Read the Story
Barnaby and the Golden Fish
The first six pages of Barnaby’s very first adventure. Use the buttons, your arrow keys, or swipe to turn the page.
Page 1 of 6
Barnaby was not a sweet cat. He did not purr like a gently boiling kettle, and he never rubbed against ankles. What Barnaby liked best was being left entirely, completely, perfectly alone.
He lived beneath the old boardwalk of Bramble Bay, where it was cool, damp, and blissfully free of children sticky with ice cream.
Page 2 of 6
Today, Barnaby had struck gold. Resting on a stack of discarded newspapers behind the fishmonger’s back door was a leftover fried fish tail. It was golden, dangerously crispy, and totally unattended.
Barnaby crouched low, his belly scraping the cobblestones, his eyes locked on the prize.
Page 3 of 6
“FLAP-FLAP-SQUAWK! Lovely morning for a paddle, wouldn’t you say?”
Barnaby’s fur puffed up like a bottle brush. Perched on an oil drum directly above him was a young seagull named Pip.
Pip had bright yellow feet, a spotless white chest, and a hopeless habit of talking far too much.
Page 4 of 6
“What’s that you’ve got there?” Pip squawked, hopping down a step. “Is it fish? I adore fish! Are we having lunch together? I’m Pip!”
Barnaby’s ears flattened until they disappeared into his forehead. His whiskers quivered with pure, unadulterated fury.
Page 5 of 6
“BEGONE, YOU NOISY LUNCH-THIEF!” Barnaby roared, lunging forward with a ferocious swipe of his paws.
Page 6 of 6
Pip screeched in panic, flapping his wings wildly to retreat. But the sudden blast of air caught the corner of the newspaper stack.
The paper lifted. The fish tail tipped.
Barnaby watched in horrified slow motion as his golden lunch tumbled off the edge…
For grown-ups
Tips for reading aloud
- Do the voices. A grumpy growl for Barnaby, a fast, chirpy chatter for Pip.
- Make the noises. FLAP-FLAP-SQUAWK and PLINK are there to be shouted.
- Pause before you turn the page. Ask, “What do you think Barnaby will do?”
- Talk about it after. Was Barnaby kind? What would you have done with the fish?