"Giraffe slipped on it and skidded straight
into a tree -
KER-RANG!
'That's not funny!' said Giraffe.
But Hyena laughed and laughed, because when Giraffe
skidded into the tree, a coconut fell and hit Hippo right
on the head -
BINK!"
Kids will love this lively, cause and effect story of the animals of the jungle. It starts when Hyena wants to play a joke on Giraffe, leaving a banana skin on the road. Of course, Giraffe slips and Hyena has a riotous guffaw at Giraffe's expense. Giraffe sees no humor in it, but Hyena is beside himself with it; for, in tripping up Giraffe, Hyena watches Hippo get hit by a falling coconut. Har! Har! Hippo is indignant, but he steps on a snake because he is dizzy and Hyena has even more cause for hilarity. Snake is resentful and shocked and that has repercussions for Ostrich.
And so it goes...until Hyena gets his comeuppance, sending all of his jungle cronies into gales of laughter that seem endless.
I love the language chosen to tell this story. It's repetitive, anticipated and humorous, too. The verbs are great...skidded, catapulted, torpedoed, flopped, tripped, screeched and startled, to name some. The cartoon-like animals are expressive and entertaining. The surprise ending will have listeners laughing as loudly as the book's cast of characters. ENJOY!
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