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Find a Family
by Todd A. Steinberg
Illustrations by Jocelyn F. Diaz
For Lindsay
“Wake up, buddy, wake up! Time for breakfast,”
said the scruffy white dog.
Copyright © 2017 Todd A. Steinberg
All Rights Reserved
Illustrated by Jocelyn F. Diaz
Cover design by Joe Paczkowski
www.stubzandstiltz.org
Published by REYA Media
reyamedia.com
ISBN: 978-1542559157
ISBN: 1542559154
“Just a few more minutes,”
yawned the sleepy brown dog.
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“No time to lose. C’mon, c’mon, let’s go!”
“Okay, OKAY! Can’t an old dog
sleep in every once in a while?”
Right as dawn broke, the two mutts tottered down
their favorite alley, scoping out the scene.
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“I spy a big ol’ helping of grub,” yipped the white dog.
“There’s our meal ticket,” announced the skinny white dog.
“Ready? One, two, three, BOOST.”
Sniff
BanzaI!
“I think I smell soggy cornflakes,” sniffed the
brown dog. “Or maybe it’s a stinky gym sock.”
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DIVE Sploosh
“Oops, I think I just ate a banana
peel,” cried the brown dog.”
BURP!
‘Scuse me
“And I almost choked on an olive pit,
but I spit it out like this.”
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“I found a slice of French toast,
coated with a light dusting of
cinnamon. I saved it for you.”
“Whaaaat? Yuck!“
Bleh!
BLAH!
“I don’t know, dude, it looks
like someone sneezed on it.”
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“But thanks anyway.”
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“That moment after breakfast
is always the best part of the
day, right ol’ fella?”
“Yep, a nice full belly, everyone still
asleep, not a care in the world.”
“Whew, today is blistering hot!”
“Brrrr, today is biting cold”
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But life was hard for these two homeless pals. They had
no family, which means they had no regular meals, nowhere
safe to rest, and not much time to play and goof around.
“Yikes, today is soaking wet.”
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One afternoon, the two wanted to cross a
busy road to explore a new part of the city.
But this furry fellow isn’t as quick as his
younger buddy and was too timid to cross.
“Hurry up, pal!”
“One... two... three!”
“Just a second.”
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“We cross on the
count of three.”
ZIIIIP!
The brown dog was paying so much attention to the road,
he didn’t notice that trouble was lurking right behind him.
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Shoop!
Dog
Catch
er
CITY POUND
“Uh, oh.”
“Oh no! Are we ever in a jam now.
I have to rescue my bud. He’s my
only friend in the whole world!”
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A dog catcher netted the hapless mutt! Before he knew it,
the old brown dog was whisked away to the animal shelter.
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A family picked him out
to come live with them.
And away he went,
speeding towards
his new home.
The old brown dog spent all night in the shelter. And without his
friend, he got lonesome. But that morning, his luck sure did change.
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Inside it got even better.
“Whoa! I’ve seen these places and heard stories,” marveled the
brown dog. “Never in my dreams did I think I’d wind up here!”
“I must be in heaven! Tasty morsels just waiting to be
gobbled down. No more dumpster diving for this mutt!”
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But before he had a chance to dig in, the old brown
dog heard a faint rapping from the window.
“Hey buddy, am I glad to see you,” exclaimed the
lucky brown dog. “Do I have a story to tell!”
Rappa-
Tap Tap
“Later!” whispered the white dog.
“First, we break you out of this joint.”
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“No way mister, I’ve been, uh. . . adopted,” explained the brown dog.
“That means they chose me to be a part of their family.”
The two hatched a plan.
“A family?”
“Yep! They give me food, cool clear water, and as far as I can tell,
that big backyard is one hundred percent mine!”
“In that case, I need
to crash this party!”
shuffle
shuffle
“Oh, woe is me, I fell into a bramble bush, and I’m covered in
thorns, twigs and burrs. And I think I twisted my ankle.”
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And his partner sounded the alarm.
A rrroooooooowooowoooroooooo!!!!!!!
Wink!
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The family rushed to the window to see the commotion.
His pitiful ruse worked. They scooped up the dirty
white dog and the rest of the day went like this . . .
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TWEET YIP!
CHIRP
YIP!
ROWRL!
Munch
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Then the next day, the new family members were lavished with gifts.
“A bright red collar!”
“A squeaky rubber newspaper!”
“A cozy plush platypus!”
“A stylin’ green bandanna.”
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But what they got next was the greatest gift of all.
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A NAME!
“They named me Stubz,
because of my squatty body.”
“And they named me Stiltz,
because of my skinny long legs.”
Flip page to see back cover
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Stubz and Stiltz never lived on the streets again. A family found
them and loved them. And Stubz and Stiltz always loved them back.
Meet Stubz and Stiltz!
Stubz and Stiltz are based on two real life rescue mutts:
Nugget, a Basset Hound and Labrador mix, and Curly, a
long-legged Cockapoo. In this adventure, these street
dogs become two of the luckiest mutts in the world.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book
will go to selected animal shelters throughout the USA.
Learn more at www.stubzandstiltz.org.
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