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The Cat’s Meow
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The Cat’s Meow
by
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Herman Parish
pictures by Lynne
Avril
Greenwillow Books An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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Art was created digitally in Adobe Photoshop. Amelia Bedelia is a registered trademark of Peppermint Partners, LLC. Amelia Bedelia & Friends The Cat’s Meow. Text copyright © 2019 by Herman S. Parish III. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Lynne Avril. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Printed in the United States of America. For information address HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007. www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019944438 ISBN 9780062935229 (hardback) — ISBN 9780062961822 (paper-over-board) — ISBN 9780062935212 (paperback) 19 20 21 22 23 PC/LSCC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition
Greenwillow Books
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g For Eva, our cat’s meow —H. P.
This book is for Amelia Bedelia’s dad, who saved the day! —L. A.
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g Ameli edelia aB
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Finally
Joy Clay Heather
Cliff
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Wade
Dawn Skip
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Angel
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Contents
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g Chapter 1: If at First You Don’t Succeed
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Chapter 2: Moving Your Marbles (without losing your marbles) 13
Chapter 3: “Curiosity Killed the Cat . . .” Chapter 4: Thinking Outside the Can Chapter 5: Out on a Limb
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Chapter 6: One Fire Truck, Hold the Siren
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Chapter 7: Pleased to Meet You . . . Ahh-choo! 62
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g Chapter 8: The Cat Turns into a Pumpkin Chapter 9: Coupons for a Cat
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Chapter 10: Extra! Extra! Read All About It 98 Pumpkin
Chapter 11: Pumpkin Vanishes
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Chapter 12: “. . . but Satisfaction Brought Her Back.” 121
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Chapter 1 If at First You Don’t Succeed
“Remember,
people!” said Ms. Garcia,
Amelia Bedelia’s science teacher at Oak Tree Elementary. “All great inventors think outside the box!” Amelia Bedelia looked at her friend Joy and shrugged. Teachers were always telling them to think outside the box. Amelia Bedelia rarely stood
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in a box to think, and neither did any of her friends. But Amelia Bedelia had also never invented anything famous— at least not yet. Not a lightbulb, like Thomas Edison . . . or shampoo made out of peanuts, like George Washington Carver . . . or a chocolate chip cookie, like Ruth Wakefield . . . or even a pair of earmuffs, like Chester Greenwood. “An inventor starts with a problem and then finds a solution that doesn’t already exist,” Ms. Garcia continued. “So let’s think about that for a minute. What is a problem that you
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would like to solve?” Amelia Bedelia’s friend Cliff waved his hand. “Too much homework!” he shouted. Some of the other kids groaned and agreed. “Okay, so what could you invent to help with that?” asked Ms. Garcia. “A machine that does my homework for me?” Cliff suggested. “Fun! But would that solve the whole problem?” Ms. Garcia asked. “You wouldn’t have to spend so much time doing homework, true . . . but you also wouldn’t learn anything and then you’d be stuck at Oak Tree Elementary forever.”
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“Like our big oak tree out front,” said Penny. “Can someone come up with an invention to help Cliff out?” asked Ms. Garcia. Joy had an idea. “How about a helmet that beams homework directly from your head onto the paper? Then you’d still learn stuff, but you wouldn’t spend so much time writing everything down. You could do your homework while you were having fun or even when you’re asleep!” “Excellent idea!” said Ms. Garcia. “Anybody else have a problem they’d like us to solve with an invention?” “I hate lima beans!” said Penny called
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out. “And my mom makes me eat them.” “Oh, a lot of people have that problem. What’s your invention?” asked Ms. Garcia. Penny drummed her fingers on her desk. “A special ring that converts lima beans into chocolate!” she said. “You could use it right at the table.” “Fantastic! Amelia Bedelia, what about you? Do you have a problem you’d like to solve?” said Ms. Garcia. Amelia Bedelia thought about this. Mostly she figured that her life was pretty good. Sure, some days she would rather stay home and bake than go to school . . . but then she thought about how much fun it was to see her friends. Some days her mother did
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indeed serve lima beans for dinner . . . but she usually made Amelia Bedelia eat only a bite or two. But there was one thing. . . . “My dog, Finally, poops in our backyard,” she said. “It’s my job to pick it up. And it’s gross!” The class laughed. Amelia Bedelia laughed too. It was funny . . . but it was also true! She knew it was part of taking care of a dog. She loved Finally. She loved all animals. “Most pet owners have that same problem,” Ms. Garcia said. “What’s a solution?” The class came up with a lot of ideas for this one.
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A robot pooper scooper! A spray that instantly melted poop into fertilizer! A dog trainer who could train Finally to pick up her own poop! Puppy diapers! A puppy porta-potty! “That’s thinking outside the box!” said Ms. Garcia. “Very creative. Very inventive! Now, for the rest of the period, I’d like you each to try inventing something of your own.” She waved her hand toward the back of the science classroom. Piled on top of a long table were all sorts of supplies— rubber wheels, metal cogs, plastic tubes, boards with holes in them, wires, cords,
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tape, glue, staples, and more. “Here’s the problem I want you to solve, inventors,” she said. “Suppose you have five marbles, and you want to move all five of them at least twelve inches. You can’t touch the marbles or pick them up in your hands. How can you do it? What can you make to help you? Go ahead and get started—and remember, a good inventor is nimble! You must think on your feet!” Amelia Bedelia jumped up
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from her chair and bounced up and down on her toes. “Good inventors are persistent! They never give up!” Ms. Garcia went on. “And most importantly, a good inventor knows that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. We have about thirty more minutes. Let’s see who can solve it.” Amelia Bedelia froze. What a horrible idea! Who would want to skin a cat? She looked around the classroom. There was Hermione, the corn snake, dozing in her cage, draped over a log. There was Harriet, the hamster, running happily on
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her wheel, which squeaked and creaked under her tiny pink feet. No cat, which was a relief. Amelia Bedelia and her friends headed over to the long table, talking about what they could build to solve the challenge. Amelia Bedelia stood next to her friend Penny. “Have you seen the cat?” she whispered. “What cat?” asked Penny. All
around
them,
kids
were
brainstorming and examining the objects on the table. Skip was using duct tape to attach several cardboard tubes together. Joy had picked up a long piece of wood and was stacking up blocks to make a ramp. Heather was wrapping string
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around a rubber ball. Everybody seemed to be concentrating on their projects. But Amelia Bedelia really couldn’t concentrate when there was a cat that might need her help. She glanced around the room again. She bent down to peer under all the desks. No cat. “Are you looking for dust bunnies?” Penny asked her. Amelia Bedelia straightened up and shook her head. “No!” she whispered. “The cat!” There was only one place left to look. If there was a cat in the science room, it must be behind Ms. Garcia’s desk.
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While Ms. Garcia was talking to Holly and Clay, Amelia Bedelia took a chance. She darted across the room and slipped down behind Ms. Garcia’s desk. Crouching, she pushed Ms. Garcia’s chair aside and peered into the space beneath the desk. No cat. What about the big desk drawers? Could a cat could be hiding in there? Amelia Bedelia tugged one open and peeked in. It was full of school supplies. No cat. “Amelia Bedelia?” said a voice behind her. “What are you doing?”
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