“I like that one,” said Kate to her mom, pointing to black pants and a light blue top.
“I like this one,” said Lucie to her mom, pointing to a flowered dress.
“Thank goodness you two came home,” said Mrs. Lopez.
“We were stuck. We would have been here for hours deciding,” said Mrs. Farber.
Then she started sneezing. “Ah-ah-ah-choo!”
“Are you okay, Mom?” said Kate.
“Ah-choo! Ah-ah-choo!”
Mrs. Farber couldn’t even answer. Her allergies had kicked in.
“Have you girls been petting a cat?” said Mrs. Lopez.
“No!” the girls answered together.
They were glad they weren’t telling a lie. They had been around lots of cats. And they should have remembered to clean off the cat hair. But they didn’t pet any. How could they? They had been dogs. They’d learned their lesson when Lucie tried to pet Tiger.
Mrs. Farber was blowing her nose when Mrs. Lopez said, “We’ve got to go, Christy. We need to get to Fast Snips for our haircuts.”
“Maybe some fresh air—ah-ah-choo!—will help,” said Mrs. Farber.
“I bet it will,” said Kate.
After the moms left, Kate said, “I’m going home. I’d better get out of these cat-hair clothes before my mom gets back.”
“Don’t forget to take a shower,” said Lucie.
“Meow!” Kate called over her shoulder, as she ran out the door.
14
Double Date
On Saturday, Darleen was at Kate and Lucie’s, jumping rope outside. The three girls were making up Mr. Z jump-rope rhymes.
Har-har-har! Jump in my car.
I’ll drive you fast, I’ll drive you far.
How many miles will we go?
One, two, three …
Kate and Darleen were turning the rope and counting while Lucie jumped.
Then it was Darleen’s turn to jump. They began rhyming again.
“Har-har-har…”
“You’re the goofiest girls by far!” came a boy’s voice.
It came along with the smell of Banana-Fandana gum. Of course. It was DJ.
Thunk, thunk, thunk. Danny was there, too.
Darleen tripped on the rope.
“You made me miss!” she said.
“Speaking of cars, who’s pulling up at our curb?” said Kate.
The car windows were tinted, and the kids couldn’t see in.
Then the doors opened. Mr. Z got out of the driver’s side. Mr. Z got out of the passenger’s side.
What was going on?
“Huh?” said all five kids together.
There were two Mr. Zs!
Their mustaches were trimmed and tamed. They had on cool suits and shiny shoes.
One Mr. Z said hi to Kate, Lucie, and Darleen. The other Mr. Z said hi to Danny and DJ.
At first, the kids were tongue-tied. All they could do was stare.
Then Kate said, “Oh my gosh, we really did have the same substitutes.”
“Well, sort of. They’re twins,” said DJ.
“I noticed,” said Lucie.
“That’s how Mr. Z got from the library to the dentist so fast,” Kate said to Lucie. “It wasn’t one Mr. Z—it was two.”
“What are they doing here?” said Darleen.
One Mr. Z walked up to Kate’s door.
The other Mr. Z walked up to Lucie’s door.
“I can’t believe it! They must be the blind dates!” said Lucie.
“Believe it!” said Kate. “They’re ringing our doorbells.”
A minute later, the two Mr. Zs and the two moms were walking to the car. The moms were wearing the outfits the girls had picked. And their new haircuts looked great.
“Call if you need anything,” said Lucie’s mom to the girls.
“Be good,” said Kate’s mom.
“We’ll see you later,” said one Mr. Z.
“Don’t get eaten by a gator,” said the other.
“Later! Gator! That rhymes!” both Mr. Zs said together. “Har-har-har!”
The moms laughed, too. Then they all got in the car and drove off.
“Remember we said the blind dates might be goofy?” Kate said to Lucie.
“And our moms said they might be nice?” said Lucie.
“It looks like all four of us were right,” said Kate.
“That was amazing,” said Danny.
“You said it!” said Darleen. “What could be more fun than two Mr. Zs!”
Kate and Lucie looked at each other with woofs in their eyes. They knew what could be more fun. All they needed was a reason to slip away.
“Want to play hide-and-seek?” said Kate, grinning.
Quickly the kids did a counting-out rhyme. Danny was it.
He put his head against a lamppost and started counting.
Everyone else ran to hide.
DJ hid behind a tree. Darleen hid behind a mailbox.
Kate and Lucie ran off to the back yard.
“Woofa-woof!” they said together as they gave each other high fives.
Then they heard Danny call, “Ready or not, here I come!”
Danny found DJ. He found Darleen.
“Where are those goofy girls?” Danny said.
Just then, two dogs came out from the back yard. One had long ginger-colored fur. The other was mostly white with tan spots. Both dogs had silver collars with pink dog bones hanging down.
“It’s showtime!” whispered Kate.
“Let’s do it!” Lucie whispered back.
The two dogs stood on their hind legs and began to dance. Hop. Twirl. Dip. Roll over!
“I can’t believe it,” said Danny.
“It’s those dogs again,” said DJ.
“My dogs can’t do that,” said Darleen.
Hop. Twirl. Dip. Roll over! Hop. Twirl. Dip. Roll over!
“Ready for the grand finale?” whispered Kate.
“Ready!” whispered Lucie.
They turned around and put their tails together to make a big heart.
“How’s that for animal communication?” whispered Kate.
“It’s A++!” whispered Lucie.
The dogs took a quick bow, then ran behind the house.
Woofa-wow! They changed back to girls.
When they came out again, there were big smiles on their faces, and their pink dog-bone necklaces were twinkling in the sun.
THE END
If you love dogs,
raise your paw
and turn the page.
Woof-Ha-Ha!
Dog Funnies
Teacher: “Sam, what is the outside of a tree called?”
Sam: “I don’t know.”
Teacher: “Bark, Sam, bark.”
Sam: “Bow, wow, wow!”
What did the dog do when he got 100 on his spelling test?
He took a bow-wow.
Why did the boy think his dog was great at math?
When he asked his dog what six minus six was, the dog said nothing.
What dogs can teach kids how to tell time?
Watchdogs!
What kinds of stories do dogs like best?
Furry-tales.
Which dog starred in the class comedy show?
The Chihua-ha-ha!
Is Your Reading Teacher a Dog?
Did you know that in some schools kids read out loud to dogs? Special friendly dogs are brought into the schools, where they sit quietly and listen to children read. Some kids feel shy reading to teachers and classmates. But they enjoy reading to a dog.
That’s because dogs don’t tell kids they made a mistake. They don’t tell them to speak louder. The dogs do cuddle up and listen. And sometimes they even give a reward—a lick on the nose. Best of all, having dog teachers really works. The kids become much better readers!
My Dog’s Smile
By Stephanie Calmenson
I wish I’d had my dachshund, Harry, when I was teaching in Brooklyn, New
York. He would have been the perfect class visitor for a lesson on animal communication.
When I first met Harry, his body told a sad story. His eyes were dull. He kept his head down low and his tail tucked between his legs most of the time. That’s because he had been an unwanted puppy living in a cage for too long.
It took some time, but with lots of love from everyone he met, Harry finally started to become a happy dog. His eyes brightened. His tail came up. He starting walking tall … well, as tall as a dachshund can be.
Then he made two special friends—a woman named Carmen Gonzalez and her snowy white poodle, Jeeter. The four of us starting walking together often.
One day, Carmen and Jeeter were coming down the street and Carmen called, “Haaaa-rrrrry!” Harry was so excited to see his friends that he did something very few dogs can do. He smiled like a person! His top lip went up, showing his shiny white teeth, and his eyes and nose crinkled.
The kids in my class would have laughed and laughed to see a little dog who could smile. When Harry smiles, he makes everyone around him happy.
Wacky Teachers, Wacky Dog
By Joanna Cole
It was fun to write this book because it’s about dogs and school. I always liked school when I was a kid, and I was once an elementary-school teacher. But I wasn’t wacky like Mr. Z. I’ve written about another teacher, Ms. Frizzle. I wasn’t much like her either.
My little dog Taffy was kind of wacky, though. Once she climbed a tree! Here’s how it happened. Outside our house, there was a tree with low-growing branches. Taffy was chasing a squirrel. It scampered up the tree, and so did Taffy. She just climbed up the branches as if they were steps. All our neighbors came out, and everyone laughed. No one had ever seen a dog climb a tree before!
Taffy was a Yorkshire terrier. You’ll often see pictures of little Yorkies sitting in baskets with ribbons on top of their heads. They look so cute and innocent, but Yorkies were originally bred to catch rats. They are very fast hunters.
Once, on an island in Maine, I was walking Taffy on a leash down a dirt road. All of a sudden, I felt a little jerk on the leash. I looked down, and Taffy had caught a garter snake. It happened so fast, I hadn’t even seen it.
Taffy was just one of the five dogs I have had in my life, but she was definitely the wackiest.
About the Authors
Stephanie Calmenson and Joanna Cole are friends who have written lots of children’s books.
Stephanie is the author of such favorites as Dinner at the Panda Palace, The Principal’s New Clothes, and Late for School! She has also written books featuring her dogs, including Rosie: A Visiting Dog’s Story and May I Pet Your Dog? which stars her dachshund, Harry.
Joanna, author of a wide range of highly acclaimed books, including Bony-Legs; Hungry, Hungry Sharks!; and How You Were Born, is best known for her popular MAGIC SCHOOL BUS series.
The authors have written and edited quite a few books as a team, including Give a Dog a Bone and other anthologies, and now the READY, SET, DOGS! series.
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
mackids.com
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Text copyright © 2014 by Stephanie Calmenson and Joanna Cole
Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Heather Ross
All rights reserved.
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Calmenson, Stephanie, author.
Teacher’s pets / Stephanie Calmenson and Joanna Cole; illustrated by Heather Ross. — First edition.
pages cm. — (Ready, set, dogs!; 2)
Summary: “The girls are dismayed when their teacher is out sick and they have a substitute. Mr. Z makes goofy jokes and can’t keep the class under control. Worst of all, he doesn’t say anything when mean Darlene makes fun of Kate and Lucie. Luckily, once the girls turn into dogs, Kate and Lucie learn they can save the day—and even make a new friend.” —Provided by publisher
ISBN 978-0-8050-9647-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-1-250-05705-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-8050-9648-4 (e-book)
[1. Dogs—Fiction. 2. Best friends—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Shapeshifting—Fiction. 5. Teachers—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction. 7. Humorous stories.] I. Cole, Joanna, author. II. Ross, Heather, illustrator. III. Title.
PZ7.C136Tc 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2014002031
First Edition—2014
eISBN 9780805096484
Coming Soon!
Hot Diggity Dogs
Book 3 in the
Ready, Set, Dogs!
series
Two little dachshunds named
Ketchup and Mustard are missing!
Can Kate and Lucie find them?
Teacher's Pets Page 4