Wedgieman and the Big Bunny Trouble Read online




  Text copyright © 2014 by Charise Mericle Harper

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2014 by Bob Shea

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, New York, A Penguin Random House Company.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Harper, Charise Mericle.

  Wedgieman and the big bunny trouble / by Charise Mericle Harper; illustrated by Bob Shea.

  pages cm. — “A Step 3 reader.”

  Summary: “When Bad Dude creates a machine that makes objects grow enormously or shrink to tiny size, it’s up to Wedgieman to straighten things out.” — Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-307-93073-6 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-375-97060-3 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-307-97424-2 (ebook)

  [1. Superheroes—Fiction. 2. Inventors—Fiction. 3. Size—Fiction. 4. Humorous stories.]

  I. Shea, Bob, illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.H231323Weg 2013 [E]—dc23 2012043053

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  Title Page

  Copyright

  First Page

  There was a new superhero in town.

  His real name was Veggieman,

  but the children called him Wedgieman.

  Wedgieman could do lots of things.

  Right now he was fixing

  his outfit.

  He was making a pocket.

  And he was changing

  his Veggieman name

  into a Wedgieman name.

  He pulled the V off

  his suit and put on a W.

  “This will make the children happy,”

  said Wedgieman.

  Wedgieman cared about the children

  more than he cared about his own name.

  Wedgieman was a real hero.

  Wedgieman put the V in his pocket.

  “I might need to change back

  into Veggieman,” he said.

  He thought about a vegetable emergency.

  He smiled.

  Now he was ready for anything.

  Bad Dude was not a hero.

  Bad Dude was a bad guy.

  He had all kinds of bad-guy stuff:

  a secret hideout,

  an evil laugh,

  super inventor skills,

  and lots of plans

  to take over the world.

  Bad Dude was proud of his

  newest invention.

  The Powerful Ordinary-Object Phaser,

  or P.O.O.P. for short,

  was a zapping machine.

  It made things bigger and smaller.

  He smiled and patted the P.O.O.P.

  Bad Dude picked up a small box.

  “Buzz,” went the box.

  “Hello, bee,” said Bad Dude.

  “Soon you will be a giant bee!”

  He laughed his evil laugh

  and opened the box.

  The bee flew out the window.

  It scared a cute bunny.

  The bunny ran in front of the zapper.

  “Aaaah, Giant Cute Bunny!”

  screamed Bad Dude.

  Bad Dude did not like bunnies.

  They were too furry and too cute.

  Bad Dude opened the door

  to his hideout.

  “Beat it, bunny! Shoo!” said Bad Dude.

  “Growl,” said the giant bunny’s tummy.

  The bunny was hungry.

  It wanted to eat.

  It did not want

  to go away.

  The giant bunny hopped

  all over the room looking for food.

  A giant bunny in a secret hideout

  is not a good thing.

  The bunny knocked over

  bottles of goo,

  boxes of gadgets,

  and even Bad Dude’s favorite chair.

  The secret hideout was a mess!

  It was a disaster.

  “Nooooooooo!” shouted Bad Dude.

  He loved his special chair,

  and now it was broken.

  Bad Dude yelled

  at the bunny.

  What he said

  was not very nice.

  The bunny hopped on

  top of Bad Dude.

  Bad Dude was

  trapped under four

  giant furry paws.

  “I’m stuck!”

  cried Bad Dude.

  He waved his arms in the air.

  His hand hit the bee.

  It stung his finger.

  “Owwwww!” screamed Bad Dude.

  Everyone in town heard the scream.

  Wedgieman ran.

  The children ran.

  Wedgieman got there first.

  “Cute bunny,” said Wedgieman.

  “Growl,” said the bunny’s tummy.

  “Feed it something!” screamed Bad Dude.

  Wedgieman looked in his pocket.

  He took out two coins, a V,

  and three baby carrots.

  “Pick the carrots!” shouted Bad Dude.

  “Zap them with the P.O.O.P.!

  It will make them bigger!”

  Bad Dude pointed to the P.O.O.P.

  with his giant finger.

  Wedgieman aimed the machine

  at the carrots.

  He pressed the button.

  ZAP! The carrots were huge!

  “Wow,” said Wedgieman.

  “That looks impressive—and delicious!”

  The bunny thought so, too.

  It hopped over to eat a carrot.

  Bad Dude was free.

  Bad Dude ran

  to the zapper and pushed

  a different button.

  ZAP!

  The bunny was small again.

  “Now it’s even cuter,” said Wedgieman.

  He went over to give the bunny a pat.

  “Perfect!” said Bad Dude.

  He pointed the P.O.O.P.

  right at Wedgieman.

  “Now it’s your turn to be small!”

  said Bad Dude.

  He put his head back

  and laughed his evil laugh.

  “Not so fast,” said Wedgieman.

  He turned and kicked the machine.

  It spun around and knocked

  Bad Dude to the ground.

  There was a fight.

  Crash! Owww! My finger! Smash! Eeeee!

  My finger! Clunk! Yeeowww! My finger!

  The giant zapper was broken.

  Bad Dude was tied up.

  Wedgieman was the winner.

  THE END—OR IS IT?

  Wedgieman checked his costume.

  Everything looked perfect.

  He was ready for the children.

  “Giant carrots for everyone!”

  shouted Wedgieman.

  “Yay! Wedgieman!” cheered the children.

  “Our hero!”

  The carrots were delicious.

  When they were gone,

  it was time to take

  Bad Dude to jail.

  Wedgieman knew

  there was one thing left to do.

  The children knew, too.

  “Give yourself a wedgie!” they shouted.

&nb
sp; “Okay,” said Wedgieman.

  He gave himself a wedgie.

  “That was the Giant Carrot Wedgie!”

  shouted Wedgieman.

  “YAY!” screamed the children.

  Wedgieman smiled.

  He picked up Bad Dude

  and jumped into the sky.

  “Aaaah!” screamed Bad Dude.

  He was not used to sky travel.

  “I love wedgies!” said a girl.

  The children smiled.

  “That was a good one,”

  said a small boy.

  He was right.

  It was.

 

 

  Charise Mericle Harper, Wedgieman and the Big Bunny Trouble

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