Sample: Ponti Panda's Blue Pants

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Ponti Panda’s Blue Pants

Ponti Panda decided he was too fat! His best blue pants did not fit over his fat tummy! That was bad, very bad. He loved his blue pants.

He put his furry, black paws over his eyes to shut out the bright sunlight. He had to think. What should he do in order to lose his big fat tummy and wear his best blue pants?

Maybe he should copy the monkeys in the forest and swing from tree to tree. That is called gym. His tummy would surely be trim! Bumping from branch to branch might be fun. No! His panda legs were too short. He would not be able to lose his tummy that way.

Maybe he should stop eating bamboo shoots? Snap, pop, crackle – he just loved bamboo shoots! He rubbed his eyes very hard, extra hard. Bright pink and red spots jumped up and down inside his head. No! He could not stop eating tasty bamboo shoots. Anyway Mummy said bamboo shoots made you grow big and strong. Too big and strong, it seemed!

So much thinking made Ponti Panda rub his black, shiny nose extra hard. He looked around. A green bullfrog rested on a large, round stone a few feet away. “Blup, blip!” went his large full-bellied throat, “Blup, blip!”

Ponti Panda gulped and opened his eyes wide. He stopped thinking hard and stared. His eyes grew as big as two saucepans. Now why can’t my tummy go in and out like that? Blup, blip! Blup – out, for large helpings of his crunchy bamboo shoots. Blip – in, for his best blue pants!

Ponti Panda decided to try “blupping” and “blipping”.

He lay down on his back. He peered down his nose. Of course, he couldn’t see his toes. He shut his eyes tightly and squeezed his tummy in. Tighter, tighter – flatter, flatter – ouff... ouff...!

Then he opened his eyes and looked down. Could he see his toes? No, of course, he couldn’t. There was his lovely, round, fat, friendly tummy in its usual place.

“Try harder!” a throaty voice rumbled gently from the round stone a few feet away.

Ponti Panda turned his head to see the big bullfrog blinking his hooded eyelids over his big beaconeyes.

“Breathe in and count to three. You can count to three, can’t you?” added Bullfrog with a chuckle.

“Of course, I can. We learned that at Panda school on our first day. We counted bamboo shoots at lunch time before we ate them.”

“You must have learned to count very quickly.” Big Bullfrog chuckled so much, his fat chin wobbled like jelly.

Ponti Panda puffed his cheeks out crossly. “You have a very big mouth!” he snapped.

“Come, come! Didn’t they teach you good manners?” blupped the Bullfrog. Ponti remembered his very strict teacher, Mrs Mitten. She would not have approved. He sat up and said he was sorry.

“That’s better,” blipped Bullfrog. “Now, you want to wear your best blue pants, don’t you? And they don’t fit.”

Ponti Panda’s ears flopped. His toes curled up. His nose lost its shine and he nodded himself into a sad, soppy lump.

Bullfrog shook his head wisely and stared with interest over Ponti Panda’s head at a juicy gnat buzzing lazily in the warm air. Then he said simply, “You need to move the buttons.”

Ponti Panda sat up with a jolt. Now why had he not thought of that? What a wally he had been! But he could not sew; his paws were too big. Just as one ear began to flop, wise Bullfrog added, “Woody Woodpecker will snap your buttons off and Sally Spider will spin you a beautiful thread, blue as the sky. That way you can wear your beautiful blue pants and munch bamboo shoots at the same time.”

Ponti Panda’s cheeks shone pink with delight. “Thank you, thank you,” he gurgled as he ran to do what wise Bullfrog had suggested.

Bullfrog blupped and blipped patiently for the gnat to buzz closer. “It won’t be quite so easy to give advice next time,” he thought as he prepared to snap up his dinner.

Butterfly Book|Introductory Notes|Sample 1|Sample 2|Sample 3