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ḺeGeNDS<br />
(in their own lunchbox)<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> <strong>Clowns</strong><br />
<strong>Around</strong><br />
Bill Condon & Andrew Hopgood
ḺeGeNDS<br />
(in their own lunchbox)<br />
<strong>Riley</strong><br />
<strong>Riley</strong> always<br />
has a plan.<br />
Trouble is,<br />
things don’t<br />
always go<br />
to plan …<br />
Kim<br />
Kim, super<br />
news reporter.<br />
Except she’s<br />
usually the<br />
one creating<br />
the news …<br />
Noob<br />
Noob, superhero.<br />
Saving the<br />
world without<br />
leaving the<br />
library.<br />
Lucy<br />
Lucy’s heart<br />
is in the right<br />
place. It’s her<br />
spinning, kicking<br />
feet that are<br />
the problem!<br />
Chaz<br />
Chaz Camilleri.<br />
Master chef —<br />
or disaster<br />
chef?<br />
Stella<br />
Stella has<br />
stars in her<br />
eyes. It’s just<br />
that no one<br />
else can<br />
see them!
Contents<br />
Meet the Characters 4<br />
Chapter 1: A Brand New Face 7<br />
Chapter 2: The Babies 14<br />
Chapter 3: Silly Boy 23<br />
Chapter 4: Buddy’s New Face 29<br />
Chapter 5: Happy at Last 37<br />
<strong>Riley</strong>’s Email 44<br />
More Legends! 45<br />
Meet the Author 46<br />
Meet the Illustrator 47
Meet the<br />
Characters<br />
I’m <strong>Riley</strong>.<br />
I love making<br />
people happy.<br />
Woof!<br />
4
I’m Matilda,<br />
<strong>Riley</strong>’s best<br />
friend and<br />
sidekick.<br />
I’m Big Jim<br />
Judd. Everyone<br />
is scared<br />
of me!<br />
LEAVE<br />
ME<br />
ALONE<br />
5
Chapter 1<br />
A Brand<br />
New Face<br />
‘I want the same face as yours, Riles.<br />
Do you think you can do it?’<br />
‘Sure, Tilda. Sit down and don’t move.’<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> got to work. A dash of this.<br />
A splash of that. Giant blobs of red<br />
and blue.<br />
7
‘What does it look like?’<br />
‘Be patient.’<br />
‘You’re not going to give me a<br />
monster face, are you, Riles?’<br />
‘I might.’<br />
‘Can I see it? Please. Please. Pl—’<br />
‘OK. Check it out.’<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> held up a mirror for Matilda.<br />
She had blue eyebrows. A patch of red<br />
on each cheek. And a big white circle<br />
around her mouth.<br />
‘You’ve done it. I’m a clown!’<br />
‘I haven’t finished yet.’ <strong>Riley</strong> gave<br />
Matilda a bright red rubber nose,<br />
the same as his.<br />
She looked into the mirror again.<br />
9
‘Now I’m really a clown! Aren’t I,<br />
Riles?’<br />
‘Almost.’<br />
In his hands was a curly yellow wig.<br />
He put it on Matilda’s head.<br />
‘Now,’ he said, ‘you’re a clown!’<br />
10
Matilda jumped to her feet.<br />
‘We’re clowns! Hurray!’<br />
They pranced around the room,<br />
laughing and giggling. When they<br />
finally stopped, Matilda said,<br />
‘What do we do now?’<br />
11
‘I don’t know, Tilda. I’ve never<br />
been a clown before.’<br />
Just then they heard babies crying.<br />
They looked out the window and<br />
saw strollers being wheeled along the<br />
street by the babies’ mums and dads.<br />
‘That’s the answer.’ <strong>Riley</strong>’s eyes<br />
gleamed. ‘Those babies need clowns<br />
to stop them crying.’<br />
‘But we don’t know anything<br />
about babies.’<br />
‘I do,’ <strong>Riley</strong> said. ‘I used to be<br />
a baby myself. Let’s go!’<br />
13
Chapter 2<br />
The Babies<br />
On the street they found more parents<br />
wheeling strollers. And more crying<br />
babies.<br />
‘Let’s follow them!’ <strong>Riley</strong> said.<br />
Soon the two friends were looking at<br />
a sign outside the Seacliff Town Hall.<br />
14
Baby Show<br />
today<br />
Prizes for the<br />
• cutest baby<br />
• happiest baby<br />
• biggest baby<br />
• smallest baby<br />
and lots more!<br />
Inside were dozens of babies. Some<br />
were smiling and laughing. A few were<br />
asleep. Many more were kicking their<br />
tiny arms and feet. And hollering.<br />
Matilda looked nervous. <strong>Riley</strong><br />
whispered in her ear, ‘<strong>Clowns</strong> rule!’<br />
16
Baby Show
And away they went.<br />
They pulled funny faces. Made silly<br />
‘blub, blub’ noises. Bumped into each<br />
other. Fell down. Jumped up. Blew<br />
their blowout whistles. And laughed<br />
and laughed.<br />
18
One by one, the babies stopped<br />
crying. They waved their rattles<br />
and giggled.<br />
‘Riles! We did it!’<br />
‘I knew we would, Tilda!’<br />
19
For a moment there were only<br />
contented gurgles in the town hall.<br />
Then the sleeping babies woke.<br />
They squawked and squealed.<br />
The babies who had been smiling<br />
before now looked grumpy. One<br />
threw a rattle out of her stroller.<br />
It almost hit Seacliff’s mayor,<br />
Mr Jones, on his shiny bald head.<br />
There were loud grumbles, not<br />
just from the babies. From their<br />
parents, too.<br />
‘Our baby was sound asleep,’<br />
a red-faced man snarled, leaning<br />
over <strong>Riley</strong>. ‘Until you made all<br />
that noise.’<br />
20
‘Sorry,’ said <strong>Riley</strong>.<br />
A lady glared. ‘You scared my<br />
little girl.’<br />
‘I didn’t mean to,’ said Matilda.<br />
21
All the babies were crying again.<br />
Louder than ever. Their parents were<br />
angry.<br />
Matilda said, ‘What will we do?’<br />
‘Run!’ said <strong>Riley</strong>.<br />
22
Chapter 3<br />
Silly Boy<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> and Matilda watched people<br />
trudging down Sandy Road to visit<br />
the dentist. Some looked in pain.<br />
Others looked afraid.<br />
‘They need us,’ <strong>Riley</strong> said.<br />
‘Do they?’ asked Matilda.<br />
23
24
‘Yes! We’re clowns. It’s our job to<br />
make people happy!’<br />
The first person to come along was<br />
Mr Bell. He was rubbing his mouth<br />
as if he had a really sore tooth.<br />
Matilda leapt onto the path in front<br />
of him and spread her arms wide.<br />
‘Ring a ding, ding, Mr Bell!’<br />
Mr Bell growled and snarled. <strong>Riley</strong><br />
gave him a super-clown grin. Mr Bell<br />
screwed his face up like a squashed<br />
tomato. Then he put his head down<br />
and marched off to see the dentist.<br />
Matilda sighed. ‘I don’t think we<br />
made him happy.’<br />
25
‘Some people take a while to get<br />
the joke,’ <strong>Riley</strong> said. ‘He’ll probably<br />
laugh later.’<br />
Just then Mrs Bensley came along<br />
with her son, Jonathan.<br />
‘My turn,’ said <strong>Riley</strong>.<br />
He tumbled onto the path with a<br />
double somersault. Then he ran in and<br />
out between Jonathan and his mother,<br />
all the time quacking like a duck.
Jonathan’s mouth fell open. It was<br />
the strangest thing he’d ever seen.<br />
‘Wasn’t that fun?’ <strong>Riley</strong> said.<br />
Jonathan kicked him in the shin.<br />
‘Ouch!’<br />
‘Mummy!’ Jonathan ran back to<br />
his mother.<br />
27
‘Now look what you’ve done,’<br />
Mrs Bensley said. ‘He’s upset.’<br />
‘I was trying to stop him worrying<br />
about the dentist,’ said <strong>Riley</strong>.<br />
‘We weren’t even going to the<br />
dentist. You silly boy!’<br />
And then she and Jonathan<br />
strode away.<br />
28
Chapter 4<br />
Buddy’s New Face<br />
‘I wish we could make even one person<br />
happy,’ Matilda said.<br />
‘Of course we will!’ <strong>Riley</strong> honked<br />
his rubber nose. ‘For sure.’<br />
The children sat on a bench next<br />
to Fifi’s Dog Wash.<br />
29
Outside the shop was a sign about<br />
dog washing.<br />
Ten people waited in line. Beside<br />
them were dogs of every kind, from<br />
long-legged strutters to tiny, roly-poly<br />
pooches.<br />
I know what we can do! We’ll paint<br />
clown faces on dogs!’<br />
‘Great idea, Riles!’<br />
30
WASH<br />
DOG FIFI ’S<br />
DOGS<br />
WASHED<br />
FOR<br />
HALF PRICE<br />
TODAY<br />
ONLY!
Soon there was a new sign, right<br />
beside Fifi’s.<br />
A lot of people stopped at the<br />
children’s stall, but no one wanted<br />
to have their dog’s face painted.<br />
Not even when they were told it was<br />
only water paint. Then Fifi said,<br />
Dogs’<br />
faces<br />
painted<br />
free!!<br />
32
‘Sorry, kids. You’ll have to go.<br />
You’re blocking the footpath.’<br />
As they walked away a dog came<br />
trotting up to them. ‘Buddy!’ said<br />
Matilda. She knelt down to pat him<br />
and he licked her clown nose.<br />
DOGS<br />
WASHED<br />
FOR<br />
HALF PRICE<br />
TODAY<br />
ONLY!<br />
33
‘He’s jumped Mr Tran’s fence<br />
again.’ Matilda looped her belt around<br />
Buddy’s neck. ‘Come on, boy.’<br />
‘Wait,’ <strong>Riley</strong> said. ‘Before we take<br />
him home, let’s paint him. I think<br />
34
Mr Tran would like that.’<br />
‘He’ll love it, Riles!’<br />
They gave Buddy a splash of this<br />
and a splish of that. Some stripes<br />
and spots. And a yellow smiley face.<br />
35
He wagged his tail, as if he knew he<br />
was the best-looking dog in Seacliff.<br />
But when they took him home,<br />
Mr Tran stared and shook his head.<br />
‘That’s not Buddy.’<br />
36
Chapter 5<br />
Happy at Last<br />
The real Buddy leapt up at the side<br />
gate and barked at the children to say<br />
hello. He looked exactly the same as<br />
the dog they’d painted.<br />
Mr Tran explained what had<br />
happened.<br />
37
‘They’re litter brothers,’ he said.<br />
‘The dog you’ve got there is Spike.<br />
He belongs to Mr Judd.’<br />
Big Jim Judd never ever smiled.<br />
And he wore a T-shirt that said<br />
LEAVE ME ALONE. Everyone did.<br />
38
They were scared of him.<br />
‘Spike can find his own way back,’<br />
Matilda said.<br />
‘That’s not right.’ <strong>Riley</strong> frowned.<br />
‘We have to make sure he gets home<br />
safely.’<br />
39
LEAVE<br />
ME<br />
ALONE<br />
‘OK … But let’s wash the paint<br />
off him first. Then we won’t get into<br />
trouble.’<br />
When they splashed water onto<br />
Spike all the colours mixed together.<br />
He looked like a furry, four-legged<br />
rainbow. They looked up as an orange<br />
40
van screeched to a stop beside them.<br />
Out stepped Big Jim Judd.<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> stood in front of Matilda<br />
to protect her, even though his legs<br />
were shaking. ‘Hello, Mr Judd,’<br />
he said. ‘We found Spike. Sorry that<br />
we painted him.’<br />
41
‘It washes off easily,’ added Matilda.<br />
Big Jim looked mean and full of<br />
menace. But that changed when Spike<br />
bounded up to him and rolled over<br />
at his feet to have his tummy tickled.<br />
Then Big Jim Judd, who never ever<br />
smiled, couldn’t stop smiling.<br />
‘Spike’s my only friend,’ he said.<br />
‘I’ve been looking everywhere for<br />
him. And you brought him home<br />
to me. Thanks, kids!’<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> and Matilda smiled, too.<br />
At last they’d made someone happy!<br />
42
LEAVE<br />
ME<br />
ALONE<br />
43
<strong>Riley</strong>’s Email<br />
From: riles@litols.com<br />
To: bruno49@litols.com<br />
Sent: Sunday 20 April<br />
Subject: Clowning around<br />
Hi Bruno<br />
Last week Tilda and I dressed up as clowns.<br />
We thought it would make people happy.<br />
Wrong! Babies screamed. People ran away<br />
from us in the street. Others growled at us.<br />
But in the end we did make one person<br />
happy. Someone who never usually smiles.<br />
And that made us happy.<br />
Here’s a photo of Tilda<br />
and me in our clown paint.<br />
CYA<br />
<strong>Riley</strong>
MoRe ḺeGeNDS!<br />
Want to find out<br />
about my next<br />
adventure? Read<br />
my next book!<br />
Here’s what happens . . .<br />
Every night, <strong>Riley</strong><br />
dreams that he’s<br />
being chased by<br />
a giant banana. It’s<br />
the worst thing that<br />
has ever happened<br />
to him. Until he<br />
meets the giant<br />
banana for real …<br />
45
Meet the Author<br />
Bill Condon was born in the back seat of<br />
a taxi. His mother couldn’t afford to pay<br />
the fare, so the driver kept him. Or is this<br />
just another one of Bill’s wild stories? It’s<br />
hard to know because he’s always making<br />
up stuff. He became a writer because he<br />
loves telling stories. Next to breathing, it’s<br />
his favourite thing. And writers get paid for<br />
making things up! It doesn’t get any better<br />
than that.<br />
46
Meet the Illustrator<br />
Andrew Hopgood loved drawing as a child<br />
and just never stopped. He lives in Melbourne<br />
with wife Ally and sons Bailey and Miles,<br />
who still can’t believe he gets paid to draw<br />
pictures. Andrew has illustrated for books,<br />
stamps, jigsaws, packaging and advertising.<br />
You can check out some of his other work<br />
on his website:<br />
www.hopgoodillustration.com.au<br />
47
Read all the books in Set 1
RL: 15<br />
This PDF ebook edition published in 2013<br />
First published in 2013 by<br />
MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD<br />
15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141<br />
Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.<br />
Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au/primary<br />
Copyright text © Bill Condon 2013<br />
The moral right of the author has been asserted.<br />
Copyright illustrations © Macmillan Publishers Australia 2013<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored,<br />
distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon<br />
or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any<br />
means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission<br />
from the publisher.<br />
Legends (in their own lunchbox): <strong>Riley</strong> <strong>Clowns</strong> <strong>Around</strong><br />
ISBN 978 1 4586 4300 1 (PDF ebook)<br />
Series Editors: Meredith Costain, Helen Chamberlin<br />
Designer: Ellie Exarchos<br />
Illustrator: Andrew Hopgood<br />
iStockphoto.com/marlanu, 44<br />
Visit www.macmillan.com.au/primary to read more about all our books and to buy both<br />
print and ebooks online. You will also find subject catalogues, teacher support material and<br />
news of professional development events.
ḺeGeNDS<br />
(in their own lunchbox)<br />
<strong>Riley</strong><br />
<strong>Riley</strong> <strong>Clowns</strong><br />
<strong>Around</strong><br />
Everyone loves clowns.<br />
They’re funny, friendly,<br />
and make people happy.<br />
So why is everyone running<br />
away from new clowns<br />
<strong>Riley</strong> and Matilda?<br />
Kim<br />
Noob<br />
Lucy<br />
To find out<br />
more about<br />
the ḺeGenDs,<br />
look inside the<br />
front cover!<br />
Chaz<br />
Stella<br />
Look inside<br />
the back cover<br />
for all the<br />
ḺeGenDs<br />
(in their own<br />
lunchbox)<br />
books!
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