Little Lucy Read online

  Text copyright © 2011 by Ilene Cooper

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2011 by John Kanzler

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books,

  a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Cooper, Ilene.

  Little Lucy / by Ilene Cooper; illustrated by John Kanzler.

  p. cm. — (Step into reading. Step 3)

  Summary: When Lucy the beagle goes to a lake with Bobby and his family, she does not want to go in the water and, instead, has an adventure on her own.

  ISBN 978-0-375-86760-6 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-375-96760-3 (lib. bdg.)

  [1. Lakes—Fiction. 2. Beagle (Dog breed)—Fiction. 3. Dogs—Fiction.] I. Kanzler, John, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.C7856 Ljm 2011 [E]—dc22 2010027114

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-449-81073-6

  Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-679-84777-9

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  For my husband, Bill—I.C.

  For Lorelei, who loves to help Daddy work—J.K.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  First Page

  Lucy was a little beagle.

  She was brown and black and white.

  Her eyes looked like chocolate candy.

  Here’s what Lucy liked:

  Running.

  Barking.

  Chewing.

  HOWLING.

  And she loved her boy, Bobby Quinn.

  Lucy also liked riding in the car.

  She liked to stick her head

  out the window.

  She liked the way

  the wind ruffled her fur.

  “Lucy,” Bobby said,

  “we are going to a new place today.”

  New?

  What did that mean?

  Bobby clipped Lucy’s leash

  to her collar.

  Lucy knew what that meant.

  They were going outside!

  Mr. Quinn got in the car.

  So did Mrs. Quinn.

  She put a red cooler in the backseat.

  Bobby got in the backseat, too.

  Lucy jumped in beside him.

  She barked at the window.

  Bobby knew what that meant.

  Lucy wanted him

  to open the window.

  Mr. Quinn drove and drove.

  The wind ruffled Lucy’s fur.

  But the air smelled different.

  It smelled like trees and grass.

  There weren’t any people on

  the sidewalk.

  There weren’t any sidewalks!

  Lucy saw a big black and white animal

  behind a fence.

  It let out a long mooo.

  Lucy let out a long hooowl.

  She added a bark

  just to show who was boss.

  At last, the car stopped.

  Bobby and Lucy got out.

  “Let’s go see the lake,” Bobby said.

  Lucy pranced along ahead of Bobby.

  Then she stopped.

  What in the world was that?

  It was big.

  It was blue.

  It looked wet.

  “That’s the lake,” Bobby said.

  “The lake is fun!

  You can go swimming.”

  Bobby took off his shoes.

  He stuck his toes in the lake.

  Water rolled over his feet.

  Water rolled over Lucy’s paws, too.

  She jumped back.

  The lake was too big.

  It was too cold.

  And it was much too wet.

  Bobby grabbed a beach ball.

  “Come on, Lucy,” he said.

  “Let’s play in the water.”

  Lucy liked the big beach ball.

  But she still didn’t like the lake.

  She turned her back on the water.

  “She doesn’t want to go in,”

  Mrs. Quinn said.

  “I will tie her leash to that tree.

  Then you can swim.”

  Tied up?

  Lucy knew what that meant.

  No fun.

  But Lucy settled down

  under the leafy tree.

  It was cool and quiet.

  She put her head on her paws.

  She closed her eyes.

  Lucy was almost asleep.

  Then she heard a sound.

  ZZzzz. ZZzzz.

  What was that noise?

  Lucy opened one eye.

  A small bug was flying

  around her ear.

  Lucy barked a little bark.

  The bug went away.

  Then she closed her eyes again.

  ZZzzz. ZZzzz.

  Lucy growled a little growl.

  That pesky bug

  kept right on buzzing.

  Ouch!

  The bug bit Lucy’s ear!

  Lucy rubbed her head

  on the ground.

  She rolled around.

  She rolled around some more.

  Her leash came loose.

  Lucy was free!

  Nobody saw Lucy escape.

  Mrs. Quinn was reading a book.

  Mr. Quinn was grilling hamburgers.

  Lucy trotted off to explore.

  She saw a bright blue bird.

  She sniffed a pile of leaves.

  Then she heard a funny sound.

  Ribbit.

  She looked around.

  There was a small green frog.

  The frog hopped away.

  Lucy followed it.

  The frog hopped faster.

  Ribbit.

  Lucy tried to catch up.

  That frog was fast!

  It hopped into a puddle.

  The puddle was small.

  But it was wet.

  Lucy didn’t follow the frog

  into the puddle.

  It hopped out of sight.

  Lucy went around the puddle.

  She ran after the frog.

  Did Lucy watch

  where she was going?

  No, she did not.

  She tumbled down a small hill.

  She wasn’t hurt.

  But she wasn’t happy.

  Grass and dirt and leaves

  stuck to her fur.

  Lucy was hot and dirty.

  She gave herself a shake.

  Bits of grass and dirt and leaves

  still stuck to her coat.

  Lucy wanted her family.

  Where were they?

  She looked around.

  No bird.

  No frog.

  No family.

  They were all gone.

  What should she do?

  How was she going to find

  her way back?

  Lucy stood quietly.

  She looked for the car.

  She listened for Bobby.

  She sniffed the air.

  Something smelled good.

  She knew that smell.

  Hamburgers!

  Lucy had a good nose

  for smelling.

  She followed her nose.

  She ran up the hill.

  She ran past
the small puddle.

  The green frog was there.

  Ribbit.

  Lucy did not slow down.

  She had to get back to her family!

  The burger smell got stronger.

  Then Lucy saw

  what she was looking for.

  Bobby!

  Bobby spotted his dog.

  His eyes grew wide.

  “Lucy!” he said.

  “You got away.”

  Mrs. Quinn gasped.

  “Oh, Lucy,” she said,

  “you are all dirty.”

  Bobby gave Lucy a big hug.

  He didn’t care about the dirt.

  Lucy’s tail wagged.

  What was all the fuss about?

  “Lucy needs a bath,”

  Mrs. Quinn said.

  “There’s a big bathtub,”

  Mr. Quinn said.

  He pointed at the lake.

  “Lucy didn’t like the lake,”

  Bobby said.

  “Try again, Bobby,”

  his mother said.

  Bobby carried Lucy to the water.

  He held her tight.

  Lucy looked up at Bobby

  with her big brown eyes.

  “Don’t worry, Lucy,” Bobby said.

  In a second, they were in

  that wet blue water.

  Lucy was surprised.

  Then she barked.

  It felt good!

  Bobby splashed water on her.

  The dirt and leaves washed off.

  Lucy wiggled out of Bobby’s arms.

  “Hey,” Bobby said,

  “can you swim?”

  Lucy dog-paddled

  next to Bobby.

  Yes, she could!

  The lake was big and blue.

  The water was wet.

  Lucy didn’t mind.

  Lucy liked the lake.

  She liked it a lot.

 

 

  Ilene Cooper, Little Lucy

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