Stick Dog Tries to Take the Donuts Page 7

  Anyway, this is where Stick Cat likes to sit the most—and it’s where Goose comes every morning to do three things.

  He opens the window a couple of inches so Stick Cat can feel a little breeze in his favorite spot.

  Goose pats Stick Cat on the head.

  Then he scratches him behind the left ear.

  Stick Cat allows Goose to do all this. It’s how Stick Cat rewards Goose for working all day and buying him food.

  Then Goose says the same thing to Stick Cat that he says every morning when he’s about to leave. He smiles and says, “Remember to relax a little today.” He says this in a sarcastic way, like he knows that Stick Cat is really going to sleep the entire day away. Then Goose gives Stick Cat a final scratch behind the ear—and leaves.

  It’s when Goose leaves that Stick Cat’s day really gets started. And on this day, it all started with a single sound.

  Stick Cat heard a scratching sound coming from the bathroom.

  And Stick Cat knew who it was.

  BACK AD

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  TOM WATSON lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter, and son. He also has a dog, as you could probably guess. The dog is a Labrador-Newfoundland mix. Tom says he looks like a Labrador with a bad perm. He wanted to name the dog “Put Your Shirt On” (please don’t ask why), but he was outvoted by his family. The dog’s name is Shadow. Early in his career Tom worked in politics, including a stint as the chief speechwriter for the governor of Ohio. This experience helped him develop the unique storytelling narrative style of the Stick Dog books. Tom’s time in politics also made him realize a very important thing: kids are way smarter than adults. And it’s a lot more fun and rewarding to write stories for them than to write speeches for grown-ups.

  Visit www.stickdogbooks.com for more fun stuff.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  CREDITS

  Cover design by Jeff Shake

  COPYRIGHT

  STICK DOG TRIES TO TAKE THE DONUTS. Copyright © 2016 by Tom Watson. Illustrations by Ethan Long based on original sketches by Tom Watson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  * * *

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943576

  ISBN 978-0-06-234320-8

  ISBN 978-0-06-245715-8 (int.)

  EPub Edition © December 2015 ISBN 9780062343215

  * * *

  1516171819CG/RRDH10987654321

  FIRST EDITION

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