Uncle Jack

a*td the M eerkats

Illustrated Jjy Gustavcr M a za li

Y o u n s <tp> R e a p e r s
 PICTURE DICTIONARY
Uncle Jack and Meerkats

UNCLE.3AC<
UCHHiOOtlO 3 7 -4
ftaaxpocGota

+
address

(to) bark

between

cage
a

(to) cry

desert

, Kills

hot-air balloon
 PICTURE DICTIONARY
Uncle Jack and the Meerkats

m r r
m

inside lorry

net
loudspeaker

stomacK-acKe toothache

I
meerkats

next to
 Y o u n g «3S» R e a p e r s

Jane C a d w alla d er

Uncle Jack
and the Meerkats
Illustrated by Gustavo M azali
(►) 2 i|| t ncle Jack was reading a book in the garden.
Jim an d his sisters, D aisy a n d M ay, were
playing with a ball. G rum py the dog
b eg an to bark. H e w anted to show them som ething.
‘W h a t’s the m atter G rum py?’ asked D aisy.
U ncle Jack, G rum py, Jim, D aisy an d M ay looked
into the next door gard en . T hey saw two m eerkats
in a cag e.T h ey were b ab y m eerkats a n d they were
crying! ‘H m . L e t’s go a n d talk to M r Sm ith,’
U ncle Jack.
U ncle Jack an d the children w ent to see M r Sm ith
who lived next door. M r Sm ith said sadly, ‘I
b o u g h t the m eerkats in a pet shop b u t they never
stop crying!’ ‘Perhaps they have a to o th ach e or a
stom ach-ach e,’ said Jim.
‘N o,’ said U ncle Jack. ‘I d o n ’t think so. M eerkats
have very strong fam ily feelings. I think they are
crying for their m others an d fathers.’ ‘O h no!’ said
D aisy a n d M ay.
Jim pointed to the cage, ‘Look!’ he said, “W itd raai,
K a la h a ri D esert, South A frica” . I t’s their address!
T hey come from the K alah ari D esert!’ ‘H m . I think
y o u ’re rig h t,’ said U ncle Jack. H e looked a t M r
Sm ith. ‘Shall we tak e th em hom e?’ he asked. ‘O h,
yes, please!’ answ ered M r Sm ith. ‘YES!’ shouted
the twins.
T h e next day U ncle Jack p u t the things in the
h o t-air balloon. H e p u t in som e food a n d some
blankets (it can be very cold in the desert a t n ig h t).
Jim w ent to get the m eerkats b u t ... they w eren’t
there! ‘We m ust go an d look for them ,’ said D aisy
U ncle Jack, M r Sm ith, Jim, the twins a n d G rum py
looked for the m eerkats all over the town.
U ncle Jack looked in the gym . M r Sm ith looked in
the bank. ' —
Jim looked in the bus station. D aisy looked in the
cafe. M ay looked in the cinem a. B ut they co u ld n ’t
find the m eerkats (can you?).
In the end they found the m eerkats outside the pet
shop window. T hey were looking inside. Inside the
pet shop were F O U R M O R E BABY M EER K A TS.
T hey were A L L crying! ‘O h look!’ said M ay.
‘M ay b e they are all brothers a n d sisters.’ ‘I think
you are rig h t,’ said U ncle Jack. ‘Please buy them
U ncle Jack,’ said Jim. ‘T h en we can take them all
hom e to the K a la h a ri D esert.’
U ncle Jack bo u g h t the b ab y m eerkats a n d the
children carried them hom e. N ow they were
ready to go. Jim asked U ncle Jack, ‘H ow can
we find the fam ily of the b ab y m eerkats? Is the
K a la h a ri D esert very big?’ U ncle Jack answ ered
‘Yes, it is, b u t I have a n idea. C a n you give m e
your M P3 please Jim ?’
‘W h a t are you doing U ncle Jack? W hy are you
recording the m eerkats crying?’ asked Jim. But
U ncle Jack smiled a n d said, ‘W ait an d see!’
G rum py was very very grum py! H e
barked loudly W O O O O O O O F. T h e
m eerkats suddenly stopped crying
an d looked a t G rum py in surprise.
‘Hey! Well done G rum py! T h a t’s
m uch better!’ said Jim.
U ncle Jack’s h o t-air balloon flew over forests an d
seas a n d m ountain s an d rivers an d jungles until it
arrived a t the K a la h a ri D esert.T h e b ab y m eerkats
were in the twins school bags.
T hey were very excited! T h ey could see the desert
below a n d they knew they were nearly hom e.
U ncle Jack w anted to p u t his idea into action. H e
said to Jim , ‘H elp m e please.’

\)\W/r
U ncle Jack attac h ed the M P3 to a loudspeaker
an d turned it on. W h at a noise! Suddenly m eerkats
b eg an to com e out of holes all over the desert. T here
a L O T of m eerkats! T h e b ab y m eerkats
i their families. ‘T h a t was a good idea
shouted Jim. ‘Look a t all the m eerkats!
to find the babies.’
T h e b aby m eerkats b ro u g h t their fam ily to m eet
U ncle Jack a n d the children. T hey b ro u g h t their
fath er a n d m other a n d brothers an d sisters. T hey
b ro u g h t their g ran d m o th ers a n d g ran d fath ers.
T hey b ro u g h t their au n ts, uncles a n d cousins.
Everyone w as very happy!
0 3 I ’m not a squirrel or a cat
I’yn certainly not a horrible rat-
J’yn a meerkat and I love to plaV
In the desert all the long day- ^
F lap your arm s all around :
^ Tapyour f eet
Q0me withm
In the desert all the long day-
4 B U T ... it w asn ’t just the m eerkats who h ea rd the
b aby m eerkats crying. Over the hills cam e some
m en in a lorry! T h e m en h a d nets a n d cag es.T h ey
w anted to catch the m eerkats an d take them to
pet shops.
 T h e m en b e g a n to catch the m eerkats a n d p u t
them into the cages. ‘Stop! Stop please!’ shouted
M ay a n d D aisy. ‘Stop!’ said U ncle Jack, ‘M eerkats
are wild an im als.T h ey a re n ’t pets!’ ‘T hey w an t to
stay here in the K a la h a ri D esert,’ said Jim. B ut the
m en d id n ’t listen.
wttp
B U T ... it w asn ’t just the m eerkats a n d the m en
who h ea rd the bab y m eerkats crying. Over the hills
cam e some lions! T hey were thinking, ‘Yummy!
M eerkats an d m en for supper! O ur favourite
dinner!’
U ncle Jack an d Jim opened the cages
an d the m eerkats ra n quickly to their
holes. D aisy a n d M ay jum ped into the
balloon. ‘H u rry up! T h e lions are
com ing!’ they shouted to Jim a n d
U ncle Jack a n d the m eerkats.
U ncle Jack a n d Jim jum ped into the balloon. T h e
m en were afraid. T h e lions were betw een them a n d
their lorry. ‘Please let us jum p into y o u r balloon!’
one o f the m en said to U ncle Jack. ‘O K , b u t prom ise
n o t to catch m eerkats a g a in ,’ said U ncle Jack. ‘We
promise! We prom ise!’ said all the m en.

24
T h e m en jum ped onto the balloon. Everyone was
hap p y ... except the lions who d id n ’t have m en
or m eerkats for supper. ‘Phew! T h a n k you U ncle
Jack,’ said the m en. ‘D o n ’t forget y o u r prom ise,’
said U ncle Jack.

25
T h e lions w ent aw ay a n d the m en got into their
lorry. It w as tim e for U ncle Jack an d the children
to go h o m e.T h ey w aved goodbye to the m eerkats.
Jim pointed to the lorry with the m en. H e started
to laugh.
 Activity Podges
WKo are tKc characters in. the story?

The men
from the lorry. from next door. the dog.

The six
and the twins. •
Fill the yaps to tell the story.

meerkats meerkats cages desert lorry

h^i^iiMDtrtToon families men lions

Uncle Jack and the children went in the hot-air

balloon to look for the of the
When they were in the Kalahari_________ some
_________ arrived in a . They put the meerkats
into . Suddenly some arrived too!
Uncle Jack rescued the men but first they promised
never to c a tc h _________ again.

28
 | Find the words. Fill the gaps in the song.

,._Js£fttr£js takreem yad dnuora tresed

teef tar tac yalp

takreem yad yalp driuorg

smra tresed
^ I’m not a squirrel or a . ^
I’m certainly not a horrible_________ !
I’m a __________ and I love to
In t h e __________ all the long

Flap y o u r _________ a l l _____

Tap y o u r __________ on the ¥

Come with me. Be a _________ a n d __________

In t h e __________ all the l o n g _________ . ^

Match the speech bubble to the character.

 W rite the words. Match the words w ith
the pictures and the past Jorms.
t u
n r
o a
turn on
cL Q r

barked

c a
h c

r u
n
* turned on

s 1
a

u Q
b k r

W rite the verbs Jrom Activity 5 in. the right

column.
Regular past verbs Irregular past verbs
barked _________ flew_________________

30
Use the characters Jrom Activity 1, the past
verbs Jrom. Activity 5 arid the words in. the
boxes to make sentences.
<■ the nets ? the their in
meerkats with meerkats school bags

the at their holes

2 Uie loudly meerkats * quickly ” to

_ the
5 MP3

1 The two men caught the meerkats with nets.

2 __________________________________
3 _______________________________________
4 ________________________________

Fill the gaps w ith next, over, b etw een ,

inside or in.

1 Mr Smith lived next door to Uncle Jack.

2 _______ the pet shop there were Jour baby
meerkats.
3 The lions w e r e ________ the men and their lorry.
4 The balloon J le w _______ Jorests and seas.
5 Jim and the twins carried the meerkats
_______ their school bags.

31
 Draw and write a description o / w hat the
balloon is/ly in g over.

Uncle Jack’s balloon is /lying over

There are

fro Do you like the story? Draw y o u r/a ce.

= I love the story!

( ^ ) = I like the story.

/o o\
= I quite like the story.

( ^ ) = I don’t like the story.

32
 SYLLABUS

Vocabulary areas
Animals, nature, feelings, tow n

Grammar arid structures

Past simple regular and irregular form s
Verb + infinitive
Verb + -ing
My nam e is Ja n e and Could
I live in a beautiful M u s tf or obligation
Spanish city, Madrid. Shall fo r obligation
I’m an English author Adverbs: never, sadly, a lot
of children’s books. Com paratives I superlatives: b etter best
I’ve always loved
creating stories and
songs fo r children.
The best ideas
come to me while...
I’m jogging!

My nam e is Gustavo.
I live in a very big
city, Buenos Aires.
I have been drawing
all my life, ever since
I was a child as
I didn’t have a TV.
I enjoy most of all
drawing comic strips
an d picturing myself
an d my kids in the
illustrations th a t
I create.
Young (lb Readers Stage 3

Ell Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of tim eless classics

and specially-written stories for learners of English..

Jane Cadwallader
Uncle Jack and the Meerkats
Six baby meerkats sad and far from home! Uncle Jack and the
children come to the rescue!
When Uncle Jack and the children find some homesick baby meerkats
they decide to take them home to the Kalahari Desert. Getting there
is easy in Uncle Jack ’s balloon. But the desert is a dangerous place.
Can they keep them safe?

- Games and language activities

- An audio recording of the story and the song
- A picture dictionary

Tags
Animals Adventure

Q Stage 1 100 headwords below A1 Starters

(3 ) Stage 2 200 headwords A1 Starters/Movers

Q Stage 3 300 headwords A1.1 Movers

Q Stage 4 400 headwords A2 Flyers

O riginal

o with Audio CD

www.elireaders.com
ERNST KLETT
SPRACHEN GMBH
9783125147980

9 47 980'
978-3-12-514798-0
o>