Phone Puzz l e The SAMPLE
Words to look out for ...
attempt VERB (page 14) to try to do something
consider VERB (page 33) to think carefully about something extremely ADVERB (page 14) very
locate VERB (page 34) to discover where something is unsure ADJECTIVE (page 40) If you feel unsure, you feel that you do not know.
wave VERB (page 41) To wave is to move your hand from side to side, often to say hello.
In this book …
Friends, family and feelings
Discovery and adventure
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Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
Text © Oxford University Press 2024
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Illustrations © Iris Amaya 2024
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First Edition published in 2024
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
ISBN: 978-1-382-04356-4
The manufacturing process conforms to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
Printed in China by Golden Cup.
Acknowledgements
The Phone Puzzle and Leroy’sLostPhone written by Narinder Dhami
Content on pages 9, 62, 64 and 68 written by Suzy Ditchburn
Illustrated by Iris Amaya
Author photo courtesy of Robert Hodges
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the publisher.
Puzzle Phone The SAMPLE
Written by Narinder Dhami
Illustrated by Iris Amaya
Have a go!
ar as in warm
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oar as in roar
oor as in floor
Read this book if ... you like
FAMILIES, and MISSING PHONES ... FRIENDS stories about
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Page 8-9: Before reading page: OUP to do
AND THINK STOP
In this book, Dev’s phone goes missing.
How do you think Dev feels when his phone goes missing? What do you think he will do?
Meet the characters
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Aneesha
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Ella
Leroy
“Look, Kit-Kat!” Dev said. “Here’s a new toy for you!”
Kit-Kat yawned and curled up on the sofa. She went to sleep.
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zzzz zzzz zzzz
Dev attempted to wake Kit-Kat up. She wouldn’t move.
He wanted to make a funny cat video and send it to his friends. extremely He was annoyed!
Dev found a football video to watch instead. GoaL!
Then his little sister Aneesha dashed in.
Dev didn’t hear her. The video was really
“Will you play with me, Dev?” she begged. LOUD!
“
Dev!”
Aneesha roared.
“Be quiet, Aneesha!” Dev snapped.
Dad came in to see what all the
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noise was about.
Dev won’t play with me!
Dad rolled his
eyes.
“You’re glued to that phone, Dev,” he said. “I think I might have to hide it for a few days.”
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Dev continued watching the video. He wasn’t on his phone that much.
Anyway, he knew Dad was only joking about hiding it!
The next day was Saturday. Dev woke up and ran
downstairs his phone.
to grab
(He wasn’t allowed to have it at night. He had to leave it on the kitchen table.)
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His PHONE had VANISHED!
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Snakes and Ladders
Dev searched through everything on the table. Then he checked the floor underneath.
“Dad, my phone’s gone!” he cried. “Did you hide it?”
“No, I haven’t seen it,” Dad replied.
“What am I going to do without my phone?” Dev grumbled. “I’ll be
SOOOO BO RED!
”
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“It’s useful having a phone, but it isn’t necessary,” Dad replied.
“You can have fun without it.
I didn’t have a smartphone when I was your age.”
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Yes,
but that was in the OLDEN DAYS!
Dev went outside. It had been raining, but now it was sunny.
Ashimmer ing rainbow
filled the blue sky.
Dev stared at the rainbow.
He noticed how the dif ferent colours were.
I wish I had my phone.
Then I could take a picture.
Dev went down the road to see his friend, Ella. She looked surprised when she opened the door.
“Why didn’t you text me?”
she asked. “You text me every morning!”
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“I’ve LOST my PHONE!”
Dev explained miserably. “Can we play games on yours?”
“My phone’s almost out of bat tery. I need to charge it,” Ella said. “We can do something else.”
“Like what?” Dev asked.
“ We could raceon our bikes,”
Ella suggested.
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Dev considered this.
Then he
smiled.
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Dev ran home to get his bike. “Dad, did you locate my phone?” he asked. Dad shook his head.
Dev frowned. “Where can it be?” he said.
It’s like it just vanished into THIN AIR!
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Dev and Ella raced each other.
Dev had forgotten how much he enjoyed riding his bike. He hadn’t done it for ages.
Normally on Saturday mornings, he and Ella just played with their phones.
Then Dev saw someone watching them. It was leRoy .
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Leroy’s family had just moved on to the street. Dev didn’t really know them. Now Dev noticed that Leroy looked very shy and unsure.
Dev waved at him. “Do you want to race with us, Leroy?”
Dev called.
Leroy’s face LIT UP. “Yes, I’ll get my bike,” he called back.
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Dev, Ella and Leroy
raced along
in the warm sunshine.
Then Ella’s mum called her in.
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Ella! Time for lunch!
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Dev said goodbye to Leroy and Ella.
Hefelta lot more cheerfulnow!
Back at home, Kit-Kat was in the living room.
purr purr
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Dev jiggled a toy in front of Kit-Kat. The cat pounced on it at once.
Dev smiled. Of course Kit-Kat wanted to play now he couldn’t film her!
It was a shame he didn’t have his phone. It was fun playing with Kit-Kat, though.
When Kit-Kat got bored, Dev went out to the kitchen. His dad was making lunch.
“Aneesha, DON'T put your fingers in the butter!” Dad groaned.
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SnakesandLadders
Butterfingers!
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Dad seemed stressed. Mum was away on a work trip. Suddenly, Dev realized something. Dad was always stressed when Mum wasn’t at home.
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Snakes and Ladders
Why hadn’t Dev before? noticed this
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“Aneesha, let’s play a game,” Dev suggested.
Dad looked relieved.
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Snakes and Ladders
Snakes and Ladders!
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Dev opened
the box to get the board out.
“MY PHONE!” he said with a gasp.
Snakes and Ladders
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HEE HEE HEE
“Aneesha, did you hide my phone?” Dev demanded.
“Yes! So you’d play with me,” she replied.
Dev couldn’t help smiling. Aneesha could be annoying, but she was cute!
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“You don’t look too upset, Dev,” Dad remarked.
“I do spend too much time on my phone,” Dev confessed.
“I had a great time today without it.”
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“I’m going to try har d to use it less!” Dev added.
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Then Dad’s phone went of f. Dad grabbed it quickly to check who was calling.
“Maybe you use your phone too much, Dad!”
Dev said with a grin.
HEE HEE HEE
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Look back
1. Find a word that means the same as ‘disappeared’ .
2. Think of three words to describe how Dev felt when he lost his phone.
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3. Why hadn’t Dev noticed how stressed his dad was before?
4. What did Dev learn from not having his phone all day?
Read out loud
This play is a conversation between Dev and Leroy. You’ll see the character’s name on the left, followed by what they say. Read the play with a friend.
Think about what sort of voice your character would have.
play
Leroy’s Lost Phone
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Leroy: Where’s my phone? I left it on the sofa.
Dev: Isn’t it there?
Leroy: No! I have to find it because I lost my last one. My mum was really cross!
Dev: I’ll call it.
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Leroy: I can hear it ringing!
Dev: It’s coming from over there, inside the toy box.
Leroy: I’ll look inside … OH!
Dev: What?
Leroy: How did this toy rabbit get my phone?
Dev: ANEESHA!
Read it again
1. Read the play again, adding more feeling to your voice to reflect the characters and what is being said.
2. Have a go at writing the next bit of the conversation between Leroy and Aneesha. Is Leroy cross or does he think it is funny? Why did Aneesha hide the phone this time? Think about how to write the script out on the page.
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About the author
I didn’t have a mobile phone when I was growing up. In fact, they weren’t around then! However, I did enjoy riding my bike. I also loved reading books and writing stories. Writing stories is my job now, but I still like riding my bike (and I’ll admit, I do love my phone!).
Look for this book next: Granphibian and the Diving Disaster
