Max Tate liked to laugh. So did his moms and his little sister Grace. But Max’s family had not been laughing much since the new neighbors next door moved in with a yipping, yapping, yelping little dog named Blue.
Blue barked early every morning. Blue barked late every night. Blue barked at cats, and kids, and cars, and neighbors. Blue even barked at trashcans and mailboxes.
“That’s the worst dog I have ever met,” moaned Mama when Blue woke her up too early in the morning.
“I wish the neighbors would get rid of that dog,” sighed Mom when Blue kept Grace from falling asleep at night.
One day after school, Max was trying to do his homework.
“Bark! Bark!” yelped Blue from next door.
“Shush!” cried Max.
“Bark! Bark! Bark!” yapped Blue in reply.
“I can’t think with all your noise!” Max got up from his desk and stared out the window at the neighbor’s dog.
“Bark, bark, bark, bark!” Blue woofed and wagged her tail.
“Bark, bark, park, mark, lark, hark, aardvark,” Max whispered to himself. Then he grinned and ran downstairs to find his parents.
“If Blue had a car, where would she leave it?” Max asked Mama, who was just getting home from work.
“I don’t know,” said Mama. “Where?”
“In the barking lot!” Max answered. Then he ran to the kitchen.
“Where is Blue’s favorite place to shop?” Max asked Mom, who was putting away groceries.
“Where?” Mom asked.
“At the superbarket!” Max answered.
“What does Blue like to color with?” Max asked Grace, who was drawing pictures in the living room.
“Don’t know,” said Grace.
“Barkers!” Max said.
Grace giggled. She held up her ocean drawing and said, “Yeah, Blue likes to draw gray whales and great white barks.”
“What is Blue’s favorite part of the chicken?” Max asked at dinner.
“Not the white meat, but the bark meat!” answered Mom with a smile.
“Where is Blue’s favorite place to swing and slide?” Max asked as the family walked to the playground that evening.
“The neighborhood bark?” guessed Mama. Everyone laughed.
When they got home from the park, Max said, “Goodnight Mama. Goodnight Mom.”
“You’re going to bed already?” Mom asked.
“I still have to finish my homework,” Max said.
Max sat down at his desk. He had a big geography worksheet to do, but he knew where he could get help.
“Blue, what continent covers the South Pole?”
Antbarktica
“Blue, what is the state between Louisiana and Missouri?”
Barkansas.
“Blue, where do you have to go to see the Old Faithful geyser?
Yellowstone National Bark
“Thanks, Blue, you’re the best.”
