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Never Box with a Kangaroo #11

Part of Magic Bone

Author Nancy Krulik

Illustrated by Sebastien Braun

Paperback

$6.99 US

Penguin Young Readers | Grosset & Dunlap

5.13"W x 7.63"H x 0.29"D (13.0 x 19.4 x 0.7 cm) | 5 oz (130 g) | 36 per carton

On sale Jun 14, 2016 | 128 Pages | 9780448488769

Age 6-8 years | Grades 1-3

Reading Level: Lexile 520L

Sales rights: World

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Sparky goes down under!

When Sparky chomps on his magic bone, this time it kabooms him to Kangaroo Island, Australia! There he discovers a fox terrier puppy named Mick who's lost his family. But Sparky has a plan--he'll help Mick find a new family! They ask everyone they come across: bats, penguins, kangaroos, even bees! But will anyone give Mick a home?

CHAPTER 1

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” I bark excitedly.

I’m chasing after a ball in the air.

My paws speed up. Now I am running. Fast. Faster. Fastest.

My eyes are following the ball as it soars above me.

“I’m gonna catch you!” I bark to the ball.

Plop. The ball hits the ground.

The ball was too fast for me . . . this time. But I’ll get it next time!

I scoop up the ball in my mouth and bring it back to my two-leg, Josh. Now we can play again.

I love when Josh brings me to the park. It’s bigger than our yard. There’s much more room to run.

“Here’s the ball!” I bark. “Throw it again! I’ll catch it this time.”

Suddenly, I hear puppies talking. Lots of them.

“Look at me!” one squeals.

“No, look at me!” yips another.

“I can roll in the grass,” a third puppy barks.

“I’m hungry,” whines the littlest one.

There are four puppies playing by a tree. A bigger dog is standing nearby with her two-leg.

Wiggle, waggle, weird. All those puppies look alike. I’ve never seen four friends who look so much like one another.

Those puppies are having fun rolling around in the grass. I want to play, too!

“Can I play?” I bark to the puppies.

Before they can answer me, Josh snaps my leash around my neck. He starts to lead me out of the park.

“I don’t want to go!” I bark to Josh. “I want to play with the other puppies.”

But Josh keeps leading me out of the park. He doesn’t understand what I am saying. That’s because Josh doesn’t speak dog. And I don’t speak two-leg.

I will have to show him that I don’t want to leave.

I flop down on my belly. I dig my paws into the ground.

I’m not leaving.

Josh gives me a funny look. I give him a funny look back. Then he gives me another funny look.

I like this game!

Suddenly, Josh drops my leash. He starts to walk away.

Uh-oh! Is Josh leaving me here?

“Don’t leave me, Josh!” I bark. Then I run to him.

Josh smiles. He takes my leash. And we go home together.

**********************

When we get to our house, Josh puts me in the yard. Then he closes the gate and leaves me all alone. Boo!

Vroom. Vroom.

That’s the sound of Josh’s big metal machine with the four round paws going away.

I wonder where Josh is going. I bet it’s somewhere fun.

No fair! I want to go somewhere fun, too!

Hey. Wait a minute. I can go somewhere fun. And I don’t need a metal machine to do it.

I run over to the part of my yard where the flowers grow, and I start diggety, dig, digging. I’m a great digger.

Diggety, dig, dig. Dirt flies everywhere. The hole gets bigger and bigger. And then . . . there it is! My beautiful, sparkly white bone. Just where I buried it.

“Hello, bone!” I bark.

My bone doesn’t answer. That’s because bones can’t bark. Not even a special bone like this one.

My bone isn’t just any bone. It’s a magic bone. It takes me places. All I have to do is take a bite and—kaboom—off I go!

The first time I took a trip with my magic bone, I went to London, England. London had yummy food like fish and chips. But London also had a scary place called the pound. I got thrown in there, and it was no fun at all. There were some mean dogs in the pound.

Another time, my magic bone took me to Paris, France, where I got to dance in paint and eat yummy treats called croissants.

Then there was the day my bone kaboomed me to New York City. It was really crowded there. And they have mean pigeons who try to steal your food. But I got to eat a New York hot dog—which is actually not a dog at all.

Sniff . . . sniff . . . sniff. My bone smells so meaty. I just have to take a bite.

CHOMP!

Wiggle, waggle, whew. I feel dizzy—like my insides are spinning all around—but my outsides are standing still. Stars are twinkling in front of my eyes—even though it’s daytime! All around me I smell food—fried chicken, salmon, roast beef. But there isn’t any food in sight.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

Nancy Krulik is the author of more than 200 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times bestsellers. She is best known, however, for being the author and creator of the Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, George Brown Class Clown, How I Survived Middle School and Magic Bone book series. Nancy lives in Manhattan with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser. When she’s not writing, Nancy can be found reading, going to concerts, traveling or running around Central Park with her Llasa Apso rescue-pup, Scooby. View titles by Nancy Krulik

Sebastien Braun View titles by Sebastien Braun

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