Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas Read online

  Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas

  Jack Gantos

  * * *

  Written by Jack Gantos

  Illustrated by Nicole Rubel

  Houghton Mifflin Company Boston

  * * *

  To Kaelin

  —J.G.

  To my family

  —N.R.

  Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

  Gantos, Jack.

  Rotten Ralph's rotten Christmas.

  Summary: Rotten Ralph, the cat, is not at all nice to

  the Christmas visitor.

  [1. Cats—Fiction. 2. Behavior—Fiction. 3. Christmas

  —Fiction] I. Rubel, Nicole, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.G15334Rok 1984 [E] 84-664

  ISBN 0-395-35380-7

  Text copyright © 1984 by John B. Gantos, Jr.

  Illustrations copyright © 1984 by Leslie Nicole Rubel

  All rights reserved. For information about permission

  to reproduce selections from this book, write to

  Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue

  South, New York, New York 10003.

  Manufactured in China

  RNF ISBN 0-395-35380-7

  PAP ISBN 0-395-45685-1

  LEO 20 19 18 17 16 15

  Rotten Ralph is Sarah's cat.

  Rotten Ralph loved to be rotten. When Sarah knitted Ralph a sweater, he unraveled all her work.

  "You shouldn't be so rotten," said Sarah.

  When Sarah practiced her Christmas carols, Rotten Ralph walked across the piano keys.

  "Sometimes you're very difficult to love, Ralph," said Sarah.

  Ralph just stuck out his tongue and went to bed.

  The next morning when Rotten Ralph woke up, a very sweet cat was sitting on Sarah's lap.

  "This is Percy," said Sarah. "He's our new friend and I want you to make him feel at home."

  Rotten Ralph tried to be nice. He showed Percy how to throw snowballs.

  "Good cats don't throw snowballs," said Sarah. "Now come inside and help Percy and me put up the Christmas decorations."

  When Percy hung up his Christmas stocking, Rotten Ralph cut a hole in it.

  "You better behave yourself," said Sarah. "Bad cats don't get Christmas presents."

  When Percy put together the train set, Rotten Ralph tied him across the tracks.

  "You're not being very helpful," said Sarah.

  When Percy went to hang the star on the Christmas tree Rotten Ralph pulled the ladder from under his feet.

  "You are a bad cat," Sarah said to Ralph. "You should be more like Percy."

  "I'm not a goody-goody," Ralph said to himself.

  He ate the milk and cookies Percy had left out for Santa Claus.

  Percy was upset.

  "That's not a very nice thing to do," said Sarah.

  That night Sarah decided to read Percy and Ralph a Christmas story.

  But when Rotten Ralph went to sit on Sarah's lap, Percy was already there.

  Instead of listening to the story, Ralph banged on his toy drum. "Stop that," said Sarah.

  "I've had enough of this," Rotten Ralph said. "Percy's getting everything."

  He sneaked under the Christmas tree and put "Ralph" on all of Percy's gifts.

  Later, when Rotten Ralph went to bed, he found that Percy had already taken his place.

  "Sarah loves him more than she loves me," Ralph said to himself.

  On Christmas morning Rotten Ralph ripped open all the presents. But he didn't like any of them. There was a big floppy bow, a cute, pink teddy bear, and a pair of fuzzy slippers.

  "These gifts belong to Percy," said Sarah.

  Just then there was a knock at the door.

  Sarah smiled. "This must be Percy's owner coming to take him home," she said.

  "I thought he was going to stay forever," Rotten Ralph said to himself.

  After Percy left there were no more presents left under the tree.

  Rotten Ralph felt rotten.

  Then Sarah said, "Now it's time for us to exchange gifts."

  She gave Ralph a new red bicycle. Rotten Ralph gave Sarah a picture of himself.

  Then he jumped onto Sarah's lap. "You weren't jealous of that other cat, were you?" she asked.

  "Not me," Ralph said to himself. "Nobody can take my place."

 

 

  Jack Gantos, Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas

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