Zooman Sam Read Online Free PDF

the time-out chair, for a long time, sometimes so loudly that you could hardly hear the other children telling about their Future Jobs. Finally Big Ben had taken her to the little kitchen for a glass of water and then brought her back, sniffling, and let her sit on his huge lap; and now Becky was okay, just grouchy, and her face looked all messed up from crying.
    Becky cried every single day at school, about something, so they were all used to it. But it was boring, listening to her cry. Sam leaned toward her and made a goofy face, to cheer her up, but she buried her own face in Big Ben's shirt and wouldn't look up.

    And all of the firemen were mad now. Each of the eleven had wanted to talk about firefighting by themselves, one after another, but Mrs. Bennett said they didn't have time. She had suggested that they all stand together as a group.
    "Suppose you all lived in the fire station together," Mrs. Bennett had explained. "You'd be a
team.
"
    "I'm not going to stay at a firehouse with dumb Tucker," Adam had said.
    "Your boots are stupid anyway," Tucker replied. "Mine are real fireman boots, but yours are just stupid baby rain boots."
    "Yeah," my
sister
has boots like that," Zachary said, pointing at Adam's red rubber boots.
    "I bet your sister can't
kick
like this," Adam said, and he kicked Zachary hard.
    Even Becky, still sulking on Big Ben's lap, looked over with interest. In a moment, all eleven firemen were yelling and punching one another.
    Finally Mrs. Bennett went to the piano and played a chord very loudly. "Only firefighters
sing," she announced, and she began to play the familiar melody of a fireman song that all the children knew.

    Still looking mad, all eleven firemen—Adam, Zachary, Eli, Peter, Josh, Stephen with a PH, Steven with a V, Tucker, Will, Max, and Noah—began to sing. Their voices were grouchy, but they knew the words and the song seemed to cheer them a little.
Clang! Clang! Down the street!

Firefighters can't be beat!

Lights are flashing, sirens scream;

All the firemen in a team!
    There was more to the song, other verses about hoses and ladders. But Mrs. Bennett stopped after the first verse and allowed the eleven boys to clang like bells and scream like sirens for a minute. They liked that. Sam felt a little jealous.
    But he felt glad when they sat down at last.
Now
would be his turn.
    "Who's next?" Mrs. Bennett asked, looking around the circle.
    "Me! Me!" Sam was calling out. So were Leah and several other girls.
    Learning not to be first every time was the very hardest part of nursery school, Sam thought. He waved his arm in the air.

    "Sam?" Mrs. Bennett said, and pointed at him.
    Proudly he stood up and walked to the front of the room.
    "Sam's wearing pajamas!" Adam shouted. All of the firefighters laughed. Sam thought they were very rude. But he didn't get mad. He just waited, standing silently, until the children were so curious that they became quiet.
    "This isn't pajamas," Sam explained. "This is a coverall. And see the special writing?" He pointed to the red letters on the left side of his chest.
    Mrs. Bennett leaned over to look closely. She smiled. "Would you like me to read it aloud to the children, Sam?" she asked.
    Sam shook his head. "I want to," he said. "But first I have to show them something." He went to the bag behind the piano and took out his book. He turned to the page with the picture of the zookeeper and the lion. He held it up, facing the children. He turned slowly, the way Mrs. Bennett or Miss Ruth or Big Ben did, when they were reading stories, so that each child would have a chance to look at the picture.
    All the children peered intently. Leah took off her huge sunglasses so that she could see better.

    "This man is wearing a coverall, like me," Sam explained. "His name is Zookeeper Jake."
    "My dad read me that book," Emily said.
    "
My
dad read me
Officer Buckle and Gloria,
" Noah said. "A hundred times."
    "
My
dad read me
Miss Nelson Is Missing,
"