Popcorn-eating Squirrels of the World Unite! E-Book

Matt Dickinson

• Herausgeber: Vertebrate Digital
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Everyone knows that squirrels love nuts, right? Wrong! When three young squirrels meet Salty – a grumpy, greedy old squirrel, addicted to popcorn – they become tangled up in a magical adventure that is to change their lives forever. But what will become of Ben, Cassie and Alfie when the evil honey badgers show up? Will the three friends survive an unexpected tumble in the Pop-O-Matic 3000? Popcorn-Eating Squirrels of the World Unite! by bestselling children's author Matt Dickinson is a funny, non-stop action-adventure story about four squirrels who dive in to all sorts of mischief and chaos in the pursuit of a delicious new foodstuff: popcorn. Making friends, battling enemies and overcoming obstacles along the way, this is a story for children who like to be thrilled with every page turn.

Leseprobe

FOR MY SON

ETHAN

AUTHOR’SCONFESSION

When I was young I really wanted to be a squirrel.

I mean it. I totally did. My friends wanted to be dolphins and man-eating lions and tyrannosaurus rexes and so on, but me? A squirrel. 100%.

I mean, what’s not to like? Shiny eyes. Fluffy, silky fur. They zoom about the trees with athletic grace, flying between branches with daredevil casualness.

Most of all I wanted feet that could swivel round. Did you know squirrels’ ankles can rotate through 180 degrees? That’s how they can climb head first down trees.

Why did I want feet that could swivel backwards? I had a hunch it might help on the football pitch. Or perhaps that it may be handy at the push off for the twenty-five-metre crawl.

And then there’s the nuts. It must be cool to be a nut eater, right? There’s the macadamias and brazil nuts, the cashews and pistachios and almonds and sweet chestnuts. Like Christmas all year round! Yummy.

Wrong.

Do you know what squirrels actually eat? Morning, noon and night?

Acorns.

Nothing but acorns.

Hundreds and thousands of acorns. That’s what put me off being a squirrel.

Have you ever tried to eat an acorn? Don’t bother! They’re terrible! Like eating dried-up wallpaper paste. As exciting as a cream cracker that has been hanging around in an Egyptian tomb for 1,001 years.

So I gave up wanting to be a squirrel. But I didn’t stop liking them. And that’s how this story began.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Mystery In The Park

Chapter 2 Close Encounters of The Furry Kind

Chapter 3 Canine Chaos

Chapter 4 Pond Life

Chapter 5 Cloudburst

Chapter 6 The Tightrope of Doom

Chapter 7 The Dire Warnings of Salty The Squirrel

Chapter 8 Into The Shadowland

Chapter 9 The Sweetness Beckons

Chapter 10 The Taste of Heaven!

Chapter 11 Rosalba of The Rex

Chapter 12 Doberdoodle Danger

Chapter 13 Salty Gets In Touch With His Sweet Side

Chapter 14 Salty Goes For A Little Spin

Chapter 15 Marching Orders

Chapter 16 The Popcorn Machine of The Gods

Chapter 17 Poptastic Developments

Chapter 18 Sticky Situations

Chapter 19 Ambush Antics

Chapter 20 Monkey Business

Chapter 21 Shake, Rattle And Pop

Chapter 22 The Big Bang

Chapter 23 The Strange Affair of The Überpop

Chapter 24 Alfie’s Revenge

Chapter 25 Snow Business

Chapter 26 Life On The Ocean Wave

Chapter 27 Fandango On The Spot

Chapter 28 Candyfloss Chaos

Chapter 29 That Shrinking Feeling

Chapter 30 Sweet Partings And New Beginnings

About the Author

CHAPTER 1

MYSTERY IN THE PARK

There were three squirrels living in Blackwater Park. Three young squirrels in the very first years of their lives. Three squirrels who thought they had seen it all.

Ben.

Cassie.

Alfie.

It was true that their short lives had been a rather big adventure. Sometimes too much of an adventure: all three were orphans, their parents lost in a terrible storm.

As wild squirrels they lived on the edge. Every day was like an episode of an extreme survival programme.

Except it was for real.

They’d trembled at thunder bursts and dodged dodgy dogs. They’d legged it from lightning, bolted from buzzards, and hidden from herons with razor-sharp bills. Cats had crept up on them, trees had been toppled, and the fairground disco had deafened them.

They thought that nothing could surprise them.

But they were wrong. Because on this late autumn day, while the three hungry friends were out foraging for buried acorns, something totally unexpected came into view.

Cassie saw it first. Her eyes widened and the fur pricked up on the back of her neck.

‘Boys! What’s that?’ she exclaimed. She pointed to the centre of the park where a bizarre-looking creature the size of a monstrously bloated cat dragged itself across the path, moaning loudly.

Alfie and Ben scampered towards it, their noses twitching.

‘It’s a fat furry monster that can’t walk,’ Ben squeaked in horror. ‘Bloodshot eyes. Yellow fangs.’

‘It’s grabbing its tummy,’ Cassie said, ‘and making horrible noises!’

‘Alfie happy!’ the youngest of the squirrels exclaimed, jumping up and down and dancing a little jig. ‘Alfie can play with the big fat furry monster! Yay!’

‘Stranger danger, Alfie!’ Cassie said sternly.

Ben gave him a strict look.

‘Spoilsports!’ Alfie tutted, rolling his eyes.

‘We should investigate,’ Cassie continued. ‘But you have to promise you won’t get excited, Alfie, OK?’

‘I promise,’ Alfie said, staring at his friends with his huge brown eyes. ‘Naughty Alfie never, ever, ever get even a lickle bit excited ever again.’

The three friends crept cautiously closer as the creature’s terrible cries grew ever louder.

‘I’m finished!’ it gasped. ‘It’s the terrible pain in ma belly! Will nobody take pity on a poooooor weeeee critter?’

‘It’s not a fat furry monster,’ Ben whispered in astonishment. ‘It’s a fat furry squirrel with a Scottish accent!’

Cassie snorted. ‘It can’t be!’

They crept closer still. The creature saw them and fixed them with a pleading look.

‘My guts … ’ he called softly. ‘My poooor weeee guts are killing me. I need an emergency operation … Get me to a hospital, pals, before it’s too late!’

‘You’re right, Ben!’ Cassie exclaimed. ‘It is a squirrel! But where has it come from? And what is it doing here?’

CHAPTER 2

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FURRY KIND

The three friends stood gawping at the mysterious new arrival: the biggest, plumpest, most extraordinary squirrel they had ever clapped eyes on. A squirrel with whiskers as thick as steel wire. A squirrel with glowering brows and beady eyes and the tuftiest ears ever seen in squirreldom.

A squirrel wearing a bright yellow tartan jumper with the words ‘NOT INTERESTED’ blazed across the front.

Alfie did a few merry skips to the stranger and took his paw, a look of adoration in his eyes.

‘Will you be my daddy?’ he squeaked excitedly. ‘It’d be great if you’re my daddy! Yay!’

The stranger scowled.

‘Alfie!’ Cassie pulled Alfie back. ‘Don’t you ever listen?’

‘He might have fleas!’ Ben hissed.

‘Never mind being your daddy, laddie, I’m blowing up like a balloon here,’ the stranger gasped, his quivering tongue hanging out like a rasher of limp bacon. ‘Will you not help out a fellow squirrel in his hour of need?’ He clutched pathetically at a handful of weeds, pulling himself forward another few centimetres with a desperate grunt.

‘What’s your name?’ Cassie asked.

The creature’s expression soured. ‘You don’t recognise Salty the squirrel?’ he snapped.

‘Salteeeee!’ Alfie shouted. ‘Awesome name!’