Look at Lucy!

by Ilene Cooper

  Mrs. Quinn gave Bobby a hug. “You’re getting so brave, Bobby.”

  Lucy barked. She agreed.

  And the Winner Is…

  “Wow!” Bobby said. He looked around the park. It was across from the state capitol building.

  Everything here was bigger and better than the contest at the mall. Candy-colored Pet-O-Rama banners decorated the park. Instead of an accordion player, there was a band. A television crew was taping the event. Even the animals were different.

  “These guys look like they belong in a zoo, not a pet store,” Mr. Quinn said.

  A couple of cats and dogs were there, but they were the fancy kind, like the fluffy white Persian kitten in her owner’s arms.

  There were also more exotic pets. One turtle was so big he had to be pulled in a wagon. A large green and blue parrot rested on someone’s arm. Bobby spied something even more colorful. “Look!”

  A peacock next to an older lady spread its fan of beautiful blue and green feathers. Lucy seemed stunned at the display. She didn’t even bark.

  “Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my,” Mr. Quinn said.

  There weren’t any lions or tigers or bears around. Bobby knew that was just a line from the movie The Wizard of Oz.

  Bobby whispered to Lucy, “You’re cuter than any of these animals.” He was still nervous about being in a TV commercial, but he also still thought Lucy should win.

  Before very long, Bobby and Lucy were given a number. The woman in charge of the contest lined up all the pets and owners. Bobby and Lucy were behind the turtle. They were in front of the parrot.

  Each pet and owner stopped and talked to the judges. The judges asked lots of questions. They looked at the animals carefully. It took a long time.

  Lucy was getting bored. When she got bored, she got jumpy. She started pulling toward the white kitten, which was behind the parrot. Bobby wondered if the cat reminded her of Mrs. Agatha Adams’s cat, Ginger.

  “Calm down, Lucy,” Bobby said. “No cat chasing today. Please.”

  Finally it was Lucy’s turn.

  “Hello,” said a judge with gray hair. His name tag said, greg smith, president, pet-o-rama.

  Bobby gulped. He had never talked to a president before.

  “Tell us about Lucy,” Mr. Smith said.

  “Lucy’s the best dog ever,” Bobby began softly. Then he remembered to speak up like when he gave his report. Bobby tried to talk more loudly.

  He told the judge how he got Lucy for his birthday, and how she was his best friend.

  A lady judge asked Bobby, “Would you enjoy being in a television commercial, Bobby?”

  Enjoy? “Ah, I think Lucy would like it,” he answered honestly.

  The judges spent a lot of time looking at Lucy. Lucy did her little prancy dance.

  The lady judge thanked Bobby. He and Lucy were about to move on when he heard a squawk behind him. “PET-O-RAMA! RWWK! PET-O-RAMA!”

  Bobby whirled around. It was the parrot. Lucy let loose with a howl, but Bobby could see the judges’ eyes light up with interest.

  “I think I know who the winner is going to be,” Mrs. Quinn said. She was waiting for Bobby at the end of the line.

  She didn’t mean Lucy.

  Sure enough, when the judges named the winner, it was Poll the Parrot.

  “She is very beautiful,” Mr. Smith said. He added happily, “And she can tell people to shop at Pet-O-Rama in her own special way.”

  Bobby and his parents got ready to go back home.

  “I’m sorry you didn’t win, Lucy,” Bobby said when they were in the car.

  “It’s hard to beat a parrot that’s squawking ‘Pet-O-Rama,’” Mr. Quinn said.

  Lucy didn’t seem to mind. She was chomping on a big bone-shaped biscuit the Pet-O-Rama lady had given to all the dog contestants.

  Bobby thought about the band and the banners, the parrot and the peacock. And that giant turtle. “I still have a lot to tell the class,” Bobby said, grinning.

  “You’re looking forward to giving a report about it?” Mrs. Quinn asked, a little surprised.

  Bobby was a little surprised himself. Standing in front of the class didn’t seem so hard anymore. He was excited about it. “Yes, I am.” He gave Lucy a big hug. “Absolutely.”

  Read all the books

  about Bobby and Lucy!

  Absolutely Lucy

  Bobby’s mother smiled. “Now it’s time for your special present,” she said.

  His father said, “Close your eyes.”

  Bobby was glad to close his eyes. It would be easier to look surprised when he opened them.

  “Okay, Bobby,” his father called, “you can look!”

  Bobby opened his eyes. He didn’t have to pretend to be surprised. Or happy. In his father’s arms was a puppy. The cutest, squirmiest little dog Bobby had ever seen.

  Lucy on the Loose

  “Ben!” Shawn said. “What happened to Lucy?”

  “She… she ran away!” Ben said in a shaky voice.

  Bobby jumped up. “Ran away? Where?”

  “That way.” Ben was confused. He pointed in one direction. “Or maybe that way.” He pointed in the other direction.

  “Which way was it?” Shawn demanded.

  “I’m not sure.” Ben was almost crying. “But she was chasing a big orange C-A-T!”

  About the Author

  When Ilene Cooper started thinking about her third Lucy book, she came up with the title first— Look at Lucy! Then she had to figure out why everyone was looking at the little beagle. Soon she had the idea that Lucy could be part of a pet contest, but how would Lucy’s owner, Bobby, feel about that when he’s so shy?

  Ilene Cooper is the 2007 winner of the Prairie State Award for her body of work and has written more than twenty-five books for children, including The Golden Rule, which won a gold recommendation from Parents magazine; and Jack: The Early Years of John F. Kennedy, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. Of course, she also wrote the first two books about Bobby and Lucy, Absolutely Lucy and Lucy on the Loose.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2009 by Ilene Cooper

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2009 by David Merrell

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cooper, Ilene.

  Look at Lucy! / by Ilene Cooper; illustrated by David Merrell. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  “A Stepping Stone Book.”

  Summary: Entering his beagle, Lucy, in a contest to be “spokespet” for Pet-O-Rama helps shy, nine-year-old Bobby get over his anxiety about speaking in front of groups of people, from his third-grade classmates to the contest judges.

  [1. Bashfulness—Fiction. 2. Anxiety—Fiction. 3. Contests—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Beagle (Dog breed)—Fiction. 6. Dogs—Fiction.] I. Merrell, David Webber, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.C7856Loo 2009 [E]—dc22 2008036312

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

  eISBN: 978-0-307-47789-7

  v3.0