Heroes of the Quest E-Book

Mirja Camphausen

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: An impossible Team
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 73

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

"Team! I am your leader on this Quest! Follow me!" From the outset of their adventure, Master Mouse is hampered by his hilarious and calamitous teammates who don't even recognize him as their leader. A mouse, a giraffe, a slug and ... a pig?!? All perfectly imperfect, how can they possibly compete against the mighty lions? Will they even finish the final challenge of Quest School? Find out what really matters in the end .... We are all perfectly imperfect, and no one demonstrates this better than Master Mouse and his flawed team of Questers who seem doomed to fail from the outset. Unaware of the unique skills each brings, and all keen to suppress their individual flaws, the ragged team struggle to work together, all with the goal to fulfill the graduation requirements for Quest School. Gemma Giraffe, following revelations of her illiteracy, opts to stay behind. Slow Sally Slug gets distracted, and Robert, in his single-minded focus on food, runs off after spying a decision apple tree. Eager to prove his capabilities and overcome his low self-esteem, Master Mouse is excited to go off on his own but ... something unexpected happens! Will the team members manage to solve their task? Through a hilarious series of mishaps and misunderstandings, this story shows children how vulnerability brings us closer to each other. It demonstrates how embracing our perceived weaknesses helps us cooperate while acknowledging our individuality and diversity. Many children's books address the challenges of childhood, coping with life's lessons and social dynamics, but this book is uniquely positioned to support the current wave of awareness around the dichotomy of inclusion and diversity and shows children how to feel their feelings and be proud of their uniqueness.

Leseprobe

Contents

An Impossible Team

The Missing Team Member

Confessing a Weakness

The Problem with the Sign

The Abduction

The Rescue Mission Begins

A Brilliant Idea

Long-Neck Needed

Take That Mouse and Leave

Diplomas for Almost Everyone

The Prophecy Take Two

A Diploma at Last

About the Author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without prior permission in writing from the author.

All characters and events in this publication are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or any events past or present are purely coincidental.

Published and distributed on behalf of the author, contact via tredition GmbH, Abteilung „Impressumservice“, Halenreie 40–44, 22359 Hamburg, Germany.

First published in Australia by Mirja Camphausen 2021

Second and revised edition © 2022 Mirja Camphausen · worldofmiri.com, heroesofthequest.com

Illustrated by Aurora Paulina Kay · aurorapaulinakayart.com

Edited by Rananda Rich · theinkrat.com

Typesetting and design by Büchermacherei Gabi Schmid · buechermacherei.de

Cover by Wally Martin

Printed and distributed on behalf of the author by tredition GmbH, Halenreie 40–44, 22359 Hamburg, Germany

ISBN Softcover: 978-3-347-62003-2

ISBN Hardcover: 978-3-347-62004-9

ISBN E-Book: 978-3-347-62005-6

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Germany (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek).

To my wonderful family, you are the sparkle in my life:❤ Stefan, Martin, Isabelle, and Nicolas ❤

Master Mouse remembered his roll call. Was this the last team member? Number four? He turned expecting an elephant given the enormous voice. Maybe a howler monkey or even a hermit crab! Master Mouse strained his eyes. What did he see? Nothing. No one at all. He shook his head in disbelief and glared around.

There was a rustle-bustle moving toward him. Master Mouse sank to the ground as realization struck. Just when he thought the day couldn’t get any worse, hoping they could get going, this had to happen. A slug. A slimy, thick, slow, bright red slug. Master Mouse had never seen anything as sluggish. A shiver ran through his body. His stomach revolted. This was no good.

“Howdy! Tilted buttercups! You lot are speedy!” boomed Slug. She caught up to them, totally out of breath. A shiny, white contraption dangled around her neck.

Gemma lowered her head for a closer peek.

Robert nodded in recognition, “Yo, Sally! Bite-right!”

What was going on? Did the others know this slimy snake? Master Mouse couldn’t recall Snake-Lady from classes. He glared at her. She was bound to delay them. Still, he was to become the first Questing Hero of his family. To succeed, he had to act. Master Mouse gathered all his strength and howled as loudly as he could. No one noticed. Master Mouse growled. He knew what was coming. Everyone would ignore him and go about their business. No one would see his utter brilliance! The team would fail! Just like at home where no one ever noticed him because he was so tiny, even by mouse standards. This was why Master Mouse entered Quest School in the first place. He wanted to be seen! Once and for all!

Somehow, it never worked out. Not yet. Master Mouse pulled himself together, even more determined. He’d come this far. He wouldn’t give up. He was going to succeed. There was no other way.

Master Mouse picked up a bunch of pebbles and aimed. The first pebble hit Peanut-Brain right between the eyes. Peanut-Brain jumped. Master Mouse focused on his next throw. This one struck Pig’s bottom, right in the middle. Pig yowled and twirled. Master Mouse was impressed by his speed. He aimed once more. This one had to be a good shot. Slimy-Snake was the smallest target. Master Mouse concentrated and thrust the pebble right at her side. It tore into her skin where it stuck.

“Welcome to the team, Slug!” declared Master Mouse.

Sally Slug tried to scratch the pebble off, but it was glued into her soft flesh. “It’ll come out by itself,” she boomed, spinning to face Master Mouse. Her eyes burned into his fur as she scrutinized him head to tail. “Who exactly are you? Pebble-pepper?” Slug inched closer.

“I AM MASTER MOUSE,” howled Master Mouse. He was over it. All he wanted was to get going.

“Master of Disaster,” giggled Slug.

Master Mouse pretended not to hear. He felt edgy. This team was a total blow. He couldn’t word it differently. He turned and strode off. Shuffling sounds behind him indicated the others followed his lead. Master Mouse felt better until Pig revealed the true cause behind his forward move, “Bite-right! Look at that raspberry bush. I’m sort of hungry. Let’s have morning tea.”

“Tilted buttercups! Jolly good idea!” said Slug. “Give me a lift, will ya?”

Master Mouse didn’t want to see this. He kept moving. It wasn’t far to the boulders, or the raspberry bush nearby. He reached it first. This, he could claim; he was fast by any means.

Master Mouse picked up a fallen raspberry. He cast a careful glance before he allowed himself a nibble of the sweet flavor. Exquisite! Still, raspberries made him feel nervous. At home, he used to spend endless hours in the raspberry bushes. That was, until his uncle caught him and flew into one of his fits, calling him useless as a house mouse! Master Mouse shivered as he remembered the insult. He almost expected his uncle to pop out of the raspberry bush. He looked around. No one else was close yet.

Master Mouse took a deep breath before treating himself to another bite. He’d hide the delicious evidence as soon as the others approached. However, there seemed to be no danger of that. Peanut-Brain was dreaming away and Slug struggled to climb Pig’s back. Piggyback. “Ha-ha,” thought Master Mouse.