A Cat Trick by Bo Grayson illustrated by Nomar Perez HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Harcourt
A Cat Trick by Bo Grayson illustrated by Nomar Perez Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 South Park Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN: 978-0-547-88945-0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 XXXX 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 4500000000 A B C D E F G If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.
One day, Meg watched a pet show on TV. People were teaching their dogs how to do tricks. Meg thought that would be fun. It also would build a friendship between owners and their pets. 2
Meg didn t have a dog, though. She had a beautiful cat named Prince. Could Prince learn a trick? Meg thought about the tricks on TV. She didn t think Prince would fetch a toy or swim in a pool. 3
Then Meg remembered one trick she had seen. Maybe she could teach Prince how to shake paws. Meg ran to find Prince. She caught her big yellow cat and picked him up. She took Prince to see her sister, Lily. 4
I m going to teach Prince how to shake paws. Will you help me, Lily? Meg asked. Lily gave a little smile. I don t think that idea will work, Meg. Dogs can learn tricks, but I don t think you can teach a cat. 5
OK, then maybe Lee will help me, replied Meg. She went with Prince to find her brother. Meg told Lee about her plan. Lee wasn t sure that Prince could be trained, but he agreed to try. 6
Lee sat in front of Prince. Lee said, Shake, and held out his hand. Prince sat very still. Lee tried again, but Prince didn t move at all. I guess you can t teach a cat tricks, said Lee. He went to his room to listen to music. 7
Lee had only tried for a minute or two before giving up. Lily had said it couldn t be done. But Meg was sure that Prince could learn the trick. It would just take lots of time and practice. 8
Lots of time and practice, and treats! Meg grabbed a handful of cat treats. Then she sat on the floor. She held out one treat in her hand and let Prince sniff it. Meg said, Shake. Prince put his paw in Meg s hand! He wanted the treat. 9
10 Over the next few days, Meg and Prince practiced until the cat shook paws every time. When Meg and Prince showed the trick to the family, everyone was amazed. Lily and I thought it couldn t be done, said Lee. But you and Prince proved us wrong. A cat can learn a trick if he has a good teacher!
Responding TARGET SKILL Understanding Characters What does Meg say in the story? Then what does she do? Make a chart. Write About It Text to Text Think of another story about a pet. What kind of pet is it? Does the owner take good care of the pet? How can you tell? 11
beautiful caught friendship WORDS TO KNOW idea thought listen took minute LEARN MORE WORDS owners practice trained TARGET SKILL Understanding Characters Tell more about characters. TARGET STRATEGY Visualize Picture what is happening as you read. GENRE Realistic fiction is a story that could happen in real life. 12
Level: K DRA: 20 Genre: Realistic Fiction Strategy: Visualize Skill: Understanding Characters Word Count: 372 1.6.29 Houghton Mifflin Online Leveled Books 9 0 0 0 0 9 7 8 0 5 4 7 8 8 9 4 5 0 1507931