Gooney Bird and All Her Charms Read Online Free PDF

full, “food isn’t supposed to be interesting. It’s just supposed to taste good and fill you up.”
    â€œI disagree,” Gooney Bird told him. “I think food should be nutritious, and filling, and delicious—”
    â€œRight! And my pizza is all of those things!”
    â€œLet me finish. And also it should be colorful to look at—”
    â€œMy pizza is! Look at it! Orange, mostly! And the pepperoni is sort of maroon!”
    â€œI haven’t finished. And it should also be
interesting
. That’s why I always bring my lunch from home. Every single day I put something in my lunch that is from a foreign country. Usually for dessert. Yesterday I had a Brazil nut, remember?”
    Malcolm nodded.
    â€œAnd the day before that, a kumquat. And on Monday, a red banana.”
    Malcolm nodded again. He looked at the half slice of pizza that he was still holding. “My mom doesn’t have time to make me an interesting lunch,” he explained sadly. “Every morning she has to feed all three of the babies, and they throw stuff, and they smear oatmeal in their hair, and—”
    Gooney Bird sighed. “Yeah,” she said sympathetically. “It’s hard. You know what? Finish your pizza while I finish my cucumber and hummus sandwich. Then I’ll share my dessert with you.”
    Malcolm brightened. “What’s your dessert?” he asked.
    â€œPomegranate,” Gooney Bird told him.
    â€œOh. I was hoping you were going to say brownies.”
    â€œBrownies aren’t
half
as colorful and interesting as pomegranate!”
    Barry Tuckerman, who was seated near them in the multipurpose room where they were having lunch, was listening. He folded his napkin neatly into a rectangle and used it to brush the crumbs off the table onto the floor. Bruno, Mr. Furillo’s Newfoundland, looked over from his bed in the corner, raised himself to his feet, came over next to the table and licked up the crumbs, then returned to his bed. He wagged his bandaged tail slightly.
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    â€œUh-oh,” Beanie said. “We’re not supposed to feed him. He’s on a diet.”
    â€œIt was only a few crumbs,” Barry pointed out. “You know what?” He picked up a cookie and examined it. “It’s nice to have an interesting lunch. And it’s nice to have a colorful lunch. And it’s important to have a nutritious lunch. You should have some salad with your pizza slice, Malcolm.”
    â€œYeah, I will.” Halfheartedly Malcolm poked his plastic fork into a little cup of coleslaw.
    â€œBut after you chew it all up, it doesn’t matter if it’s a red banana or a brownie or a kumquat or a whatever. Because after your teeth work on it, it’s all just
moosh
.” Barry took a quick bite of the cookie he was holding. He chewed it loudly, then stuck out his tongue. “MOOSH,” he said. “See?”
    Keiko, seated at the end of the table, whimpered and put her hands over her eyes. “Yuck,” she whispered.
    â€œIt’s true,” Tricia said. “By the time it goes down the . . . the . . . What’s it called? That tube it goes down?”
    â€œEsophagus!” Barry, Beanie, and Tyrone all said it loudly together.
    â€œYes. Esophagus. It’s just moosh when it goes down that into your stomach.”
    â€œDid I hear someone say
esophagus?
” Mrs. Pidgeon appeared at their table. “Does that mean you were all paying attention to our science lesson this morning?”
    The children all laughed and nodded their heads.
    â€œWhat happens to the food while you chew it?” she asked.
    â€œIt gets mixed with—?”
    â€œSaliva!” they said together.
    â€œAnd then it goes through the—?”
    â€œEsophagus!”
    â€œInto the—?”
    â€œStomach!”
    â€œRight! Does everyone have a full stomach? Have you all finished your