When young Alan Mitz is asked to take care of Miss Hester's unruly dog Fritz while she visits cousin Eunice, he has no idea what adventures are in store for him. Fritz keeps Alan busy all morning by attempting to chew up Miss Hester's furniture. When the two both settle in for a nap, Alan makes sure to hide his hat from Fritz, who is known to love chewing hats above even furniture!
Later, Alan dutifully takes Fritz for his afternoon walk. Fritz leads the way across a little white bridge. Alan stops to read a sign that declares, "ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THIS GARDEN," signed by the mysterious Abdul Gasazi, retired magician. Just as Alan turns to leave, Fritz breaks free and runs past the sign and through the door to Gasazi's garden. Alan chases Fritz but when he slips and falls, he loses sight of the little dog. He follows Fritz's pawprints deep into the garden, along a path leading into a forest. Finally, Alan comes to a clearing and sees the massive home of Abdul Gasazi. Believing that the magician has captured Fritz, Alan bravely knocks on the door and is welcomed into Gasazi's home by the great man himself.
After apologizing and explaining his predicament to the magician, Alan asks for Fritz. Gasazi beckons for Alan to follow him outside, where they come upon a group of ducks. Expressing his dislike of dogs, the magician tells poor Alan that he has turned Fritz into one of the ducks. As Alan tearfully takes the duck that is Fritz and heads for home, a gust of wind blows his hat off of his head. The duck swoops out of Alan's arms, catches the hat, and flies away into the distance. A miserable Alan walks back to Miss Hester's house only to learn from Miss Hester that Fritz was in fact waiting in the front yard when she returned from cousin Eunice's house. She tells Alan that the magician has simply played a trick on him. Relieved, Alan says goodbye and heads for home. After he leaves, Fritz trots up to Miss Hester with Alan's lost hat in his mouth! Was Gasazi playing a joke, or was Fritz really temporarily turned into a duck?!
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/garden.shtml
| The Garden of Abdul Gasazi Van Allsburg, Chris AR Quiz No. 53942 EN Fiction  IL: LG - BL: 4.0 - AR Pts: 0.5 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating:  When the dog he is caring for runs away from Alan into the forbidden garden of a dog-hating magician, a spell seems to be cast over the dog. | ||||||
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