Journey to Lilly Pad Lake

One day, Mr. Ribbets the frog and Senior Lizuardo the lizard went for a walk. The were going to walk to Lilly Pad Lake for their holidays.
"I can't wait to get to Lilly Pad Lake, " said Senior Lizuado.
"Yeah...me to" said Mr. Ribbets. "They have an All the Flies You Can Eat buffet!"
"But we have to be careful on the road" said Lizuardo. "I've heard there's snakes!"
"Snakes don't scare me!" said Mr. Ribbets
They walked and walked for about two hours. They decided to take a break. They told jokes, playd a game and ate fly sandwiches. Then they got tired of eating and playing. They decided to take a nap. Just then, they heard a hissing noise.
"What was that?" whispered Mr. Ribbets.
"I don't know but it sounds like a snake!" said Senior Lizuardo.
"M-m-maybe it was just the w-w-w-ind" stammered Mr. Ribbets.
Suddenly, a great big, ugly snake appeared in front of them. It was brown with square patterns on it. Her eyes were slit and yellow with and seemed to have terror glistening in them. Mr. Ribbets was so scared that he jumped on top of Lizuardo.
"I thought you weren't afraid of snakes" said Lizuardo.
"Well.....I-I-I- ch-ch-ch-changed my m-m-m-mind!" squeeled Mr. Ribbets.
"Am am pleasssssed to meet you" hissed the snake. "I am Anna, the Anaconda. What, may I ask, are two gentlement like you doing in the middle of this dangerous forresssst?"
"We are going to Lilly Pad :Lake" said Lizuardo.
""Y-y-yeah" said Mr. Ribbets.
"Lilly Pad Lake... that isss ssso far away and the road issss dangeroussss." said Anna. "I know a shortcut if you're interesssssted."
"Which way is it?" asked Mr. Ribbets.
"Oh it's jussst down thisss little tunnel. Follow me." replied Anna.
"Do you think we can trust this snake?" Senior Lizuardo asked Mr. Ribbets.
"Well I think we can. She doesn't look like she's lying." replied Mr. Ribbets. "And I'm hungry for flies at Lilly Pad Lake."
They entered the tunnel. It was so dark, it was almost too dark to see the snake ahead of them. They hopped crawled and slithered for about ten minutes until they reached a small cave.
"Sssstay here. I'll tell you when it'ssss ssssssafe." Anna said.
She slithered in and was swallowed up by the darkness.
"This doesn't seem like much of a short cut." said Lizuardo.
"Yeah it's more of a long cut. This snake is giving me a headache with all her hissssssing."
"All'sss clear to come it in!" said Anna Anaconda.
They walked into the cave shakily. The cave was hot and stinky. It was stinkier than a stink park. Suddenly they heard a bang.
"Quick! Ssssomeone's coming! Hide here." Anna urged. She pushed them into a hole that felt suspiciously like a pot.
"I think the snake is tricking us!" said Lizuardo.They heard a click and the sound of a fire coming to life.
"Do you feel anything?" said Lizuardo.
"Nope" said Mr. Ribbets. " all I feel is my heart beating really fast!"
"I wonder where the snake has gone?" said Lizuardo.
"Can we come out of hiding?" Mr. Ribbets asked.
"No, I'm ssstil dealing the enemy." Anna replied. "Hya! Take that you ninny hammer!"
By this time, Lizuardo was getting suspicious of Anna. "Maybe you should jump up and see what Anna is doing, Ribbets."
Mr. Ribbets did a big jump. "Hey she isn't fighting, she's cutting vegetables!" he exclaimed.
"Oh no! she's going to eat us!" said Lizuardo.
"Well, maybe she just doesn't lie vegetables." suggested Mr. Ribbets.
"You are the biggest ninny hammer frog face ever! She's going to eat us!"
"We got to get out of here!" wailed Mr. Ribbets.
"Let me think about this....why don't we get out of here while her back is turned."
Just then a pile of vegetables fell on them. "Ahhhhh! Vegetables!" they screamed.
"Let's make vegetable disguises!" said Mr. Ribbets.
"Who's ever heard of walking vegetables?" said Lizuardo.
"Well, do you have a better idea, Mr. Know-it-all?"
"Ok. fine. I guess you can fit inside a tomato and I can get inside a carrot. How about we throw a carrot across the room as a distraction and we can get out."
They threw the carrot and Anna slithered to go fetch it.
"Quick! Now!" said Lizuardo. They ran as fast as they could for the door. Anna turned just in time to see a carrot and tomato running away. The carrot had a tail.
"They're trying to essscape! Come back here you!" she shouted. She chased after them.
"Faster!" yelled Mr. Ribbets.
They ran and ran and ran. When they got through the door, Lizuardo said, "Quick cover up the door!"
They found a huge rock and rolled it in front of the entrance. It hit Anna Anaconda in the face.
"Phew! That was close!" sighed  Lizuardo.
They ran down the trail-which wasn't dangerous at all-until they came to a lake. It was so beautiful and it had so many lily pads and flies.
"I think I've died and gone to heaven!" they sighed.
"I'm going to have a big snack of flies" said Mr. Ribbets.
"I'm going to go get myself a tan" said Senior Lizuardo.
So Mr. Ribbets went of his flies and Senior Lizuardo started tanning. They were very happy at Lilly Pad Lake and they never forgot never to trust strangers-especially those who slither.
  

Two Limericks by Snake Boy

There was a great Snake Shark in the ocean of Moo
That swam and swam and tried to eat you
He had great big gills
And did big kills
He would not be a good friend for you


A great big snake in a big river bed
Swam around the water and bumped his head
He ate lots of fish
On a big fat dish
It made his great tummy look red!

Two Limericks by Mr. Wolf

There once was a monster named Snoozey McGooze
Who lived on a hill and slept in his shoes
It was so cozy
it warmed his nosy
He slept and slept with a snooze!

There once was a man named good Mr. Chirp
Who lived on the top of Mount Didly Durp
He drank so much fizzy
It made him quite dizzy
He let it all out with a burp!

Two Limericks by Miss Little Ears

In the jungle lived a Wozamboodle
Who always ate Apple Strudel
He ate so much
For dinner and lunch
He turned into a big fat noodle

There once was a dragon called Mugglewump
Who was a big mean sour-faced grump
He loved to eat tables
And straw from stables
It gave him a big pointy lump!

Our Solar System

There are eight planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. They all revolve around the Sun. Most of them are named after Roman gods. Over the years, NASA has sent out many space crafts in order to find out more about the planets and their moons.
The sun is the star in the center of our solar system. It gives us light and heat. Without it, we could not live. It is very, very hot. It has a diameter of 1,392,000 km and a surface temperature of about 5,505C. The Sun produces solar flares that are like a solar tsunami. The sun is one of the only bodies in the solar system to be named  after a Germanic deity rather than a Roman deity.
Mercury is the closest to the sun and also the fastest planet. It is named after the Roman Mercury who was the messenger god. Mercury has very little atmosphere which means it has a lot of craters. Its largest crater has a diameter of 900 meters! It is scorching during the day and freezing at night. This is because it rotates so slowly- 108 Earth days! However its orbit only takes 88 days. Mercury is the smallest planet.
Venus is the second planet from the sun. It was named after the goddess of beauty. It used to be referred to as Earth's twin because it is the same size. But Venus nothing like Earth! Its atmosphere is made up of Carbon Dioxide at it's surface temperature is  480C. Because of its dense atmosphere, the sun is not visible from Venus' surface. It has the most volcanoes in the solar system. It rotates backwards. It is visible from at dusk and dawn.
Earth is the only known planet to support life. It is third from the sun and its surface is mostly water. It's rotation takes 24 hours and its orbit takes 365.25 days. It has one moon that affects Earth's ocean tides. Earth has four seasons in a year and two hemisphere that are opposite of each other. In the southern hemisphere, water drains in the opposite direction from the northern hemisphere! Earth has many atmospheric layers. This protects us from the sun and meteorites. Earth's center is made up of lava, which is melted rock. It is possible to surf on the atmosphere!
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It is named after the Roman god of war. It is often refereed to as the "Red Planet" and is half the size of Earth. There is water on Mars but it is only in ice and gas so it cannot support life. There is rust in the soil. It's climate is mild to cold. It has two moons named Phobos and Deimos that are irregularly. Mars has a canyon that would stretch from San Francisco to New York- ten times bigger than the Grand Canyon! It also has the largest mountain in the Solar system- Mount Olympus.
Jupiter is named after the King of  the gods also known as Zeus. It is the fifth planet from the sun. It has 63 moons and it is the biggest planet in the solar system. It's biggest moon is bigger than Mercury. It's rotation is ten Earth hours long. Its famous red spot is a storm that has been on the planet for at least 100 years. 1,000 Earths could fit into Jupiter. Because of its dense gaseous atmosphere, Jupiter cannot support life. It has no known surface.
Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system. Its distinctive rings are made up of rock and ice. It was named after the Roman god of the harvest. Saturn has no solid surface and it produces more energy than it receives from the sun which makes its center hot and surface freezing. A day on Saturn last 10 hours and 33 minutes.  However, its is 27.5 Earth years. Its winds reach up to 1,100 mph. Saturn has 60 moons and one of them, Titan, has has liquid on its surface.
Uranus-number seven from the sun- is both a gas giant and an ice giant. It was named after the father of Saturn who was the god of the sky. It takes 85 Earth years to orbit and 18 Earth hours to rotate. Its unique rotation is sideways- north to south. Its surface temperature gets down to -950C. Its core is suspected to have diamonds. It is four times the size of Earth and some of Uranus' storms are as big as the U.S.A. Uranus is blue.
Neptune is the eighth and final planet from the sun. It was named after the god of the sea. It's one of the windiest planets with winds that reach up to 1,000 Km per hour and it's black spot storm could fit Earth inside. It has very thin rings around it. The cloudy surface of Neptune has a 19 hour rotation while the inside takes only 16 hours. It's moon Triton is the coldest part of the solar system.
Thanks to space exploration, we can learn about the planets and stars that surround us. Our understanding of them has greatly expanded over the past centuries. We know about all about the planets closest to us and about some of the stars as well.

The Mystery of the Stolen Fish

Once there was a penguin named Peter Penguin. He had a friend named Sammy Seal. They lived in Antarctica. It is very cold in Antarctica. One day Sammy Seal's stash of fish went missing. Sammy had been storing up fish for the winter. Sammy Seal came over to play and Sammy wanted to show off his collection. They swam over to where Sammy kept his fish. When they got to the cave,  they saw  that there was a big hole instead of the small opening
"Oh no!" exclaimed Peter. "All of my fish are gone: even the Chocolate Marshmallow Rainbow Trout!"
"Where do you think they went?" asked Peter.
"I don't know. They were there yesterday and now they are gone."
"Don't worry" said Peter Penguin. "Inspector Peter is on the job! First we must look for clues."
They looked and looked all around the cave but couldn't find a single clue. They were about to give up,but then they saw a half eaten fish head.
"Look at this skeleton, Sammy" said Peter.
"And there is another one. And another one" said Sammy.
They followed the trial of fish bones and it led into the open ocean. The trail continued across the ocean floor. They followed the trail which led to an even bigger cave. For the cave came an earth- rumbling groan. they saw a pointed fin sticking out of the cave.
"Ahh! it's a shark!" screamed Sammy Seal.
Another groan came out of the cave.
"It's an angry shark!" shrieked Peter.
"Why don't we go closer and get a look?" said Sammy.
Slowly, they sneaked up to the cave and saw even more fish bones. Suddenly they heard a loud burp. It smelled stinky with fish.
"Pee-ew! That is the stinkiest thing I've ever smelled!" said Peter, holding his nose.
"Lucky you, though" spluttered Sammy. "I can't even hold my nose! Do you think the shark ate my fish?"
"Let's look in the cave and find out." said Peter.
They crept and crept along the outside of the cave. They looked into the cave and gasped.
"It's not a shark: it's a whale!" they chorused.
"And a stinking one too" added Sammy while digging his hose into Peter's fun.
"Oooooh my poor tummy!" moaned the whale.Sammy and Peter could see a huge pile of fish bones in the corner of the cave.
"You ate my fish!" wailed Sammy to the whale.
"They were your fish?" said the whale. "I thought they were free samples!"
"That's quite a lot of free samples, don't you think?" said Peter indignantly.
"Did you even eat my Chocolate Marshmallow Rainbow Trout?" said Sammy.
"Don't even mention it or I'll be sick!" the Whale groaned.
"So you did! and that was my Christmas dinner!" whined Sammy.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Seal," said the Whale. "I just happened to smell your fish as I was swimming by and I was so hungry I couldn't help myself."
"I forgive you." said Sammy Seal.
"What is your name?" said Peter Penguin.
"I'm Wanda Whale" replied the whale. "And what are your names?"
"I'm Peter Penguin" said Peter.
"And I'm Sammy Seal." said Sammy.
"I promise I will never eat your fish again." said Wanda.
"Now let's go fish for some more Chocolate Marshmallow Rainbow Trout." said Peter.
After that, the three animals became best of friends. They played together every day. Wanda took them for rides, and they had races and diving contests. They all agreed that even though what Wanda did was wrong it brought it all together. THE END

Chocolate Part3: A Story

Spot & Me and the Chocolate Monsters


By Snake Boy


One day, Spark, Daniel, Teddy, Spot and I were walking. It was a very boring day. There were no games to play. There was loads of rain. Then, Daniel spotted the time machine. We got into the time machine. Daniel and Spark pushed all of the buttons and pulled all of the levers. Spot set the time. WE went to the future.

"Bark! Bark!" said Spot. Translation: Let's go to the time of Charlie and the monster chocolate factory!"

The time machine shook like and earthquake and shook again.

"Mamma Mia cheese and crackers this machine is bigger in the inside!" I said.

Then the machine stopped shaking. We all got out of the time machine. Suddenly, there was a bash and another bash. Then there was the sound of a dinosaur roaring. We all looked behind us. It was Dave, Daniel's old dinosaur friend. Then, we saw a giant chocolate monster. Spark, Spot and Teddy ate the chocolate monster.

"Bark! Bark!" said Spot and Spark. Translation: "What a tasty meal!"

We saw a chocolate monster crowd. The chocolate monster crowd charged. They charged and charged.

"Run for your lives!" said Spot.

"Spot, do you have your rotten chocolate bombs?" said Daniel.

"Yes I do. Let's chocolate them out!"

We threw and threw the rotten chocolate bombs and the chocolate monster crowd. They got stinked out with the rotten chocolate bombs. The chocolate monsters melted.

"Look out! More chocolate monsters with chocolate guns!" Said Spark.

"Spark, do you have any stink bombs?" said Teddy.

"Yes I do" said Spark, "But I left them in the time machine."

"Maybe spot has some extra chocolate bombs" said Teddy.

"Of course I do!" said Spot. "I always have extras."

"Hey look! a chocolate cannon!" said Teddy. "Let's put some rotten chocolate bombs in it."

"I could put some of my bad breath in it." I said. I breathed into the cannon again and again.

"Fire!" said Teddy.

The monsters were getting stinked out five at a time but there were still 1,000 more. Bang! Bang! Two more shots came. Ten monsters were melted. Crack! Crack!


"Look, it's Reuben using his hard head against them!" said Daniel.

"Let's eat them all!" said Spot.

"Let's eat them all for our dinner!" said Spark.

"Um...Spark there's too many" said Spot.

""Well we can eat most of them." said Spark.

Bang! Bang! The cannon went off again.

"Who's firing the cannon?" said Spark.

"Me" said Teddy.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Spot fired the machine buzuka gun.

"What a lot of melted chocolate monsters!" I said. There were only ten more left.
 Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! They were all dead.

"It's going to explode!" I sad. "Lest's go!"

We all jumped into the time machine-even Dave. Daniel and Spark pulled all of the levers and pushed all of the buttons. The time machine shook and shook like an earthquake. and there was a bash and another bash. Then it didn't bash anymore. We all got out of the time machine-even Dave.

"Let's go inside the house." said Spot. We all walked into the house-except Dave. Mum would kick Dave out if he came in and skin him. The teddies went into our room and jumped onto our beds.

"Bark! Bark!" said spark. Translation: "I want some bones!"

THE END

Chocolate Part 2: The Making

By Miss Little Ears


Stage 1
To make chocolate, you obviously need a cocoa tree. These take 15-20 years to grow and must be grown in a tropical climate. When the bean pods are fully grown, cut them off of the tree. Split open the pods and take out the beans. Cover the beans with banana leaves and leave for a week. This gives them a better color and flavor. Take off the banana leave and let them dry in the sun for three days.

Stage 2
Next, you will clean the beans and remove the pulp. Roast the beans at 121C in a revolving oven. Crack open the shells of the beans into the edible nibs. grind the nibs with a roller to make the chocolate liquor or cocoa mass, which is the base for all chocolate. It will still be gritty and grainy. In a heavy press, extract half of the fat (cocoa butter) from the liquor but don't throw it away.

Stage 3
Mix condensed milk and sugar with the chocolate liquor to make a paste. The paste is passed through some big rollers to make a fine, flaky powder called "chocolate crumb". The cocoa butter you saved earlier is added back into the chocolate crumb to make another paste. This paste is put into heated vats. Giant rollers go slowly over it.  This makes it smooth and melt-in-your-mouthy. This takes many days. The temperature is reduced slowly and the now liquid chocolate is poured into metal molds. After the chocolate sets in the molds, you will have your very own bar of chocolate!

Chocolate Part 1: A History

By Mr. Wolf

Chocolate was first discovered by the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. It didn't start as a chocolate bar but as a drink called "xocolat". It was EXTREMELY HOT!  Later, they made a cooler drink. When the Mayans attacked the Incas, the Incas were made to pay taxes in chocolate. Back then cocoa beans were used for money. About 500 years later, Columbus found Mexico and brought back cocoa beans with him. Spain kept it a secret for the next 100 years. When England invaded Spain, they found the cocoa bean and brought it back to the UK. Italy brought it to the Pope so he could say that it was OK to drink. Luckily, he said it was OK! When the USA heard about chocolate in the 1800s, they didn't seem that interested. Normal sweet shops didn't begin to sell chocolate bars until the late 1800s. Fry's Chocolate Cream came out in 1866, Cadbury's Dairy Milk in 1905, Milky Way in 1923, Chrunchies in 1930, and Mars Bar in 1932.
Even though some hated it, the "xocolat' of the Aztecs started something that will never go away!  

The Monkey Ballerina

                                                 To Abigail: The original Monkey Ballerina 


Once upon a time there was a little monkey who wanted to be a ballerina. Because her name was Clumserina she was very clumsy.  She belonged to the Monkey-Wunky-Dunky family. She had one hundred sisters and one brother.
One day she found a cave. She decided to teach herself ballet there because at home she slipped on a banana peel and bruised her bum! She tried to do a spin at least thirty times but every time she fell on her bum.
“I need a drink of water!” she said. “But first let me try one more pirouette.”
Unfortunately, she fell and twisted her ankle.  She felt really sad and she began to cry.
“I’ll never be a ballerina!” she sobbed.
Suddenly, she heard a really squeaky voice that almost cracked her ears. She saw hundreds of tiny sparkles dancing before her eyes. Then, she saw three pretty fairies in front of her: The biggest was blue, the middle biggest was purple and the smallest was yellow.
“There, there dearie, don’t flood the place!” said the biggest fairy.
“I don’t know how to swim!” squeaked the smallest fairy.
“Umm you can fly, Tillie.” said the middle fairy.
“Who are you?” said Clumserina ,who had just stopped crying.
“We are the Dancing Fairies of Dancing Land and we’re here to teach you how to dance!” The three fairies chorused.
“I’m Lizzie Spinny and I’ll teach you how to spin.” said the purple fairy.
 “I’m Judy Jump and I’ll teach you how to jump.” said the blue fairy leaping through the air.
“And I’m Tillie Tippy Toes.” said the yellow fairy, “I’m going to teach you to use your tip toes.”
“Come on!” said Lizzie excitedly, “Let’s begin! “
“First, stand on your tip toes.” said Tillie.
“It’s so tricky!” said Clumserina before falling on her bum. It took ages, but finally Clumserina could walk the whole length of the cave on her tip toes.
“Good job!” said Lizzie. “Now I’ll teach you how to spin. First cross your left foot over, push and spin!”
“This is too hard!” cried Clumserina as she slipped.
“Keep on trying!” said Lizzie.
It took her loads of tries but soon, Clumserina could spin around the entire cave.
“Well done!” Judy Jump praised. “Now I’ll teach you how to jump.”
Soon, Clumserina could jump and jump and jump!
“Jumping is my favorite of all!” she exclaimed.
“Now try all the moves together!” said Tillie Tippy Toes excitedly.
Clumserina tried them altogether. She was brilliant!
“Bless my dust you’ve got it!” said the fairies. “Now you’re ready for the Banana Town talent show.”
“But I don’t have a thing to wear.” said Clumserina.
“We can fix that!” said Lizzie Spinny. All of a sudden, a beautiful pink, sparkly dress appeared out of nowhere.
“Oooh!” said clumserina, her eyes widening.
“Now you’re ready” said the fairies.
At the talent show, CLumserina was very nervous.
“It’s your turn.” whispered Tillie.
Clumserina spun and twirled and did the spinny tippy toes jump. She landed on her tippy toes with a lovely flourish.  She was very happy and the crowd clapped and cheered.
“Well done!” exclaimed the fairies. “You’re the best ballerina in the world.”
 “And the winner is...Clumserina!” shouted the presenter. “And I think you should be known as Bananarina because you aren’t clumsy anymore.” He handed her bouquet of bananas. “You are the best ballerina in Banana Town!”
“It’s all thanks to my fairy friends.” said Clumserina. The fairies beamed proudly.
Clumserina- or should we say, Bananarina- lived spinnily, tippy toesily, jumpily ever after.
                                                                      THE END

To Paint a Mural

First, we brain stormed with the Artist. Miss Little Ears wanted a tree, a snake, some grass birds and a caterpillar. Mr. Wolf wanted worms, dirt, flowers and rain drops. Snake Boy wanted a Sea Serpent, a dragon and lava. Next we cleaned off our wall and drew the picture.
.

                                        We painted the grass and pond first and then the sun.

                                                          Mr. Wolf painted the earth  and worms

                                              We painted the tree, lava, earth and the snake

                 We then added the flowers fish and caterpillar. The Artist painted the mice in their hole.

           We painted Snake Boy's Sea Serpent and dragon. Mr. Tall painted the cloud, rain and birds.

                                                 Everybody was happy with the final product!

Dinosaurs

By The Three Students
 Do you know about the Dinos?
Let me tell you something I know
They’re very big,
But not like a pig;
They may eat like one
And for some it is not fun

 They sometimes eat meat,
Which is not very neat
While others eat plants
 Which is not good for ants.
They rip and they tear.
It’s terrifying I swear!

There’s Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Who has teeth like an ax.
They have claws and tails.
They’re reptiles-not snails!
 They’re big and they’re scary,
But not a bit hairy!
The plant eaters chew,
But they will not eat you.

 There’s brontosaurus Pterodactyls
Who never eat spectacles.
 There’s two types of Allosaurus
And one of them is good for us.
The other not so much,
‘Cause he’ll eat you for lunch!
 They lived ages ago,
 Before ice and snow.

Even though they’re dead,
We have their fossils instead
 Fossils are bones
 From a time before of phones.
Some of them are small,
And others quite tall!
From these fossils we tell
How they lived very well.

 So as you can see
Though dead they may be:
They go down in time
 To fit in my rhyme!