To all the amazing children -

It's wonderful to see what we can do when we work together. We hope these animals will forever have a place in your heart. Writing this book for you has given us so much joy.

Thank you.

Love,

Wissahickon Middle School

Happy reading!

All animals of the kingdom gathered at the watering hole for a celebration.

Suddenly, a hunter attacked them all!

Many got away in time, but the ones who did not were trapped in cages.

The hunter brought the animals back to his house to trap them in his basement.

This is all your fault Eagle! You were supposed to be keeping watch!

Well it's not my fault that Giraffe's huge neck was in my way!

Hey! I can't help it!

Soon all of the animals were bickering and placing blame.

Stop being so loud! You shouldn't be arguing, you should be trying to figure this out together!

From one small corner of the basement, a small voice yelled at the bickering animals.

I have an idea! What if Mouse unlocks all of the cages by using my quills as keys!

Yeah!

That's a great idea!

Soon, all of the animals were free!

The mouse took the porcupine's quill and started unlocking the cages.

But, as the animals explored the basement, they soon realized that there was one problem. The basement had no doors or windows.

"How are we supposed to get out of here without any way to escape?" the rhino asked the group.

"Wait! That rope hanging on the ceiling!" the owl said. 

All the animals stopped in confusion. 

"There are stairs that can be pulled down from the ceiling. The only problem is, I cannot get to it."

"Why not?" Everyone responded.

"Well, there are wooden bars across the ceiling. No bird can fly through those"

They started to lose hope, when suddenly the giraffe said, "What about me? I am tall and I can fit through those wooden bars."

"Of course!" Shouted the mouse and the owl.

The owl gave the giraffe directions, so that they were able to get the giraffe's head through the bars. The rope pulled and revealed

the stairs.

All the animals started to sneak up the stairs, but were startled by the hunter, who was cooking something on the stove. They were forced to devise a plan in the small amount of time they had on the stairs.

At first, the animals did not know what to do, but then the mouse spotted their escape route.

"Guys, that brick wall must lead to outside. If we can distract the hunter, the rhino can break down the wall," the mouse proposed.

"But how will we distract him?" the rhino asked.

"Me! I can do it," The eagle excitedly said. "I can fly over there and cover the hunter's eyes so we can escape."

All the animals nodded at each other. The plan was settled. They were going to escape.