I leap into action.
“Robert,” says Julia, “leave it.”
Briefly, I consider my options. But not for long.
At least I share a piece with Rowdy.
“You are hopeless,” Julia says. “But I love you anyway.”
And that’s when we hear the bark.
It’s coming from the front porch.
“Hmm. That’s weird,” says George.
“I’ll check it out.” Julia runs to the door and pulls it open.
She hesitates.
She looks over at me, back at the porch, back at me.
“Bob?” she says. “I think it’s for you.”
And it is.
Author’s Note
Dogs. Aren’t they just the best?
If you answered “no,” or even “yes” with a hint of ambivalence, um . . . what is wrong with you?
Sorry. Even if you’re not on Team Canine, I’m sure you’re a swell person. Maybe you’re a cat fanatic, or a guinea pig fan. I get that. I love all kinds of creatures, right down to tarantulas and naked mole rats.
And I’ll admit that some dogs are easier to love than others. My own mutt, Stan, is a case in point. Mercurial, needy, narcissistic, he’s not exactly the poster dog for Man’s Best Friend. Still and all, when Stan cuddles up just so (usually while I’m busy on my laptop), he somehow manages to pull off that mysterious canine magic trick: he makes me feel a little bit better about life.
Stan also serves as my muse, albeit sporadically. As a matter of fact, Bob, the narrator of this novel, was modeled on Stan, right down to the misanthropy, the gluttony, and the odor.
Bob originally appeared as a character in my novel The One and Only Ivan, inspired by the true story of a western lowland gorilla. The real Ivan spent twenty-seven years, alone and caged, in a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington. Did he ever have a pal like Bob? I don’t know. But there was a pet store at the mall where Ivan lived, and he had lots of visitors. It wasn’t a stretch for me to imagine such a friendship evolving.
And so Bob was born. He had to be tiny, to fit in a hole in Ivan’s cage. He had to be wily. He had to be a street dog: tough and blunt and no-nonsense. (You can imagine my delight when I learned that the inimitable Danny DeVito would be voicing Bob in the Disney The One and Only Ivan movie. Yep. That’s Bob, all right.)
Bob’s had a tough life. He’s seen the darker side of humans. He doesn’t really get the whole “man’s best friend” thing. (His best friend, as it happens, is a gorilla.) He’s carrying some pretty heavy baggage for such a little dog. And he faces down a lot in this story: tornadoes and owls, floods and wolves, terror and guilt and self-doubt.
But through it all, Bob never loses his tiny-mutt swagger. And he never stops listening to his good-dog heart.
Even if you’re a devout cat person, I hope you enjoyed spending time with the guy.
Acknowledgments
Authors, like dogs, may seem like simple creatures. But beneath our shaggy exteriors, we require lots of support and TLC. The One and Only Bob would never have happened without the help of many lovely humans.
Endless gratitude goes to the fabulous folks at HarperCollins:
—Top Dogs: Suzanne Murphy, President & Publisher, and Jean McGinley, VP, Associate Publisher;
—Design: Amy Ryan and Sarah Pierson;
—Managing Editorial: Mark Rifkin, Renée Cafiero, and Valerie Shea;
—Assistant Editor: Sarah Homer;
—Marketing & Publicity: Nellie Kurtzman, Ann Dye, Jenn Corcoran, Audrey Diestelkamp, Vaishali Nayak, and Emily Zhu;
—Digital Marketing: Spencer Alben, Lindsay Jacobsen, Craig Kleila, Shae McDaniel, and Colleen O’Connell;
—School & Library: Patti Rosati, Mimi Rankin, and Katie Dutton;
—Audio: Caitlin Garing, Peter Bobinski, and Karen Radner;
—Everyone on the amazing HC sales team.
Special thanks and extra treats go to:
—Tara Weikum, my extraordinary editor, whose patience, good humor, flawless instincts, and unflagging support made writing this book a joy;
—Elena Giovinazzo, my brilliant and tireless agent at Pippin Properties;
—Patricia Castelao, for her gorgeous illustrations;
—Danny DeVito and Thea Sharrock, for their brilliant work on the audiobook;
—The original Ivan gang: Anne Hoppe, who helped me start the journey; Jodi Carrigan, Ivan’s best friend and keeper; Donna Kouri and Colby Sharp, early and avid supporters of the book; and John Schumacher, whose love for children’s literature knows no bounds;
—Gennifer Choldenko, Kathryn Otoshi, and Teri Sloat, my Rogue Colors support team;
—Mary Cate Stevenson and Noah Nofz at Two Cats Communications, who can do anything and do it brilliantly;
—Always and forever, my friends and family.
—And finally, thanks to the many readers of The One and Only Ivan who told me Bob needed a story of his own.
If you want to help gorillas, start here:
—The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
(www.gorillafund.org)
If you want to help elephants, start here:
—The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
(www.elephants.com)
—Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
(www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org)
If you want to help homeless pets, start here:
—Your local animal shelter—they always need a helping hand!
About the Author
Courtesy Katherine Applegate
KATHERINE APPLEGATE is the Newbery Medal–winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including The One and Only Ivan, Crenshaw, Wishtree, the Endling series, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter book series, and the Animorphs series. She lives in California with her husband, who writes as the author Michael Grant, her children, and several pets, including Stan the dog, pictured above. Visit her website at www.katherineapplegate.com.
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Copyright
THE ONE AND ONLY BOB. Text copyright © 2020 by Katherine Applegate. Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Patricia Castelao. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text 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 HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2020 by Patricia Castelao
Cover design by Sarah Pierson
* * *
Digital Edition MAY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-299133-1
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-299131-7
ISBN 978-0-06-299131-7 (trade bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-06-301813-6 (special ed.)
ISBN 978-0-06-304119-6 (int.)
* * *
2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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