John's father was a soldier in the American army. John was so proud of his strong Dad. 



One day John's Dad told him that he has to go fight a war against a country called Germany. John asked how long he will be away. Dad said he did not know.



John was so sad to say goodbye to his Dad. Dad gave John a big hug and a whole one dollar bill. "Go buy yourself something special", said Dad. John watched Dad leave and held the dollar bill tightly. 



The next day, John took his dollar bill and starting walking to Mr. Franklin's grocery store on Main Street. John wanted to buy something special for himself. He missed Dad so much. 



John was almost on Main street when he heard a funny sound from the tall bushes. John ran to look through the bushes. He found a small, sad puppy laying on the ground with a sharp thorn stuck in his foot.



John carefully took out the thorn with his finger. The puppy looked so sad, just like John looked when Dad left. John decided he wanted to take this puppy home and take good care of him.


John picked up the puppy and walked to Main street. He passed Mr. Franklin's store full of sweet candy and kept on walking until he reached the pet store. 




John asked old Mrs. Hutchinson, the owner, to show him everything that a puppy needs. Mrs. Hutchinson gave John some dog toys, dog food and a cozy dog bed. John paid with his one dollar bill. 


John named his puppy Teddy, the same name as the president had. John took good care of Teddy. Teddy grew stronger and bigger each day. Soon he started following John wherever John went.




Teddy became John's best friend. They played ball and catch together. They cleaned the garden from rocks for Mom's plants.  Whenever John was sad because he missed his Dad, Teddy would come lay near John and rest his nose on John's cheek. 



After a long time, John's Dad came home on a warm, spring day. John was so happy to see him. Dad gave him a huge hug. Teddy came barking at Dad. "Whose dog is he?", asked Dad. "Mine", said John.



John told Dad the story about how he found Teddy and how much Teddy helped him when Dad was away. "Wow", said Dad. "Look what one dollar can do!"