Download my German children's story now from Lulu

I have just e-published my German children's story "Ein Teddybär auf Wanderschaft" on Lulu.com at only £0.99. I hope you like it... http://ar.gy/1vaP

Another silly animal antic...

Here is another instalment from my silly animal stories. I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think.

Tom the Timid Tiger

Tom lived in the jungles of India. Every morning he went hunting. He was very good at stalking and never had any problems getting close to his prey. However, he was often too afraid to catch large animals. They simply scared him. He usually ended up with a bird or small mammal, which didn't really fill him up, so he had to go hunting several times a day, and by the end of the day he was really tired.

The other tigers in the jungle were a lot braver and they called Tom the Timid Tiger. Tom was very embarrassed by that and knew he had to change something if he didn't want to go to bed every night very tired and still half hungry.

One day Tom woke up with confidence. He decided that it was time he would no longer be shy and timid. From now on hee would be brave and bold. Today he would hunt the largest gaur he could find. Tonight he would go to bed with a full stomach and a chest full of pride. It was going to be the start of a new Tom. From today onwards he would be known as Tom the Tenacious Tiger.

So Tom got up, cleaned himself and made for a clearing where he knew would be a great many antilopes. There it would be easy to find a really big specimen and hunt her. Tom felt really excited and much braver than before. He raised his head high as he approached the clearing. As he expected, in the clearing there were great number of animals and in particular a nice group of large gaur. He scanned the animals and found a particularly large one that he decided to hunt.

He slowly walked along the perimeter of the clearing to find a good place for an ambush. The animals hadn't noticed him. He carefully placed one paw in front of the other to avoid making a noise, and the while he kept his eyes on the group of animals drinking from the water or cleaning themselves. He had picked out those that were on sentry duty and made sure he was downwind from them. Everything was going to plan.

Tom was ready for the attack. He crouched down and took a few moments to look around, listen for any strange noises and sniff the air for any unusual scents. It seemed the coast was still clear. The sentry animals looked relaxed and the whole group of gaur was calm and composed. It would be the perfect hunt.

Tom had to make his attack. The moment was perfect and the longer he waited, the more the risk of being discovered increased. However, Tom suddenly felt a small nagging feeling. His confidence seemed to slowly seep away. He thought about those beautiful animals in front of him. How strong they were and how fast they could run. He worried that he might not be able to catch them after all, or that he might get hurt during the hunt. He thought that other tigers might be watching him and tease him even more if he failed today. It was becoming too much, and instead of crouching down ready to jump, Tom was now actually just lying down, like a cat ready for a cuddle.

Suddenly Tom heard a roar from the distance. It was from another tiger who was clearly approaching the clearing. Tom had to do something. This was his clearing and he was not going to give it up. He jumped up and started his attack on the gaur. It took the animals a good few seconds before they realized what was happening, but by then it was too late. Tom was among them and had already brought down one of the gaur. It wasn't the biggest of the group, but it was still a good catch and would feed him for a good few days.

As Tom was reaching the end of his attack, he saw the other tiger standing by the edge of clearing, clearly impressed by what he saw. The other tiger gave a little nod to Tom and then quickly ran away back into the jungle.

Tom had done it. He had overcome his fear and he had protected his territory at the same time. He was really proud of himself and rightly so. From that day on, Tom was getting more and more confident. He still had days when he was too afraid to hunt large animals, but he was definitely getting better, and after only a few weeks the other tigers in the jungle had started calling him Tom the Tenacious Tiger, just as he had hoped. Tom lived in the jungles of India. Every morning he went hunting. He was very good at stalking and never had any problems getting close to his prey. However, he was often too afraid to catch large animals. They simply scared him. He usually ended up with a bird or small mammal, which didn't really fill him up, so he had to go hunting several times a day, and by the end of the day he was really tired.

The other tigers in the jungle were a lot braver and they called Tom the Timid Tiger. Tom was very embarrassed by that and knew he had to change something if he didn't want to go to bed every night very tired and still half hungry.

One day Tom woke up with confidence. He decided that it was time he would no longer be shy and timid. From now on hee would be brave and bold. Today he would hunt the largest gaur he could find. Tonight he would go to bed with a full stomach and a chest full of pride. It was going to be the start of a new Tom. From today onwards he would be known as Tom the Tenacious Tiger, just as he had hoped.

Amazing Animal Antics

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I've finally got my hands on a tablet and have been busy setting it all up and writing some new material.

Below is the first of a series of children's stories that I plan to publish as a collection. I hope you like it and let me know what you think.

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Claudia the Cranky Caterpillar

Claudia was a little caterpillar that one day would turn into a beautiful butterfly. For now though she was crawling around on a juicy cabbage munching on its leaves, slowly becoming fatter and fatter.

One day a ladybird landed on her cabbage to rest and clean itself when she spotted Claudia.

"Hello there," the ladybird said. "Aren't you quite fat enough yet to coccoon? You have nearly finished the whole cabbage. Where are you going to go next for more food?"

Claudia just looked at her for a short moment and then continued eating. There wasn't much time left and she still had to put on more weight.
"Are you ignoring me?" the ladybird continued. "How rude," it said before it flew off.  

The next day a stag beetle landed on her cabaw Claudia he stared at her for a good minute before he said: "Gosh, you do look ugly, don't you? And rather plump. I thought I was a big insect, but I think you set a new record."

Claudia felt cross, but she simply continued munching the cabbage leaf she was on and decided to ignore the stag beetle.

"You've got nothing to say for yourself, have you," the stag beetle said and flew off.  

So the days went on and every day a diferent insect landed on her cabbage and told her how ugly she was - or how fat - or something else that was insulting. Claudia was getting crosser and crosser with every passing day, and the caterpillars in her field started to call her Claudia the Cranky Caterpillar.

One day Claudia had enough of the rude comments and decided that whoever would arrive next would be put in his place. It didn't take long and a hungry looking jackdaw landed next to her cabbage. He slowly eyed her up and down until Claudia stopped munching and looked back at him.

"Hello there," was all that the jackdaw was able to say before Claudia let off her anger.

"Yes, what are you going to say?" she started to say. "I've heard it all before. Do you think I'm fat? Or ugly? Can't wait until I coccoon so you don't have to look at me any longer? Something else?"

As she was talking she crawled closer and closer to the jackdaw, while the jackdaw slowly inched back step by step. As Claudia uttered her last word she launched herself forward and the jackdaw scrambled for a quick takeoff and flew away, cawing as he went.

"I knew they were all cowards," Claudia said and then calmly continued munching her cabbage.

The caterpillars on the cabbages nearby had stopped eating and were trying to hide when they had seen the jackdaw land, but when Claudia had launched into her angry tirade they all crept out again and were mightily impressed when the jackdaw flew off.

Since then every caterpillar in her field knew her as Claudia the Couragous Caterpillar, but Claudia didn't know. She was cosily tucked up in her snug coccoon. Now it wouldn't take long until she would turn into a beautiful butterfly.