Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors (rainbow fish read aloud .txt) 📕

about was fighting and getting into trouble. He pulled the bowl closer. And so what if he was chunky? A true treasure hunter would never pass up the chance to eat a warm breakfast. Near starvation while stranded on a deserted island had forced more than a few treasure hunters to eat their own toes.

“I like twesure,” Squeak said, porridge dribbling down his chin.

“I like treasure, too,” Homer said.

Mr. Pudding drummed his calloused fingers on the table. “Could we go just one meal without talking about finding treasure? Or stuffing dead animals? I don’t know where I went wrong with you children.”

Mrs. Pudding poured herself a cup of coffee, then added a ladle of fresh milk. “There’s nothing wrong with having interests.”

“Interests?” Mr. Pudding scratched the back of his weathered neck. “Stuffing dead animals and finding lost treasure—what kind of interests are those? Why can’t they be interested in goat farming? Is that too much to ask? Who’s gonna run this farm when I’m too old to run it?”

“Me,” Squeak said. “I like goats.”

As sweet as that sounded, it gave Mr. Pudding no peace of mind. Squeak was only five years old. Yesterday he had wanted to be a dragon-slayer.

“Goat farming’s honest, solid work,” Mr. Pudding said, dumping brown sugar on his porridge. “You children don’t understand the importance of honest, solid work.”

Gwendolyn rolled her eyes again. Then she sank deeper, until her bottom was hanging off the edge of her chair. Homer was bored by the conversation again. He tried to dig a hole in his porridge but the sides kept caving in—like trying to dig for treasure in mud.

Now, Mr. Pudding loved all three of his children equally, like any good father. But he didn’t believe that giving them extra room to be individuals, or giving extra encouragement or extra food and kisses, did much good. Solid work meant a solid life, which in turn meant a roof, and a bed, and food on the table. What could be more important than that?

Mr. Pudding pushed his empty bowl aside, then unrolled the Sunday City Paper. “Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if I started reading and found out that my brother had been robbed or had fallen into a manhole. I’m sure something terrible’s gonna happen to him. The City’s a terrible place.”

As he read, muttering and shaking his head, the children finished their breakfast. Gwendolyn carried her bowl to the sink, as did Homer.

“Mom, when I’m done cleaning the stalls, can I go read my new map?” Homer asked.

“Of course.” Mrs. Pudding kissed Homer’s soft cheek, then whispered in his ear. “I believe in you, Homer. I know you’ll find treasure one day.”

Homer looked into his mother’s brown eyes with their big flecks of gold—like coins half-buried in the sand. When he became a famous treasure hunter, he’d give all the jewels to her so she could wear a different necklace every day and buy new dresses and shoes. And one of those fancy crowns that beauty queens wear.

But chores came first. He started for the kitchen door when Mr. Pudding waved the newspaper and hollered, “I knew it! I knew something terrible would happen to him!”

Ready for more excitement?

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Collect all the adventures by Suzanne Selfors!

Also by Suzanne Selfors:

To Catch a Mermaid

Smells Like Dog

Smells Like Treasure

Contents

Front Cover Image

Welcome

Dedication

Acknowledgments

One: A Slimy Gift

Two: Mama Lu

Three: Strange Deliveries

Four: The Room on the Fourth Floor

Five: The Hooded Stranger

Six: A Surprise for Gwen

Seven: Mr. Supreme

Eight: Big Trouble

Nine: Escape from Runny Cove

Ten: A Boy Named Sage

Eleven: How to Ride an Elephant Seal

Twelve: Floating in Fog

Thirteen: The Island of Mysterious Holes

Fourteen: A New Friend

Fifteen: Great-Uncle Walnut

Sixteen: Trouble on the Trail

Seventeen: The Solemn Promise

Eighteen: The Colors of Isabelle

Nineteen: A New Home

Twenty: The Dark Window

Twenty-One: The Seed Depository

Twenty-Two: The Broken Promise

Twenty-Three: Daffodilly Fortune

Twenty-Four: Sage’s Story

Twenty-Five: Escape from Fortune’s Farm

Twenty-Six: The Truest Tender

Twenty-Seven: Cherries for Everyone

Twenty-Eight: Marmots to the Rescue

Twenty-Nine: Sunny Cove

A Preview of SMELLS LIKE DOG

Also by Suzanne Selfors

Copyright

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2009 by Suzanne Selfors

Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Catia Chien

Excerpt of Smells Like Dog copyright © 2010 by Suzanne Selfors

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group

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Second e-book edition: February 2012

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ISBN 978-0-316-04095-2