Mr. Mugs – Meet My Pals
A childhood favorite of his, Louis credits the Mr. Mugs book series with helping him learn to read.
Mr. Mugs is the title character in a series of children’s books written by Martha Kambeitz and Carol Roth and published by Ginn and Company (now part of Prentice Hall). Mr. Mugs was an Old English Sheepdog who lived with two children, Pat and Cathy. These readers were used in Canadian elementary schools in the 1970s and early 1980s to teach reading. There were 3 different series (with seven levels within each series) of Mr. Mugs books: Ginn Integrated Language Program; Light and Life Reading Series; and Sharing Points in Language Arts. While two titles were published in hardcover, the rest of the Mr. Mugs titles were published in softcover.
All of the Mr. Mugs books have been out of print for quite some time but you can occasionally find individual issues on eBay, Amazon or other antique book dealers.
The second monthly reading series is Mr. Mugs – Meet My Pals by Martha Kambeitz, Denise Burns and Josephine Proctor.
Chapter 1/ Pages 1-9 (June 2016)
Meet My Pals –
A Reading by Louis Ferreira
Mark and Tom
Pals and Pets
Is Mark here?
Is Tom here?
Pat, get Mark and Tom.
Mark! Tom! See my dog!
Here’s Mr. Mugs!
Mr. Mugs is my pet!
Oh, Mark!
What a dog!
Mommy! Daddy!
Come out here!
What is it, Pat?
It’s a turtle!
Mark’s turtle!
Come out and see!
Oh, look, Mr. Mugs.
Here’s a pet frog.
I like frogs.
What a pet!
Chapter 2/ Pages 10-13 (July 2016)
Picnic Fun
I like a picnic, Mommy.
It’s fun!
Oh!
The grasshoppers!
The grasshoppers!
Run, Pat!
Get the grasshoppers!
Oh, my!
See the grasshoppers!
Fast, daddy!
Get the grasshoppers!
Oh! MR. MUGS!
Look, Tom!
The grasshopper is on Mr. Mugs!
It likes my dog!
What a picnic! It’s fun!
It’s a picnic for grasshoppers!¨
And what a surprise for Mr. Mugs!
Chapter 3/ Page 14 (August 2016)
A Picnic
We had a picnic
We had buns
We had wieners –
big fat ones.
We had wieners
on a stick…
Mother told us:
“Don’t be quick,
Turn your wieners
front and back,
cook them slowly
till they crack.”
We had cookies
and lemonade.
Beth saw a bee
and got afraid.
I dropped a pickle
in the dirt.
But I washed it off
so it didn’t hurt.
We had a picnic.
Was it fun!
NOW all we want
is another one!
Chapter 4/ Page 15-16 (September 2016)
It’s Fall
This is fun, Mommy.
It’s pretty here in the fall.
I like this.
Here, Mommy.
This is for you!
Oh, thank you, Pat.
It’s pretty!
Chapter 5/ Page 17-20 (October 2016)
Fun for Mr. Mugs
Look, Mr. Mugs. See this pet.
He can run and jump.
He likes fun!
What pet is it, Mr Mugs?
Look, Mr. Mugs!
It’s a dog!
I made it look like you!
See this pet, Mr. Mugs.
It’s a frog.
I made it.
A frog can jump fast!
Oh, look.
Mr. Mugs is here.
Come in, Mr. Mugs.
Come in here.
Come on, Mr. Mugs.
Jump on my bed.
Come on! Jump! Jump!
Oh, Mr. Mugs.
I like you.
This is fun!
What a dog!
Chapter 6/ Page 21-23 (November 2016)
A Red Surprise
Here’s a surprise for you!
Here, Tom. A red one for you.
A red one for Pat.
A red one for Mark.
his one is for Daddy.
He likes red.
Thank you, Mommy!
See my surprise!
I made it!
Daddy likes red.
It’s pretty, Mom.
Red looks pretty.
What a surprise for Dad!
Surprise, Daddy! Surprise!
One for Mark and one for Tom.
Here’s my surprise.
And here’s one for you!
Thank you! This is a surprise!
My! Mommy looks pretty!
Red looks pretty on you, Mommy.
I like red surprises!
Chapter 7/ Page 24-28 (December 2016)
Can a Dog Play Ball?
Tom! Mark! Come on!
Come out and play ball!
Come on, Cathy.
You can play.
Here’s the ball!
Here comes Daddy.
Can you play ball, Daddy?
Can you run fast?
Come and play ball!
It’s fun to play ball!
Look, Daddy.
This one is for you.
Here comes a fast one!
Here it comes!
What a fast ball!
Go, Daddy! Go fast!
Tom! Go for the ball!
Get the ball!
Look! Here comes Mr. Mugs.
And here’s the ball!
Mr. Mugs can play ball!
Here’s something, Mr. Mugs.
Daddy likes to play ball.
Mark and Tom like to play.
Mr. Mugs LOVES to play ball!
Chapter 8/ Page 29-33 (January 2017)
Something Green
Here’s something for you to see.
It’s a surprise!
It’s something green.
It can jump.
What is it?
Oh, Mrs. Cook!
A green frog!
Frogs can jump!
Jump, Mr. Frog! Jump!
See it go, Mrs. Cook!
It can go fast!
Get the frog!
Come here, Mr. Frog!
Come back here!
Oh, Mrs. Cook!
See the frog.
It’s on you!
Can you get it, Mrs. Cook?
Here he is.
Here’s Mr. Frog.
Hello, Mr. Green Frog.
This is a surprise!
In you go, Mr. Frog.
In you go.
Chapter 9/ Page 34 (February 2017)
Frogs
The papa bullfrog has a voice
That’s very loud and deep,
The baby frogs have voices that
can only make a peep.
And every night I hear them talk
Before I go to sleep.
Chapter 10/ Page 35-38 (March 2017)
Sing and Play
Hello, Mr. Turtle.
I can jump and sing in here.
I like it in here!
Oh! Hello Mr. Frog!
Come on in!
You can jump fast!
A frog!
What a surprise this is!
Hello, Mr. Frog!
Can you sing?
Can a frog sing?
Hello, Mr. Frog!
Look here.
Here’s a surprise.
See this?
I can play it.
Will you sing?
Come and sing, Mr. Frog.
Sing something pretty.
Come on, Mr. Frog.
Sing something I like.
I will sing for you.
You will see.
A frog can jump.
A frog can sing.
Play something, Mr. Grasshopper.
Play something and I will sing.
Chapter 11/ Page 39 (April 2017)
Little Black Bug
Little black bug,
Little black bug,
Where have you been?
I’ve been under the rug,
Said the little black bug.
Bug-ug-ug-ug-ug.
Little green fly,
Little green fly,
Where have you been?
I’ve been way up high,
Said the little green fly.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Little old mouse,
Little old mouse,
Where have you been?
I’ve been all through the house,
Said the little old mouse.
Squeak-eak-eak-eak-eak.
Margaret Wise Brown
Chapter 12/ Page 40-43 (May 2017)
The Playhouse
Pat! Pat!
Come here!
Come and play house!
A playhouse in a tree!
What a surprise!
I love it, Cathy!
Here, Pat.
You can play the daddy.
This is for you.
I’ll play the mommy.
It’s fun to look like Mommy.
Thanks, Cathy.
I love to play house!
Pat! Look here.
See what’s in the tree.
Hi, Mr. Squirrel!
Come and play House!
Chapter 13/ Page 44-47 (June 2017)
Mary
Look. This is my house.
Here’s my daddy.
Here’s my mother.
She’s pretty.
Oh, Cathy.
I like this one.
Mrs. Cook will like it.
Mrs. Cook, see this one.
Here’s my mother.
I love my mother.
This is Mary.
She’s my sister.
And this is me
Here’s a funny one!
This is my sister Mary.
She likes to play in the playhouse.
Thank you, Cathy.
This is a funny one.
Mary is pretty.
She looks like you!
Chapter 14/ Page 48-52 (July 2017)
A Funny Funny Surprise
Come on, Cathy!
Come and play here.
Run fast and JUMP!
Come on, Tom! Come on, Mark!
It’s fun!
See this?
Come on! Jump in like this!
Here I go!
C-H-A-R-G-E!!!
Oh, Pat! LOOK!
Something’s in here!
Can you see it?
Oh Cathy! It’s Mark!
Come on, Mark.
I see you!
Oh look! It’s MR. MUGS!
Come here, you funny dog.
Come and jump in!
[Make the sounds you hear when you
play in the leaves.]
Chapter 15/ Page 53-56 (August 2017)
Cathy’s Surprise
Hi Cathy.
Can you come to my house?
It’s a surprise!
Hi Pat!
A surprise?
What is it?
Look, Cathy.
See Mr.. Mugs.
He likes to play like this!
Come on, Mr Mugs.
Faster! Faster!
It’s fun, Pat.
Mr. Mugs likes it.
He likes to go fast!
Come on, Cathy!
You go.
Hang on!
GO MR. MUGS! GO!
O-O-O-O-H!
CATHY!
MR. MUGS!
TIGER!
Will Cathy jump?
Will she go back to Pat?
Will Mr. Mugs get Tiger?
Chapter 16/ Page 57-59 (September 2017)
What Fun!
B-A-L-L-O-O-N-S!
B-A-L-L-O-O-N-S!
Come and get one!
Come and get one!
B-A-L-L-O-O-N-S!
Here’s one for you, Cathy.
Here’s a pretty one for Mary.
Look, Pat.
Here’s something to see!
He looks funny!
See the funny dog, Cathy.
What a ride for a dog!
A MERRY-GO-ROUND!
Jump on! Jump on!
Come for a fast ride!
WHEE-E-E!
This is fun!
It’s fun to ride fast!
O-o-o-o-h!
What a ride!
Chapter 17/ Page 60-61 (October 2017)
What can they hear?
What can they smell?
What can they taste?
What can they see?
How do they feel?
Chapter 18/ Page 62 (November 2017)
Merry-Go-Round
I climbed up on the merry-go-round
And it went round and round.
I climbed up on a big brown horse
And it went up and down.
Around and round
And up and down,
Around and round
And up and down,
I sat high up
On a big brown horse
And rode around
On the merry-go-round
And rode around
On the merry-go-round
I rode around
On the merry-go-round
Around
And round
And
Round.
Dorothy Baruch
Chapter 19/ Page 63 (December 2017)
Let’s Make Sure
Answer Yes or No
1. Can a frog jump?
2. Is Mark a pet?
3. Is a picnic fun?
4. Is Tom in the playhouse?
5. Can Cathy thank Mrs Cook?
6. Can Mary ride in the playhouse?
Can you read?
1. Mark and Tom like to go on a picnic.
2. Pat made the funny green frog jump.
3. She likes to sing for Daddy and Mommy.
4. It is fun to ride on a jet.
5. Daddy made a playhouse for Mary.
6. My sister will like this pretty red one.
7. Come and see something jump.
8. What a surprise he will get in here!
The End
