Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

4. T3 W4 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing-Chapter 5

• The dentist says that Fudge will have a gap in his teeth until his adult teeth come in—which won't be until he's six or seven. In the meantime, Peter keeps calling him Fang.

• Fudge's third birthday is coming up, which means that they're going to throw a little party for him and invite his friends from the building: Jennie, Ralph, and Sam.

Chapter 5

The Birthday Bash (A Summary)

• Their grandmother comes over to help too, but their father's too busy with a business appointment and says that he won't be able to make it.

• When their grandmother tries to get Fudge to wear a suit for the party, he completely loses it and starts screaming.

• In the end, they get him in his suit, but he's still wearing his bedroom slippers. You win some, you lose some.

• When the three kids show up, we learn that Ralph is a chubby kid who eats everything, Jennie is a biter (she actually bites people), and Sam cries constantly. Just your basic three-year-old birthday party.

• When the party's well underway, their grandmother turns off the lights and starts singing "Happy Birthday" while carrying out a chocolate cake with yellow roses made of frosting.

• Sam starts crying because it's dark, and after Fudge blows out the candles, he snatches some of the frosting roses off of the cake and eats them right there.

• Ralph starts eating the roses off of the cake too, and so when the cake is finally sliced up and distributed, not everyone has a rose on their slice. This upsets Jennie so much that she chomps down on Peter and Fudge's grandmother.

• Ralph demands a second piece of cake, and then promptly throws it up. This party is getting out of control.

• It becomes even more of a fiasco during the gift-opening portion of the event. Ralph gives Fudge a toy car, and then demands it back. He doesn't get the idea of gift-giving at all.

• Sam gives Fudge a book, which he simply throws off to the side. This, of course, makes Sam burst into tears because his feelings are hurt.

• There's still an hour to go in the party, and so Peter grabs a bunch of balloons and they put on music so the kids can dance. Apparently, that's what three-year-olds are into.

• But while the kids are stomping around, their neighbor from the floor below knocks on the door and demands to know what's going on because there's so much thumping on her ceiling.

• Grandma invites her in for a slice of cake, and the kids go into Fudge's room and start jumping up and down on his brand new big-boy's bed.

• Mrs. Hatcher's at her wit's end, so she finally convinces the kids to settle down and listen while she tells them a story.