by Anna Wilson
While I was in Botswana I could not stop thinking about what Felix would think if he was there with me. I could just see his eyes growing wide at the sight of lion cubs cuddling up to their mum, or at seeing warthogs rooting around in the red earth for things to eat – and, of course, I knew Felix would LOVE the monkeys!
So Monkey Madness is based on the amazing holiday I had in Botswana, and many of the things I have written about really did happen to us: we did see lion cubs up very close, monkeys did steal a can of Coke one day (they did not like the taste and threw it back at us!) and we did camp out and visit a village too.
But best of all we met a kind, warm-hearted man called Bibi, who was our guide. He knew everything there was to know about all the animals, birds and plants, and he told us the most jaw-dropping stories about his life in Africa. He told us about how he canoed to school and had to make a heartbreaking decision about his puppy in order to save his own life.
He also told us about the baobab tree and about how one day his mum found a snake in her car while she was driving. And so this book is dedicated to the real Bibi, who gave us the holiday of a lifetime and taught us things we will never forget. (Just in case you are wondering, he does have a daughter, but she is much younger than Mo – and much, MUCH better behaved!)
Thank you for reading
Love, Anna xxx
GLOSSARY
Dumela, Rra
Good morning, sir
Dumela, Mma
Good morning, madam
Ke a leboga
Thank you
Tambotie
African children play with these special seeds and call them ‘jumping beans’ because of the moth larvae which live inside the seeds and jump around.
Miracle berries
These berries really do change your sense of taste and the effect lasts for a whole day.
Baobab tree
There are many, many myths and stories about the baobab tree and its place in African culture. In times of severe drought some villages get their water supply from the hundreds of litres of water that can be found in the tap roots of the tree.
Anna Wilson lives in Bradford on Avon with her husband, two children, two cats, one dog and six chickens. She is the author of many young-fiction novels published by Macmillan Children’s Books – and while many of them have been about pets, this is the first to feature wild African monkeys.
Books by Anna Wilson
The Poodle Problem
The Dotty Dalmatian
The Smug Pug
Puppy Love
Pup Idol
Puppy Power
Puppy Party
Kitten Kaboodle
Kitten Smitten
Kitten Cupid
Monkey Business
I’m A Chicken, Get Me Out of Here!
www.annawilson.co.uk
First published 2014 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2014 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-6152-0
Text copyright © Anna Wilson 2014
Illustrations copyright © Andy Rowland 2014
The right of Anna Wilson and Andy Rowland to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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