A Robodoggy for Miss Snip Grandpa In My Pocket

Not the shrinking cap, Grandpa!

Catch me if you can!

Come down, Grandpa!

Ha-ha!

Grandpa!

'One day, I was at Miss Smiley's Cafe with Uncle CJ

'and Mrs Ostrich.

'Miss Snip, the dog groomer,

'was showing pictures of the dogs she groomed

'to her friend, Mr Mentor.'

Miss Snip has hundreds of dog photos, Elsie - do come and look.

Are those YOUR dogs?

No, I just groom them -

a shampoo here and a snip-snip-snip there.

I don't have any doggies of my own.

Why not?

I live in a flat and dogs aren't allowed.

SHE SOBS

It's just...I would so love a little doggie.

Dry your tears, Miss Snip.

I'm going to invent you something that will make you smile!

'Mr Mentor started doing drawings on his napkin.'

Come to the lighthouse later and all will be revealed.

I promise you, it will be spectopular!

'Mr Mentor doesn't just invent things -

'he invents words, too.'

Thank you, Mr Mentor. You are so kind.

Now, I must go and give some doggies a snip-snip-snip.

See you later!

Something spectopular - I wonder what it can be?

Well, what is it?

Yes, Mr Mentor, what are you going to invent?

A robodoggy!

A robodoggy? What's that?

Well, it's a robot and a doggy all in one.

It'll do all the things a real dog will do,

but won't need looking after.

'Yes, this was the day

'that Mr Mentor invented...'

'We drove back to the Mill on the Marsh in Campo.

'I rushed inside and told Grandpa and Jason all about it.'

Oh, Miss Snip will love to have a robodoggy, won't she, Wulfy?

I just hope Mr Mentor manages to invent it.

You know what usually happens.

Come on, Wulfy, walk time! See you later!

Jason's right. Mr Mentor may have some problems inventing a robodoggy.

It's a big job.

-Are you thinking he might need some help?

-You've guessed it.

Not the Shrinking Cap, Grandpa!

Catch me if you can!

'You know what happens when Grandpa shrinks -

'he runs about all over the place...'

Come down, Grandpa!

'He climbs up things...

'..jumps off things...

'He zooms about in the little car.

VROOM!

'He chuffs about in the Sunnysands train.

'But today, he'd decided to fly on Mrs Ostrich,

'which is strange, cos ostriches can't fly, actually.'

Bye, Grandpa!

I bought you a cupcake - oh!

He's gone for a little lie-down - AGAIN.

Uncle CJ had no idea that Grandpa was on his way to the lighthouse.

Mr Mentor was very busy inventing,

so he didn't see Grandpa fly in or climb onto the table.

Finished!

Wonderbubble!

Well, it LOOKS the part!

It was time for Mr Mentor to test the robodoggy

and see if it could do doggy things.

Ready, Robodoggy? Prick your ears up!

But the robodoggy couldn't prick his ears up.

Maybe I forgot to invent that bit. Let's try something else.

Robodoggy, wag your tail!

But the robodoggy couldn't wag his tail.

That's odd - I thought I'd invented the tail wagging bit.

But at least I know I invented the woofing.

Go on, Robodoggy - woof-woof!

But the Robodoggy couldn't woof-woof.

He couldn't do ANYTHING.

-I feared as much.

-This is very disappointable!

Just then, Mr Mentor heard somebody coming.

Miss Snip!

-He went into a panic.

-What shall I do?

And Grandpa went into action!

He ran over to the robodoggy and jumped inside.

Miss Snip! You're very early!

Is that my surprise behind you?

Well, it is and it isn't. It isn't quite...

Oh! It's a robodoggy!

A lovely, wuvvly robodoggy!

Mr Mentor, what can I say?

This is the happiest day of my whole life!

-Oh, good boy, good boy....

-Please, Miss Snip!

And look at you - oh, you gorgeous boy, you,

with your shiny coat and your big goggly eyes.

Oh, I LOVE you, I LOVE you.

Mr Mentor was worried about the robodoggy.

He had no idea that Grandpa was inside,

trying to fix all the bits that wouldn't work.

I bet you can do all sorts of doggy things, can't you?

I bet you can prick up your ears.

Grandpa pulled the ear strings.

Yes, you can, you can, you clever boy!

And I bet you can wag your little doggy tail, too!

Remarkabubble!

Of course, it was Grandpa that was being remarkabubble!

He was making the doggy's tail wag.

Then Miss Snip said...

And I bet you can woof-woof, too!

Grandpa could make the doggy's mouth open and shut,

but he did the woofing himself!

Woof-woof! Woof-woof!

Oh! What a lovely, wuvvly woof that is.

Mr Mentor, you are the most remarkabubble inventor

in the universe!

Yes, I know! I surprise myself sometimes.

And what have we got to do now? Take Robodoggy for walkies!

Fabberdiculous!

Oh! Elsie's ostrich!

Last time I saw this was in the cafe. How strange.

She must've fallen into my pocket by mistake, then fallen out.

We can take her back to Elsie later.

First, I want to go show off my new pet!

Come on, Robodoggy.

Grandpa was stuck inside the robodoggy

and there was no way he could get out.

Miss Snip and Mr Mentor walked the robodoggy all around Sunnysands.

Grandpa was kept very busy.

Woof-woof! Woof-woof!

Finally, they arrived at the Mill on the Marsh.

Miss Snip and Mr Mentor have come to see you, Elsie.

I found Mrs Ostrich - somehow, she made her way to the lighthouse.

Really? Thanks.

Come and say hello to my new pet!

Isn't he fantastic? Grandpa has got to see this.

-I'll wake him up.

-No! Don't do that!

He's, uh...very, very tired, he needs to rest.

'What I didn't know was that Grandpa was resting INSIDE the robodoggy!

'He was so tired from all the ear-pricking

'and tail-wagging and woof-woofing,

'he'd fallen asleep!

'So when Miss Snip told the robodoggy

'to show us his tricks...'

Come on, show Elsie how you can wag your tail.

'..nothing happened.'

He's not wagging.

What's the matter, darling?

Talk to Mummy.

He's not woof-woofing either!

Mr Mentor? Help!

-He seems to be broken.

-Broken?

NO! Don't say that!

Please calm down, Miss Snip.

Why don't we go downstairs and have a cup of tea?

Then maybe Mr Mentor will have an idea.

'I was really worried about Grandpa.

'How was he going to get back from the lighthouse without Mrs Ostrich?

'Then Jason came back with Wulfy.'

Hey, cool robodoggy! Everyone we met on our walk was talking about it.

It's amazing.

Grandpa's got his Shrinking Cap on and I don't know where he is.

WULFY BARKS

Hold on. What's up, Wulfy?

You trying to tell us something?

Wulfy woke Grandpa up.

I think Grandpa's inside!

Grandpa! Are you in there?

Oh, yes! I must have fallen asleep.

I think you'd better get out now.

No, no, I can't.

I've got to fix the robodoggy so that it can work by itself.

I can't be barking my head off all day.

But Miss Snip and Mr Mentor will be back any minute.

I'll go downstairs with Wulfy to keep them occupied.

Great! Elsie, get me some string - oh, and some paperclips!

'So, Jason and Wulfy helped keep everyone out of the sitting room...'

Oh, Wulfy, I LOVE you!

'And I helped Grandpa fix the robodoggy.'

Here's your paper clip. Be careful, Grandpa.

All done!

Brilliant! Now come out, PLEASE!

And now take your cap off, quick!

Ooh! I was right about it being a big job, but we did it.

-It was teamwork.

-Teamwork!

THEY LAUGH

Oh!

'Grandpa sat down just in time.'

Grandpa! You're up. How marvelicious.

I wanted to see the robodoggy do all his doggy tricks.

I'm sorry, I'm afraid he's broken.

Oh...maybe the invention was just having a little rest.

Yes! They do that, sometimes. Try again, Miss Snip.

OK, might as well, I suppose.

Prick your ears up!

Look! He's doing it!

Oh, you clever boy! I LOVE you!

Now, wag your tail.

He's wagging, he's wagging!

Now, give Mummy a lovely, wuvvly woof-woof.

ROBODOGGY BARKS

Mr Mentor, you fixed him!

Must have been that cup of tea.

Oh, Grandpa, I LOVE you!