Once upon a time, there was a dog named Max who lived near a pond. One day, as he was playing catch with a ball, he saw an alligator swimming in the pond. Max approached the alligator and said, "Hey, I bet I can catch a ball better than you can". The alligator agreed to a friendly competition.

As they both tried to catch the ball, a duck flew by and said, "I want to play too!" So, the three of them played catch together. Max caught the ball with his paws, the alligator caught it with his mouth, and the duck caught it with her beak.

Just then, an elephant walked by eating an apple. She asked, "What are you all doing?" They told her about their game and she wanted to join in. But her trunk was too big to catch the ball! So, she used her elbow instead and surprisingly, she was very good at it.

They were having so much fun that they didn't notice a bus pull up. The bus driver honked the horn and said, "All aboard for a wild adventure!" The dog, alligator, duck, elephant, and even the ball, climbed aboard the bus and went on a wild adventure together.

The end.

Reflections

1. What was the dog's name in the story?
2. How did the elephant catch the ball?
3. Who honked the horn and invited the friends on a wild adventure?
4. What happened at the end of the story?
5. Can you think of any other animals that could have joined the catch game?