Ten Elephants (and a Spider)
by
Matt Zurbo
Harry was hungry.
(Happy spider standing on empty food can)
So he made a BIG web!
The web was strong! He caught ONE circus elephant!
Harry thought the web might break, but it didn’t.
Then, his web caught the elephant of an Indian prince. TWO elephants.
The web bent… but did not break!
(Harry standing, worried, under web/elephant’s bum, holding small umbrella up)
Oh-ho! An African elephant! That’s THREE elephants!
A pygmy elephant! FOUR elephants!
A rainforest elephant! FIVE elephants!
But the monkey got away!
(Harry chasing after fleeing monkey)
A roller-skating elephant! SIX elephants!
(Elephant with roller-skates, small cape and flashy stunt helmet)
Harry was SURE the trees would break!
(Harry looking worried on bending trunk of thin tree the web is attached to)
An ancient elephant! SEVEN elephants!
(Caveman standing angrily below a woolly mammoth caught in web)
A baby elephant… EIGHT elephants!
(Wordless image of Harry under even lower elephant’s bum caught in web. Harry is shadowed by bum, his head is on the ground, worried/stressed, covered by three hands, his own bum in the air)
An Egyptian elephant! NINE elephants!
(Egyptian elephant, covered in fancy cloth, with saddle, caught in middle of net, it’s rider fleeing)
A BULL elephant!
(Bull elephant charging net, Harry covering his eyes)
TEN elephants!
(Bull looking startled in the middle of other elephants, trees holding web totally bending now, everything shaky, Harry on top of web/highest elephant)
Happy Harry! “Food for a ye-“
(Close up of Harry, in bottom left of frame, napkin on, holding knife and fork, pausing, as eyes look up to falling leaf)
LOOK OUT!
(Huge cloud of dust as web breaks and elephants fall. Trees bending away, coconuts falling off, Harry tumbling, leaf in air, etc…)
Bummer!
No elephants.
(Harry sitting on his bum, knife and fork in hand, nothing in front of him to eat except the leaf)
The End
365 kids books in 365 days 