“Ready, cats?” called Tiger. “Set . . .”
The cats all hunkered down low, pressing their bodies flat against the grass. Kitty smiled as she caught sight of Bobby’s determined face, his injured tail still curling excitedly.
“Go!” cried Tiger.
With loud, eager meows, the cats all jumped forward as far as they could. “Wow!” purred Misty, looking around excitedly. “I think I won! Did I win?”
Kitty looked along the line. “Yes!” she said happily. “You jumped the farthest, Misty. And Bobby, you came second.”
Don’t brag, Bobby! she thought to herself. If she had been in her human form right now, she would have crossed her fingers!
But she had no reason to worry.
“Well done, Misty!” said Bobby. “Great pounce. Maybe you can teach me your technique sometime.”
Misty purred proudly, and Kitty saw that lots of the cats were looking in surprise at Bobby. “What’s next?” she called.
“Branch balance relay,” decided Tiger. “We’ll take turns to run halfway along that long, low branch, then tag your partner to run the rest of the way.”
Chatting excitedly, the cats bounded up the tree trunk two by two, taking their places for the partner relay. There were meows of friendly laughter as some cats wobbled and fell off the branch, landing lightly on their paws. Kitty wondered if Bobby might try to do something daring, like run along the branch backwards or on just two paws. But when it was their turn, he took a deep breath and ran along it carefully, swinging his bandaged tail in the air to balance. He made it all the way to where Kitty was waiting without a single wobble. He tagged Kitty with one paw and she darted off, running the rest of the way along the branch and then jumping down to the ground when she’d reached the end.
When all the cats had taken their turn, it was Suki who called out, “I think Bobby and Kitty were the best branch-balancers. What does everyone else think?”
“I think so too,” agreed Frost, and Snowdrop meowed and nodded.
Bobby looked delighted, but instead of bragging that he had won, he said thank you to everyone. “I couldn’t have done it without Kitty,” he said.
“You’re doing great,” she whispered back to him as they got ready for the yowling competition.
“I’m just being myself, like you told me to,” whispered back Bobby. “You were right, Kitty. I don’t need to work so hard to impress anyone.”
After the high-paw jump, the tree-trunk climb, the ball-of-wool dash, and the puddle-dodge challenge, all the cats were panting and very tired, but having a lot of fun. And everyone was ready to find out who the winner of the Feline Field Day was!
“Everyone has done very well,” announced Tiger. “And I don’t even mind that the prize is going to someone else. It’s been so much fun! Today’s winners definitely deserve the snacks, especially as one of them has a hurt tail! The pair that won the most competitions is . . . Kitty and Bobby!”
The cats cheered. “We did it!” cried Kitty, meowing happily.
Bobby was purring so noisily that Kitty thought that all the humans in town might wake up! “I’ve never won anything before!” he said.
“Well, here. The treats are yours,” said Tiger, nudging the box toward Bobby with his nose.
Bobby reached out and tore open the top of the box with a claw. “Mmmmm,” he said. “These smell really tasty!”
He looked around at the Cat Council, and then at Kitty. “I wouldn’t have been able to join in today if Kitty hadn’t been so kind to me,” he said. “And you all gave me a second chance to take part, too! So, to say thank you, I’d really like it if we could all share these treats. If you don’t mind, Kitty?” he added quickly. “This is your prize too, after all.”
“That’s a great idea,” replied Kitty, feeling a purr deep in her belly.
“Yum! Thanks, Bobby,” meowed Coco, picking up a treat with her teeth.
“My favorite,” sighed Emerald happily, crunching into her own treat.
Soon, all the cats were nibbling at the delicious treats. As Kitty enjoyed her own, she settled down on the grass beside Misty, Suki, and her new friend, Bobby. When he was being himself, he really was a pretty cool cat. Just like Brandon was actually a pretty cool boy. Kitty couldn’t wait for school tomorrow, to talk to her new friend about his new cat!
MEET THE CATS
Kitty
Kitty is a little girl
who can magically
turn into a cat!
She is the Guardian
of the Cat Council.
Tiger
Tiger is a big, brave tabby tomcat. He is leader of the Cat Council.
Suki
Suki is Kitty’s
grandmother.
She can magically
turn into a cat too!
Misty
Misty is Kitty’s best cat friend. She is the cat with the longest pounce.
Emerald
Emerald is a very fancy white cat with green eyes. Emerald has a big heart.
Bobby
Bobby is a big gray cat who loves to run, jump, and play, especially with his new owner, Brandon!
When they aren’t sleeping,
cats spend up to half of
their time grooming
themselves.
In one Japanese train
station, the stationmaster is
a calico cat named Nitama.
In some countries,
black cats are
considered lucky.
The average cat
can run up to
30 miles per hour.
In the 1870s, a Belgian city
tried to train cats to deliver
the mail. But it turned out
cats didn’t make very good
mail carriers!
Ella Moonheart grew up telling fun and exciting stories to anyone who would listen. Now that she’s an author, she’s thrilled to be able to tell stories to so many more children with her Kitty’s Magic books. Ella loves animals, but cats most of all! She wishes she could turn into one just like Kitty, but she’s happy to just play with her pet cat, Nibbles—when she’s not writing her books, of course!
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This electronic edition published in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published in the United States of America in September 2020
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
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Text copyright © 2020 by Working Partners Ltd
Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Dave Williams
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Moonheart, Ella, author.
Title: Bobby the show-off cat / by Ella Moonheart.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury, 2020. | Series: Kitty’s magic ; 8 | Summary: When Kitty Kimura magically transforms into a cat, she decides to help a boastful feline who is trying to hide his homelessness.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020022001 (print) | LCCN 2020022002 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0495-1 (HB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-049
4-4 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0496-8 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Cats—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Shapeshifting—Fiction. | Japanese Americans—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M653 Bo 2018 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.M653 (e-book) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022001
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022002
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