Extrait du livre Teacher Gudule
Teacher Gudule by Fanny Joly and Roser Capdevila French to English translation: Natalie Worden Fanny Joly Numérik
Teacher Gudule
My name is Gudule. I have a lot of toys: I’ve got a vampire costume, a family of slimy robots, and a monster from outer space. Oh yeah! I have a little brother, too. His name is Gaston. I can’t believe I almost forgot about him! Jeeze!
I really don’t know how I could have forgotten about that baby–he’s the one who rules the household! In the kitchen, we need five shelves for his bottles, milk, jars of baby food, pacifiers, and vitamins. There is not even an inch left of space for my collection of empty yogurt cups. And I was at two hundred and forty-eight… Thanks, Gaston!
But you know what’s an even bigger pain? Mommy. Ever since she had this baby, it’s like her brain has turned into mush. All day, she is glued to him, saying things like, “Awww boooboo rey rey, goo goo goo, gniau, gniau, mimimi!” Yeah. I’m going to stop right there, otherwise I’d be here until tomorrow.
The other day, I told Mommy, “If you keep saying ‘goo,’ and ‘gniau,’ and ‘mimi’ all the time, you’re going to make Gaston dumb, or crazy, or both. And that would be the worst thing ever.” She just looked at me with these wide eyes, like I was speaking a foreign language.
That’s when I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. I closed the living room door so I could have a serious discussion with Gaston. “Hey, little man,” I told him, “You think saying ‘goo goo ga ga’ will get you very far in life? If you continue to listen to Mommy, you’re toast. Fortunately for you, your amazing older sister is here to the rescue. I’m going to teach you a whole bunch of important stuff.”
Gaston stared at the ceiling. I waved my hands in front of his face, “Hey, Gaston! The ceiling’s not talking to you, I am!” He started to look at his toes. I tried to block his head, but it’s hard, he doesn’t stop moving.
