Our first grade class read the story Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett. We loved hearing about Daisy the brave hen, Mei Mei the little girl who owns her, and Daisy's adventures on the Li River in China. It was fun to compare Jan Brett's illustrations with the photographs that our teacher, Mrs. Chartier, took this summer when she went on a boat trip down the same Li River. We saw the funny-shaped mountains, bamboo rafts, cormorants, fishermen, and even a water buffalo. Too bad Mrs. Chartier didn't see any red-tailed monkeys!

Then we decided that we could write a story like Jan Brett's, only ours would take place in Oregon. We hope you like reading it!

Shadow Comes Home

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Nick and his dog named Shadow. They lived in the town of St. Helens next to the Columbia River. One day Nick's family went to the pet store to buy two cats. When they took the cats home, the cats were mean to Shadow. They scratched him and jumped on him. Nick felt sad. Shadow felt mad and wanted to run away.
 written by Becca, Taylor, and Maddie

Shadow ran to the river and jumped into a motorboat. He hit the start button, and the boat went really fast. He crashed into an island. It was Sand Island. He got out of the boat and saw an elk. He felt scared and shivery. Shadow barked at the elk and ran away.
written by Chris, Mitchell, and Justin

Shadow ran along Sand Island until he saw a fox. He was super-duper scared! He barked and ran away. He jumped in the river and tried to swim home.
 written by Kip, Eli, and Tyler

As he swam along, he saw a snake. He was really, really scared. He barked and barked some more. Then he swam to shore and found a house. He was scared. He was afraid the people would take him to the dog pound.
written by Nicole, Adam, and Devon

He tried to find his way back home. He got lost in the woods. He couldn't find his way out. He saw a coyote. He was scared. There was a dog-catcher in the woods with a net.
 written by Mariah, Karli, Kelsey, and Emily K.

The dog-catcher caught Shadow with the net and put him in a box. He took him to the pound. Shadow barked at all the people. He barked at the other dogs. Shadow was sad. He wanted to go home.
 written by Jasmine, Lauren, and Trevor

He tried to escape. Nick came to the dog pound. He looked for Shadow. He found Shadow, and he was happy. He asked the dog-catcher if he could take Shadow home. He took Shadow home, and Shadow was very, very happy. The cats ignored Shadow now, so everybody was happy. The cats were good now. written by Sierra, Ashley, Emily E., Keaton and Kolton

The End

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