Zanzibar blinked. His picture was on the front page of The Voice of the Forest. It was huge. Above it was a big headline that read:
INCREDIBLE ZANZIBAR
And beneath the photograph, there was an article:
Of all the inhabitants of our forest, the one who most deserves our admiration is the crow with the lovely name of Zanzibar.
Zanzibar went into the desert with the sole objective of doing something noteworthy. There, he lifted a dromedary into the air on a single wing! Zanzibar performed this absurd feat simply for the beauty of the gesture and to entertain us all.
Thank you, Zanzibar!
The article was signed: Achille LeBlab.
“It was Paulette who took in the photo,” Monsieur Seagull explained. “Zanzibar, you’re famous!”
“You think so?”
Suddenly Paulette threw open the door and wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck.
“Did you see? Are you happy?”
And the next thing Zanzibar knew, Ginette was bouncing into the kitchen to congratulate him. Then the fox, the nightingale, the hare, the ant, the tortoise, the mosquito, the owl—everyone wanted to hug their hero. Even Madame Adele, the moth, came hobbling in on her crutches. The kitchen was full to bursting.
Zanzibar was confused. Being famous was all very well, but when it catches you unprepared—just like that, when you’re scarcely out of bed—it can be a little awkward.
He sidled over to Paulette and whispered: “What should I do now?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “you could make a speech.”
“A speech!” Zanzibar moaned. “No, I’d much rather make a mushroom omelette.”
Chapter 9
Zanzibar’s omelette was delicious. Madame Adele couldn’t get enough and asked for thirds.
“So, tell me, Zanzibar,” she said between mouthfuls, “this dromedary you lifted, was it very skinny?”
“Very, very skinny,” said Zanzibar.
“Now be perfectly frank. Do you think I could lift him, too?”
Zanzibar almost choked on the mouthful he was swallowing.
“Why not, Madame Adele,” he said with a laugh. “But you’d better hurry, because I sent him my omelette recipe.”
“Ah, then I’m too late,” the old lady sighed. “He can’t help but put on weight now.”
“Absolutely,” Paulette agreed.
She lifted her glass.
“Here’s to you, our dear, incredible Zanzibar!”
“To your health!” exclaimed Madame Adele.
“To Zanzibar!” the whole table shouted.
Deeply moved, Zanzibar glanced at the sock hanging on the wall.
“To all my friends!”
This edition first published in 2019 by Gecko Press
PO Box 9335, Wellington 6141, New Zealand
[email protected]
English-language edition © Gecko Press Ltd 2018
Translation © Antony Shugaar 2019
Original title: L’incroyable Zanzibar
Text and illustrations by Catharina Valckx
© 2003 l’ecole des loisirs, Paris
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted or utilized in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Edited by Penelope Todd
Design and typesetting by Katrina Duncan
Printed in China by Everbest Printing Co Ltd,
an accredited ISO 14001 & FSC certified printer
ISBN hardback: 978-1-776572-55-7
ISBN paperback: 978-1-776572-56-4
Ebook ISBNs: 978-1-776572-57-1 (epub); 978-1-776572-86-1(mobi); 978-1-776572-87-8 (pdf); 978-1-776572-88-5 (S & L pdf)
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