Dr Monsoon Taggert's Amazing Finishing Academy: Part 4

By ANDREW MATTHEWS, Illustrator TONY ROSS

"Oh, well done, Arabella!" the teacher called out. "That"s a really big mountain shape."

"Please, miss," said Arabella, "I haven"t made my shape yet. I was just sitting."

And when she said that, everybody laughed. The other children pointed at her and laughed until tears rolled down their faces. Even the teacher smiled.

No one had ever laughed at Arabella before and it made her feel really miserable.

She hadn"t known that, because she was large, other children would laugh at her and make mean jokes; but she learned fast.

"Arabelly!" she heard someone giggle.

Arabella hated the school, she hated the children, she hated the teachers. And most of all, she hated herself, because she believed that she was big and fat and ugly and that no one in the world would ever like her.

Publisher: Mammoth, $10.95
Age group: 8+ years