Free Mr Majeika by Humphrey Carpenter

Introduction
By Julia Eccleshare Series Editor
    School. Whatever your school is like, it is unlikely that it will
     have a teacher quite like Mr Majeika in it. Single-handedly, he transforms the
     day-to-day school routine into something unusual and completely unexpected. Not
     surprisingly since, having once been a wizard, he finds it very hard to remember all
     the things he has to do – and
not
to do – as a
     teacher.
    The joy of
Mr Majeika
is that somewhere as familiar to us all
     as school is turned into a place that is so completely different. It’s the
     beginning of the new school term at St Barty’s Primary School and everyone
     will know how Class Three feel. They are just back from the holidays, it is pouring
     with rain and they are
not
in the mood to enjoy school. To make matters
     worse, there is no teacher. Or is there? The supply teacher arrives by an unexpected
     route. Sitting cross-legged on a magic carpet, he floats down into the classroom.
     From that moment on, everything about school is utterly transformed and no one would
     ever be able to think of it as a dull place again. A boring egg-and-bacon flan
     becomes a mouth-watering plate of chips, a ruler turns into a snake and frightens
     the life out of Hamish Bigmore who had frightened the life out of previousteachers, and, finally, Hamish Bigmore himself turns from
     schoolboy into frog. The question is, can Mr Majeika put all of these things
     back?
    Mr Majeika is charmingly eccentric. His magic just seems to spring
     into his mind without him thinking and, as a result, extraordinary things happen
     – particularly when he sets himself the questionable task of trying to
     outwit Hamish Bigmore. But in the end Hamish benefits too, so there’s no
     harm done. Mr Majeika’s originality makes school fun – even if
     there is not a lot of conventional learning – and also makes his colleague
     Mr Potter look exceptionally dreary. Certainly, there’s no doubt that
     Class Three will have had the time of their lives when their first term with Mr
     Majeika finally ends. Neither they, nor readers, can bear to wait long for the next
     term to begin.

 
    With thanks to Class 7 at Marlborough
     Primary School, Chelsea, for their help, and especially Lucy Tsancheva,
     whothought of most of Chapters 7 and 8.

1. The Carpet-Bicycle

    It was Monday morning, it was pouring with rain, and it was everyone’s first day back at St Barty’s Primary School after the Christmas holidays. That’s why Class Three were in a bad temper.
    Pandora Green had been rude to Melanie, so Melanie was crying (though Melanie always found
something
to cry about). Hamish Bigmore was trying to pick a quarrel with Thomas and Pete, the twins. And Mr Potter the head teacher was verycross because the new teacher for Class Three hadn’t turned up.
    ‘I can’t think where he is,’ he grumbled at Class Three. ‘He should have been here at nine o’clock for the beginning of school. And now it’s nearly ten, and I should be teaching Class Two. We’ll have to open the folding doors and let you share the lesson with them.’
    Class Three groaned. They thought themselves very important people, and didn’t in the least want to share a lesson with Class Two, who were just babies.
    ‘Bother this thing,’ muttered Mr Potter, struggling with the folding doors that separated the classrooms.
    ‘
I’ll
help you, Mr Potter,’ said Hamish Bigmore, who didn’t really want to help at all, but just to be a nuisance as usual. And then everyone else began to shout: ‘Don’t letHamish Bigmore do it, he’s no good, let
me
help,’ so that in a moment there was uproar.
    But suddenly silence fell. And there was a gasp.
    Mr Potter was still fiddling with the folding doors, so he didn’t see what was happening. But Class Three did.
    One of the big windows in the classroom slid open all by itself, and
something
flew in.
    It was a man on a magic carpet.

    There could be no doubt about that.