Bag Boy and Sweet Slob by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

“LOVED THIS SMALL STORY WITH A BIG MESSAGE! Having a ‘hobby that helps people’ is an inspiring ideal for kids today, (or for any age)! Growing up in these times cannot be easy, so this book is like a blueprint for at least one small solution. Wonderfully detailed through its drawings and nicely crafted words, it portrays that awkward age when peers can be so judgmental. Surprising to themselves, two outsiders with vast differences find a common bond and discover their humanity by helping their community and in turn, themselves. ‘TOTALLY’ INSPIRING READ!” —PJ Soles, actress, star of Halloween, Stripes, Carrie, Rock and Roll High School

—Tami Zorge, Executive Producer, Professor Creepy’s Scream Party

BAG BOY AND SWEET SLOB

“If I had to describe this book in one word it would be ‘adorable!’ The story is adorably sweet and funny, the characters adorably cute and innocent and the inspiration behind the story is adorably hilarious! I feel honored that I helped to inspire Dave to share his imagination behind our relationship.” “A sweet and funny journey through surprise, which is truly in the bag.”

—Terence Winkless, Award winning actor, writer and director, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Howling, The Banana Splits

“Completely charming and unexpectedly sweet. I loved the relevant message about nonjudgement and finding mutual value in unlikely friendships.” —Eva Steortz, Former Vice President of Marketing at Disney, author of From the Out House to the Mouse House, Originally from Sistersville, West Virginia

DAVE SHELTON

Dave Shelton is an award winning film and TV writer, cartoonist, voice actor, musician and author originally from New Jersey whose credits include Everybody Loves Raymond, National Lampoon, Nickelodeon, Disney and Warner Bros. His other children’s books include The Lemming Shepherds and he is the author of the popular humor book, Brain Explosion, a collection of his work from National Lampoon. He is also the creator of popular kids TV show, Professor Creepy’s Scream Party© and the hit FM radio show, Cemetery GoGo. www.snuggybear.com Richard Peter David is an illustrator and cartoonist based in the Philippines.

Dave Shelton

illustrated by Richard Peter David

Dave Shelton illustrated by

Richard Peter David

Bag Boy and Sweet Slob by Dave Shelton illustrated by Richard Peter David copyright ÂŠ2021 Dave Shelton All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. To order additional copies of this book, or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com Characters and drawings designed by Dave Shelton Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN-13: 9781951556464

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020945948

PR I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A

Dedicated to my friends and family who always support me and to Tami Zorge, the real Sweet Slob, for inspiring me to write this book. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d also like to dedicate this to all the events Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever attended who gave me gift bags that were well repurposed.

Special Thanks to: Mitch Kitayama Julia M. Baldari P.J. Soles John Hitt Emily Rose Hitt Diane Salsburg-Daderko Robert Richards Eva Steortz Brittany Przelenski Asok Doraiswamy Paul Mazza Guy Griffithe Kathleen Baer Terence Winkless Shauna Williams-Yoho Sabrina Kyle Sistersville Public Library

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Randy Rassman, but everyone called him Bag Boy because he loved bags. All kinds of bags: garbage bags, shopping bags, freezer bags, dry cleaning bags, designer bags, bags with handles, tote bags, clothes bags, even laundry bags. He would scatter them all over his room. Sometimes, he would even put things in them like his dirty clothes or old toys and food wrappers, but he mostly just kept them empty. His mother was worried it was becoming an obsession, but Bag Boy told her not to worry because someday all those bags would come in handy and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be ready when someone needed one.

Then one day, Bag Boy was out walking and came upon a woman who was having trouble because her paper shopping bag had ripped and she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any backup ones.

Bag Boy quickly ran home, grabbed a canvas tote bag, and rushed back to the woman and helped her pick up her groceries and put them in the bag.

The woman was so grateful she gave Bag Boy $5 as a thank you. At first, Bag Boy didn’t want to accept the money, but the woman insisted and said it was one of the nicest things she’s ever seen. Bag Boy said thank you and told her if she ever knew anyone else that needed a bag to let him know, and with that, he gave her his card which read “My name is Randy, the Bag Boy” and had his phone number on it. The woman thanked him and proceeded off down the street. Bag Boy smiled.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, there stood a large house on a manicured street with white picket fences and beautiful oak trees.

Inside the house, a young girl named Tandy was lying on her bed, taking one of her many naps she takes after school. Surrounding Tandy on the bed was an inordinate amount of clothes scattered around practically swallowing her up. On the floor, there were even more clothes and shoes and dolls and books and anything else you can imagine a young girl to have around her. The only open space was a slight path that led from the bed to the bedroom door.

Suddenly, the door to her room swung open and her mother stood there with a horrified look. “Tandy Taylor, would you look at this mess?” her mom blurted out. Tandy stirred from her nap and looked at her mom and smiled. “What mess?” Tandy responded with a slight case of confusion. Her mom just sighed in frustration. “Tandy, you have to be the sloppiest kid in the whole world. I don’t know what I can do to get you to clean up.”

Tandy replied, “I clean up. I think this just happens by itself.” Tandy’s mom gave her a look. “I suppose the slob fairy comes and messes it up.” “You might be right, mom. I’ll have to set up my camera to capture her in action,” Tandy said with a slight tinge of teasing. Her mom just continued to look frustrated. “I’m sorry, mom. I’ll try harder,” Tandy told her apologetically. Her mom smiled.

“Oh, Tandy, It’s hard to stay mad at you. You’re so sweet and have a good heart. But you’re just such a slob.” “Guess I’m just a sweet slob, right mother?” Tandy said with pride. And from that moment on, Tandy would be known as Sweet Slob.

The next day at school, it was picture day. All the kids were in their best clothes though some not happy about it. The teachers had decided to combine the students into groups of two grades each session to save time. The 5th and 6th graders were scheduled together at the same time. There were two photographers set up in the gym. The kids from each grade lined up next to each other. It just happened that Randy (in the 5th grade) and Tandy (in the 6th grade) were in the same place in their lines.

They never met each other before, but when Randy looked over at her, his heart suddenly fluttered and he dropped his book bag on the floor, which made a loud thud. Tandy looked over and saw Randy blushing as the other kids started laughing. Tandy smiled and offered to help pick up his bag.

As she was leaning over, her backpack ripped open, and about a million things spilled out of it. No one could believe how much stuff she was able to jam into that relatively small backpack. 25

Randy immediately reached into his book bag and pulled out an empty canvas bag and knelt down to begin helping Tandy pick up her stuff and put it into the bag. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thanks,â&#x20AC;? said Tandy as Randy picked up her things and continued to put them in the bag. There were so many things it filled the entire bag causing it to bulge. When he finished picking everything up, he gave it back to Tandy.

“My name’s Randy,” Randy said a bit shyly. “But everyone calls me Bag Boy.” “My name is Tandy, but I like to be called Sweet Slob,” Tandy responded proudly. They smiled at each other. “Would you like to come over to my house after school for snacks?” Sweet Slob asked Bag Boy. “I would love it, but only for a little while. I have an after school hobby,” Bag Boy said. “What kind of hobby?” asked Sweet Slob. “I find people who need bags and I supply them,” he replied. Sweet Slob was really impressed that someone around her age was that dedicated to having a hobby that also helped people. Most kids these days are only interested in playing video games and texting.

Later, after school, Randy and Tandy were in Tandy’s mom’s car on the way back to her house. Tandy’s mom asked, “Did your mom say it was alright to come over, Randy?” “Yes, Mrs. Taylor. I don’t live that far from you,” Randy told her, adding, “and my mom said she would love to meet you for coffee sometime.” “That would be awesome,” smiled Tandy’s mom.

Once at Tandy’s house, they entered her room. What Bag Boy saw almost made him gag. The mess was incredible. He’d never seen more stuff lying around in one place. Sweet Slob smiled, “Isn’t this a great room? But mom wants me to clean it.” “I can see why but I think I can help,” Bag Boy offered. With that, he pulled out a bag from his main bag and swung it open. It expanded to a huge size.

He placed it near the bedroom door, the only area with a bit of open space. “You can put all your stuff that you don’t use in this bag and at least it will get things off the floor and make your mom happy,” said Bag Boy. Sweet Slob smiled and responded, “That is awesome. And we can make a game of it.” They began picking up things off the floor and tossing it into the bag like it was a basketball net. In no time, the room was clear and everything was in the bag.

Tandy’s mom entered and couldn’t believe what she saw. “Oh my goodness,” she said. “What happened to Tandy? Where did she go?” “Oh, mom, I’m still here, but Randy, I mean, Bag Boy, helped me clean the room, giving me this awesome bag that just seemed to get bigger as we kept adding things,” exclaimed Tandy. “It was my pleasure,” smiled Randy. Tandy’s mom thought for a moment and said, “You know, Randy, I mean Bag Boy, I have a lot of friends with kids that would love your bags. I will give them a call and set you up.” “That would be very nice of you, Mrs. Taylor,” Bag Boy said. With that, Tandy’s mom left.

Bag Boy and Sweet Slob smiled at each other. “Thanks, Tandy, I mean Sweet Slob. We make a good team. Maybe we should go into business together,” Bag Boy said. “That would be fun,” Sweet Slob responded. “I’ll find the people that need bags and you can supply them.”

So began the friendship and business collaboration of Bag Boy and Sweet Slob. They called their company “Bag It Up” and adopted the slogan, “We bag your mess so you can keep a clear mind.” Little did they know, they would be going on many adventures together. The End 40