The Three Little
Monkeys and the Big Bad Crocodile
It all happened one day at school…
On the first morning of school, the three
little monkeys were jumping on the bed just like they did every day of the
summer. And just like on every other day, one fell off and nearly broke his
head. Mama Monkey said “No more monkeys jumping on the bed! You have to go to
school today. Be good and don’t get into trouble with your teacher Mr. Shell,
and don’t mess with the Big Bad Crocodile.”
Unfortunately, monkeys will be monkeys
and all Bob Monkey, Joe Monkey and Gertrude Monkey heard was “Blah, blah, blah,
school, blah, blah”.
So they took off for school, carrying
their books and swinging from trees and yodelling with all their might.
When the monkeys finally got to school,
Mr. Shell was already talking to the class. The monkeys heard “It’s my job to
blah, blah and to blah, blah, blah.”
Then Gertrude Monkey said very loudly “I
wonder what blah, blah means?”
Everyone in the class laughed except Mr.
Shell, who had just been rudely interrupted.
“Monkeys!” he yelled. “Go stand by the
tree until I come see you as your punishment!”
So Bob, Joe and Gertrude Monkey stood by
the tree for what seemed like a very long time until the recess bell rang and
Mr. Shell came over.
“You monkeys sit here until recess is
over, and then come inside with the other students.”
But when Mr. Shell left, Gertrude Monkey
saw the Big Bad Crocodile coming right towards them. The monkeys didn’t know
much about the Big Bad Crocodile, but they had heard that he was the Biggest
and Baddest animal in the school. He wore big black boots with spikes on the
bottom. And a big leather jacket with lots of zippers and buckles.
When the Big Bad Crocodile came over,
the monkeys were shaking with fear. Then the Crocodile said “What are you doing
hanging around my tree?”
His deep voice scared the monkeys even
more. “We have to s-s-sit here as p-p-punishment for i-i-interupting Mr.
S-S-Shell” stuttered Joe Monkey.
Then the Crocodile said “I’m bored so
I’m going to chase you.”
“AHHH!” screamed the monkeys and they
ran up the tree.
“Hey, come down here or I’ll bite and
snap until the tree falls down!”
Just then the bell rang to end recess. Big
Bad Crocodile roared “I’ll get you next time!”
After he left, the monkeys quietly climbed
down from the tree and went into the school holding their tails in their hands.
During the afternoon recess, the monkeys
were playing tag on the monkey bars. Since they were monkeys, they were better
at the monkey bars than even Chip Squirrel. Recess was almost over and Bob
Monkey was about to go down the slide when he saw Big Bad Crocodile waiting to
grab him at the bottom of the slide. Even though Bob was a monkey, he was smart
enough not to go down the slide. But Big Bad Crocodile was a clever crocodile
and tempted Bob by saying “Come down monkey, I have some candy for you.”
But just as Bob Monkey was about to go
down, Gertrude Monkey cried “Don’t do it Bob, Mama Monkey has lots of candies
at home!”
Just then the bell rang to end recess and Big Bad Crocodile roared “I’ll get you next time!”
After he left, Bob Monkey said “That was
a close one Gertie. Thanks for saving me.”
Then they heard Joe Monkey yell “Come on
guys, we’re going to be late!” So they hurried back into school.
After school as the monkeys were
swinging their way home, yodelling at the top of their lungs, Big Bad Crocodile
stopped them and said “You monkeys have bothered me all day and now I’m going
to eat you. So do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?”
But then, the monkeys plucked up some
courage they never knew they had and shouted “NEITHER WAY!” very loudly into
the crocodile’s face. Then they somersaulted over the crocodile’s head and
jumped up into a tree again. The crocodile roared “Come down from that tree you
monkeys!!” and he started snapping and biting the tree, making it sway and
shake.
With the crocodile’s mouth roaring wide
open, Gertrude Monkey noticed a rotten tooth in its mouth and pointed it out to
her brothers. That gave Joe Monkey an idea. He pulled a vine from the tree and
looped it into a lasso. When the crocodile opened wide again to snap at the
tree, Joe Monkey threw the lasso and roped the rotten tooth. Joe and Bob and
Gertrude Monkey pulled with all their might on the vine and yanked the rotten
tooth right out of the crocodile’s mouth.
With the rotten tooth out, the crocodile
suddenly felt much better. He forgot why he was snapping at the tree and why he
was mad at the monkeys. He realized that he wasn’t grumpy and angry anymore. The
crocodile said to the monkeys “Thanks for helping me get rid of that rotten
tooth. It was hurting so much that it made me grumpy all the time. Now that
it’s gone, I feel much better.”
The monkeys noticed that the crocodile
was suddenly much nicer. They realized that he was no longer Big Bad Crocodile,
now he was a friendly crocodile. They climbed down from the tree. Joe Monkey
said, “We’re glad we could help you. All that tugging has made us hungry.”
Then Gertrude Monkey suggested “Hey
Crocodile, why don’t you come home with us for some milk and cookies?”
“I have a name you know” said the
crocodile, “It’s Clifford.”
So Clifford the Crocodile and the three
monkeys went home together and gave Mama Monkey a big scare!
~ASKalburgi 2009