Don't Pop the Bubble Ball!

Cora Reef, Liam Darcy

• Publisher: Little Simon
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781665903738
• eBook ISBN: 9781665903752

Simon tries out to be on a bubble ball team with his sister in this third book in The Not-So-Tiny Tales of Simon Seahorse chapter book series. Bubble ball is the most popular sport in Coral Grove. And Simon's oldest sister, Kya, is really good at it. One day, she announces that all the bubble ball teams are holding tryouts. Simon knows that whatever happens, he's bound to get a good story out of it, so he decides to take a swing at the sport! It sounds fun, plus Kya can help him practice! So when Simon is offered a spot on a bubble ball team, both he and Kya are super excited. There's just one problem: he's not on Kya's team, he's on the opposing team. Which means…they'll be playing against each other!With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Not-So-Tiny Tales of Simon Seahorse chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

1 Bubble Ball Dreams

“You won’t believe what happened today!” Simon Seahorse said as he unpacked his backpack after school.

“Did you meet another shark?” his younger brother, Earl, asked.

“Did you lose your lucky pearl again?” his little sister, Lulu, wanted to know.

A few of Simon’s older siblings glanced over from the kitchen table. Simon was one of twelve brothers and sisters, so he always had an audience.

“Close!” Simon said with a laugh. But just as he was about to launch into one of his incredible tales, his oldest sister, Kya, burst into the house. She was out of breath, and her favorite Deep-Sea Divers cap hung sideways off her head.

“Wow, and I thought I knew how to make an entrance,” Simon joked. “Were you being chased by a tiger shark? Or an octopus with eight legs and eight heads?”

Kya grinned. “Even better,” she said. “I just found out bubble ball tryouts are this weekend!”

“That’s great, Kya,” Mr. Seahorse said. A few of Simon’s siblings nodded in agreement, but no one seemed as excited as Kya. They were all busy with homework or other projects.

Kya’s face fell. “Doesn’t anyone care?” she asked.

“I care!” Simon called out. He wasn’t sure he really cared about the tryouts, but he knew Kya did. She’d been eagerly waiting for the season to start up again.

There were two bubble ball teams in Coral Grove: the Tidal Waves and the Deep-Sea Divers. Simon always enjoyed watching Kya play for the Divers—even if he didn’t totally understand the rules of the game.

“You should try out too, Simon!” Kya said. “It would be so fun if we were on the same team.”

“Oh, I don’t know.…” Simon had never been very good at sports. He was smaller than a lot of the other sea creatures. But, really, he preferred a good adventure story to a game of tag. Sometimes while his friends played games on the playground at school, he would swim to the top of the sandcastle. Up there, it was as if he could see the whole ocean. That always inspired him to dream up new stories to tell.

“I could help you get ready for the tryouts,” Kya offered.

Simon smiled. “I’ll think about it,” he told his sister.

As he hopped into bed that night, Simon pictured himself in a bubble ball match. In his imagination, he was a total superstar. He whizzed around all the other players, doing backflips, dribbling the bubble ball, and spinning it on his tail. He even scored the winning goal of the game!

Of course, he knew that was all just pretend. Still, as he drifted off to sleep, Simon wondered if maybe he really should try out. Tomorrow he’d see what his best friend, Olive Octopus, thought about it. She always had good advice.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Chapter 1: Bubble Ball Dreams
• Chapter 2: Tag, You’re It!
• Chapter 3: Playing by the Rules
• Chapter 4: Simon’s Sport
• Chapter 5: Team Tryouts!
• Chapter 6: The Divers vs. the Waves
• Chapter 7: Practice, Practice, Practice
• Chapter 8: The Big Game
• Chapter 9: He Shoots, He Scores!
• Chapter 10: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
• Simon’s Story
• ‘Summer School of Fish’ Teaser
• About the Author and Illustrator
• Copyright