9 788378 290735

ISBN 978-83-7829-073-5

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A little ant with big ideas, and his human friend Joey will delight your children with their exciting adventures.

The imaginative stories in these fun, colorful books will both entertain your children and help them learn valuable lessons

that every kid should know.

the swimming hole disasterIt’s a beautiful, hot day. Andy goes to a small pool for ants to cool down

and swim. Joey promises to keep an eye on him, but soon forgets about it and joins in with some kids playing in the street. Suddenly, Andy is washed off with

water and floats towards the canal! Will Joey make it in time to save him?After an adventurous day, Joey and Andy learn how important it is

to listen to parents and keep promises.

lAWn moWer on The looSerunAWAy AnTS

The SWImmIng hole dISASTerThe bAnd muSIc mySTery

dAnger AT The cIrcuSThe runAWAy dog

The SecreT of The Spooky houSeThe goofed up ScIence proJecT

Books For Those We Love

The Swimming hole disaster

Look for Andy Ant in his other books, too!

ANDY’S SWIMMING HOLE

ANDY’SROOM

FAMILY ROOM

JOEY’S HOME

ANDY’S HOME

Mr. DAVIS’HOME

Creator: Lawrence W. O’Nan created Andy Ant in the 1970s when he told bed-time stories to his children. He developed Andy Ant to assist him in instilling values and providing an imaginary hero for his two daughters. He regularly lectures and teaches on subjects dealing with values. He and his family reside in California, where is he is a fund raising consultant with nonprofit organizations.Author: Gerald D. O’Nan is the author of the Andy Ants stories. The stories are based on events that occurred during his childhood and individuals who played important roles in his life as a child. He actively works with children in his community as a teacher and storyteller and also teaches seminars in public and private schools on creative writing and storytelling. He and his family reside in Colorado, where he is an attorney.Illustrator: Norman McGary is an internationally recognized illustrator. He began his career in 1957 when he illustrated children’s books for Walt Disney and became known for his illustrations in 101 Dalmatians and Sleeping Beauty. His career also in-cludes extensive work with Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Brothers, and Jere-miah Films. He resides in California, where he continues to illustrate many projects.

STORM DRAIN

DINING ROOM

HALLWAY

SIDEWALK

INSIDEANDY’S HOME

ANT SCHOOL

JOEY’SSCHOOL

PORCH STEP

Dear

Have you ever done something

that you knew you weren’t suppo-

sed to do it until you had already

done it? Well, that’s what happe-

ned to Andy and me. We learned

how important it is to obey our

moms and dads and how impor-

tant it is to keep promises.

I hope you learn as much as

Andy and I did!Sincelery,

Joey

Vocatio PUBLiSHiNG HoUSE Warsaw

Created by Lawrence W. O’NanWritten by Gerald D. O’Nan

Illustrated by Norman McGary

the Swimming Hole Disaster

Dedicated to Jessica Leigh O’Nan

it was a hot summer afternoon. as i walked outside, i was sure glad that my mom had said i could wait until evening to finish pulling the weeds in the garden. i walked over to the crack in the sidewalk and looked in. i wanted to see if andy ant was in his room.

i bent over and whispered, “andy, are you in there?” i had to whisper because Mr. Da-

vis, our next-door neighbor, was out in his yard. if he heard me, he might think i was talking to the sidewalk. and i didn’t want to have to explain what i was really doing. Most grown-ups would think talking to ants was even stranger than talking to the side-walk!

there was no answer from andy, so i thought to myself, Where would an ant go on a day like this? Well, i knew where i would be if my mom hadn’t told me not to leave the yard. i’d be over at the swimming pool. and i knew andy and i think a lot alike, even though he’s a philosopher—that’s what we call andy because he has deep thoughts and understands how important it is to do things right—and i’m just what he calls “a regular kid.” So maybe he was at his swimming hole.

i walked over to the any swimming hole. it’s where the gutter dips along the curb in front of my house. Sure enough, there was andy. He was lying on his

beach towel, sleeping. “Hey, andy, what are you doing?” i asked as i kneeled down.

andy slowly opened his eyes. “Hi, Joey,” he said with a smile. “i’m just waiting for Parker to come out so i can go swimming.”

Parker is andy’s older brother, a real practical kind of ant. “Why do you have to wait for Parker?” i asked andy. “the water isn’t go-ing to be any warmer if Parker is here, is it?”

�

andy just made a face at me. “i have to wait for Parker because my dad said to. You see, Parker is a better swimmer than i am. and my dad says i can’t go swimming without Parker.”

“oh, you’re a great swimmer,” i said. “What could possibly hap-pen?”

“Well, i don’t know . . .” andy started.“You do whatever you want,” i said, “but i don’t think your

dad realizes you’re getting old enough to do nearly anything you want.”

10

at first, andy looked a little unsure. But as i talked, he became more confident that nothing could go wrong. Besides, it was a hot day and the water would feel great! then i thought of something.

“andy,” i said, “i can watch you. My mom said i couldn’t leave the yard, so i’ll be here. You’ll be perfectly safe!” andy brightened up.

11

“i guess you’re right, Joey. there isn’t real-ly any reason to wait. and the sun is so hot!” With that, andy jumped up from his beach to-wel and headed for the diving board. it wasn’t a real diving board, it was an old branch that hung over the curb. But it worked for the ants.

With as much grace and poise as a fourth-grade ant could mu-ster, andy did a “gliding ant” dive into the water. actually, a “gli-ding ant” dive is a lot like a swan dive. But andy thinks swans eat ants, so we don’t use that name.

andy came to the surface of the water and hollered, “Wow, Joey, the water is great! too bad the gutter isn’t bigger so you could come in too!”

i sat on the edge of the curb, watching andy as he swam and did some other dives. Every time he looked at me, he would tell me how nice the water was.

the sun was getting hotter and hotter, and i’d had just about enough of andy saying how great the water was. then i noticed some kids up the street gathering around a fire hydrant. Wow, i thought, wouldn’t it be great if they were going to turn it on? Sure enough, that’s what the firemen were getting ready to do.

By now, andy had gotten tired of swimming and had crawled up on a floating leaf. He looked like he was asleep again, so i decided not to bother him. i would just run up the street for a while to play in the water from the hydrant.

i got there just as water shot out of the hydrant. it felt really good!

Boy, what fun on a hot summer day! i turned to look back down the street, and i froze in hor-ror.

a wall of water was rushing down the gutter

right toward andy’s swimming hole! i was sure that andy was still fast asleep on the leaf. if he didn’t wake up and get out of the swimming hole before the wa-ter hit, he would be washed right down the storm sewer drain! i ran toward him, yelling, “andy! andy!”

as i got closer i saw andy on the leaf, sleeping away. “andy! Wake up!” i screamed at the top of my lungs. our neighbor, Mr. Davis, looked all around to see who i was yelling at. i knew i would have some explaining to do later, but i didn’t care. the important thing was to warn andy.

But it was too late. the wall of water hit the swimming hole, and andy was on a one-way trip to the storm sewer.

17

“andy! andy!” i continued to yell. Just as the leaf was about to be washed down the drain, andy woke up. Seeing what was about to happen, he grabbed the edge of the leaf and looked back at me. the last words i heard him say were, “Get Parker, quick!” and then he was gone.

i froze again as i watched the water run into the drain. My legs felt like jelly and i thought i was going to be sick. But i had to go find Parker. i charged down the sidewalk toward andy’s house and almost stepped on Parker. He

was loaded down with his radio and umbrella over one shoulder, and a lounge chair and

jug of lemonade over the other one. i was surprised he could even stand up. “Hey, slow down, Joey,” he said dropping his stuff all over the sidewalk. “one wrong step and you would have had squashed ant for supper.”

“oh, Parker.” i gasped, “you’ve got to come to the swimming hole, fast!”

“Sure, sure, i’m coming,” he said as he leaned over to pick his stuff up. “But it’s going to take me a few minutes to get all my gear down there.”

“But Parker,” i pleaded. “andy’s in trouble! He went in swim-ming ‘cause i said i’d watch him and i wasn’t supposed to leave the yard and the fire hydrant was on so i went up the block to play in it and the water washed andy down the storm sewer!” i said it all so fast i wasn’t sure Parker understood. But he caught the most important part.

“Did you say andy was washed down the storm sewer?” he asked, dropping his gear all over the sidewalk again.

“Uh huh,” i said, wiping away a tear.

22

“Well, let’s go!” Parker yelled as he hopped on my right sneaker. and we ran back down the sidewalk.

When we got to the gutter, Parker took one look at the water gushing down the drain and said, “oh no! if only i hadn’t taken so much time to find all my gear! We’d better go get my dad!”

24

We ran over to the vacant lot where Mr. ant worked, building ant condominiums. Parker jumped off my shoe and ran to find his dad. When his dad heard what had happened to andy, he rounded up several of his best workers. they all got on my sneakers and we nearly flew back to the gutter in front of my house.

25

While andy’s dad was deciding what to do, the firemen up the street turned off the hydrant, and the gush of water became a trickle. Just as Mr. ant was moving things into action, a little ant head popped up from the edge of the storm sewer grate. it was andy!

“andy!” we all yelled. “You’re safe!”“Yeah,” he said with a smile as his dad ran over to wrap him in

a towel and hug him. “But i thought i was a goner for sure. i was really glad i was on the leaf, ‘cause it got stuck in the grate. and i was able to get off and hold onto the bottom side of the grate until the water stopped. Just think, i might have been floating some-where under the city of Grand ant by now. Maybe i wouldn’t even have been floating at all...”

“You’re right. andy.” said Mr. ant. “this could have been much worse. But it wouldn’t have happened if you’d waited for Parker like i told you to.” andy looked down at the ground and i felt pret-ty bad about talking him into going swimming.

26

While Mr. ant helped andy dry off, i decided i should explain that it wasn’t all andy’s fault. Mr. ant listened as i told him what had happened. and Parker even apologized for taking so long to find his gear.

Since everything seemed to be under control, Mr. ant and his workers went back to the vacant lot. But before he left, he told andy and Parker that there would be a “serious talk” at their house that evening.

as Parker walked back up the sidewalk to pick up his scattered gear, andy and i sat clown on the curb.

“Boy” he said, “i just hate it when dad says we’re going to have a ‘serious talk.’ i’d rather he’d spank me so it would be over faster.”

then he looked at me. “But you know. Joey.” he said in his philo-sophers voice, “we were both wrong in what we did today. i should have obeyed my dad and not gone swimming without Parker. i’ve even heard your mom say that God wants us to obey our parents. and you should have stayed there to watch me like you promised you would.”

“i’m really sorry, andy,” i said afraid i was going to cry again. “i know you are.” andy said, still talking in that low, serious

voice.Just then i heard my mother call from the front door. “Joseph

tyler Johnson,” she said to me, “where have you been? i thought i told you not to leave the yard! You come in here right now. i think we need to have a little talk about obeying your parents!”

“Uh, coming, mom,” i said, then i looked down at andy and shrugged. “i guess i’ll get to learn two lessons today instead of one.”

28

He just smiled and said, “Well be sure you listen close. Your mom’s pretty smart, for a person.

“i will, andy, i promise,” i said, getting up to go inside.Later, as i got ready for bed, i thought about the day. i was glad

everything had turned out all right. and i was really glad andy was safe. i remembered the look on his face as the leaf had been washed away... then i smiled.

“one thing’s for sure” i said with a little laugh. “With andy for a friend, this summer will never be boring!” then i hurried to get ready for bed, looking forward to tomorrow and my next adventu-re with andy ant.

Andy’s Family (Me)

MomDadU

ncle

And

rew

Ang

elic

aD

ickte

rPa

rker

Your Friend, Andy

Mom Dad

Joey’s Family (Me)

Fre

ckl

es

Your Friend, Joey

Bec

kyD

wa

yne

The Adventures of Andy Ant.The Swimming Hole Disaster

copyright © 1995 by andy ant Productions, inc.10951 W. center ave., Lakewood, co 80226, U.S.a.

all rights reserved

copyright for the English edition(excluding North america)

© 1996 by Vocatio PUBLiSHiNG HoUSE

all rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or any portions thereof, in any form. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic

or mechanical, magnetic, chemical, optical, manual, or otherwise, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from Vocatio.

For the permission please contact:

Vocatio PUBLiSHiNG HoUSEPolnej Róży 1

02-798 WarsawPoLaND

e-mail: ceo@vocatio.us

www.vocatio.us

Printed in Poland

ISBN 978-83-7829-073-5