “Then you’ll see it.”
Mum took a step backward to stand against the banisters.
“I still don’t see . . .”
I looked up. Edward pulled back the neck of Mum’s blouse and dropped my frog, Frodo, down her back.
“It’s a frog from next-door’s pond,” I said quickly.
“Cro-oo-oak! Cro-oo-oak! Rei-ei-bit! Cro-oo-oak!” Anthony called out, jumping up and down and all around just like a frog himself.
Mum screamed and pulled the bottom of her blouse out of her skirt. She screamed again as Frodo hit the carpet and bounced around. Anthony, Edward and I creased up laughing. I laughed so hard that my witch’s hat fell off.
“We scared you! We scared you!” we called out.
I picked up my frog. “It’s just Frodo,” I laughed. “Look Mum, it’s just Frodo.”
Mum stared at us without saying a word. Then her lips began to twitch, then to quiver, then to quaver. Then she burst out laughing. I don’t think she wanted to – it’s just that she couldn’t help it.
“You three are going to drive me bonkers!” Mum laughed.
“We were going to use a real frog out of Miss Ree’s pond,” Anthony began.
“Yeah! But we decided to use Maxine’s frog instead,” said Edward.
Mum’s smile instantly disappeared. “I’m glad you decided not to drop a real frog down my back,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t have liked that. I wouldn’t have liked that one little bit.”
The way Mum said it made me think we’d had a very lucky escape! I don’t think Mum would have laughed quite so much if Frodo had been a real frog!
“Come on, you three.” Mum smiled. “Time to go to your cousin Jayne’s party.”
As we walked to the car Anthony said, “Your plan to scare Mum wasn’t as seriously smelly as your plans usually are.”
“Yeah! Not too smelly at all,” said Edward.
“I do get it right sometimes.” I grinned.
Snow Please!
As soon as my eyes were open I was awake. I jumped out of bed and ran to my bedroom window. I drew back the curtains eagerly and . . . no snow! Where was the snow? It was pouring with rain but – NO SNOW!
It wasn’t really winter without snow and snowmen and snowball fights and catching freezing, falling snow on your tongue and feeling it melt.
WHERE WAS THE SNOW?
I had my shower and got dressed before going downstairs. Mum took one look at my face and said, “What’s the matter with you, Maxine?”
“I want it to snow,” I replied.
“I want it to snow too,” said Anthony.
“And me,” agreed Edward.
“Well, there’s nothing you, I or anyone else can do about that,” Mum said.
“Would you like it to snow, Mum?” I asked.
“Yes, I would.” Mum smiled. “I love the snow.”
Mum went into the kitchen to get our breakfast.
“Anthony, Edward, we’re going to make it snow,” I whispered to my twin brothers.
“How are we going to do that?” Anthony asked with a frown.
“Yeah, how?” Edward repeated.
“Er . . . I haven’t worked that bit out yet, but this is definitely a job for Girl Wonder . . .”
“And the Terrific Twins,” laughed Anthony and Edward.
And we all stood up and whirled and twirled around until we almost knocked over the table.
“So what do we do now, Girl Wonder?” asked Anthony.
“Yeah, what?” said Edward.
“All three of us
will have to think about that one,” I replied.
Just then, Mum walked into the living room with our breakfast, so I couldn’t say any more.
“You three are quiet. What are you up to now?” Mum asked suspiciously, as we sat eating our breakfast at the table.
“Mum, why won’t it snow?” I asked.
“It’s not cold enough yet,” Mum said. “When it’s cold enough, water vapour high in the sky turns into snow.”
“Oh, I see . . .” I said.
“Your dad’s grandma used to tell me about the snow they had in Barbados,” Mum carried on.
“I thought Barbados was hot?” I said.
“It is. It never gets cold enough there for snow, so at Christmas, Grandma’s family used to sprinkle marl throughout the house and in the garden. That made it look like it had been snowing everywhere – even inside the house.” Mum chuckled. “Of course, that was a long time ago.”
“What’s marl, Mum?” Anthony asked.
“Marl is like chalk, little bits of white chalk,” Mum explained. “And sprinkled around the house it looks just like snow.”
And that’s when I had my extra-brilliant idea.
After breakfast, whilst Mum was busy fixing the light in the twins’ bedroom, I told my plan to my brothers.
“We’ll make it snow in the house, just like Dad’s grandma’s family used to do in Barbados.”
“How will we do that?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah, just how?” said Edward.
“That’s a good question.” I frowned. “We need something white like chalk to sprinkle around.”
“How about flour?” Anthony suggested.
We all had a think.
“No! Flour is too fine. It’d disappear into the carpet,” I decided.
“Then how about sugar?” said Edward.
We all had another think.
“Nah! Sugar is too sticky. Our feet would stick to the carpet,” I replied.
“I got it!” I said. “This is super-duper brilliant. We’ll sprinkle the washing powder Mum uses to get our clothes clean all around the house. Washing powder is white and looks like snow. It’ll be a big surprise for Mum.”
“That’s a good idea, Girl Wonder.” Anthony nodded.