Hi, Welcome to the Screen Actors Guild Foundation BookPALS.
I'm Amanda Bynes, you may know me from "All That," or Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show," or "Big Fat Liar."
Today I'm going to be reading a story about a dog, and I have two dogs so I thought it was a pretty cool idea.
It's called "The Night I Followed the Dog." It's written and illustrated by Nina Laden.
I have a dog. Nothing exotic or special, just an ordinary dog. In fact I always thought he was a boring dog.
What I mean is he can fetch, roll over and shake hands, but mostly he sleeps and eats.
I used to think that our nextdoor neighbors had the best dog in the world.
Their dog can sing and change the channels on the TV. Their dog always wins medals in obedience school.
But I don't think their dog is so great now. Not since the night I followed my dog.
Every night I let my dog out and he runs off into the darkness with his tail wagging.
The next morning, I let him in and he heads straight for the food bowl.
But one morning I knew something was funny, when I opened the door a little bit earlier than usual and I saw my dog jump out of a limousine wearing a tuxedo.
Before I could look twice, he disappeared into the backyard and I opened the kitchen door and whistled.
When he came into the house he was the same as he always is. Hungry!
I really wasn't sure if I believed what I had seen.
So that night I decided to follow him.
I wore dark clothing so I wouldn't be noticed, and I left my bicycle near the door so I'd have it close by.
When I let the dog out, I slipped out too. I took out the garbage so he wouldn't suspect anything.
The dog went straight to his doghouse.
I saw a light go on inside. Slowly I snuck around the backyard and peeked into the doghouse.
This is not the doghouse that I had helped build.
Inside there was a living room, a bathroom, and a huge closet full of fancy clothes.
The dog was in the bathroom. He was wearing a tuxedo and fumbling with a bowtie.
When he came out, he casually walked out of the doghouse, across the yard, and down the street.
I grabbed my bicycle and followed him. Two blocks later, I saw a limousine pull over.
The dog got in and the car took off. I started peddling faster.
The car headed across town. I thought I would lose them, but luckily they were stopped by a few red lights.
After a while, I found myself in a part of town that I'd never seen before.
The buildings all seemed to be empty and it was very quiet. The limousine stopped.
I hid and watched my dog get out. He disappeared into a building and the limousine pulled away.
There was nothing on the outside of the building, just two brass fire hydrants on either side of the entrance.
I opened the door. At the end of the hall there was a neon sign that said The Dog House. I crept closer.
It looked like some kind of club. I decided to get a closer look.
The moment I opened the door, two mean-looking bulldogs appeared and said, "You can't come in here."
I didn't know what to say, so I said, "But, but... I saw my dog. I mean, I think my dog's in here."
Just then, my dog walked over and said, "It's okay boys, he's with me."
The bulldog said, "Sure boss, uh, whatever you say boss."
For a minute, it seemed like forever, I waited.
Then my dog said, "I knew you'd find out eventually. Well, now you know. This is my place."
I looked around. Finally I asked, "What is this place?"
My dog said, "This, this is a place where dogs come after a hard day.
It's a place where we can relax. It's a place where we can talk about our problems with the mailman or with the poodle next door.
See all the sofas? We can sit on the sofas here. We can get treats without having to lie down, roll over, or play dead.
And if we want to chew on a shoe or chase our tail, no one will stop us.
We have no masters here, no leashes, and no rolled-up newspapers. This, this is a place where dogs can be dogs."
We sat down. A cocker spaniel came by and asked me if I would like a bowl of water or some biscuits.
Little by little dogs of all kinds started coming in.
Some danced. Some talked. They all looked at me a little funny, but when they saw who I was with, they smiled and shook my hand.
At one point, my dog waved to an Afghan with a camera. She came over to our table and took a picture of us together.
Being with my dog made me feel like a movie star.
Just when I was really starting to enjoy myself, I looked at my watch.
I told my dog I had to leave or I'd get in trouble. He nodded.
I think he was about to say something, but a glamorous greyhound grabbed his paw and whisked him onto the dance floor.
As he was getting up, he tossed me the photo of the two of us.
Then he bowed slightly and disappeared into the crowd.
It was way past my bedtime.
As I peddled home into the cool night, I thought to myself, "Now I'm really going to be in the doghouse. But then again, that might not be so bad."
The End.
What'd you think? Yeah, I thought it was really great, too. I should go home and read this to my dogs.