4 6 3 the seahaven squids and the amazing pet wash

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA,™
Lexile,® and Reading Recovery™ are provided
in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

AHAVEN SQUI
E
S
E
DS
H
ZIN
A
G
M
P
A
E
TW
T THE
A

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Genre

Realistic
fiction

Comprehension

Skills and Strategy

• Theme
• Author’s Purpose
• Summarize

Scott Foresman Reading Street 4.6.3

ISBN 0-328-13494-5

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by Jason Lublinski
illustration by Reggie Holladay

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Reader Response
AVE

N SQU
AH
E
S
IDS
Eis Tommy soMproud
H
ZIN
A

G
1. Why
of
his
teammates?
PE T W
T THE A
2. Summarize how the Squids went about settingA

D
N
A up their pet washing business. Use a graphic
organizer like this one to list the steps they
followed.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4

3. Downtown Seahaven is described as “quaint” in
this story. Do you know what that means? Use a
dictionary or thesaurus to list as many synonyms
for quaint as you can find. Which would be most
appropriate in this context?
4. Was the pet wash a good idea? What kind of
fundraiser would you have come up with, if you
were in the samebyposition
as the Squids?
Jason Lublinski
illustration by Reggie Holliday

Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York
Sales Offices: Parsippany, New Jersey • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois
Coppell, Texas • Ontario, California • Mesa, Arizona

SH


CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE

The Brainstorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
CHAPTER TWO

The Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
CHAPTER THREE

Open for Business . . . . . . . . . . . .15
CHAPTER FOUR

Success! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
A Brief History of Baseball . . . . .22

Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to
correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman,
a division of Pearson Education.
ISBN: 0-328-13494-5
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher
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likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department,
Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

3


Chapter One
The Brainstorm
“We need money,” announced Tommy
Bradshaw to the assembled team, the Seahaven
Squids.
“Uh, Tommy?” said Little Willy Shortus
uncertainly. “We’re a Tiny League ball team. Why
would we need money?”
“Uniforms” was his terse answer.
“Uniforms?” asked Felix Kreutzer with a
puzzled frown. “What do you mean? We’ve
already got uniforms.”
“I know,” said Tommy, gloomily. “But they’re
not good enough.”
“Not good enough?” said the fifteen other
members of the team in unison.

4

5


“We love the uniforms! Dale’s mother did
a terrific job,” Tommy replied. “But the Tiny
League Commission decided that everyone must
buy official Tiny League uniforms.”
“No way!” said Luis DeSota.
“Our uniforms are great, no question,”
explained Tommy. “But we don’t have a choice.
The commission is in charge, not us.”
“That’s sixteen new uniforms!” objected Jerry
Bleeker. “That’ll cost loads of money! Where will
we get it?”
“That’s the problem,” admitted Tommy. “I’m
stumped. I thought we could brainstorm and try
to find a way to raise the money.”
“Like how?” asked Merle Dogby, who had
been lurking in the back. “What do we know
about raising money?”
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly,
Ralphie Bertwhistle looked up. “I’ve got it!”
he said with a glint in his eye. “We’ll sell squid
chips!”
“Squid chips?” asked Luis.
Ralphie took a small bag out of his pants
pocket. “They’re delicious!” he said. He took
out a chip and offered it, but all the guys
wrinkled their noses and declined his offer. “It
has a resemblance to a potato chip,” Ralphie

elaborated, “only instead of potato, it’s made
out of squid!”

6

“Just because we’re called the Seahaven Squids
doesn’t mean we have to eat them,” said Merle.
“I don’t think anyone would want to buy them.”
Tommy sighed. “We’re going to have to come
up with something else!”
Several long moments passed. Nobody
volunteered any thoughts.“ Come on,” said
Tommy. “Somebody’s got to be able to think of
something!”
Just then, Elvis Portnoy spoke up. “I think,” he
said, carefully adjusting his glasses, “that I might
have solved our little problem.”

7


“Let’s hear it.”
“I think that we should set up a pet wash,”
said Elvis dramatically.
“A pet wash?” asked Ron Birdbiddle. “What’s
a pet wash?”
“Well, duh!” said Felix sarcastically. “It’s where
you take a pet, and you wash it!”
Elvis grinned. “You guys know how tough it is
to give a dog a bath?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Ralphie, nodding. “Pets hate
being washed.”

“That’s where our pet wash comes in,” Elvis
said. “We’re going to wash other peoples’ pets
for them!”
I’m a ballplayer,“ objected Luis. “I don’t want
to go into the animal laundry business.”
“Oh, we’ll only do it for one day,” Elvis
responded. “We’ll charge five dollars per pet.
Believe me, it’s a service that lots of people
around here will be happy to take advantage of.”
8

9


“It’s not a bad idea, but won’t it be tough for
us to get the pets into a tub?” Luis asked. “Won’t
they fight and squirm?”
“We’ll work in teams!” Elvis said. “This affords
us the best chance I can think of to get the money
we need for those uniforms.”
“It does sound like we could make loads of
money,” said Ricky Popcorn.
“I like the idea,” said Tommy. “Let’s vote on it,
boys. All in favor, say, aye.”
“Aye!” cried all sixteen boys together. There
wasn’t a single nay.
“It’s all settled then,” said Tommy. “The next

step is getting permission from Coach Buncher. If
he gives it to us, then we are all in business!”

“It’s not a bad idea,” said the coach. “In fact,
I think it’s a great idea! Sounds like a sure-fire
moneymaker to me. And say—I have a big dog
who has been needing a bath for a week now!
Maybe I’ll be your first customer!”

Tommy spoke to Coach Buncher later that very
same afternoon. The coach listened carefully to
Tommy’s plan, nodding. He didn’t say one word,
which worried Tommy.
“Is it a bad idea?” Tommy asked
apprehensively.

10

11


Chapter Two
The Preparations
That Saturday, the sixteen members of the
Seahaven Squids began to make plans for their
pet wash business.
Elvis, Merle, Ricky, and Archie took twentyfive dollars from the team treasury and went
shopping downtown. It was a quaint area
with many shops, but the boys weren’t there
to browse around. They ended up at Andy’s

Hardware.
“What are we looking for?” Archie asked
Elvis.
Elvis consulted the list they had compiled
earlier. “Soap,” he said. “Also, lots of shampoo,
conditioner, and bubble bath. Plus, we need
lots of five-gallon water jugs, buckets, and
washtubs.”
Before long, the boys were loaded down with
supplies for their new business.
Back at home, the other boys were working
on making fliers to advertise their new business.
They were using a program on Boris’s computer.
This would make the fliers a snap.
The boys quickly decided to draw a big picture
of a dog in a tub. The program offered a palette
of colors to choose from, so they made him
brown. The dog would be smiling. Above the
picture they would write: “One Day Only Pet
Wash! Just $5!”
12

13


Chapter Three
Open for Business
The next Saturday, the whole team gathered
at the vacant lot. They had posted fliers all
over town. They had told everyone they knew

about the pet wash. All they needed now were
customers!
“I hope someone shows up,” said Boris.
“Don’t worry,” said Tommy, with a grin. “I
have a feeling business will be booming. Look!
We have our first customer!”

“This is the coolest poster in the world!”
Ralphie said. The other boys agreed.
Meanwhile, Little Willy, George, and Frank
were searching town for a good spot to set up
their business. It had to be big, but it also had to
be easy to find.
The boys spent most of the afternoon looking
around. The schoolyard was one choice, but then
the principal told them they couldn’t use it.
“Wait!” said Little Willy. “I’ve got it!”
Excitedly, he pointed to a little vacant lot that
was across the street. “That would be perfect!”
14

15


That customer was named Mr. Jeff Jefferson,
although practically everybody in town referred
to him as “Colonel.” He had his big dog, Major
Vickers, with him.
“Hello, Colonel,” said Ralphie. “Are you here
for a pet wash?”

“I am, indeed,” said the colonel. “Major
Vickers hasn’t had a good bath in ages.”
Tommy nodded sympathetically.
“We’ll give him the best bath he’s ever had,”
he said.
It was a little hard getting the dog into the
washtub. Boris, Ricky, Felix, and George had to
hold him down while Tommy scrubbed.

16

They soaped him, they rinsed him, and they
shampooed him. Then they took him out of
the tub, carefully dried him off, and groomed
him. The dog was clean and shining. The boys,
however, were soaking wet!
“Wonderful!” said the colonel, handing them
five dollars.
“Look!” said Tommy. “More customers! I even
see our coach!”
People brought many pets to be washed:
dogs, hamsters, a cat (which turned out to be a
disaster!)—even a kangaroo!
“I’m sorry,” said Tommy apologetically, to the
kangaroo’s owner. “But I’m afraid that he won’t
fit in the washtub.”
By five o’clock, the boys were so tired they
could hardly stand. Finally, the last customer left.
“Let’s count our earnings,” said Tommy.
The boys counted the money once. Then they

counted it again. “The Seahaven Squids have
earned over four hundred dollars! That’s more
than enough to buy new uniforms for everyone
on the team!” Tommy exclaimed happily.

17


Chapter Four
Success!
A few weeks later, the Squids got to play their
first game of the season in their brand new,
regulation Tiny League uniforms.
Everyone agreed that the uniforms looked
very official and very impressive. They were white
and blue, with “The Seahaven Squids” stenciled
on the back of each shirt.
The Squids were so fired up by their new
uniforms that they won their first game 5-2!

18

Could the new uniforms be making the boys
play better? Tommy was pitcher, and he struck
out batter after batter.
Luis helped turn a spectacular double-play.
Even Boris dazzled his teammates with an
amazing home run!
After such a great game, the Squids celebrated
with juice and pretzels. “I’m really proud of you

guys,” said Tommy, as they sat around, sipping
and crunching.

19


“It’s not just winning the game that’s making
me so happy,” Tommy said, “though it was neat
beating the Blowfish.”
“The Squids rock!” chanted the other boys.
“I mean I’m glad we won,” said Tommy.
“What I’m really proud of, though, is how we all
worked together to get the pet wash running,
how we all made it a success.”
“That’s true,” said Luis. “Everybody did his
part on the big day. Everybody took his turn
washing pets or drying them or grooming them.
Nobody was lazy.”

20

“That’s great to hear,” said Tommy. “I hate to
say this, guys—but we’re going to have to do a
little bit more.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Luis.
“Well,” said Tommy, “I just got another letter
from the Tiny League Commission. From now on,
we all have to buy official Tiny League sneakers
from the League Store.”
“Time for another pet wash!” said Elvis.

“Good thing we kept all of our supplies!”

21


22

A Brief History of Baseball

Reader Response

Baseball’s been called “America’s Greatest
Pastime.” That’s because it seems as though
everyone loves it. Not many people realize that
baseball actually dates back to the nineteenth
century.
In the early 1800s, many Americans played
a game called “town ball.” This came from
traditional British ballgames such as cricket,
which used a flat bat.
The first official recorded baseball game
was held in 1846 between the New York
Knickerbockers and the New York Baseball Club.
But adults didn’t have all the fun! Children’s
leagues were formed
too. A man named Carl
Stotz in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania, founded
the Little League
in 1939. It was just

for kids, and it’s still
around today!

1. Why is Tommy so proud of his teammates?
2. Summarize how the Squids went about setting
up their pet washing business. Use a graphic
organizer like this one to list the steps they
followed.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
3. Downtown Seahaven is described as “quaint” in
this story. Do you know what that means? Use a
dictionary or thesaurus to list as many synonyms
for quaint as you can find. Which would be most
appropriate in this context?
4. Was the pet wash a good idea? What kind of
fundraiser would you have come up with, if you
were in the same position as the Squids?