Wag!

Patrick McDonnell

This book is dedicated to my best friend, Earl.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ¥ Hachette Book Group ¥ 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 ¥ Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

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Little, Brown Books for Young Readers is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. ¥ The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-316-07226-7

First eBook Edition: October 2009

Contents

Begin Reading

Also by Patrick McDonnell

Look, there’s Earl.

Shh… Let’s not wake him.

Oops. He’s up.

Wow! Look at his tail go.…

What makes Earl’s tail wag?

Well, Mooch…

What is it?

Earl’s tail wags when he’s eating

or playing ball

or just sitting in a field of flowers.

But what makes Earl’s tail wag?

Mooch?

Now where did he go?!?

Earl’s tail wags for

		belly rubs,
chewy toys,
		snacky-snacks,

and snowflakes.

But what makes Earl’s tail wag?

All right, Jules,

you tell us.

Mooch?

Earl’s tail wags for friends he knows

and friends he’d like to know.

It wags for his Ozzie.

Sometimes it seems to wag

for nothing at all.

But WHAT makes Earl’s tail wag?

Okay, Mooch.

Please tell us.

And of course Mooch is right.

Love is the answer.

What makes Earl’s tail wag?

In this tale of tails, Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS, celebrates wiggling and waggling, swishing and sweeping, fwipping and fwapping… and every dog’s secret to the joy in life.

Patrick McDonnell has been writing about—and drawing—dogs and cats for more than fifteen years in his internationally syndicated and award-winning comic strip MUTTS. This is his sixth picture book, and the fifth one that features his beloved dog, Earl. Patrick has been the happy observer of Earl’s many wags. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Humane Society of the United States, and his Web site is www.muttscomics.com.

Also by Patrick McDonnell:

THE GIFT OF NOTHING

A New York Times Bestseller

HUG TIME

A New York Times Bestseller

SOUTH

“As neatly paced as a Chaplin movie, with the same tugging at the heartstrings and silent humor.”

—Publishers Weekly

JUST LIKE HEAVEN

“A meditation on the true nature of miracles.”

—Publishers Weekly

ART

“The scenes exude a contagious, freewheeling energy.”

—Booklist

A book about

a dog,

his tail,

and

Wag!

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