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       Copyright

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2015

      HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Copyright © 2015 by Tom Watson

      Cover art © Ethan Long

      Cover design by Tom Starace

      Illustrations by Ethan Long based on original sketches by Tom Watson

      Tom Watson and Ethan Long assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780007581252

      Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780007581269

      Version: 2015-05-06

      Dedicated to Carol, Donna, Susie, Richard,

       Jim, and Tom

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Dedication

       Chapter 5: A Water Machine Attacks

       Chapter 6: It’s Totally Annoying

       Chapter 7: What’s Weird about It?

       Chapter 8: Rainbow Puddles

       Chapter 9: Drips Are Drippy

       Chapter 10: Dance Party

       Chapter 11: Poo-Poo Figures It Out

       Chapter 12: Woggy!

       Chapter 13: Karen Tackles Stick Dog

       About the Author

       About the Publisher

       Chapter 1

       ESCAPE FROM THE HEAT

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      It was really, really hot.

      Stick Dog, Stripes, and Poo-Poo looked forward to some brief relief from the heat.

      And Mutt was just back from the creek to provide it.

      He was sopping wet. He didn’t say anything at all but simply sidled up close to the others. They all knew the routine. This was, after all, Mutt’s fourth trip to the creek in the past hour. Stick Dog, Stripes, and Poo-Poo stood at the ready.

      And then Mutt began to shake. He started slowly at first, spraying the others with big droplets of water from his shaggy fur. But then his shaking sped up, until he trembled and vibrated so hard the dry dirt around his paws puffed up in little brown clouds. With this vigorous shaking, Mutt was able to spray his companions not with big droplets of creek water but with a fine, cooling mist.

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      The other three sighed as they felt the wet, cool relief.

      “That feels wonderful,” whispered Stripes when Mutt finally stopped shaking.

      “I never get tired of that smell,” Poo-Poo said.

      Stick Dog enjoyed the temporary respite. He needed a little break from the dry, hot day as much as anyone. “Thank you again, Mutt. That really does feel great,” he said. “Come on, you guys. Let’s help him retrieve some of this stuff. That’s the least we can do.”

      Immediately, Poo-Poo and Stripes helped Stick Dog gather all the things that had come flying out of Mutt’s fur with the water. They picked up a crushed Ping-Pong ball, a blue marker, two bottle caps, and an old grey sock. They returned them all to Mutt, who tucked everything back into his fur except the old grey sock. He took that to the shade of a beech tree and began to chew on it.

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      Poo-Poo and Stripes shared some shade under an old oak tree. And Stick Dog settled beneath a leafy maple. Unlike Mutt’s shaking, the shade provided little help. They all heated up again quickly.

      “Stick Dog,” Poo-Poo said. “We have got to do something about this heat.”

      “There’s not much we can do,” Stick Dog answered. He seemed to be conserving his energy as he spoke. He didn’t even turn to address Poo-Poo. “My pipe is even warmer than out here. The air doesn’t circulate in there. We’re not going to find better shade anywhere. I guess we could go down to the creek and get another drink of water. That always helps a little.”

      “I’m sick of drinking creek water,” Stripes said. She sounded frustrated. “It’s

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