Beach time

Hello Everyone!

I went to the beach this past weekend - it was so much fun! My dad and I built a sandcastle together while Mum read, and we built it right next to the water so the waves knocked it over. Then Mum let me swim in the water as long as I stayed right next to her, and it was so cool to look down through the sandy blue water at my feet on the bottom. Dad decided not to swim though, and took a nap instead. I love the beach so much, I wish we could go every day! There are crabs that make little air holes in the sand as they dig and if you're really really quick, you can catch them. I didn't manage to get any the day we were there, but maybe next time. I did get a bunch of neat new seashells for my collection though!

The only thing that wasn't so great was the sunburn I got. My mom put a big dollop of sunscreen in my hand and told me to rub it all over my body, but I thought it looked yucky, so I wiped it out on the sand when she wasn't looking. I wish I had listened to her now though, because sunburns HURT! But still, it was a pretty great day and I can't wait to go back. Maybe next time, I will find a sand dollar and then I can trade with Jeremy for the pretty rock he found that I want! Anyhow, I hope you all are having wonderful summers too, and don't forget to write me, because I love hearing from all my friends!

Your buddy,

Nicholas

Summer fun

Hello everybody!

I get to go to the Zoo tomorrow!!! Mum and Dad are taking me and I can't wait! I hope it is warm and that I get to see a lion, and that maybe he will roar for me. I think that lions are my favorite animals because they are so big and ferocious, but they like to take naps in the grass sometimes, which I do sometimes also. I asked Mum if we could bring my dog Rex along, but she said it might scare him. I told her that Rex would

be very brave, but she still said no. So Rex will have to wait for me to get home, which he is usually very good about. He just sleeps in his dog bed and tips over his water bowl with his nose when he's bored. I do wish he could come though.

The other animal I am really excited to see is a gorilla. Mum said that there is a famous gorilla in California named Koko who is able to speak a little bit of sign language (that's the language deaf and hearing-impaired people learn) and she even had a pet kitten! I wish I could meet Koko. I wonder if she would let me be her pet for awhile? I think that would be fun. I could learn sign language too, and she could pick me up and carry me and we could have adventures! I would probably have to come back in time for school though, but wouldn't that be a neat way to spend your summer? Maybe next year that is what I will do. Anyways, I better go, but don't forget to write me, and if you're having a bored summer day, there are plenty of fun games to play on my website www.phaidon.com/nicholas!

Have a great day!

Your buddy,

Nicholas

So many strange and wonderful things to eat!

Hello everyone!

A little while ago, I sent you all an email wondering what sort of strange things you all had ever eaten, and two of you responded! My friend Alfred said that he ate razor clams with his Mum -

Cool!! Were they delicious? They sound pretty yummy to me. Do you think you would like to eat them again?

Also, Rory sent me a really neat picture of the all the odd things he's eaten. Look at what he made:

Thanks so much for sending these pictures and stories - I love hearing from all of my friends!

Send me more letters and I'll share them with everyone here. Also, if you want to know more about me and my pals, you can go to www.phaidon.com/nicholas or you can read one of my books - the green book is the newest.

Have a great afternoon!

Your friend,

Nicholas

Hiking in the woods

Hello everyone!

Last weekend my parents and I took a hike in the woods with Rex. It was so fun! Now that it is summer here and warm outside, Mum lets me play outside as much as I like, which I love. We were hiking to see a little lake that my Dad's coworker had told him about, but I forget the name. It took us almost three hours to get there, and Rex kept running ahead and then running back to see where we were, so I think he probably walked twice as far as we did. It was very pretty and I took a swim when we arrived.

The water was so cool and Rex and I played fetch in the water with a stick I found. Then we sat on a rock and ate the turkey and cheese sandwiches Mum packed for us and even some peanut M & M's! It was already a great day, but then when we were walking back I found a really old, really cool coin. It's got some lady's face on it with a crown, and it says it was made in the year 1923. I wasn't even alive then! My dad said we should see if it's valuable so we can sell it, but I think I'd like to keep it and add it to my collection of really wonderful things that I keep in a box under my bed.

I wonder how many other interesting, old things there are to be found out there. Maybe I'll be an archeologist when I grow up and find them all! Have you ever found anything really neat? Write me a letter and I'll share it with all my friends here!

Your friend,

Nicholas

Home sick from school

Hi Everyone!

I didn't go to school today because I woke up this morning and I felt sick and my head

hurt so mum said I had to stay home. When I started to feel better I thought I would get to go outside and play, but mum said if you stay home sick you have to stay in bed the whole day. Staying in bed all day is boring! I think Rex was sad that we didn't get to have any fun too. His absolute favorite game is when I take one of my shoes and throw it around the yard for him to bring back to me. We can only play when my mum isn't watching though, because she gets very unhappy when I get my clothes dirty. But Rex's mouth is clean and I usually don't throw my shoe towards the muddy part of the garden!

Anyway, I'm feeling better now, and look - I just got a great letter from my friend Sandeep!

Hi Nicholas,

Thanks for the new Snakes and Ladders game and the Marshmallow Crispy Squares Cake recipe. I hate snakes but the game was fun to play! Also I like cooking. Hey - I also loved the 'magic' foot trick that you emailed around last month.

Remember in my last email to you - I told you how I made a cape out of my mum's old skirt when I was younger - and I used to pretend to be Dynamo the great magician....?

Well, here is another cool trick you can try (which I made up). Do you like to drink tea? Well, even if you don't, then just offer to make some for your mum and dad. Pop a tea bag into the mugs (it's best if you use those PG Tips Pyramid ones). Then carefully pour in the hot water and add some milk.

Now the tea bags should float, right? Well, take the tea bag out of one of the mugs, and in the other, you take your tea-spoon and carefully balance it on top of the remaining tea bag, so it looks like it is magically balancing on the edge of the mug. Make sure that you can't see any of the tea bag, and then stretch out your hand and wriggle your fingers. Concentrate hard on the teaspoon, and call your mum and dad. They'll come running to see if you are okay.

Say: "look... I have the power to make this teaspoon balance... it takes great concentration". You dad will probably run off to phone the local paper to tell them that his son is a mystic or something. In the meantime, just take out the other teabag, (wink at your mum) and when your dad returns then just say "you try..."

Of course, your dad will want to think that he has passed the power on to you, but he won't be able to make the spoon balance. Your mum will then probably wink at you and say "... he must get it from my side of the family..."

Ha! Great joke, eh?

I've not managed to get hold of your book called 'Nicholas In Trouble' but I'll have to look in a different bookshop. My sister enjoys reading your books too. She likes to read them in French!

Well, Happy Easter to you and the gang!

Cheers,

Sandeep

Thanks Sandeep! That is a great joke, I'll have to try it on my dad! I love to get letters, and if you like to get letters too, you can sign up for my club at www.phaidon.com/nicholas and you'll get my emails too. Okay, I better go before my mum finds out I'm out of bed!

Your buddy,

Nicholas

Cops and Robbers

Hello everybody!

It's raining outside today (mum says that April showers bring May flowers) so I have to play inside. Max and Rufus are coming over, and think we're going to play cops and robbers. I haven't decided which I want to be yet, but Rufus is ALWAYS a cop, because his dad is a

policeman. He says he's going to be a policeman too when he grows up, but Teacher says that if he wants to do that he had better stop being such a troublemaker

in school and forgetting his homework all the time. I think he'll make a brilliant policeman -- I bet he'd let us run around and make messes as much as we like! Max and I have all kinds of great ideas for what we're going to be when we grow up. Right now we're deciding between scuba divers and magicians (because you know how we like magic tricks!), and I think they both sound really fun. What do you want to do when get older? Write me a letter about it, and I'll post it here on my blog!

Oh yeah, and have you seen the new game on my website, www.phaidon.com/nicholas? It's Snakes and Ladders and it's so fun!

Okay guys, I hope you all have a good day!

Nicholas

Ladybugs!

Hello everyone!

Today at breakfast I was playing under the table when I was supposed to be eating my strawberries and pain au chocolat, and I noticed two ladybugs on the floor! Mum said that's because it's Spring now and all the ladybugs have woken up from their hibernation (that's a very long sleep that some animals take during the winter - I learned about it in school!). She said that ladybugs are good luck, and that it meant that I was going to have a good day today. I got very excited about my lucky day, and I told Jeremy about it as soon as I saw him, but then he got very jealous (Jeremy's one of my gang - you can read about him in my books). We decided to go looking for a ladybug for him out behind the school building so that he could have a lucky day too, but we couldn't find one, and we ended up being late for the start of class!
Our teacher was very mad at us for being late and gave us a really boring punishment at the end of the day, so I'm not so sure I think ladybugs are very lucky after all. But, maybe I just got stuck with Jeremy's bad luck because I was with him the whole time.

Have you ever had a really lucky day? Write me a letter and tell me about it, I love it when I get letters from my friends!

Okay, time to go have dinner!

Your friend,
Nicholas