For Ages
8 to 12

Calvin Coconut: Dog Heaven is a part of the Calvin Coconut collection.

What do you want so badly that you can taste it—and can you persuade someone to give it to you? That's the subject of a fourth-grade writing assignment. Calvin wants a dog! He reads what he's written to his mom to see just how persuasive he can be. No way, Mom says: Calvin is too irresponsible to care for a pet.  Luckily, Mom's boyfriend, Ledward, is on Calvin's side. He takes Calvin to a place he calls dog heaven. There Calvin meets the dog of his dreams—Streak. Now Calvin's got to convince Mom he's dog-responsible, because he and Streak belong together!

An Excerpt fromCalvin Coconut: Dog Heaven

1

Manly Stanley

Everyone in class held their breath as Mr. Purdy dangled a squirming cock-a-roach over the brand-new resort he'd made for Manly Stanley.

Manly Stanley was our class pet, a centipede.

A large centipede.

Rubin could hardly stand it. "Drop it, Mr. Purdy, drop it."

Manly Stanley's new home sat on Mr. Purdy's desk. It was an old, cleaned-up fish aquarium. Inside, a big craggy rock and a branch of twisty driftwood sat on a beach of white sand. There was even a marooned pirate ship for Manly to explore.

I could see him looking at me through a cannon port. "Calvin, my man," he seemed to say. "S'up?"

I'd captured Manly Stanley in my bedroom and brought him to school, and now look at him. What a setup.

"Centipedes are predators," Mr. Purdy said, looking down at Manly Stanley. "They use their claws to capture and paralyze their prey."

Yow! I hoped that cock-a-roach could run fast.

But it was hard to imagine Manly Stanley as a predator. I mean, all he did was hang out. He slept. He looked at you. He…

Under the Cover