Little Red Quacking Hood: A Branches Book (Princess Pink and the Land of Fake-Believe #2) Read online

  Noah Z. Jones

  RED

  L

  ITTLE

  1

  2

  Read more of

  Princess Pink’s

  adventures!

  Moldylocks and

  the Three Beards

  Little Red

  Quacking Hood

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  by Noah Z. Jones

  TO MY QUACKY FAMILY,

  DIANE, ELI, AND SYLVIE

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled,

  reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval

  system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,

  now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the

  publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc.,

  Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Jones, Noah (Noah Z.), author.

  Little Red Quacking Hood / by Noah Z. Jones.

  pages cm. — (Princess Pink and the Land of Fake-Believe ; 2)

  Summary: In her second adventure in the Land of Fake-Believe, Princess Pink

  meets Scaredy-Pants Wolf, a baker whose business has been robbed by

  Little Red Quacking Hood—and to save the bakery Princess must figure out

  why the ducks are suddenly so interested in pies.

  ISBN 0-545-63841-0 (pbk.) — ISBN 0-545-63842-9 (hardcover) —

  ISBN 0-545-63893-3 (ebook) 1. Fairy tales. 2. Bakers—Juvenile fiction. 3. Wolves—

  Juvenile fiction. 4. Ducks—Juvenile fiction. 5. Humorous stories. [1. Fairy tales. 2.

  Humorous stories. 3. Bakers and bakeries—Fiction. 4. Wolves—Fiction. 5. Ducks—

  Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ8.J539Li 2014

  [Fic]—dc23

  2013050553

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-63893-7

  Copyright © 2014 by Noah Z. Jones

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC, BRANCHES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered

  trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First Scholastic printing, September 2014

  Edited by Katie Carella

  Book design by Will Denton

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Can’t Stand Pink . . . . . . . . 1

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf . . . . . . 13

  The Big Bad Bakery . . . . . . 21

  Quick-Snap Duck Trap . . . . . . 29

  Nothing But Crumbs . . . . . . 38

  Grandmother Quacking Hood . 46

  All the Better to . . . . . . . 51

  Secret Ingredient . . . . . . . . . 57

  Tears of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

  1

  This is Princess Pink. Her first name is

  Princess. Her last name is Pink.

  Can’t Stand Pink

  CHAPTER ONE

  2

  The Pink family has eight kids. Princess

  is the baby of the family. She has seven

  older brothers.

  3

  Princess does NOT like anything girly.

  And she REALLY does not like the color

  pink.

  I can’t stand pink!

  But I would really love

  a bed full of bugs!!

  This blanket would be so

  pretty on your bed!

  4

  That night, Princess’s mother tucked

  Princess into her new buggy bed.

  But Princess did not only have a buggy

  blanket. She also had a bug under her

  blanket!

  5

  Reggie the spider was not a normal

  bug. He came from the wacky Land of

  Fake-Believe. Princess met Reggie after

  falling through her refrigerator into that

  mixed-up place. Princess was afraid of

  the Three Beards—Mama Beard, Papa

  Beard, and Baby Beard. But she had

  made good friends there—like Reggie,

  Moldylocks, and Mother Moose.

  Hi, Princess! Your bed

  is much nicer than

  Mama Beard’s bed.

  Hi, Reggie!

  6

  Reggie jumped out of bed. He tried to

  drag Princess out of bed, too.

  I check every night, Reggie.

  Fake-Believe is never there.

  Tonight is the night, Princess!

  The fridge is ready to take

  you back to Fake-Believe!

  It’ll be there tonight.

  I’m sure of it. Come on!

  7

  The house was quiet. Princess and

  Reggie sneaked into the kitchen.

  Princess put her ear to the fridge. It

  wasn’t making its usual HUMMmmm

  sound. It was huffing and puffing!

  8

  Princess yanked open the door. It was

  nighttime in the Land of Fake-Believe.

  Princess saw a spotted fish jumping over

  the moon.

  Hooray!

  Have fun tonight!

  But I’m staying

  here—the bed

  will be all mine!

  9

  10

  Princess stepped inside her fridge.

  Then she climbed down the ladder.

  Land of Fake-Believe,

  here I come!

  11

  A big shadow fell on Princess just as

  her feet touched the ground.

  Uh-oh.

  12

  Princess turned toward the shadow.

  Her hand shook. She was sure it was a

  monster—or one of the big, bad Beards.

  13

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf

  chapter two

  14

  But it was a wolf.

  Princess was surprised to see a wolf.

  The wolf was even more surprised to see

  a girl.

  AHHH!

  AHHH!

  15

  Princess told the scared wolf that she

  wasn’t going to hurt him.

  I’m Scaredy-Pants Wolf.

  Everything scares me!

  Yes. And I was just on

  my way home. I’m very

  jumpy tonight because

  my bakery was—

  I’m Princess Pink. But I’m not a princess.

  Princess just happens to be my first name.

  Are you a baker?

  16

  Just then, Moldylocks jumped out of

  the bushes.

  Hey, Moldylocks!

  AHHH!

  17

  Princess was excited to see her friend.

  But before Princess could say anything,

  Moldylocks tackled her and Scaredy-Pants

  Wolf to the ground.

  Moldylocks, Scaredy-Pants Wolf, and

  Princess hid in the bushes.

  SHHHhhhh!

  We need to hide!

  Princess peeked through the leaves.

  She saw a huge, horrible shadow. The

  shadow was shaped like a duck.

  19

  The shadow passed by them.
Princess

  helped her friends up.

  PHEW! That was close!

  She almost saw us.

  That wasn’t just a duck. It was Little

  Red Quacking Hood! She’s terrible!

  A crybaby wolf who is

  afraid of a duck? Where

  is the Big Bad Wolf when

  you need him?!

  Who? The duck? Why were

  we hiding from a duck?

  20

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf was too upset to

  tell Princess the full story. But he told her

  enough: Little Red Quacking Hood had

  been stealing pies from his bakery. She

  even stole pies today!

  Trust me, she is a bad duck!

  We’ll help you,

  Scaredy-Pants!

  Right, Moldylocks?

  Yes! Let’s head to

  your bakery to look

  for clues! Then we’ll

  come up with a plan!

  21

  The three friends ran and ran. Moldylocks

  led the way. She stopped in front of a

  very odd-looking building. It was covered

  in candy!

  The BIG Bad Bakery

  chapTer Three

  22

  It is! I eat my bakery once

  a week! Then I bake a new

  one after I eat the old one.

  Your bakery looks good

  enough to eat!

  His tummy must

  be HUGE!

  23

  Princess walked inside the Big Bad

  Bakery. She smelled lots of yummy pies!

  Her stomach grumbled.

  Mmm. Could I have

  a slice of pie?

  Please help yourself. The banana

  cream pie is my favorite!

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf makes the

  best pies in Fake-Believe.

  24

  Look! Little Red Quacking Hood

  took that whole stack of pies!

  And she broke

  that pie plate.

  25

  She always leaves

  such a mess!

  26

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf cleaned up the

  mess. Then he started baking. He

  talked—and cried—while he baked.

  Princess ate a slice of pie. Then she

  watched as Scaredy-Pants Wolf cried into

  his pie.

  If Little Red keeps stealing pies,

  I might have to close my bakery.

  Gross! I bet the pie I just

  ate had wolf tears in it!

  27

  Princess knew she had to help her new

  friend. She had to save his bakery.

  That’s a great idea!

  Let’s build a trap!

  28

  We need more pies

  if we want to trick

  Little Red into coming

  back here right away!

  I’m baking as fast as I can!

  Bake faster,

  Scaredy-Pants!

  29

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf baked and baked.

  He was so busy baking that he ALMOST

  stopped crying.

  Quick-Snap

  chapTer four

  Duck Trap

  30

  The three friends worked on the trap.

  31

  Finally, the trap was set.

  The smell of pies baking in the oven

  spread across the Land of Fake-Believe.

  Little Red Quacking Hood soon snuck

  inside the bakery.

  32

  33

  Princess and Moldylocks were ready

  for her! They set off the trap.

  The trap worked! Little Red Quacking

  Hood was trapped.

  34

  Please, please, please let me

  go! I must visit Grandmother

  Quacking Hood right away!

  You’re not going

  anywhere, Little Red!

  35

  Princess and Moldylocks turned to look

  where Little Red Quacking Hood pointed.

  That was all the time this quick-thinking

  duck needed. She broke free and jumped

  out the window.

  OH, NO! LOOK!

  Works every time!

  36

  Wow! She really

  is tricky!

  37

  But look! That quacky duck

  left us a trail. Let’s follow

  these crummy footprints!

  38

  The three friends followed the long trail

  of footprints and crumbs into the dark

  and scary woods.

  Don’t be such a

  scaredy-pants.

  Oh, dear—these woods are so

  dark and scary. Do you really

  think this is a good idea?

  Nothing But

  Crumbs

  chapter five

  39

  They walked over

  a river and through

  the woods. Then they

  came to a sign.

  Ducksville?

  What is this place?

  Ducks live in this part of

  Fake-Believe. Little Red

  must live here, too.

  We’re not

  going in there.

  Are we?

  40

  Princess heard a strange noise. It was

  coming from behind a nearby tree.

  She looked behind the tree. It was

  Mother Moose! At least, it sort of looked

  like Mother Moose. He was climbing into

  a duck costume.

  41

  Hi, Mother Moose!

  What are you doing

  here?

  Do these costumes

  smell a little moldy?

  No time for questions!

  I must be on my way. But

  here—take costumes from

  my bag! You’ll never make it

  into Ducksville dressed like that.

  42

  Princess, Moldylocks, and

  Scaredy-Pants Wolf looked

  everywhere in Ducksville.

  They could not find Little

  Red Quacking Hood.

  Can we go

  home now?

  43

  Look!

  A red hood!

  The three friends tiptoed after

  Little Red Quacking Hood. She

  ran inside a very strange shop.

  It was made of brushes,

  combs, and scissors.

  Come on!

  Little Red’s going inside!

  45

  The friends waddled across the road.

  They hid under an open window behind

  the hair salon.

  Princess climbed on top of Moldylocks’s

  shoulders. She peeked inside.

  This is the scariest

  shop on the street!!

  I can’t look!

  46

  Princess saw Little Red Quacking Hood.

  She was handing the basket of pies to a

  very big duck with very big hair. It was

  the biggest duck Princess had ever seen.

  Grandmother

  Quacking Hood

  chapTer Six

  47

  The big duck tossed the pies—one by

  one—into a huge oven.

  I don’t know. I bake pies.

  I don’t know anything

  about unbaking them!

  Hmmm. What’s an

  unbaking oven,

  Scaredy-Pants?

  Look! That’s not

  a normal oven!

  48

  The unbaking oven started to smoke

  and sputter. Grandmother Quacking

  Hood stomped her feet.

  Then Little Red Quacking Hood
<
br />   started talking to the big duck.

  Do not worry, Little Red.

  The unbaking oven will tell

  us the secret ingredient

  soon. Then you won’t have

  to steal any more pies.

  Grandmother Quacking Hood,

  the unbaking oven had better work

  today. Scaredy-Pants Wolf is onto us.

  He and his friends tried to trap me!

  Not again!

  49

  Little Red Quacking Hood did as she

  was told. She knew not to quack back to

  her granny. She ran out of the salon.

  Princess had heard enough. She needed

  to get inside the shop. She needed to find

  out more about the unbaking oven.

  Little Red, go

  get more pies!

  I know! I’ll dress

  up like Little Red

  Quacking Hood!

  Yes! Grandmother Quacking

  Hood will have to let her

  granddaughter in! All you need

  is a basket and a red hood.

  50

  Princess looked around. Before long she

  found a basket and a red hood.

  She pulled the hood up over her pink

  hair. Then she walked right up to the

  front door of the Flocks of Locks salon.

  51

  All the

  Better to...

  chapTer Seven

  Don’t leave me alone!

  I won’t. But if

  something goes wrong,

  we’re going in!

  52

  Grandmother Quacking Hood opened

  the door. She looked Princess up and