9 788378 290674

ISBN 978-83-7829-067-4

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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.

lawn mower on the looseOne day, Joey meets someone very special, who immediately becomes

his best friend—Andy Ant. Andy is a small philosopher and Joey constantly learns from him a new way of looking at the world. Even when they first meet,

and when when there is nearly a tragic accident involving a lawnmower, Joey finds out that everyone is responsible for their actions. Read to find

out how it happened!

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

lawn mower on the loose

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 im-portant 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

PORCH STEP

DINING ROOM

HALLWAY

SIDEWALK

INSIDEANDY’S HOME

ANT SCHOOL

JOEY’SSCHOOL

Dear

Not too long ago I met somebody

who was really different and he ended

up being my best friend. Every time

I’m with him I learn something new.

Maybe that’s because he is a philo-

sopher. A philosopher is a person who

has really important thoughts.

The very first day I met him he

taught me that you can’t blame

somebody else for you own mistakes.

I hope you learn as much from

Andy as I have.Sincerely,

Joey

VOCATiO PUBLiSHiNG HOUSE Warsaw

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

illustrated by Norman McGary

Lawn Mower on the Loose

Dedicated to Caroline Irene O’Nan

Hi. My name is Joseph Tyler Johnson. But you can call me Joey. That’s what my best friend calls me. My best friend is probably a lot different from yours ‘cause he’s an ant. His name is Andy.

i just met Andy last year, you see, Andy is nine years old, and he and his family live under the sidewalk in front of my house. His room is right next to the crack by the edge of the sidewalk. Andy says he has a “room with a view,” ‘cause he can see what’s going on outside.

Andy’s fourteen-year-old brother, Par-ker, has a much bigger room. it doesn’t have

windows, but Parker doesn’t mind.No windows means he can play music on his stereo as

loud as he wants to Andy’s dad is a construction worker ant. He works over at the vacant lot, where they’re building a whole bunch of ant condominiums. Andy’s mom works in downtown Grand Ant.

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Oh, i almost forgot. Andy has an eleven-year-old sister named Angelica. She is one of the most popular girl ants in school.

Let me tell you how i met Andy Ant for the very first time. it was a special Saturday—one that i had been looking forward to for a long time. You see, it was the day i was going to sign up for Junior Soccer.

i kind of wanted to go sign up by myself, but dad said he didn’t think i was old enough to do that. So he went with me. The school gym was crowded with other kids and there parents, and i wasn’t sure which line we should stand in. There were lines for how old you are, and lines for the first letter of your last name, and lines

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to sign up for uniforms. Wow! i was glad dad had come along. He knew just which line to stand in. if he hadn’t been there, i might have stood in the wrong line all day and never gotten my uniform!

Anyway, soon we were on our way back home and i was carrying my brand new soccer uniform. As soon as we got home, i ran to my room and tried it on. Boy! it looked even better than i thought it would.

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i grabbed my soccer ball and ran outside to try out the uniform. i had to make sure it really fit, you know. Just then some other kids who had signed up that morning came by. They asked if i wanted to practice kicking the ball. They had their new uniforms on, too, and we all looked pretty neat.

We started running around the yard, kicking the ball. We liked to kick it real hard. Sometimes we kicked it so hard that it flew next door, into Mr. Davis’s yard. Once it even

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flew into Mr. Robinson’s yard, and he lives on the other side of Mr. Davis!

it seemed that the better we got at kicking the ball, the more we had to go get it out of Mr. Davis’s yard. But we weren’t kicking the ball very straight because it usually landed right in Mr. Davis’s flo-wer garden!

i was afraid Mr. Davis’s flower garden wouldn’t look like much of a flower garden if we kept kicking the ball. So i said we should stop. But the other kids said it wouldn’t really hurt the flowers. They said that by tomorrow morning the flowers would all be

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standing tall again. So we kept on kicking and the ball kept on lan-ding in the garden.

After a while, the other kids had to go home. i was having such a great time i just kept kicking the ball by myself. And that’s when it happened. The ball rolled over on the side-walk by the front steps. As i

bent down to pick it up, i heard a voice ask, “You don’t really think Mr. Davis’s flowers will be fine by tomorrow, do you?”

i looked around in surprise. i didn’t see anyone. Then i looked down at my ball—and there he was. A little ant, leaning up against the crack in the sidewalk, holding a tiny soccer ball.

Normally, i just squash ants. But this ant was different—he was actually talking to me! And i couldn’t exactly squash someone who was talking to me, could i?

“Well, do you?” the ant repeated.“Do i what?” i said, hardly believing what was happening.“Do you really think Mr. Davis’s flowers will be fine by tomor-

row?” He looked at the flowers. “They look ruined to me,”i looked at the flowers, too. “No,” i said, “they’ll be OK. The

other kids said so.” i don’t think you heard me,” the ant continued. “i was asking what you thought”

“Well,” i began, “at first i thought the ball would hurt the flo-wers, but then the kids said-”

“Now look. Joey,” the ant said in a low voi-ce that sounded like my dad’s voice when he’s doing some serious talking. ‘’Do you always let the other kids make your decisions?’’

“How do you know my name?” i blurted out, hardly listening to what he was saying. He smiled at me.

“i’ve seen you around a lot. My family and i live right here un-der your sidewalk. By the way, ‘’he added with a bigger smile, “my name’s Andy Ant,” He reached out to shake my hand. “And you really ought to be more careful where you kick the ball.”

‘’Yeah, i guess you’re right;” i said, still unable to believe i was talking to an ant who actually knew me.

“Say,” he said, “if you’re finished practicing, would you mind if a few of us practiced soccer on your lawn?”

“Sure, go ahead,” i said.“Thanks, Joey.” Andy said. Then he turned

and hollered, “Hey guys, it’s OK!”

All of a sudden, a bunch of ants came crawling out of the crack in the sidewalk, Some of them were wearing soccer jerseys that had “Grand Ant Soccer” printed on them. Wow! i thought. A real ant soccer team?

i watched Andy and his friends for a few minutes. i didn’t under-stand how they could enjoy playing in the grass, especially when it was so tall. But they seemed to be having a good time.

After a while, i walked back to the house and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Mom and my sister, Becky, were there. They thought my uniform was pretty neat. We even talked for a while about the fun i would have playing soccer.

But i didn’t really hear what they were saying. i just kept won-dering what they would do if i told them about Andy Ant. They’d probably just think i was crazy!

“Joey,” my mom said. Why don’t you go show dad your uniform? He’s outside mowing the front lawn.”

“Sure, mom”, i said. Then i froze. Mowing the front lawn? Oh, my goodness! Andy and the Grand Ant soccer team were playing ball in the front yard! i ran out the door as fast as i could. But by

1�

the time i got outside, dad had finished with the lawn and was standing by the fence, talking with Mr. Davis.

i walked all around the yard, looking for some trace of Andy or his friends, At first i didn’t see anything. But then i looked by the sidewalk and there it was—the little soccer ball, all shredded up by the lawn mower. “Joseph, would you come over here?” my dad

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said, but i didn’t really hear him. i just continued to look around the yard, afraid of what i’d see next.

“Joseph, come here, please!” my dad demanded. i slowly walked toward him, still looking around.

“Joseph, did you and your friends trample Mr. Davis’s flower garden?” Suddenly dad had my full attention, and i felt my face turning red.

“Uh, yes, sir. i guess we did.”“Would you care to explain how that happened?” dad

asked, and i could tell he wasn’t very pleased.“Well, we were practicing kicking the ball and it always

seemed to go too far. But the other kids said the flowers wo-uld be better by tomorrow. They will be better, won’t they?” i asked, turning to Mr. Davis.

“Joseph,” my dad’s voice was really stern by now. “You know the flowers won’t be any better by tomorrow. i think you’d better tell Mr. Davis that you’re sorry and then go to your room. i’ll be there in a few minutes to talk with you.”

i apologized and headed for my room. There was still no sign of Andy or the soccer team, and i felt almost sick with worry. i wanted to stay outside and keep looking for my new friends. But one look in dad’s direction told me i’d better keep marching toward my room.

i stood at the window of my room, looking out at the yard. Mom always told me that God keeps his eye on the sparrows. i hoped he watched out for

ants, too. Just then a thumping noise caught my attention. i glanced down just in time to see Andy banging on the glass of the window with both hands.

i opened the window as fast as i could. “Andy! Are you all right?” “Yeah,” he said, almost yelling at me, “But it’s no thanks to you! Why didn’t you tell us your dad was going to mow the lawn? The whole Grand Ant soccer team was almost mowed down. You’re just lucky no one got seriously hurt! And you owe us a soccer ball!”

i’m sorry, i didn’t know dad was mowing the lawn.” i felt a lump in my throat “Looks like i’m in trouble with everyone.”

“Who else are you in trouble with?” Andy asked.“My dad and Mr. Davis,” i said, feeling pretty low. “You were

right. The flowers are ruined.”Just then we heard footsteps out in the hall, and Andy jumped

behind the curtain. There was a knock at my door and my dad said, “Joseph, may i come in?’’

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“Yes,” i said. He came in and we sat on my bed together,

“Son, i’m sure you know it was wrong for you kids to kick the ball into Mr. Davis’s flower bed,” he said. “it looks as though the ball must have landed there several times.” i nodded.

“But i want you to know,” he went on, “how proud i am that you told the truth. So i won’t punish you if you will help Mr. Davis plant some new flowers. But in the future, i want you to remem-ber that you have to decide for yourself what’s right and what’s wrong—regardless of what other kids may say. You’re the one who is responsible for what you do.”

Then he reached over and gave me a big hug. “it’s almost time for you to go to bed.” he said, smiling. “How about if i help you learn to kick the ball straight tomorrow?”

“That would be great, dad!” i said, feeling a little better.He left and i looked over at the window, remembering that Andy

was there. He was peeking out from behind the curtain.

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“Andy ...,” i started, but he stepped out, shaking his head,

“Before you say anything,” he said, in his low, serious, philosopher’s voice, “i want you to know that the problem with the lawn mower wasn’t your fault. Your dad was right that we each are responsible for our own actions. You see, i heard the lawn mower and i should have known that it wouldn’t be safe to stay in the yard.”

i smiled at him, feeling a whole lot better.“i think we both learned something valuable” Andy went on,

and i nodded,“You’re right,” i said. “i learned that i’m going to do what’s

right, no matter what someone else say. And i learned that it’s important to tell the truth when you do mess up

“Pretty good,” Andy said, just like a teacher does when you give the right answer in school.

i smiled at him and remembered something else i’d learned that day. i started to tell Andy, but he was busy talking about responsibility and why it was so important, so i decided not to bother him.

All the same, i felt warm inside because i’d learned that my dad is a neat guy to have around. You know, for things like helping you to find the right line to stand in and for being

proud of you. And i was looking forward to tomorrow, and lear-ning how to kick the ball right. i knew it was going to be a good day!

Andy’s Family (Me)

MomDadU

ncle

And

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Ang

elic

aD

ickte

rPa

rker

Your Friend, Andy

Mom Dad

Joey’s Family (Me)

Fre

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Your Friend, Joey

Bec

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yne

The Adventures of Andy Ant Lawn Mower on the Loose

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 978-83-7829-067-4