Mary Ann just loves her little kitten, Tigger. So when he disappears one afternoon, Mary Anne is a little concerned.

"Tigger!" I called.

I opened the door. No Tigger.

Sometimes he climbs onto a high place, such as the mantelpiece over the fireplace, and then can't get down. I checked the mantelpiece. No Tigger.

Okay. It was time for a room-by-room search. In a room-by-room search, I look through each room thoroughly. If I don't find Tigger in one room, I close the door to the room (If it has a door) and go on to the nest one.

I began upstairs. I searched the bedrooms and the bathrooms. I didn't see Tigger, so I closed the door at the head of the stairs and ran down to the first floor.

I was on my hands and knees looking under an armchair when I heard my father calling me.

"I'm here, Dad!" I replied. "In the living room."

I backed away from the chair and stood up.

"What's going on?" asked my father. He crossed the room and gave me a kiss. "There's water on the stove but the burner isn't on, and there are vegetables all over the table. It looks as if you stopped in the middle of making dinner."

"Sorry. I guess I did. I can't find Tigger. And I've looked everywhere for him. Well, everywhere inside. He's never missed dinner."

"I guess we better search for him outside then," said Dad.

I gave Dad a grateful look. "Right now? That would be terrific."

"I'll go get the torches."

The torches are these gigantic flashlights we have. Each is bright enough to light up New York City.

I put a jacket on and Dad found the torches. He handed on to me and we went outside.

"Ti-i-igger! Ti-i-igger!" we called. We walked all around our yard. We shone the lights under bushes, up trees, in shrubbery. The longer we looked, the worse I felt. There was this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I had swallowed a pebble and it had grown into a rock. Now it was growing into a boulder.

Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590433474