Primary (ages 6-9)

Material appropriate for primary age groups

The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks

In this retelling of a Masai tale, a mongoose helps an ostrich get her chicks back from the lonely lioness who has stolen them.

Peering down from her treetop perch, a lonely lioness admires the noisily cheeping clan of Mother Ostrich and thinks, “I would be happy to have just one child.” So she leaps down, gurum! and steals all four ostrich chicks. Accepting the lioness as their mother, the chicks follow right behind he. Mother Ostrich is frantic! As she chases after the lioness, she enlists the help of gazelle, hyena, jackal, and mongoose.

Zoom Upstream

Zoom the cat follows a mysterious trail through a bookshelf to Egypt, where he joins his friend Maria in a search for his Uncle Roy.

Koi and the Kola Nuts

An African folktale follows the son of a chief who must make his way in the world with only a sackful of kola nuts and the help of some creatures that he has treated with kindness.

Ape

Swing with a hairy orangutan and her baby as they lunge for a smelly, spiky durian fruit. Roam and play with a gang of chimps, then poke out some tasty termites with a blade of grass. Chatter and feast on figs with a bonobo, or chomp on bamboo with a gorilla as he readies for sleep. What could be better than spending time with these rare and wonderful creatures–after all, the fifth great ape on this planet is you!

How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt

Serpot, ruler of a land where women live free, without men, leads her Amazon warriors in battle against Prince Pedikhons of Egypt, who has come to see for himself if women can equal men, even in battle. Includes notes about Assyrian and Egyptian culture and hieroglyphics.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: A Moral Tale from the Baila of Zambia

A husband does not believe it when his wife tells him that their crying baby is comforted by a huge eagle who flies down with its sharp talons and alights on the baby.