介绍:
Chapter 4 What a Mess!
The next time we had art class, the news-paper ball that Ms. Hannah had been making was huge! It was about as high as a desk. Everybody wanted to touch it. Everyone except for me, that is. I remembered that somewhere inside that ball was my booger.
The art room was filled with all kinds of junk kids brought in from home. There were old musical instruments, broken toys, soda cans, plastic wrap, and all kinds of garbage. You should have seen it! Some kid brought in a tennis racquet with no strings.
“What a mess!” Emily said.
“If my bedroom looked like this, my mom would go crazy,” Michael said. “You should throw half this stuff in the garbage, Ms. Hannah.”
“Oh dear, no,” she said. “I don’t like to throw things away. In fact, at home the garbagemen bring me garbage so I can use it in my art. When I have a day off, I go to junkyards looking for treasures.”
Ms. Hannah is bananas!
She had some sticky glue that sticks to everything. She told us to make a sculpture out of the junk kids brought in from home.
“Express yourself!” Ms. Hannah said.
“Show your creativity! Remember, art is everywhere. Art is light. Art is air. Even things that are invisible can be art.”
Michael started making a robot out of toilet paper tubes. Emily made a doll out of buttons.
I didn’t know what to make. I think I’m just not very artistic. I didn’t feel like gluing a bunch of junk together. Ms. Hannah walked around looking at everyone’s sculptures and telling them how wonderful they were. I hoped Ms. Hannah wouldn’t come over to me.
“A.J. isn’t making a sculpture,” Andrea said, and she stuck her tongue out at me. I hate her.
“Why aren’t you making anything, A.J.?”
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I had to think fast. “I did make a sculpture,” I said. “This is an invisible sculpture. I call it ‘The Invisible Sculpture.’”
“Very clever, A.J.!” Ms. Hannah said. “That’s using your creativity!”
I stuck out my tongue at Andrea.
“I have an announcement, second grade,” Ms. Hannah said after clean-up time. “Mr. Klutz has agreed to sponsor a big art contest. There will be a prize for the winner in each grade.”
“What’s the prize?” Ryan asked.
“A gift certificate for a hundred dollars to an art supply store.”
Everybody went “ooh” and “wow.” It didn’t seem like a great prize to me. I don’t like art. What would I do with a bunch of art supplies?
Ms. Hannah said we had to create our artwork at home and bring it in two weeks later if we wanted to be in the contest.
“You can make anything you like,” Ms. Hannah said, “and use whatever materials you want. Freely express yourselves! Creativity is the most important thing.”
“Can we just draw pictures?” Michael asked.
“Of course!” said Ms. Hannah.
“I hope I win,” I heard Andrea whisper to Emily. “I’m going to make a sculpture with butterflies.”
I hate her. I wonder if there are poisonous butterflies that bite people.
“So who thinks they might enter the contest?” asked Ms. Hannah. Everybody raised their hands except for me.
“What about you, A.J.?”
I didn’t say anything. But I’ll tell you what I was thinking: I hate art! Art is stupid!
