Brothers the Brothers QUIBBLE - Australian Library and ... · Brothers a Q UIBBLE Spalding Quibble ruled the roost. He shared it with no other. But then his parents introduced brand

www.aaronblabey.com

Aaro

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the Bro

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Spalding Quibble ruled the roost.He shared it with no other.

But then his parents introduceda brand new baby brother.

Uh oh.

A book about love (and war)from the award-winning author

of Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley,The Dreadful Fluff and Noah Dreary.

————— ————

————— ————

Aaron Blabey

the

QUIBBLEQUIBBLE

puffin.com.au

15 mm 297 mm 8 mm

15 m

m24

2 m

m15

mm

cover

spine width 8 mm cyan magenta yellow black The Brothers Quibble_Cover SI.indd 1 17/10/13 7:07 AM

Brothers

15 mm 297 mm 8 mm

15 m

m24

2 m

m15

mm

cover

spine width 8 mm PMS 8960 C (metallic foil)The Brothers Quibble_Cover SI.indd 2 17/10/13 7:07 AM

REVERSE SIDE OF FRONT ENDPAPERS

The Brothers Quibble_Text SI.indd 4 12/09/13 9:36 AM

Aaron Blabey

theBrothers

theBrothers

the

QUIBBLEQ


The Brothers Quibble_Text SI.indd 5 12/09/13 12:20 PM



For those who had sharing thrust upon them.

VIKING

Published by the Penguin GroupPenguin Group (Australia)707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia(a division of Penguin Australia Pty Ltd)Penguin Group (USA) Inc.375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USAPenguin Group (Canada) 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Canada ON M4P 2Y3(a division of Penguin Canada Books Inc.)Penguin Books Ltd80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL EnglandPenguin Ireland25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, IndiaPenguin Group (NZ)67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand(a division of Penguin New Zealand Pty Ltd)Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Rosebank Office Park, Block D, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa Penguin (Beijing) Ltd7F, Tower B, Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2014

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Text and illustrations copyright © Aaron Blabey, 2014 The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Cover and text design by Aaron Blabey and Marina Messiha © Penguin Group (Australia)Colour separation by Splitting Image Colour Studio, Clayton, VictoriaPrinted and bound in China by South China Printing Company

National Library of AustraliaCataloguing-in-Publication data:

Blabey, Aaron, author.The Brothers Quibble/Aaron Blabey

ISBN: 978 0 670 07600 0 (hbk.)

Brothers – Juvenile fiction. Sibling rivalry – Juvenile fiction.

A823.4

puffin.com.au


Spalding Quibble ruled the roost.


Spalding Quibble ruled the roost.


He shared it with no other.


He shared it with no other.


But then his parents introduced . . .


. . . a brand new baby brother.


. . . a brand new baby brother.


Spalding didn’t understand. He felt a bit delirious. He took his mother by the hand and said, ‘You can’t be serious?’

‘Is this some sort of joke?’ he cried.‘It really isn’t funny.’‘Hush now, Spalding,’ mother sighed,‘And say hello to . . .


. . . Bunny.’


. . . Bunny.’


Mother kissed her babe to sleep.Father watched with pride.And Spalding felt a feeling creep from somewhere deep inside.


‘Curse you, Devil!’ Spalding spat

then ran and slammed the door.


‘Curse you, Devil!’ Spalding spat



‘I rule the roost and that is that! From now on this means WAR!’



And so began young Spalding’s spreeof unprovoked attacks.

His mother’s nerves were shot to bits.His father’s head was balding.

He traumatised his family and no one could relax.


And so began young Spalding’s spreeof unprovoked attacks.





And Bunny’s life was just the pits.Oh, what to do with Spalding?



For months on end they lived in gloom. And all day long they’d shout,

‘SPALDING! GO!

GET IN YOUR ROOM!WE’VE HADENOUGH. . .


For months on end they lived in gloom. And all day long they’d shout,

‘SPALDING! GO!

GET IN YOUR ROOM!WE’VE HADENOUGH. . .


. . . TIME OUT!’. . . TIME OUT!’


But time did pass. Yes, pass it did.And Bunny Quibble grew.He grew into an actual kid.Yes, that’s what babies do.


But time did pass. Yes, pass it did.And Bunny Quibble grew.He grew into an actual kid.Yes, that’s what babies do.


He learned to sit. He learned to crawl.He even learned to walk.He learned to dodge a cricket ball.And then . . .


. . . he learned to talk.


. . . he learned to talk.


And when young Bunny found his voiceand spoke that simple word –

Well, things did change. Oh yes! Rejoice!A miracle occurred.

cyan magenta yellow blackThe Brothers Quibble_Text SI.indd 19 18/07/14 4:05 PM

You see, despite the pain that came with every whack or shove,

Bunny spoke his brother’s name with nothing less than love.


You see, despite the pain that came with every whack or shove,

Bunny spoke his brother’s name with nothing less than love.


With every word or game he’d play . . .

. . . or every cheerful scribble . . .


. . . Bunny seemed to only say,‘I love you, Spalding Quibble.’


. . . Bunny seemed to only say,‘I love you, Spalding Quibble.’


And even when the bully boywas sentenced to Time Out . . .


. . . Bunny would invent a ploy to break his brother out.


And slowly all this love beganto thaw young Spalding’s heart.

His evil-minded master plan?


. . . Bunny would invent a ploy to break his brother out.


And slowly all this love beganto thaw young Spalding’s heart.

His evil-minded master plan?


It gently fell apart.


It gently fell apart.


In fact, they liked each other.

In time, he slowly came to see that living with his brother was not a TOTAL tragedy.


Of course, it wasn’t always grand.

And Spalding came to understand . . .

Nor was it always sunny.


Of course, it wasn’t always grand.

And Spalding came to understand . . .

Nor was it always sunny.


. . . you shouldn’t mess with Bunny.


But even though it comes to blows.And EVERY DAY they fight . . .


But even though it comes to blows.And EVERY DAY they fight . . .


These days, Spalding sort of knows . . .


. . . that Bunny is all right.

REVERSE SIDE OF BACK ENDPAPERS




. . . that Bunny is all right.

REVERSE SIDE OF BACK ENDPAPERS




www.aaronblabey.com

Aaro

n B

labey

the Bro

thers Q

UIB

BL

E

Spalding Quibble ruled the roost.He shared it with no other.

But then his parents introduceda brand new baby brother.

Uh oh.

A book about love (and war)from the award-winning author

of Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley,The Dreadful Fluff and Noah Dreary.

————— ————

————— ————

Aaron Blabey

the

QUIBBLEQUIBBLE

puffin.com.au

15 mm 297 mm 8 mm

15 m

m24

2 m

m15

mm

cover

spine width 8 mm cyan magenta yellow black The Brothers Quibble_Cover SI.indd 1 17/10/13 7:07 AM

Brothers the Brothers QUIBBLE - Australian Library and ... · Brothers a Q UIBBLE Spalding Quibble ruled the roost. He shared it with no other. But then his parents introduced brand

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