THE RETURN OF GERRY THE GERM:

Transcription

1 THE RETURN OF GERRY THE GERM: Bigger, Better, and Booger By David I. Levine & Echo Yupan Lu Illustrations by Charlotte Passot

2 Hi! My name is Gerry the Germ. I love to get people sick. There is just ONE family I have never gotten to. NO GERM EVER HAS. They are the cleanest family ever. Every germ hates that family.

3 You may have heard of my first try to get those four brothers sick. Somehow those boys beat me. They washed their hands with soap. They boiled, filtered or put chlorine in water. That way I couldn t live there. They always pooped in a latrine. No fly could carry me away. They are nasty to us germs.

4 But I have a plan. I am going to learn to fly! I bet you are thinking, Germs can t fly. They don t have wings. Well, let me tell you how clever I am. First, I got into one of their neighbors noses. I was having lots of fun. I gave him fevers and chills. I made him feel yucky. You know, the stuff I love. Best of all, I had him make lots of snot and boogers. Bubbles that popped. Slime that oozed. Don t you love snot and boogers? I do.

5 Then do you know where I hid? You guessed it! I was in his boogers. But did I let him keep his boogers to himself? No way! I wanted him to share his boogers with everyone!

6 When he was sick, I made him sneeze. Every sneeze sent boogers with 100,000 of my germ friends flying. Splat! Splat! Splat! That s a lot of Germs. I was so clever. I waited until he went to visit Adam, the oldest brother.

7 This neighbor was my kind of guy. He sneezed right on Adam! Splat. Here s is something you did not know. When you sneeze, your boogers shoot out at 150 km/ hour. That s faster than a car on the highway! I was flying!

8 Chapter 1: ADAM

9 Once I got to Adam, I did what I like best: I made him sick. Soon he felt weak and had a sore throat and a fever. And, of course, he made lots of snot and boogers! A r e n t boogers the best thing in the world? \ Adam was smart. He realized that sneezing in the air helped me fly to other people. He sneezed into his h a n d k e r c h i e f. He was trying to trap me! But do you think he could stop me, Gerry the Germ?

10 At dinner he used his spoon to eat. When the spoon was in his mouth, do you know what I did? I hopped on it! Adam used that spoon to give food to his brother, Bernie. So I hopped on Bernie s food. Chomp, chomp! A few bites later, and I was inside Bernie. Thanks Adam!

11 Chapter 2: BERNIE

12 The next day, Bernie joined Adam with a sore throat, coughs, and sneezes. Achoo! Boogers went flying e v e r y w h e r e. But Bernie learned from Adam. He sneezed into a handkerchief. And he never shared spoons or plates when he was ill. He thought he had me trapped. HAH! I made Bernie cough. Coughs aren t as fast as sneezes, but they re still 100 km/hour. That s about 10 times faster than you can run! Bernie thought he was smart. He did not want his coughs to send me flying. He put his hand up. He wanted to trap me!

13 Bernie thought he was smart. He did not want his coughs to send me flying. He put his hand up. He wanted to trap me! Hah! He didn t know he was helping me! He coughed me right onto his hand. Squelch. That night, he make dinner for his brother Charlie. I hopped right onto their food. I was on my way to getting the third brother sick!

14 Chapter 3: CHARLIE

15 Charlie was careful. He didn t use Adam or Bernie s spoons. He also made sure they didn t sneeze on him. He thought he was so smart. But he didn t know that I was already in his food. Boogers and rice my favorite! When Charlie picked up a bite of food, I was there too. C H O M P! CHOMP! I was in. Once again, I did my job. Three sick brothers! That house had more snot than you can believe! I was so happy.

16 The last brother could never escape all those boogers! Soon I would get all the brothers sick. Then I would be the most famous germ in the world! Now, it was just Don. Last time Don trapped me in a water filter. This time, I knew I could get him sick!

17 Chapter 4: DON

18 All the brothers were very careful. They didn t share utensils. They also washed their hands with soap and water before making food. Whenever I tried to make them spread boogers around, they coughed and sneezed into their elbows. And they didn t touch things with their elbows. So they did not spread boogers anywhere.

19 But I did not give up! I sat in Charlie s boogers and waited. Soon he sat down next to Don. Then, I made him sneeze. Achoo! He didn t even have time to get a handkerchief! He sneezed some sticky snot straight onto the table. I stuck with the snot. All I had to do was wait for him to eat dinner. Then I d be in. Once I got him sick, I d be famous!

20 But you know what that nasty boy did? He washed hands. First he just got his hands wet. I was not worried. Snot is really sticky! But then that mean boy used soap as well as water. I held on as well as I could. The soap made his hands too slippery. All that snot went down the drain and so did I! I never got anyone sick ever again. This is the saddest story ever. THE END

21 So remember these lessons from me, Gerry the Germ: Always help me! Don t cover your mouth when you sneeze! The more boogers you spray, the more people I get sick! Don t cough into your elbows. Cough into your hands so you can carry me everywhere! Always share food and utensils when you re sick. And do not ever wash your hands with soap and water, or you ll wash me off! I am Gerry the Germ the most famous germ in the world. After I get these four brothers, I m coming for you! Just try and stop me!

22 We appreciate inspiration from Benji Levine