Bink & Gollie: Two for One Read online

  .

  .

  A New York Times Bestseller

  A Junior Library Guild Selection

  An American Library Association

  Notable Children’s Book Nominee

  .

  Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

  illustrated by

  Tony Fucile

  .

  For Janie, a blue-ribbon friend

  K. D.

  To Caroly Bintz

  A. M.

  To Elinor and Eli, great buddies of mine

  T. F.

  Text copyright © 2012 by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

  Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Tony Fucile

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored

  in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or

  mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written

  permission from the publisher.

  First electronic edition 2016

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the hardcover edition is available.

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2011046625

  ISBN 978-0-7636-3361-5 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-7636-6445-9 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-0-7636-9136-3 (electronic)

  This book was typeset in Humana Sans.

  The illustrations were done digitally.

  Candlewick Press

  99 Dover Street

  Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

  visit us at www.candlewick.com

  .

  “

  Gollie, do you think we should go

  to the state fair?”

  .

  “

  I’m going to whack a duck,”

  said Bink.

  .

  4

  “Step right up,” said the duck man. “Whack a duck!”

  “I’m going to win the world’s largest donut,” said Bink.

  “

  Of course you are, little lady,” said the Whack-a-Duck

  man. “You’ve got winner written all over you.”

  “I do?” said Bink.

  “She does?” said Gollie.

  5

  .

  “

  What a happy, happy day,” said the duck

  man. “How I love it when little ladies win

  large donuts.”

  “She hasn’t won it yet,” said Gollie.

  6

  “Who doesn’t love a donut?” said the duck man.

  “

  Who doesn’t love a large donut? Donuts are

  nature’s most perfect food.”

  “They are?” said Gollie.

  .

  8

  9

  .

  10

  “Did I win?” said Bink.

  “I don’t think so,” said Gollie.

  11

  .

  “Step right up,” said the duck man.

  “Whack a donut! Win a duck.”

  12

  13

  .

  14

  15

  .

  16

  “Uh-oh,” said Gollie.

  17

  “Did I win?” said Bink.

  .

  “Whack something?” said the duck man.

  “Win something?”

  18

  “

  I fear this can only end in

  tragedy,” said Gollie.

  19

  .

  20

  21

  “Did I win?” said Bink.

  “

  Oh, Bink,” said Gollie. “There

  are no winners here.”

  .

  “

  Don’t worry, Bink,” said Gollie. “I’m sure the

  Whack-a-Duck man will be just fine.”

  “

  But I’ve never seen a grown man cry before,”

  said Bink.

  22

  “

  Three bags of donuts,

  please,” said Bink.

  23

  .

  24

  “I didn’t win,” said Bink.

  “But we’re all still alive,” said Gollie.

  “Duck a whack,” said the duck man.

  “Step right up.”

  25

  .

  “

  Oh, Bink,” said Gollie. “How I would

  love to be in a talent show.”

  27

  .

  “

  But you have to stand on a stage,”

  said Bink.

  “I can do that,” said Gollie.

  “

  But you have to stand on a stage in

  front of an audience,” said Bink.

  “I can do that,” said Gollie.

  28

  “All righty, then,” said Bink.

  29

  .

  “

  Pardon me,” said Gollie. “Are you in charge

  of the talent show?”

  “Do you have a talent?” said the judge.

  “I do,” said Gollie. “In fact, I have several.”

  30

  “

  That there is a top-quality talent,” said

  the judge.

  31

  .

  32

  “Uh-oh,” said Bink.

  “Incoming!” said the judge.

  33

  .

  “I can’t even guess,” said the judge.

  .

  36

  37

  .

  “That’s my friend,” said Bink.

  “What’s her talent?” said the judge.

  “She has several,” said Bink.

  38

  39

  .

  40

  .

  “

  What did you say her talent
was again?” said

  the judge.

  “

  Here it comes,” said Bink. “Here comes

  Gollie’s talent.”

  42

  43

  .

  “You call that talent?” said the judge.

  “Gollie!” said Bink.

  45

  .

  46

  47

  .

  “Gollie,” said Bink, “were you afraid up there?”

  “Yes,” said Gollie.

  “What was your talent?” said Bink.

  “I was going to recite a poem,” said Gollie.

  “Onstage. In front of an audience.”

  48

  “These cows are listening,” said Bink.

  “And so am I.”

  49

  .

  50

  .

  52

  “ ‘Old MacDonald,’ ” said Gollie.

  “Oh!” said Bink. “I know that one!”

  53

  .

  54

  “ ‘Had a farm,’ ” said Gollie. “ ‘E, I.’ ”

  55

  “ ‘E, I,’ ” said Bink.

  .

  “ ‘O,’ ” said Bink and Gollie together.

  56

  57

  .

  59

  .

  “I love my chipmunk balloon,” said Bink.

  “I love my scepter and crown,” said Gollie.

  “

  What’s next?” said Bink. “The Ferris wheel? The Big

  Daddy Octopus? The Bump-a-Rama bumper cars?”

  60

  “Destiny,” said Gollie.

  “Destiny?” said Bink. “Is it a ride?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” said Gollie.

  61

  .

  62

  “Girls,” said Madame Prunely, “come inside.”

  63

  .

  “

  Welcome, all you who travel on the darkened

  path,” said Madame Prunely.

  “Are we traveling on a darkened path?” said Bink.

  “Shhh,” said Gollie.

  “Tell Madame Prunely what it is you seek.”

  .

  “Truth,” said Gollie.

  “Food,” said Bink.

  “Have a seat,” said Madame Prunely.

  .

  “

  I gaze into my crystal ball,” said Madame Prunely.

  “Can I look, too?” said Bink.

  “I gaze into my crystal ball,” said Madame Prunely.

  “And I see that the past is replete with loss. A donut.

  A duck. Talent without applause.”

  68

  69

  .

  “

  She’s right, Gollie,” said Bink. “There was a donut.

  There was a duck.”

  “And no one clapped for me,” said Gollie.

  “Talk about a darkened path,” said Bink.

  70

  “

  But enough about the past,” said Madame

  Prunely. “Let us take a look at the future.”

  71

  .

  “I see two friends,” said Madame Prunely.

  “Is one of those friends tall?” said Gollie.

  “Yes,” said Madame Prunely.

  “And is the other friend short?” said Bink.

  “Yes,” said Madame Prunely.

  .

  74

  “Are they together?” said Gollie.

  “Without question,” said Madame Prunely.

  75

  .

  “That’s all the future I need to know,” said Bink.

  “Come on, Gollie!”

  .

  .

  Kate DiCamillo is the author of many books for young readers,

  including Flora &Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures and The Tale of

  Despereaux, both of which won Newbery Medals; six books starring

  Mercy Watson; and the Mercy spin-off series, Tales from Deckawoo

  Drive. In 2014 she was named the National Ambassador for Young

  People’s Literature. She lives in Minneapolis.

  Alison McGhee is the author of several picture books, including

  Song of Middle C, illustrated by Scott Menchin, and the #1 New York

  Times bestseller Someday, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds; novels for

  children and young adults, including All Rivers Flow to the Sea and the

  Julia Gillian series; and several novels for adults, including the best-

  selling Shadow Baby, which was a Today Book Club selection and was

  nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She lives in Minnesota and Vermont.

  Tony Fucile is the author-illustrator of Let’s Do Nothing! and

  the illustrator of Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durand. He has spent

  more than twenty years designing and animating characters for

  numerous feature films, including The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and

  The Incredibles. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

  To learn more about the series and its creators,