It's Raining Bats and Frogs!

Joe McGee, Ethan Long

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781534436824
• eBook ISBN: 9781534436848

A rainstorm gets out of hand and it's up to the Junior Monster Scouts to save The Village from washing away in the hilarious third chapter book of the Junior Monster Scouts series! It's a rainy day in The Village and rain means puddles. Lots of puddles to splash in and lots of rain to sing in. Singing and splashing is loud. And loud is something Baron Von Grump simply cannot stand. But Baron Von Grump has a plan. If he can get rid of the rain clouds, he'll get rid of the rain and all the noise! But the Baron's plan backfires and now it's raining and pouring, with no end in sight! Meanwhile, Laguna, a little swampling is learning how to swim. Only she's pretty scared of the water! Can Laguna and the Junior Monster Scouts learn how to overcome fears and save the town from overflowing?

CHAPTER 1

“ON YOUR MARK,” SAID FRANKY.

“Get set,” said Vampyra.

“Float!” Wolfy said.

Franky, Vampyra, and Wolfy set their paper boats in the river and watched them sail away. It was springtime, and the April showers had made a wet, muddy mess of everything. Yesterday, the Junior Monster Scouts had raced frogs across the lily pads in the swamp. Today, they were racing boats in the river.

“Look at them go!” said Franky.

“I’ll bet they go all the way to the waterfall,” Wolfy said. “I wonder whose boat will win the race.”

Franky and Wolfy ran along the riverbank, following the boats. Vampyra spun three times in a circle and POOF, turned into a bat. She flittered ahead of them, flapping her bat wings. She was practicing for her Flying Merit Badge.

“Come on, slowpokes,” she said. “What’s taking you so long?”

“No fair!” Wolfy said. “You can fly.”

“And you don’t have to run through this mud,” said Franky. “It’s slowing me down!”

“Excuses, excuses,” Vampyra teased.

Wolfy dropped to all fours and raced ahead of Franky. “Race you to the waterfall, Vampyra!”

“You’re on,” she said.

“Guys?” said Franky. But Wolfy and Vampyra pulled ahead of Franky and even ahead of the boats. “You go ahead,” he said. “I’ll just keep an eye on the boats.”

The boats, however, did not need much keeping an eye on. They bobbed and swirled and raced along the river while Franky did his best to keep up.

---

The Junior Monster Scouts were not the only ones enjoying the light rain. The villagers were also celebrating spring. No afternoon showers were going to keep them inside. They put on their raincoats, rain hats, and rain boots, and they jumped from puddle to puddle with resounding kersplashes! They stomped and splashed and sang in the rain.

“Attention, villagers!” said the mayor. “I declare an umbrella contest!” He wiped the rain from his mustache. “Prize goes to the best decorated umbrella!”

“There should be a parade!” said Peter, the young piper.

“Quack, quack!” said the ducks, paddling about in a deep puddle.

And just in case you don’t speak duck, “quack, quack” means Yes, we should have a rainy day parade and an umbrella contest, and we will be the judges.

“Oh, this will be splendiferous!” said the mayor.

---

But not everybody was enjoying the rain. Not everybody was excited about umbrellas and puddles and parades.

“Caw, caw!” said Edgar, Baron Von Grump’s friend and pet crow.

“Yes,” said the baron, “of course I—”

PLINK!

A big, wet drop of water fell from the ceiling and landed directly on the tip of his nose.

“Don’t you think I know that we need another—”

PLINK! PLUNK!!

Two big, wet drops of water dripped from the leaky ceiling of the crooked old windmill and fell right atop Baron Von Grump’s head.

“—bucket,” growled Baron Von Grump.

“Caw, caw!” said Edgar.

“Well, don’t just sit there. Grab an empty—”

PLINK! PLUNK! PLINK!!

Three big, wet drops of water dripped from the ceiling in three different spots.

“—pail,” said Baron Von Grump.

He moved one bucket. PLINK. He adjusted a pail. PLUNK. He slid a can over to catch another drop. PLINK. He set one of his boots under a fourth drop. PLUNK.

Edgar hopped from beam to beam, pointing at new leaks and new drops.

“Caw, caw!” he crowed.

“Oh, confound it!” said Baron Von Grump. “Rain, rain, go away, come again… NEVER!”

PLINK, PLUNK, PLINK, PLUNK, PLINK, PLUNK…

Baron Von Grump glared at his leaky ceiling.

PLINK!

And caught a raindrop right in his eye.

CHAPTER 2

VAMPYRA FLIPPED AND FLITTERED AND fluttered along the riverbank. She was ahead of Wolfy. She was far ahead of their paper boats. And she was very far ahead of Franky. She was sure she was going to earn her Flying Merit Badge… as long as she could keep her wings going long enough. But right now, she needed a rest.

“Whew, flying sure is tiring,” she said.

“So is swimming,” someone croaked from the edge of the river.

“Laguna!” said Vampyra. She landed and changed back into a vampire.

Laguna lived in the swamp with her mom, dad, and sixteen younger swamplings. But today, she was not in the swamp. She was in the river.

Laguna pulled herself onto the riverbank and sprawled out in the wet grass. She stretched her webbed toes and spread her webbed fingers. Her gills heaved in and out. She seemed very tired. Even more tired than Vampyra.

“What are you doing in the river, Laguna?” Vampyra asked.

“Swimming lessons,” Laguna groaned.

Wolfy and Franky finally caught up with them. They were out of breath too.

“I think I’m going to hurl a hair ball,” Wolfy said.

“I think I swallowed a fish,” said Laguna.

Laguna’s mom popped up above the surface of the river. She swam in circles on her back. She was an excellent swimmer.

“Hello, kids,” she said.

“Hi, Mrs. Lagoon,” they all answered.

“Laguna is going to take her swimming test today,” said Mrs. Lagoon. “But first, she has a bit of practice to do.”

“Mommmmm,” said Laguna. “I can’t swim to the other side.”

“Sure you can,” said Mrs. Lagoon. “It just takes practice, and for you to believe in yourself.”

“You can totally do it,” Vampyra said.

“I have a great idea,” said Mrs. Lagoon. “Maybe Vampyra, Franky, and Wolfy will take lessons with you!”

“No way!” said Wolfy. “My fur will be a stinky, wet mess.”

Franky shuffled his feet. “Um… my bolts might get rusted.”

“I’d rather fly,” Vampyra said with a grin.

“See, Mom?” said Laguna. “Even the Junior Monster Scouts are scared of swimming.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say we are scared,” mumbled Wolfy.

“I would,” said Franky.

Mrs. Lagoon floated on her back and blew a long jet of water up into the air. “There is nothing to be scared of,” she said. “Besides… isn’t swimming one of the Junior Monster Scout merit badges?”

Franky flipped through his scout handbook. Sure enough, swimming was a Junior Monster Scout merit badge.

“Come on, kids,” said ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright