This Way, Ruby!

Jonathan Emmett

Rebecca Harry

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For Alice — J.E.

For a special dad. We miss you very much XXX — R.H.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

ISBN 978-0-545-16910-3

Text copyright © 2006 by Jonathan Emmett. Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Rebecca Harry. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., by arrangement with Macmillan Children’s Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, London. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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Printed in the U.S.A.

First Bookshelf edition, February 2010

Book design by Alison Klapthor

The text type was set in Once Upon a Time

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WRITTEN BY

ILLUSTRATED BY

Jonathan Emmett

Rebecca Harry

SCHOLASTIC INC. New York Toronto London Auckland Sydney Mexico City New Delhi Hong Kong

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nce upon a time, upon a nest, beside a lake,

there lived a family of ducks.

A mother duck,

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a father duck,

and five young ducklings.

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Four of the ducklings were big and bold and were always rushing off in search of an adventure. Their names were R ufus

R ory

R osie

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and R ebecca .

But the fifth duckling was small and steady and took things slowly, in her own time. And her name was RUBY.

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It was a bright spring day and Mother Duck and Father Duck were snoozing in the sun.

“Let’s go and explore,”said Rufus, running down —

— into the water.

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Rory, Rosie and Rebecca ran straight after him, but Ruby stayed by the nest. ,

“This way, Ruby!” called the others.

Ruby didn’t want to be left behind, so she swam after them.

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Ruby caught up with them at the edge of the reed beds.

Rufus, Rory, Rosie and Rebecca raced on through a gap in the tall green stems. ,

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But Ruby stopped to look around. She saw a small waterfall that sparkled in the sun, and a great golden fish that glimmered in the depths.

“Look!”said Ruby — but the others did not stop.

“THIS WAY, RUBY!”they called.

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Ruby joined the other ducklings in the middle of the reed beds.

, R

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But Ruby stopped to look around. She saw the water lilies with their bright purple flowers, and the four fat frogs that lay lazing on the leaves.

“Look!”said Ruby — but the others did not stop.

“THIS WAY, RUBY!”they called.

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Ruby found the other ducklings at the far side of the reed beds.

Ru fu s, R o r y , R o s

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But, once more, Ruby stopped to look around. She saw the dragonflies that wove along the waterline, and the willow tree that bent across the bank.

AND she saw the big black storm cloud that was sweeping across the sky.

“Look!”said Ruby — but the others did not stop.

“THIS WAY, RUBY!”they called.

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Rufus, Rory, Rosie and Rebecca were rambling through the long grass when a flash of lightning lit the sky above them and a crash of thunder filled the air. ,

“THIS WAY!”they cried. And they all ran off in different directions . . . and then ran back again.

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They were lost and they were scared and they wanted to go home — but they DIDN’T KNOW which way to go.

The ducklings huddled together anxiously as something rustled through the grass . . .

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It was RUBY!

Ruby was scared too — but she DID KNOW which way to go!

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She spotted the top of the willow tree sticking up above the long grass. “This way!”she called.

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Ruby led the other ducklings down the bank and out onto the water.

Then she spotted the bright purple flowers floating among the reeds.

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Ruby arrived at the water lilies — and stopped. The water wound off in many directions. And they all looked the same. She could not SEE which way to go.

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Which way Ruby? WHICH WAY?”cried the other ducklings — as the big black storm cloud moved across the sun. “ ,

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“Shush!”said Ruby. Then she swam around, slowly, until she could just hear it — the gurgling of the waterfall.

T h

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“Where have you been?” called Father Duck, as the ducklings popped out of the reed beds.

“We had an adventure,” panted Rufus.

“And we got lost!” gasped Rory.

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“But Ruby found us,” added Rosie.

“And brought us home,” Rebecca said.

“Well done, Ruby!”said Mother Duck proudly. But Ruby had already gone.

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The storm cloud had moved off, but Ruby felt that they'd done enough exploring for one day. It was time to go home.

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“THIS WAY, EVERYONE!” she called.

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BEING YOURSELF

A charming tale of a little duckling with a big heart

Ruby is the smallest of five ducklings, but she is a BIG noticer of things. “This way, Ruby!” her brothers and sisters call out to her when Ruby falls behind. But Ruby is too busy looking at the grassy banks, the willow trees, and the dragonflies.Then the ducklings get lost in the storm, and it’s up to Ruby to find the way back home!

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experiences — laugh with them, learn with them, read with them!

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