Pandas - A Giant Adventure!

Site:	Discovery and Learning
Course:	Pandas - A Giant Adventure (First Level)
Book:	Pandas - A Giant Adventure!

Printed by:	Guest user
Date:	Sunday, 8 September 2024, 3:29 AM

Description

A baby Panda sits, head in its paw.

Click through the pages to read along and learn about pandas and some more black and white animals we have at Edinburgh Zoo!

A mystery guest

A young panda in black and white

About 2 o’clock in the middle of the night,

The zoo had a visitor of black and white,

With a set of sharp teeth and big fluffy feet,

A sneaky young panda wandered in from the street

All shut

They crossed at the traffic lights when they turned red,

And ducked as the entrance flags went over their head,

But when they found that the doors were all shut,

The poor little panda thought they were all out of luck!

Meeting a local

A badger peering around a corner in the dark of night

Then from out of the bushes, a local appeared,

Black stripes down his snout all the way from his ears,

A badger, digging up worms from the dirt,

Maybe they should ask him – surely it couldn’t hurt?

Big Muddy Paws

A badger paw shows long claws for digging

“Excuse me,” said the panda, feeling suddenly shy,

“I’m trying to get home, could you help me inside?”

“Of course!” huffed the badger, showing two mucky paws,

“I can dig us both in with my powerful claws!”

Going Underground

A large hole in the ground leads into a badger sett

The panda sat back as the badger dug down,

He created a tunnel that went deep underground,

When they followed him down, all the way to the end,

The plucky young panda thanked their new furry friend.

Good advice for a badger

A european badger is face down in the grass as it starts to dig

"When I get lost", the badger advised, "or too far I roam,

I find a good dig is all it takes for me to get home"

With that the badger went back down the hole,

Leaving the panda to figure out where to go.

Ropes and logs

A rope hands in front of crossed logs

They looked all around at the place they were in,

They saw logs on the ground and lots of rope swings.,

"This is no home for a panda," they said in their head,

"What black and white creature may live here instead?"

Tall tails

A stripy tail stalks past

Suddenly a striped tail appeared from the grass,

Then another, and another, arriving en masse!

The panda snuck closer so they could see,

Who the owners of those curious tails could be.

Bright yellow eyes

A lemur and pup

Bright yellow eyes peered into her own,

The panda thought they should leave them alone,

When out of the grass jumped the lemurs, one, two, three,

They clung to the panda as if they were a tree.

A Panda! A Panda!

Lemur looking with eyes half shut

"A panda, a panda!" they all cried out loud,

"What are you doing here?", "Is that even allowed?"

The panda gulped hard, for they didn't know,

"I'm a little bit lost, can you help me get home?"

Help you soar

"Of course!" chirped the lemurs, climbing into the trees,

"We'll bring you up here so you too can see!"

The panda held on as they wrapped them tight,

They heaved up the panda with all of their might!

A whoop and a holler

The lemurs showed the young panda how to walk on a bough,

"It isn't so scary if you just don't look down!"

The panda watched as the lemurs performed spectacular leaps,

"It's a great way to travel but I don't think it's for me!"

Follow your nose!

The lemurs disagreed, convinced them to have a go,

With a big, clumsy leap, the panda crashed down below!
As they brushed themselves off, the panda felt fine,
But made a wee mental note just to climb down next time!

A huge swimming pool

At the first hint of sunrise, the air filled with sound,

The panda looked to the source, surprised what they’d found,
A huge swimming pool with a waterfall too,

Filled with rockhoppers, kings and even gentoos!

100 penguins

They approached the big window full of birds swimming round,

Their appearance there began drawing a crowd,
Soon over 100 penguins were floating up by the glass,
If there was ever a time, this was the time to ask!

Could anyone help me I wonder?

“Excuse me,” they yelled over the waterfall’s thunder,

“I’m lost, I need help, could anyone help me I wonder?”
Just then a king penguin with a purple armband,

Nodded his head and said, “I’ll give you a hand.”

Nils

He floated up the surface and the panda follow suit,

Running up the steps to where they could see through,
“I’m Nils!” said the penguin, as polite as could be,
“A pleasure to meet you!” they replied, glad he was friendly!

Awfully tired

“So how can I help you?” the penguin enquired,

“Have you been out all night? You look awfully tired!”
The panda sighed hard and sat on the stairs,

And once again told their story of how they got there.

Make like a penguin and swim

“My advice is to make like a penguin and swim,

But if I were to go out on a limb,
I think your best bet is the top of the hill,

If anyone knows about pandas, I think they will.”

A big hopeful grin

The panda broke out in a big, hopeful grin,

“You’ve been really helpful, Nils the penguin!”
With a wave, the penguin disappeared in the blue,
As the panda raced off, there was no time to lose!

Over the Pentlands

From the top of the hill, they could feel the heat on their face,

The sun was peeking over the Pentlands, now it was a race,
They had to find the black and white animals that lived here,
Before the zookeepers arrived and caught them, they feared.

A barcode of stripes

Just then they saw it, a barcode of stripes,

Their heart skipped a beat with joy and delight,
They called to it loudly, not sure what to expect,

When three lanky zebra span around on 12 legs!

My only hope

“Nils told me to see you,” they puffed, out of breath,

“No other animals could help me, you’re my only hope left!”
The trio of zebra didn’t seem in a rush,

The panda could see that they’d just woken up.

Calm down

“Help you?” sneered one, with a swish of her tail,

“Just breathe" said another, "inhale and exhale.”
The Panda closed their eyes and tried to calm down,

They counted the smells, the feelings, the sounds.

The panda relaxed

Their head stopped being fuzzy, their legs turned to jelly,

The butterflies stopped fluttering round in their belly,
The kind zebra smiled as the panda relaxed,
“You said you need help, is that what you asked?”

What a pickle you're in

“I need to get home, I’m lost and alone,

But the animals here only know the zoo as their home.”
The third zebra sighed, "I don't know where to begin!"
“Oh deary me, what a pickle you’re in,”

It's got you nowhere

“We zebra run when we’re going somewhere,

But you’ve been running all night and gone nowhere!"
"We're sorry but we don’t know how to help you.”

Then a small voice called out, “oh but I do!”

A magpie

A magpie, his feathers glittering green and blue,

Stood on a post with his chest all puffed out too,
“If you want to go home, you must look to the sky,

China’s so far away that you’ll just have to fly!”

A flying panda?

“Fly?” squealed the panda at the magpie, aghast,

“But I don’t have wings! How do you suppose I do that?”
“I’ve seen it before!” the magpie exclaimed,

“Pandas can fly in big purple planes!”

Time to fly home

“There should be one landing in Edinburgh soon,

I’ve seen them preparing for it here at the zoo!
Let me show you, little panda, a place you can hide,

and we’ll get you back to your home in no time!”