Spring According to Humphrey Read Online Free PDF

Luckily, my notebook stuck to the back of the mirror and he didn’t see it. Whew!
    Before long, my cage looked better than ever, and I was back home at last.
    Joey’s mum had to admit he’d done a great job. She was bundling up the bedspread when the doorbell rang. Skipper barked a little bit,but then he stopped. Good dog!
    ‘I’ll get it,’ she said.
    ‘Me too,’ Joey said as he followed her out of the room.
    I waited and waited and then Joey returned. His mum was right behind him, carrying a large aquarium.
    ‘Humphrey, this is amazing!’ Joey said as his mum set the aquarium next to my cage on the desk. ‘Wait till you see!’
    ‘It is pretty amazing,’ Joey’s mum agreed.
    ‘I’d told my dad that we were looking for signs of spring, and he sent this kit! There are two tadpoles in here,’ Joey explained. ‘Tadpoles are found in ponds in the spring, and then they turn into frogs!’
    Frogs? Like my friend Og?
    I scrambled to the side of the cage to get a closer look. All I saw was a little piece of jelly floating in the tank … with two black specks.
    ‘They’re just specks!’ I said.
    ‘See, Humphrey?’ Joey said. ‘This is how Og started out.’
    ‘I don’t think so,’ I squeaked back. There’s no way a large green creature could start out asa tiny black speck.
    ‘I know it’s hard to believe, but we’re going to see for ourselves,’ he said. ‘Wasn’t it nice of my dad to send it to me?’
    Joey’s mum and dad were divorced and didn’t live together any more. In fact, Joey’s dad lived in a completely different town.
    ‘It was nice,’ his mum said. ‘But we’ll have to read the instructions to make sure we know how to take care of these things.’
    Joey stared at the strange specks. I could tell by his eyes that he was unsqueakably excited.
    Suddenly, he jumped up. ‘I have a great idea!’ he cried. ‘I could take them to school and the whole class could watch the tadpoles turn into frogs.’
    ‘That is a great idea,’ his mum said. ‘Much better than keeping them here.’ I don’t think Joey’s mum was very excited about learning to take care of tadpoles. She quickly added, ‘I’ll e-mail Mrs Brisbane to see if it’s all right with her.’
    Joey didn’t even notice his mother leave the room. He was too busy staring at the specks.
    Skipper raced through the door. I felt jumpy, but once again, he didn’t even come close to the cage. He just flopped down on the floor and fell asleep. Whew!
    Joey didn’t take his eyes off the aquarium. ‘Humphrey, I can’t wait to see those little specks grow heads and tails and feet and just keep growing until they are real frogs.’
    I crossed my paws and hoped they would, but I wasn’t sure at all.
    I had never seen Joey so excited! He’s usually quiet, and sometimes I think he doesn’t realize how many things he can do. He’s good at art and knows a lot about animals and he’s very good at taking care of me. In fact, I think he’d make a pawsitively great animal doctor!
    Joey eagerly read the instruction booklet that came with the, um, thingies.
    ‘Oh, I get it,’ he said as he read. Then he looked at me and said, ‘Here’s how it works, Humphrey. These are like eggs in a yolk. They’ll feed on the yolk and pretty soon they’ll become tadpoles!’
    ‘Eeek!’ I squeaked.
    Joey read on. ‘Any day now, they’ll get legsand a head and, after a while, arms!’
    ‘Frogs have arms?’ I wondered.
    ‘Then the tadpole will look like a small frog with a long tail,’ Joey said. ‘Wow, this is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me!’
    It was nice to see Joey so HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY. ‘Did I tell you they’re leopard frogs?’ Joey asked.
    ‘NO-NO-NO!’ I squeaked.
    I have seen pictures of the creatures called leopards. They are strong and beautiful with spotted fur, but their teeth are large, sharp and fearsome. MUCH worse than the teeth of a dog. Just thinking about leopards made my tail twitch and my