Sparky! (4 page)

Afterward, I gave Sparky a cookie, but he ate it so slowly that I took it back again.

It was getting dark out. I looked at him and he looked at me.

You could hear all the neighborhood dogs barking.

I reached over and tagged him on his claw.

“You’re it, Sparky,” I said.

And for a long, long time he was.

JENNY OFFILL
is the proud owner of a dog named Jetta, who likes to chew up dollar bills. She wrote the picture books
17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore
, a
Parenting
Best Book of the Year; and
11 Experiments That Failed
, described by
Kirkus Reviews
, in a starred review, as “a most joyful and clever whimsy.” She is also the author of the adult novels
Last Things
and
Dept. of Speculation
. She lives in upstate New York. Visit her at
jennyoffill.com
.

CHRIS APPELHANS
once had a portly Labrador mutt named Libby whom people sometimes mistook for a pet pig. He is an illustrator and artist for animated feature films, including
Coraline
,
Fantastic Mr. Fox
, and
The Princess and the Frog
. This is his first children’s book. He lives in Los Angeles. Learn more about Chris at
froghatstudios.com
.