Authors: Brigitte Laven en Yvonne de Waal

Illustrator: Robin Florie   

Production ebook: Leessst Uitgeverij www.leessst.com

Mail authors: teamwallab@gmail.com

ISBN: 

Nur:  

Original Letterdieren (made in The Netherlands)

Translation from Dutch tot English Yvonne de Waal 

© Copyright 2019 Brigitte Laven en Yvonne de Waal, Netherlands.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. 

Letteranimals

Yvonne de Waal & Brigitte Laven

Introduction

Dear readers and children,

You are starting with a beautiful new book.

I would like to introduce myself.

I am Barry the Beagle, and I will be your guide through the Letter Animal Kingdom (LAK).

In this kingdom extraordinary animals live, starting with the letters A to Z.

The Lettergate is the gateway between the human world and the LAK.

Here is also my house, with my basket in it.

The animals with the letters of the alphabet live on the Beltlane and each one has his or her home here.

They all have interesting hobbies and occupations.

I am friends with all the animals and when they ask for help, I will always assist them.

In the middle of the LAK is the library where the word-treasure is kept.

Everyone is welcome and you will find all the books here where you can look up all the words that exist. You can buy a drink or just have a talk. But more importantly, you can learn a lot in the library!

In this book you will meet all the animals from the LAK, from A to Z.

I will introduce them.

Many adventures await you, so, without further ado, I’d like to invite you to start reading the book.

Hope you have lots of fun,

Warm greetings, Barry.

Step into the Letter Animal Kingdom

Alfie the Ape

Barry sprints through the Alphabetgate.

He is going to visit letter animal A.

This is Alfie the Ape and he is an inventor.

Barry arrives and looks around for the funny ape.

Alfie is very busy, getting a stone connected to a liana which hangs from a banana tree.

Alfie is wearing big spectacles, the size of dinner plates.

Also, he has on working gloves and safety shoes.

He cannot sit down, he is always busy inventing things.

“Barry, can you give me a hand?” asks Alfie.

“This stone has to be tied up to this liana, my latest invention.”

They work together to tie the stone to the liana.

When the job is done, Alfie takes off his shoes and quickly climbs onto the stone.

Alfie calls out to Barry, “Come and give me a push.” 

The beagle gives him a push and the ape swings up and down.

Higher and higher the liana goes from left to right, quicker and quicker.

“I am going really quickly,” shouts the ape.

Barry looks at the spectacle and thinks to himself, “I hope this goes well…”

Then it goes terribly wrong.

Alfie goes so quickly, he hits his face hard on the tree trunk.

With great speed he slides down the trunk.

“Ow” That must really hurt,” thinks Barry

Swiftly he runs to the spot where Alfie has landed.

“Are you hurt?” he asks anxiously.

Alfie looks up very dizzy, and then it happens. With a thundering noise, all the bananas fall from the tree, right on top of our couple.

Bewildered, they look around.

Alfie is the first to get over the shock and starts grinning.

He laughs, louder and louder.

“We are going bananas!” Alfie shouts.

“Hahahaha! Look how handy this is, I do not have to climb the tree to pick the bananas, they are already picked!”

“Barry, what do you think of my latest invention? By the way, would you like a banana?”

“Yes, please, Alfie”, Barry answers.

So now you see, sometimes a disaster can be a blessing in disguise.

Brie the She-Bear

Barry walks from his house to the Beltlane, to see Brie the she-bear.

Already a distance from her house, in the dark woods, he hears a grunting sound.

“Woof, the big she-bear is in a bad mood,” thinks Barry.

Slowly, not to startle her, Barry walks into the dark forest.

Then, suddenly, she appears in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” she asks snappily.

“I heard you grunting,” says the beagle, “and thought that perhaps you needed some help?

“You look angry, why is that; can I be of service?”

Brie looks at the dog suspiciously.

Then she decides that a little help cannot do any harm.

More friendly she replies, “I have hidden my pot of honey and now I cannot find it.”

“That is not good, my friend,”  says Barry, “I know how much you love your honey.”

Barry dives into his bag.

He removes a big pot of honey.

“Grrrr.., very kind of you”, growls Brie, “Is it all for me?”

“Of course Brie, I especially bought it for you.”

Together they walk to the open space in the forest, where her house is situated.

The house has a thatched roof and leans to one side. 

When you look closely, it has the shape of a B that has fallen over.

Brie pushes the front door open with her coarse legs and totters inside.

She puts the pot of honey on the settee.

“Sorry,” she says. “As you can see, in my search of the honey, I tossed over some furniture.”

Barry looks horrified at the mess in the room.

With this lady, you certainly do not want to argue.

Brie cannot withhold herself any longer, and with a quick and firm twist, she opens the lid of the jar.

She puts her big paw in the jar.

Quickly she licks the honey from her paw, afraid to miss a drop of the delicious nectar.

Until the jar is empty, the only noise you can hear is the she-bear smacking her lips.

When she finishes, she looks happily at Barry, very satisfied.

Then she realises none is left for Barry.

She feels ashamed.

He is so friendly and helpful and she did not share with him.

The dog sees her embarrassment.

“Hello Brie,” he says to save the situation, “Were you not looking for your honey? Perhaps we could search together.”

Brie looks grateful at the dog and says, “Let’s do that.”

They go outside and walk around the house, towards the water well.

Barry peeks over the edge.

Brie, in a hurry, pushes him aside and turns the crank.

Slowly the bucket ascends.

Yes, in the bucket is a big jar of honey.

“This one we can share,” says Brie happily.

“It is going to be alright,” shouts Barry excitedly.

Together they eat the honey from the jar.

When this jar is empty, they say goodbye.

“Goodbye Brie, do not forget to ask for help if you need it.”

The she-bear gives him a hug and thanks Barry for everything.

Calvin the Cobra

The letter C is the address of Calvin; he is a cobra.

Calvin works in the library as a librarian.

He is the keeper of the key of the Letter Animals Kingdom for the word-treasure.

This means that if anybody wants to use the word-treasure, the cobra gets the key and opens the building.

It is a very important job.

Anybody visiting is met by the cobra and given assistance in every way.

Animals from all over the world come to visit.

They are all curious and Calvin helps them where he can.

The word-treasure is not a big secret, it is for all to enjoy.

If he is not working, he is busy with his hobby.

He has a beautiful cabriolet.

He is also a good chauffeur and regularly takes other animals for a spin.

Today he has invited Barry.

Diligently he polishes the last marks from the mirror.

Then he gets into the car and starts the engine.

The engine sounds smooth, so he closes the bonnet.

Satisfied, he waits for Barry.

Barry approaches, happy to see his friend.

Calvin says, “Get in.”

“Woof! Woof! I really like that,” says the dog, ready to go.

With the sun on their heads, they cruise over the Beltlane.

Barry’s ears flap in the wind.

Calvin, with his pink sunglasses on, looks at Barry happily and says, “Isn’t this lovely?”

Barry is positively beaming with pleasure and replies, “It’s really cool.”

When they pass the beach, they see Sza Sza the seal, swimming and splashing in the sea.

Further along they pass Oscar the owl; he sees them and waves back, looking up from his newspaper. Oscar shakes his wise head thinking to himself, “Calvin the race-driver.” 

At Oscar’s age speed is no longer an issue.

They continue their trip and pass Glen the giraffe. Glen stops eating and bows his neck to greet them.“Have fun,”  shouts the giraffe, but they are already gone; a dot on the horizon.