&&000 Curious George makes Pancakes
&&111

This is =George.
=George was a good little monkey and always very curious.
One morning the man with the yellow hat woke =George earl.
"Time to get up, =George," he said. "The pancake breakfast is today."

=George loved the pancake breakfast. It was a fundraiser held every
year to make money for special programs at the children's hospital.

Besides eating pancakes, there were all kinds of games to play.
Even the mayor came to play and eat, but first he gave a welcome
speech.

"Thank you for coming," the mayor said. "We appreciate your
generous support."
He thanked all the volunteers who were helping that day and
finally he said, "Please enjoy yourselves and the pancakes."

When the mayor finished, the man with the yellow hat said,
"=George, I'm going to buy our tickets. Please wait here and don't be
too curious."
=George waited like a good little monkey, but -- =mmm -- something smelled
good!
Could it be the pancakes?
=George was curious.

He followed the delicious smell and found a whole griddle full of pancakes.
=George watched as a man poured little batter circles and flipped them up in
the air.
It looked like fun to make pancakes!

=George wanted to help.
On a table near the griddle was a basket full of blueberries.
These pancakes need blueberries, =George thought. And he sprinkled some
on top.

Meanwhile, the man at the griddle was so busy he didn't notice the little
monkey helping him. But the line grew and grew.

=George's pancakes were a hit! Soon everyone wanted them and the man could
not keep up. "Please wait," he said to someone holding an empty plate.
"I need to find an assistant to help me." And just like that, he was gone.

=George looked at the people waiting in line and then at the empty griddle.
Why, he could make pancakes. He could be the assistant!

=George poured the batter into nice round circles.
Next he added blueberries.
He waited a minute to let the pancakes cook.
The he flipped them over.
And last, he added syrup.

The line for pancakes was enormous. But with four hands, =George made
quite a chef -- and no one's plate was empty for long.

"I've been coming to this breakfast for years," a man said.
But I've never seen pancakes made like this before!"
"I've never eaten this many pancakes before," said a girl.
"I didn't even like pancakes before," said another girl! And they
all lined up for more.

When the man returned with his new assistant, he was shocked to see a
monkey making pancakes. "This is no place for a monkey," he yelled,
and he began to chase =George!

=George hadn't meant to cause trouble. He'd only wanted to help.
Now he only wanted to get away. Quickly, =George found a place to
hide, and the man and his assistant ran right by.
But where did =George go?

When it was safe to come out, =George jumped down.
He was covered in syrup like a pancake -- and he was sticking to
everything!
=George was curious: could these napkins help him get clean?

No! The napkins only  made it worse.
What =George needed was some water to wash with. Why, here was the
perfect thing.
=George climbed up.

This would do the trick for a sticky monkey!
=George sat on the bench and splashed himself with water.
But all of a sudden.

Splash! =George was in the water. What a surprise!
=George climbed up again and splashed back down.
He'd never been in a dunk tank before, and he'd never
had so much fun getting clean! Soon everyone

was having fun, and the line at the dunk tank grew even longer
than the line for pancakes. Later, the mayor came by. "I've heard
all about your delicious pancakes," he said. "You've made our fundraiser
a big success and I have a special favor to ask you."

At the end of the day, =George got to present the money from the
fundraiser to the president of the hospital. "Thanks to you, =George,
this has been our best year ever," she said! "Will you come back and
make pancakes again next year?
=George nodded and everyone cheered.