Christina Katerina and the Box

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CHRISTINA

KATERINA hawdi.i:

WITH CAM;

THE BOX by Patricia Lee Gauch

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Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2010

http://www.archive.org/details/christinakaterinOOgauc

Weekly Reader Children's Book Club presents

CHRISTINA KATERINA

&

THE BOX

CHRISTINA KATERINA

&

THE BOX by Patricia Lee Gauch

Illustrated

by Doris Burn

*

*

a c \\ If

*fy

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Coward, McCann

& Geoghegan,

New York

Inc. \

Text

© 1971

Illustrations

by Patricia Lee Gauch

©

1971

by Doris Burn

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,

reproduced in the

any form without permission

publishers.

Published

simultaneously

may

not be

in writing in

from

Canada by

Longmans Canada Limited, Toronto. Library oj Congress Catalog Card Number: 7i-t33926 Printed in the United States of America

Weekly Reader Children's Book Club Edition

For our Christina

hristina Katerina liked tin

things-.

cups and old dresses,

worn-out

ties

Any of those things,

and empty boxes. but mostly boxes.

Hat boxes, bakery boxes with see-through shoe boxes.

lids,

I>!W1

J&L

' .-

Best of

all

she liked big boxes. So she was

'.•*•:':..•.'

happy

in-

— when even her sometimes-friend Fats Watson was out of town — to see a

deed one sleepy summer day

truck deliver a great,

tall

box.

It

came on

a refrigerator.

,

r

vyj^ J5

"Oh, how grand and new," looking "It

box.

is!

at

Christina's

mother

said,

the refrigerator.

Oh,

it

really is!" said Christina, looking at the

^ J§

And

she quickly claimed the box for her

dragged

it

under the apple

To Mother, who was that boxes

own and

tree.

very neat and tidy,

were for basements or trash

it

barrels,

seemed not for

front yards under the apple tree. But she decided that it

couldn't hurt

—

it

couldn't possibly hurt

day or two to have the big box under the apple

tree.

in

— for one

the front yard, there

^"^

r

That afternoon Christina's father cut door

in

the box, and Christina painted

drawbridge, and bolts for the door. came... a

castle. Inside,

for iron bars,

saucers battle

a

and

she put sticks

and she brought

a lot of Fig

And

Newtons

and she couldn't get out.

V

window and on

turrets, a

the box be-

on the window

in all

her cups and

in case

there was a

*\' S»

WITti

******

"Saw

"1*

^ir».

/

For two days she and her bears lived and played

in

her castle peacefully.

.3 i

Until Fats

Watson came home. He sneaked

castle while she

was out to lunch and

Newtons, and she locked him f

Tm

sorry/' fifteen times.

ate

in until

all

into her

her Fig

he hollered,

When

she finally

castle a kick

let

and over

it

him

out, Fats gave Christina's

went, smack, on

^e

its

side.

Mother came out and saw the the

end of the

fallen box. "I see that's

castle, Christina,"

and started to haul

it

away.

she said with a smile

's

SI

i^-^^^^^^fe^rJ

"

*****

*T>

"But

that's

no

again. "That's

castle/' said Christina, hauling

my

it

back

clubhouse!"

J

And

was... for three long days. Right there

it

under

the apple tree.

Christina changed the

door into

a

window

window. She put

in

into a

door and the

two benches

for

mem-

bers and a chair for the president, and she painted

"Keep out," "Members only," and "Danger

to ene-

mies" on the outside.

(Wi&l|

•ft

W

; W'J

g^M 5

§!^

Mm

i

Till

1

VAUtfiMUJUM*.

k

(I

MUM 'iffi&H

And

she

let

Fats join.

Then they met

in

the club-

house (which was very dark when the door was closed

and very

secret),

and they

to be friends forever.

And

they were.

j I

spit

on

a nickel

and swore

^

Until one day vice-president.

promised to dent.

sit

when

Fats got angry at always being

He climbed on

the clubhouse roof and

there until Christina

made him

presi-

Only the roof caved the club.

in first,

and Christina disbanded

-i*'"-'

vi&J">--fc>*»

igfi*«e?2

When Mother hands together.

saw the

Now

she

sat-in

would have her

yard. "Well/' she said. "Jhat

house!" and she tugged «r

^

\

c_

.

*

*..

*

;

it

box, she brushed her

is

nice neat

the end of the club-

toward the

street.

&>

^ias*tt'-'

cc

But that's no clubhouse," said Christina, tugging

back

again. "That's

late for a race."

my

it

racing car, Hermione, and I'm

1K-2?

^xL'-iLL*

-

Before speeding

off,

Christina put the top on the

bottom, turned the window into

a cockpit,

and on

the sides painted two magnificent curling silver horns

which she blasted

at Fats

apple tree.

*** IV/;i

H.mi h-kimwm

every time she rounded the

ipwp^

w

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•.

.'«*,., i«*2".
•#4

For two days she raced around the yard and every time.

won

..:-;*.•<-.

•-:.

•'.•:

-

W*«

V.7-C •>.>»:

Until Fats said he'd take a look at the motor, that it

didn't

sound quite

right.

<«

When

he cut off the nose to get

car collapsed.

at

the motor, the

Christina's

mother was

end of the racing

relieved. "Well, that

car," she said,

cardboard toward the trash

is

the

and she pulled the

barrel.

\L

MS

wry.

(T

7*

u

I

"But

that's

no racing

car/' said Christina, pulling

back again. "That's the floor of

and I'm going to have

And

my summer

mansion,

a ball!"

she did. Right there under the apple tree.

*%?*«HBM5CTBWSraS!S5

it

*•>,

S

i**"

.*• >.'

She patted the box out each

bed

flap.

A

for the

and drew furniture on

stove and refrigerator for the kitchen, a

bedroom, and

for the living ball.

flat

room

a

so there

grand piano and a violin

would be music

for her

Then

she and her bears and Fats dressed

and high

some

heels,

up

in

gowns

and they invited kings and queens and

presidents and one vice-president to come.

everybody came, and they danced and danced their feet hurt

and they had to take

Even without shoes Christina had

a

And until

off their shoes.

wonderful time.

«

-;v

.

cax,*">*.

M»-?r

SS »W.,

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iiW

'.:iVmUw.»Vi'.

*i)>Sfef<''^

^Z*i!;i&i&

«••

«**.«]„*..

Until Fats decided the floor needed scrubbing.

sprayed

it

down

with the garden hose and

•

He

mopped

it

until the floor fell

apart.

Mm^

K

puckered and grew lumpy and

finally

When Mother came

out a

little later

and looked

at

her front yard, she shook her head and said, "Well!"

And

then: "Is this the

"What

floor?" asked Christina,

"Oh, you mean it

away."

end of your grand

that old ragged

who was box?

floor?"

running by.

Let's

do throw

.

7^

Mother breathed

a sigh.

At

last

she could have her

nice neat yard.

"But quick!" Christina

said.

.

.

**

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:

.

"Fat's

:

':^C'C^:'i*--^^^^i>i{ :

.;.

mother got

a

washer and drier today, and he's

bringing two ships

down now.

wouldn't mind a

we

bit

if

sailed

I

said

them here

yard... right under our apple tree."

my mother in

our front

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'

About Patricia

Lee Gauch grew up

the

Author Michigan. While living

in Detroit,

in

Westchester County, she was a member of the Jean Fritz Writer's

Workshop. She now summers

in

lives

with her family in

New Jersey, spending

an old red farmhouse near Lexington, Michigan.

Mrs. Gauch

is

also the author of

Margot Tomes and JAy Old Tree

About

A

Secret

illustrated

House

by Doris Burn.

first set

foot

on a small

Puget Sound, Washington, Doris Burn wanted to true

and for

a

number

live

island in

on an

island.

of years she lived on

Wal-

Puget Sound, which looks out on the channel and the beau-

dron

in

tiful

Canadian

islands.

®riginally, Mrs. Burn lived in Portland, Oregon, where she

born. She attended the universities of <$)regon, Hawaii and ington.

Today

Doris Burn

she makes her

is

home

in Bellingham,

was

Wash-

Washington.

the author-illustrator oi Andrew Henry 's Meadow,

Ibe Summerjolk, and Donald

by

the Artist

Since she was nine years old and

Her wish came

illustrated

the illustrator of

Uudden and Dudden and

O'T^leary, an old Celtic folktale adapted

"We Were Jired oj Living

JAy Old Tree by

Patricia

in a

House by

Lee Gauch.

Liesel

by Joseph Jacobs,

Moak Skorpen and

I* 4

Y,

A --_

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