Ling and ting reader col.., p.1
Ling & Ting Reader Collection, page 1
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! copyright © 2010 by Grace Lin • Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly copyright © 2014 by Grace Lin • Ling & Ting: Together in All Weather copyright © 2015 by Grace Lin • Cover illustration copyright © 2010, 2024 by Grace Lin • Cover design by Saho Fujii and Patrick Collins • Cover copyright © 2024 by Hachette Book Group, Inc. • Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. • The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. • The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. • Little, Brown and Company • Hachette Book Group • 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 • Visit us at LBYR.com • Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! originally published by Little, Brown and Company in July 2010 • Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly originally published by Little, Brown and Company in November 2014 • Ling & Ting: Together in All Weather originally published by Little, Brown and Company in November 2015 • First Bind-Up Edition: May 2024 • Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. • The Little, Brown name and logo are registered trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. • The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. • Little, Brown and Company books may be purchased in bulk for business, educational, or promotional use. For information, please contact your local bookseller or the Hachette Book Group Special Markets Department at special.markets@hbgusa.com. • Library of Congress Control Number: 2023949795 • ISBNs: 978-0-316-57792-2 (hardcover), 978-0-316-57793-9 (pbk.), 978-0-316-57794-6 (ebook)
Passport to Reading titles are leveled by independent reviewers applying the standards developed by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell in Matching Books to Readers: Using Leveled Books in Guided Reading, Heinemann, 1999.
E3-20240408-JV-NF-ORI
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! 1 The Haircuts
2 The Magic Trick
3 Making Dumplings
4 Chopsticks
5 The Library Book
6 Mixed Up
Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly 1 The Garden
2 Lucky Red Paint
3 On the Swings
4 Apples
5 Reading Minds
6 Not a Silly Story
Ling & Ting: Together in All Weather 1 Surprise Storm
2 Selling Lemonade
3 A Funny Red Leaf
4 Old Chinese Medicine
5 A Funny Flower
6 Twin Rainbows
Special thanks to twins
Rebekah MeiRui and Jennifer MeiDe Reed Kahn
Mae Lan and Sylvie Ling Pryor
Catherine and Margaret Gorman
Alexandra and Charlotte Zieselman
Kendal and Chelsea Tinsley
Mayalin and Kiralee Murphy
Janie and Suzie Romano
Ling and Ting are twins. They have the same brown eyes. They have the same pink cheeks. They have the same happy smiles. People see them and they say, “You two are exactly the same!”
“We are not exactly the same,” Ling says.
Ting laughs because she is thinking exactly the same thing!
Ling and Ting also have the same black hair. It grows long at the same time too. They are going to the barber for a haircut.
“You two are exactly the same!” the barber says.
“We are not exactly the same,” Ting says.
Ling sits in the chair. She does not move. Ling can always sit still. Snip! Clip! The barber cuts Ling’s hair in a smooth line.
Now it is Ting’s turn. She moves her legs and her fingers. Ting can never sit still. Snip! Clip! The barber cuts Ting’s hair.
It falls on her nose…
AHH-CHOOO!
Oh no!
Oops.
Ling and Ting are twins. They are not exactly the same. Now when people see them, they know it too.
Ling is wearing a big black hat. It is a very big hat. It is too big for Ling.
“Why are you wearing that hat?”
Ting asks.
“It is a magic hat,” Ling says. “I am wearing it because I can do magic.”
“You can?” Ting says. “Can you use your magic to get a smaller hat?”
“No,” Ling says. “But I can do a magic card trick.”
Ling makes a pile of cards.
“Pick a card, any card,” Ling says.
Ting picks a card.
“Now,” Ling says, “put it back and mix the cards up.”
Ting puts the card back and mixes the cards up.
“Shazaam!” Ling says and she waves her wand.
“Abracadabra! Hocus pocus!”
“Is this your card?” Ling asks.
“No,” Ting says.
“Is this your card?” Ling asks.
“No,” Ting says.
“This one?” asks Ling. “This one?”
“No,” says Ting. “No.”
“I give up,” Ling says. “What is your card?”
Ting turns pink.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I forgot!”
Ling and Ting are going to make dumplings.
“People say dumplings look like old Chinese money,” Ling says.
“We should make a lot of dumplings,” Ting says. “Then we will have a lot of money.”
So, Ling rolls and Ting mixes.
“I will close my dumplings tight,” Ling says. “Then our money will not get away.”
“I will put a lot of meat in my dumplings,” Ting says. “So we will be very rich.”
Soon all the dumplings are done.
“Our dumplings do not look the same,” Ling says. “My dumplings are smooth. Your dumplings are fat.”
“Yours are dump-Lings,” Ting says. “Mine are dump-Tings!”
At dinner, Ling cannot eat.
“Chopsticks are tricky,” Ling says.
“They are hard to use.”
“Chopsticks are not tricky,” Ting says. “They are not hard to use.”
“Chopsticks are hard for me to use,” Ling says. “I cannot eat. My food falls off my chopsticks.”
“I know!” Ting says. “We can glue the food to your chopsticks.”
“Glue!” Ling says. “That would make the food taste bad!”
“I know!” Ting says. “We can tie the food to your chopsticks.”
“Tie?” Ling asks. “That would be messy.”
“I know!” Ting says. “I will feed you with my chopsticks.”
“No!” Ling says. “I do not want to glue my chopsticks. I do not want to tie my chopsticks. I do not want you to feed me with your chopsticks.”
“Then how will you eat?” Ting asks.
“I will eat with a fork,” Ling says.
“I am going to the library,” Ting says. “I am going to get a fairy tale book.”
“Will you get me a book?” Ling asks.
“Get me a book about dogs.”
At the library, Ting looks at all the books. Then, Ting sees a book with fairy tales.
“I must see Ling right away!” Ting says.
She runs back home.
“Ling! Ling!” Ting says. “I remember my card! It was the King of Hearts!”
“That is good,” Ling says. “Did you get me a book about dogs?”
Ting turns pink.
“Oops,” she says, “I forgot!”
“Tell me a story,” Ling says.
“Okay,” Ting says. “Once upon a time, there were twin girls. They were named Ling and Ting. People saw them and said, ‘You two are exactly the same!’”
“Oh good,” Ling says. “I know this story.”
“Then, one day, Ling sneezed during her haircut.…,” Ting says.
“You mixed that up,” Ling says. “You sneezed, not me!”
“When Ling sneezed, her magic hat flew…,” Ting says.
“My magic hat flew?” asks Ling.
“It flew to Ting. She put it on and waved her chopstick. She turned the dumplings into money…”
“Chopstick? Dumplings?” asks Ling.
“… for the King of Hearts. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to marry Ling or Ting.…”
“Marry?” says Ling. “What?!”
“Oh, Ting,” Ling says, “you mixed up the whole story!”
“But the twins told the king to go away. They were not exactly the same,” Ting says, “but they always stayed together.”
“Well,” Ling says, “at least you got the ending right.”
Double thanks to twins Emily and Olivia
6 Stories
Dedication
1 The Garden
2 Lucky Red Paint
3 On the Swings
4 Apples
5 Reading Minds
6 Not a Silly Story
Ting is in the garden.
“What are you doing?” Ling asks.
“I am planting cupcakes,” Ting says.
“Ting!” Ling says. “You cannot plant cupcakes.”
Ting digs a hole. She puts in a cupcake. She covers the hole.
“See!” Ting says. “I can plant cupcakes.
“Ting!” Ling says. “Cupcakes will not grow. Cupcakes are not seeds. Seeds grow.”
“I will try anyway,” Ting says.
Day after day, Ting weeds and waters her garden.
Ting waits, but nothing grows.
“Ling,” Ting says, “you are right. I will not have a cupcake garden. Cupcakes will not grow.”
“Cupcakes are not seeds,” Ling says. “Seeds grow.”
“Are beans seeds?” Ting asks.
“Yes,” Ling says. “Beans are seeds.”
“Good,” Ting says. “Then next I will plant jelly beans.”
Ling is at the table. She has a paintbrush and a can of red paint.
“What are you doing?” Ting asks.
“I am painting my toys red,” Ling says. “Red is a lucky Chinese color. I want my toys to be lucky. Do you want to paint?”
“Yes,” Ting says. “I want to paint.”
“You can paint now,” Ling says. “I will get more paint.”
“What should I paint?” Ting says.
“Paint everything,” Ling says. “I will be back soon.”
Ting likes to paint. She likes to paint fast. When Ting paints, the paint splashes. It splashes on Ting.
When Ling comes back, Ting is covered with paint. Ling laughs hard.
“Ting!” Ling says. “I said ‘Paint everything’! I did not say ‘Paint everyTING’!”
Ling and Ting are at the playground. They are playing on the swings.
“How high can you swing?” Ting asks Ling.
“I can swing higher than a tree,” Ling says.
“You can?” Ting asks. “Which tree?”
“Any tree,” Ling says.
“Any tree?” Ting asks. “A tree that is taller than a giraffe?”
“Yes,” Ling says.
“A tree that is taller than a building?” Ting asks.
“Yes,” Ling says.
“A tree that is taller than a mountain?” Ting asks.
“Yes,” Ling says.
“A tree that is higher than the clouds?” Ting asks.
“Yes,” Ling says.
“A tree that goes into outer space?” Ting says. “A tree that is higher than the moon? A tree that is as high as the stars?”
“Yes,” Ling says. “Yes. Yes.”
“Okay,” Ting says. “Show me how you can swing higher than a tree.”
“I am doing it right now,” Ling says. “We both are.”
“We are?” Ting asks. “How?”
“It is easy to swing higher than a tree,” Ling says. “A tree cannot swing.”
“Look up there,” Ting says. “There are apples. I want to eat them. Let us pick them.”
“The apples are too high,” Ling says. “We cannot climb that high.”
“A monkey can climb that high,” Ting says. “Let us get a monkey! A monkey will get us an apple.”
“A monkey?” Ling asks. “How will we get a monkey?”
“We will go to the zoo,” says Ting. “We will take a monkey from a cage.”
“The cage will be locked at the zoo,” says Ling. “Only the zookeeper has a key.”
“A penguin will sneak the key for us,” Ting says. “We will train a penguin to get the key.”
“A penguin?” Ling asks. “How will we train a penguin?”
“We will feed the penguin a fish,” Ting says. “Penguins will do anything for fish.”
“We do not have any fish,” Ling says. “How will we get a fish?”
“We will catch one,” Ting says. “All we need is a worm.”
“Where will we get a worm?” Ling says.
“We can get a worm in an apple,” Ting says.
“Ting!” Ling says. “It is an apple we want! We do not want an apple for a worm! We want an apple to eat!”
“But how will we get one?” Ting says.
Ling climbs down.
“Come with me!” Ling says. “I know how we will get apples.”
Ling brings Ting to the store. They buy many apples.
Ling and Ting are reading books together.
“Ting,” Ling says, “this book says some twins are special.”
“Are we special?” Ting asks.
“Special twins can read minds,” Ling says.
“Oh,” Ting says. “Let us see if we are special.”
“Okay,” Ling says. “I will think of something. What am I thinking of?”
Ling looks at Ting. Ting looks at Ling. Ting scratches her head.
“It is something spelled with four letters,” Ling says. “It begins with b.”
Ling holds her book. Ting looks at the book.
“Are you thinking of a book?” Ting asks.
“Yes!” Ling says. “You did it! You read my mind! Now I will read your mind.”
Ling looks at Ting. Ting looks at Ling. Ling shakes her head.
“Nothing,” Ling says. “My mind is reading nothing.”
“Ling! You are right!” Ting says. “I was thinking nothing!”
“Let us write a story,” Ting says.
“Yes,” Ling says. “But we will not write a silly story.”
“Okay,” Ting says. “It will not be silly.”
Ling begins, “Ling and Ting were two girls.…”
“Let us not be girls,” Ting says. “Let us be rabbits!”
“Okay,” Ling says. “Ling and Ting were two rabbits. One day they found an apple tree.…”
“Not an apple tree,” says Ting. “Let us make it a cupcake tree.”
“Okay,” Ling says. “One day they found a cupcake tree. They could not reach the cupcakes. They had to use a lucky red toy to jump.”
“Yes,” Ting says. “They jumped higher than the tree. They jumped into outer space!”
“Outer space?” Ling says.
“Yes!” Ting says. “Then Rabbit Ling said to Rabbit Ting, ‘How will we get down?’”
“But you cannot talk in outer space,” Ling says. “Outer space has no sound.”
“Ling and Ting were special rabbits,” Ting says. “They could read minds! So, with her mind, Ting told Ling to eat stars!”
“How could they eat stars?” asks Ling.
“The stars were really jelly beans,” Ting says. “After Ling and Ting ate them, they were very heavy. They sank down to Earth.”
“What about the cupcake tree?” Ling says.
“They picked some cupcakes on their way down,” Ting says. “That night, they had cupcakes for dessert after dinner. The end.”
“Ting,” Ling says, “I said we would not write a silly story.”
“This is not a silly story,” Ting says. “This is a very, very silly story!”
“You are right,” Ling says. “It is very, very silly.”
“Just like us,” Ting says.
“Yes,” Ling says. “Just like us.”
