Just Warming Up

By Patricia Lakin and Anastasiia Drakova

When construction puts a friend's concert at risk, the Tinkerers agree: the show must go on!

When road construction wakes Gus the groundhog from his hibernation a week early, the Tinkerers are more than happy to take him in. Before long, their new friend reveals that he has a special talent: he can play the ukulele! Every spring, Gus puts on a concert for his family and friends to celebrate the season, but this year, between the construction and the noise it brings, he may just have to cancel. Can the Tinkerers engineer a solution in time for the show?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Sep 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9780807579602

Patricia Lakin

Patricia Lakin is an award-winning author and former elementary school teacher who has published a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles that span multiple age groups. As a die-hard New Yorker, she is continually in awe of the inspiration the vibrant, diverse city can offer.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

TOGETHER AGAIN

Watch out, Bart! Roscoe dashed out of the way as his friend sped past. Getting hit by a bear on a bike would leave me flattened!

Sorry, Bart called as he pedaled around Big River Junkyard. Riding is a great way for me to warm up after my hibernation. I call it pedal power!

After he’d done a few laps, Bart stopped pedaling, dismounted, and joined his friends, who were setting up a game.

What’s all this? he asked.

According to the rule book, humans call this game ‘bowling,’ said Luna the badger. She showed Bart the ball and pins they’d found while Bart was in hibernation. It had been a long winter. Now that it was spring, Luna was excited to try out the game.

I don’t see any bowls, said Bart. And I don’t need that big heavy ball to knock down these tall wooden things.

Bart lifted up his leg to kick the pins over.

Stop! screeched Wanda the woodpecker. That’s not how the game goes. And I’m scorekeeper.

Watch how it’s played, said Roscoe the raccoon. I’ll go first.

He stood at a distance from the pins, holding the ball in both hands. Once he had lined up his shot, he took a running start. As Roscoe was about to let go of the ball, Wanda called out, Don’t cross the line!

Roscoe skidded to a stop just before the line drawn in the dirt. The ball slipped out of his hands and rolled slowly toward the pins.

Roscoe frowned at Wanda. You messed up my turn!

If you cross the line, Wanda said, the turn doesn’t count.

Well, there’s no way the ball will knock over those pins now, said Bart. "Roscoe needed to put more force behind it." Bart smiled, remembering the word for a push or a pull he had learned before going into hibernation.

As Bart spoke, the ball clunked into the first pin, which fell back into two more pins. Those pins hit two more. Soon, all ten pins were on the ground.

Strike! said Luna. That means all the pins went down on the first roll.

Bart frowned. How did you manage that?

Roscoe flexed his arm. "I guess I gave it more force than you thought."

Actually, said Luna, I believe it was your aim that did the trick. You hit the front pin in just the right place, and the transfer of energy took it from there.

The what? Wanda asked, perching atop Bart’s head.

Transfer of energy, Luna explained. "I’ve been reading about it in my book. When the ball rolls, it has motion energy. When it hits the pin, that energy goes into the pin. When the