{"product_id":"how-to-save-your-tail-isbn-9780440422280","title":"How to Save Your Tail*","description":"ONCE UPON A time, in a grand castle, there lived a rat named Bob, who was fond of baking and wild about reading. So begins Bob’s quest to save himself from being eaten by Muffin and Brutus, the Queen’s cats. How does Bob attempt to escape their claws? By telling them fractured fairy tales about his whole rat family (and feeding them cookies).“Clever and cunning, this is a recipe for laugh-out-loud fun, especially as a read-aloud.”\u003ci\u003e—Kirkus Reviews, \u003c\/i\u003eStarred\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Surprising and hilarious.”\u003ci\u003e—The Bulletin\u003c\/i\u003eMary Hanson earned her library degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and lives with her husband, two children, three cats, and one dog in Santa Barbara, California. She loves to read, spin gold, and eat cookies.Once Upon a Time\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      Once upon a time, in a grand castle, there lived a rat named Bob, who was  fond of baking and wild about reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Now, baking can be dangerous for a rat. Paws get burned and tails get  caught in eggbeaters all the time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    But it was his love of books that almost killed Bob. The trouble tiptoed  up on him one afternoon, while his cookies were browning in the oven. As  Bob sunned himself on the kitchen porch, he watched a bee flit about the  garden, from rose to rose and lily to lily, landing at last   on the garden bench—right next to   a book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The rat sat up, tail twitching and whiskers whisking. Was it a new book?  Or was it one of his favorites that he had read a hundred times? Either  way, Bob was happier than a pig in a puddle. He had to have it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Quick as a wink, he leapt from the porch to the path. He was so anxious to  devour the words that he never saw the Queen’s cats in the rosebushes,  waiting to devour him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    VOOOMP! Something had grabbed   him—something with sharp claws and bad breath. Bob smelled a cat. It was  all over but   the chewing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He opened one eye and saw the orange stripes and treacherous teeth of . .  . Brutus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Then Muffin pounced into view. She was huge, fluffy, and white as bones,  except for her chin, which was stained with the blood of her last meal—a  mouse, perhaps. Or a small bear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Head or tail?” asked Brutus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Head,” said Muffin. “I had the tail last time.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Okay. Grab on. When I count three, pull!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Muffin grabbed. Bob squirmed. Brutus, just before counting, sniffed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Hey!” he said. “What’s that smell?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Coofies?” guessed Muffin, talking with her mouth full.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Butter cookies,” said the rat. He tried to sound as casual as possible,  in spite of his delicate position.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Where?” asked Brutus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “In the oven,” squeaked the rat. “I’m testing a new recipe: double butter  with cream cheese filling and a sinful blend of spice and sugar.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The cats drooled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “I’d hate for them to burn,” added Bob.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Me too,” said Muffin, dropping the rat with a thunk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Okay, Mack,” said Brutus, letting go of Bob’s tail. “Get them out. But  don’t try anything funny.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Yes, sir,” said Bob. “But—but—”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “But what?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “My name’s not Mack, sir.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “It is now,” said Brutus. “Go!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    So Bob—Mack to the cats—wobbled to his feet, shook off the cat slobber,  and scurried into the kitchen. The cats tailed him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The kitchen was hot. The cats were hungry. And Bob—aka Mack—was quick.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He poured two saucers of milk and served the cookies, warm from the oven,  on the Queen’s finest china.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He held his breath as the cats tasted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Yum,” said Muffin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Not bad,” said Brutus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Do you really think so?” asked Bob. “My great-great-grandfather’s were  better—before he lost his spoon.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “His spoon?” asked Brutus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “His magic spoon,” said Bob. “But that’s another story.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Do tell, Mack!” said Muffin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “No way,” said Brutus. “It’s time for the main course.” He snatched the  rat up by the scruff of his neck and dipped him in milk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Not yet, Brutus!” cried Muffin. “I want to hear the story!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Brutus looked at Muffin. “Well, okay,” he said. “But after the story we  eat him.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Brutus dropped Bob, without ceremony, on an empty plate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Then Bob, with great ceremony, brushed himself off, assumed his best  storytelling posture, and began to tell about the day his  great-great-grandfather Sherman climbed the beanstalk.","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304057393381,"sku":"NP9780440422280","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780440422280.jpg?v=1767729455","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/how-to-save-your-tail-isbn-9780440422280","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}