9,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
On the way to school, a strange ball rolls in front of ten-year-old Lilani's feet. A ball? That's strange, because there's no one nearby who could have thrown it or shot it. When she takes a closer look at what has tumbled in front of her feet, an animal that looks like a large pine cone unrolls. Thus begins an exciting adventure for Lilani. Since the scaly creature follows her all the way home, she wants to keep it. But the village elder catches Lilani and takes the animal away from her. Will she manage to save the pangolin together with her new friend Maria? The pangolin is the most illegally trafficked animal in the world. The book was published in cooperation with Maria Diekmann, the founder and director of Rare & Endangered Species Trust in Namibia. Kerstin Geier, who illustrated the book lives in Africa.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Seitenzahl: 47
Ähnliche
Inhalt
Chapter 1: Lilani discovers an unusual animal
Chapter 2: Lilani gets in trouble with the village elder
Chapter 3: Lilani meets a strange woman
Chapter 4: Lilani sneaks into Zuza’s hut
Chapter 5: Lilani worries about Piney
Chapter 6: Lilani and Tulani visit Maria’s farm
Chapter 7: Maria makes common cause with Zuza
Chapter 8: Maria makes an offer to Lilani
Chapter 9: All’s well that ends well
Chapter 1: Lilani discovers an unusual animal
Lilani left for school far too late. Her mom was sick and so she had to take care of Tulani, her little brother, that morning. Fortunately, her Aunt Tiana was now looking after him. Otherwise Lilani would not have been able to go to school today.
Lilani’s family belongs to the Damara. This ethnic group lives in southwestern Africa in village communities in mostly poor conditions. The Damara keep goats and sheep, and they also cultivate small fields. Many men must work in the copper mines. This means that they are far from their families and only come home sometimes.
Most Damara live in Namibia, and so does Lilani. Her village is about a day’s walk from Otjiwarongo, the nearest town. Her school is in a larger settlement. All the children from the surrounding villages are taught there. There is no school bus to pick up the children. Therefore, Lilani must walk the whole distance. The walk takes about an hour.
By now the sun was already shining high over the baobab branches.
The baobab tree is typical of southern Africa. Its thick trunk stores a particularly large amount of water. Its crooked, branches resemble a large root. That is why the tree looks as if someone had stuck it into the ground upside down. Its fruits feed not only monkeys and humans. Elephants, antelopes, baboons and various small mammals also like to eat it.
Lessons had already started. Lilani ran. She really wanted to make it in time for the break. They always got a some warm porridge at school. She hadn’t eaten anything at home. She was hungry and her stomach growled loudly. “I hope I can make it in time,” she thought and ran as fast as she could.
Between low bushes, she followed the narrow-beaten path when suddenly something rustled in the savanna grass next to her. Lilani stopped. She listened intensely. Then it rustled again. Something was moving through the high grass. Could it be a snake? Many kinds of snakes existed in this area. Some of them were so venomous that their bite could be fatal.
The girl did not move and held her breath. “Please don’t hurt me!” The rustling turned into a clicking sound. “That doesn’t sound like a snake. What can it be? “wondered Lilani. Carefully she tried to look through the blades of grass. It was instantly silent. Whatever had moved before didn’t want to be discovered. Lilani crept closer. And then – she saw it.
Right in front of her was a brown ball, about the size of her little brother’s head. “Funny, how did the ball get here?” she wondered. She turned in all directions. “Must be someone, somewhere who rolled the ball here,” she muttered.
But she couldn’t see anyone. The ball looked different from the balls the teacher had at school. The colour was brown like an old basketball, but it wasn’t smooth, it was scaly like the Welwitschia fruit. Although this plant was only found in the Namib Desert, every schoolchild in Namibia knew it. They recognized it from the national coat of arms. Moreover, Lilani’s teacher had shown her students many pictures of the Welwitschia.
“What kind of weird brown, scaly, round ball is that? Why did it end up here out of nowhere? Can I just take it with me?” asked Lilani. Courageously she bent down and grabbed it with both hands. Even though the thing in her hands was very scaly touching it didn´t feel uncomfortable.
The ball made a sound. It sounded like a soft sniff. Lilani could feel the ball move in her hands. “What are you?” she whispered.
The thing turned. In the next moment, two small eyes looked up at Lilani and examined her attentively. As it did so, it kept spinning.
“Wait, otherwise you’ll fall,” she said, setting it carefully on the ground.
Gradually, the body unrolled, four stubby little legs emerging. The animal was about the size of a zebra mongoose. Except for the head with the pointed snout, the entire body was densely covered with scales. The tail was almost the same length as the body and apparently very flexible. The hind legs looked like those of a turtle, but he front legs had long claws.
“I hope you won’t scratch me,” Lilani commented. “Your claws look pretty sharp.”
In that moment, however, the little animal looked completely peaceful and relaxed. It started to sniff Lilani with its funny, soft and pointed nose.
“Hehe,” she giggled, “that tickles.” Lilani carefully put the animal on the ground. “You definitely want to go back to your family.”
But the pangolin just stayed leaning against her legs and looked up at her from below.
“I have to go,” said the girl, turning around. “I’m already far too late!”
Again, she ran. The click of the claws could be heard behind her as the animal ran on the ground. The animal was following her. Lilani just kept on running but when she heard no more clacking shortly afterwards, she finally turned around again.
Her new friend tried to keep up with her and ran only on its hind legs.
