But Harry Black
just turned his back
and kept on walking
down the track
until he saw
a big haystack.
‘I think I’ll have a little nap
and rest my sore and aching back,’
said the very tired Harry Black,
as he climbed the haystack
with his sack.
But while Harry Black
enjoyed his nap,
Jack the Yak
snuck into the sack
and ate up all of Harry’s snack.
Then Jack the sleepy,
snack-filled Yak
fell fast asleep
in Harry’s sack.
‘Alas! Alack!’ cried Harry Black
when he woke up—
opened his sack—
and found Jack the Yak
in place of his snack.
‘Alas! Alack! What a setback!
My snack has been stolen
by a snack-stealing yak!’
said the very angry Harry Black.
‘I’m going to give that yak a whack!’
But Jack the Yak
jumped out of the sack
and yelled, ‘Get back,
I’ve got a tack!
And it’s a SHARP one,
Harry Black!’
‘Alas! Alack!’ said Harry Black.
‘I cannot give that yak a whack!
Or he’ll attack me with that tack!’
And then Jack the Yak
with his sharp tack
jumped out of the sack
and fled on horseback.
So ...
if you’re ever walking
down a track
carrying a snack in a sack
on your back
and you meet a snackless yak
called Jack,
don’t hold back:
open your sack
and share your snack—
for Jack the sneaky,
snack-stealing Yak
might just have
a very sharp tack
and you could end up
like poor Harry Black—
alone and hungry
on a haystack
with nothing but
a snackless sack.
DUCK
IN A
TRUCK
IN THE
MUCK
There was a duck.
His name was Chuck.
Chuck the Duck
drove an ice-cream truck.
But one wet day Chuck’s
truck got stuck.
‘What bad luck,’
said Chuck the Duck.
‘My ice-cream truck
is stuck in muck.’
But just then
along came
his friend Buck
in his brand-new
shiny
muck-sucking
truck!
‘Hey, Buck,’ said Chuck,
‘my truck is stuck. My truck is stuck
in all this muck.’
‘You’re in luck, Chuck,’
said Buck the Duck.
‘I can get your truck unstuck.
I can suck up all the muck
with the muck-sucker-upper
on my muck-sucking truck!’
said Chuck.
‘What are friends for?’
said Buck to Chuck.
Buck’s
muck-sucker-upper
began to suck.
It sucked
and sucked
and sucked
and sucked until all the muck
had been
sucked up.
‘Hooray!’ cried Chuck
as he ran to his truck.
‘Get back, Chuck!’
yelled Buck the Duck.
‘I haven’t yet shut my muck-sucker up.’
But it was too late
for Chuck the Duck—
he got sucked up into the truck.
And then the muck-sucker
sucked up Buck!
The muck-sucker-upper just
kept on sucking.
It sucked
and sucked
and sucked
and sucked …
until Buck the Duck’s
brand-new truck
got too full and
it
blew
Up!
Out flew Chuck.
Out flew all the sucked-up muck.
‘Boo-hoo,’ cried Buck.
‘My brand-new truck!
My brand-new shiny
truck blew up!’
‘Don’t cry, Buck,’
said the kind duck Chuck.
‘We can share my
ice-cream truck!’
‘Do you mean it, Chuck?’
said Buck.
‘What are friends for?’
said Chuck to Buck.
So Buck hopped up
with Chuck the Duck
and they drove off together
in their ice-cream truck.
UNLUCKY LOU,
A KIND KANGAROO,
A HOLE IN A SHOE
AND SOME
EXTRA-SUPER-FAST-STICKING
SUPER-ROO-GLUE
There once was a girl
called
Unlucky Lou:
the unluckiest girl
that the world
ever knew.
One day while visiting
at the zoo,
Lou found a hole
in the sole of her shoe.
‘Boo-hoo!’
cried Lou,
‘what
will
I do?
If only
I had
some
Superglue!’
‘Don’t cry, Lou,’
‘said a kind kangaroo.
‘You can borrow
some of my
super-roo-glue!
It’s even more super
than Superglue
AND it’s extra-super-fast-sticking too!’
‘Oh, thank you, thank you!’
said Lou to the roo.
‘Thanks to you
and your super-roo-glue
now I can fix
the hole in my shoe.’
But while super-roo-gluing
the hole in her shoe,
almost all of the glue,
and then she tripped
and fell in it, too.
‘Boo-hoo!’ cried Lou,
‘now what
will I
do?
I’ve fixed the hole
in the sole
of my shoe,
but now I’m stuck
in all this goo!’
But the kangaroo
knew just what to do.
It jumped over the fence
and kicked poor Lou,
as hard as only a roo can do.
Out of the glue
flew Unlucky Lou.
Up into the air
she flew and flew!
She flew right over
the walls of the zoo
and landed head-first
where a prickle-bush grew.
Poor old prickle-headed
Superglued Lou:
the unluckiest girl
that the world ever knew!
BILL
AND PHIL
AND
THE
VERY
BIG HILL
There was a man.
His name was Bill.
Bill had a friend.
His name was Phil.
One day Bill and his friend Phil
climbed to the top of a very big hill.
‘I dare you to roll
down the hill,’
said Bill.
‘I will if
you will, Bill,’
said Phil.
‘I will if you will, Phil,’
said Bill.
So Bill and Phil
rolled down the hill.
Faster and faster
rolled Phil and Bill.
‘Help!’ said Bill.
‘I’m feeling ill!’
‘Me too,’ said Phil.
‘It’s a VERY big hill!’
But Bill and Phil
kept rolling until
they landed in a puddle of
smelly pig swill!
‘Yuck!’ said Bill.
‘Yuck!’ said Phil.
‘Do you want to do it again?’ said Bill.
‘I will if you will, Bill,’ said Phil.
‘I will if you will, Phil,’ said Bill.
So …
once more they climbed
that very big hill
and rolled back down
into the swill.
And then they did it again …
and again …
and again …
and for all I know
they’re doing it still.
ANDY G,
TERRY D,
THE BRAVE TEA-LADY
AND
THE EVIL BEE
One day while out walking
by the sea,
I saw a sign saying,
‘BEWARE OF THE BEE.
YOU’LL GET STUNG
UNLESS YOU FLEE!’
But before I could flee,
I saw the bee.
And, even worse,
that bee saw me.
I had to run.
I had to flee.
As fast as my feet
could carry me.
As I ran I saw Terry D
and he looked up and he saw me.
‘Why do you run so fast?’ said he.
‘Where are you going, Andy G?’
‘The bee!’ I cried.
‘Can’t you see?
That evil bee is after me.
From that bee I must flee
or it will surely bee-sting me.’
‘I see, I see,’ said Terry D.
‘I see the bee.
I see that I must also flee.
I’ll come with you, Andy G.’
And so Terry D ran after me.
We ran and ran quite speedily.
We passed a lady selling tea.
‘Why are you running
so fast?’ said she.
‘Won’t you stop and have some tea?’
‘No time for tea,’ said Terry D.
‘We’re being chased by an evil bee.
From that bee we must flee
or stung by the bee
we’ll surely be.’
‘I see,’ said the lady selling tea.
‘I see the bee.
I see that I must also flee.
Jump aboard my trolley with me.
It’s a super-fast trolley
that is powered by tea.’
And so we fled.
We fled, all three.
As fast as we could—
pursued by that bee.
But just as we were almost free
the tea-trolley crashed
into a mighty tree.
‘Quick!’ said Terry,
‘climb up the tree.
As fast as you can,
because here
comes the bee.’
Up we climbed.
One, two, three!
Terry D, the tea-lady and me.
We climbed and climbed
and climbed, we three.
We climbed right up
to the top
of that tree
until there was
nowhere left to flee.
I turned to face our enemy—
that evil, nasty, stinging bee—
and said to it most angrily,
‘Why do you seek
to sting us three?
Just buzz off and let us be.’
But the bee just buzzed
with evil glee
and made a bee-line
straight for me!
But I didn’t get stung
by that evil bee
thanks to the tea-lady’s bravery.
She quickly jumped
in front of me
and waved her teapot
threateningly.
‘STOP!’ she cried,
‘you nasty bee!’
But STOP
that nasty bee
DID NOT …
and so she
trapped it in her pot!
‘Yippee! Yippee!’ cried Terry D.
‘No longer will that bee fly free.’
‘Now,’ sighed
the tea-lady
cheerfully,
‘how about
that cup of tea?’
So we all sat down
at the top of the tree
and shared a pot
of fresh bee tea.