Catfish Noodling Courage

By Gill Bird and Matt Chandler

Ella loves visiting her grandparents’ house with her cousins every summer. It’s a great time to play in the woods and fish. This time, Grandpa has a surprise planned. When he announces they’re going catfish noodling, Ella isn’t sure what to think. Could she really grab a fish that big with her bare hands? As she dives down into the murky water with her cousin, Ella is nervous. Will she come up with a catfish? Or will her first noodling adventure be a dud?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669017844

Book preview

Wilderness Ridge: Catfish Noodling Courage by Matt Chandler, Illustrated by Gill Bird

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Chapter One: Summer Vacation

Chapter Two: Backyard Practice

Chapter Three: Lake Lure

Chapter Four: Dive Time

Chapter Five: I Got One!

Chapter Six: Snap!

Chapter Seven: Cousin to the Rescue

Chapter Eight: Ella’s First Fish

Chapter Nine: Grilled Catfish

Chapter Ten: See You Next Year!

About the Author

Glossary

Talk About It

Write About It

More about Catfish Noodling

Explore More

Copyright

Back Cover

Cover

Title Page

Table of Contents

Start of Content

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back cover

CHAPTER ONE

Summer Vacation

Please fasten your seat belts as we prepare for arrival in Charlotte, the flight attendant said over the intercom.

As I looked out the window at the ground below, I daydreamed back to last summer’s vacation to see my peepaw and meemaw. That’s what we call our grandpa and grandma. It’s a tradition in our family. My cousins and I had been going to visit our grandparents every summer for as long as we could remember.

They live in a tiny town called Rutherfordton, North Carolina. It is in a rural area near the Blue Ridge Mountains. To most people it might not look like a very fun place for a kid to spend their summer vacations, but it was. My peepaw and meemaw were so much fun. They had woods in their backyard, and Peepaw let us hit golf balls as hard as we could into the woods. Meemaw was the best cook, and Peepaw loved to take us to an old flea market that sold the weirdest things. He would give each of us $5 to spend. I always tried to use my money to buy a pet—they sold hamsters and frogs and even salamanders! But Peepaw always explained that my pet wouldn’t have a plane ticket home, so I usually settled on a toy.

This year was going to be a little different, but I didn’t know exactly how yet. Peepaw loved to go fishing at Lake Lure. We always tagged along and