A little fawn-coloured reindeer with white patches came out of the trailer on wobbly legs. Her antlers were so tiny, they were even smaller than her ears!
Look out for:
The Lonely Lion Cub
The Puzzled Penguin
The Playful Panda
The Silky Seal Pup
The Eager Elephant
The Lucky Snow Leopard
The Pesky Polar Bear
The Cuddly Koala
TheWildWolf Pup
The Happy Hippo
The Sleepy Snowy Owl
The Scruffy Sea Otter
The Picky Puffin
The Giggly Giraffe
The Curious Kangaroo
The Super Sloth
The Little Llama
The Messy Meerkat
The Helpful Hedgehog
The Rowdy Red Panda
TheTalkativeTiger
Illustrated by Sophy Williams
With special thanks to Siobhan Curham
For Sadie Hardin
First published in the UK in 2021 by Nosy Crow Ltd The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
www.nosycrow.com
ISBN: 978 1 78800 937 9
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Working Partners Ltd, 2021 Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2021
The right of Working Partners Ltd and Sophy Williams to be identifed as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book will be available from the British Library
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests.
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Chapter One Christmas Emergency!
Zoe Parker looked at the twinkly lights hanging around the room and gave a happy sigh. Christmas was her favourite holiday, but this year it was going to be even more special. This year, her friend Talia and her mum had come to stay. Talia’s mum, Katie, and Zoe’s mum, Lucy, had been best friends since they
were little.
“Do you think anyone’s ever made an advent calendar for a red panda before?” asked Zoe, carefully cutting a door in the front of a large cardboard box. On the floor beside her were a pile of apples, bamboo and pieces of corn bread to hide behind the doors.
“I don’t think so,” giggled Talia. “Do you think anyone’s ever made a monkey a cuddly snowman?” She held up the toy snowman she’d been making.
“Definitely not,” laughed Zoe. “But I know the monkeys are going to love it!”
“Spending Christmas in a zoo is the best!” exclaimed Talia as she put the finishing touches to the snowman’s face. Zoe grinned. Thanks to her GreatUncle Horace, she got to spend every
Christmas in a zoo because she lived in the Rescue Zoo that he owned. GreatUncle Horace was a famous explorer and animal expert. He’d created the Rescue Zoo as a safe place for animals who were endangered, lost or hurt. Zoe and her mum lived in a cottage in the zoo because Lucy was the zoo vet.
Zoe started painting a robin on the advent calendar door. She had asked her Great-Uncle Horace if she and Talia could come to his house, Higgins Hall, to make some Christmas treats for the zoo animals. The girls were sitting in front of the large fireplace in Great-Uncle Horace’s living room. A fire was crackling away in the hearth and paints, cardboard and pieces of fruit covered the rug all around them.
Zoe’s mouse lemur, Meep, waved his paws as he looked at the fruit. His long grey tail bobbed up and down with excitement.
“Can I have a treat? Can I have a treat?” he chattered.
“I wonder what Meep’s saying,” said Talia.
“I wonder.” Zoe smiled. The truth was, she knew exactly what Meep was saying because Zoe had a very special secret. Ever since she was six years old, she’d been able to understand animals – and they could understand her too. No one else knew her secret, not even her mum or Great-Uncle Horace. Zoe had to be very careful not to give it away.
“I think he must be getting excited for Christmas,” she said. She stroked the little
mouse lemur’s silky fur. “Don’t worry, Meep, it’s only three days until Christmas. Santa will come late on Christmas Eve and then you’ll have loads of treats in your stocking.”
Meep scampered over to the fireplace where three stockings were hanging from the mantelpiece.
One for Zoe, one for Meep, and one for Talia. They were gifts from Great-Uncle Horace to hang in Zoe’s house on Christmas Eve.
“Do you think Santa will give me a banana?” chirped Meep.
Zoe waited until Talia wasn’t looking and nodded. “I’m sure he will,” she whispered.
“What colour hat shall I give the – the – ACHOO!” Talia let out a huge sneeze, causing Meep to jump.
“Bless you!” giggled Zoe.
“Thank you.” Talia sniffed. “What colour hat shall I give the snowman?”
“How about red?” suggested Zoe, as she coloured in the robin.
“Good idea!” Talia grinned. “Wouldn’t it be cool if it snowed by Christmas Day? Then we could make a real snowman.”
“That would be great,” agreed Zoe.
The big old grandfather clock in the corner of the room began to strike and
Meep jerked again, then snuggled in next to Zoe.
“It’s going to be so much fun giving our Christmas treats to the animals,” said Talia.
“Can I have some? Pretty please?” chattered Meep.
Talia laughed. “Meep’s so funny. It’s like he’s trying to join in with our conversation.”
“Yes,” said Zoe, patting Meep on the head. If only Talia knew he really was joining in!
“I can’t wait till we dress up as elves tomorrow.” Talia cut a hat shape out of red felt.
“Me too,” said Zoe.
Great-Uncle Horace had asked the girls if they’d dress up as elves for the Rescue
Zoo’s Christmas celebration the next day. He was going to dress up as Santa and the girls were going to help the zoo visitors have their photos taken with him.
“I love our costumes,” said Talia.
“They’re so – so – ACHOO!”
Meep jumped again. “Why does she keep sneezing?” he chirped to Zoe.
But before Zoe could say anything, the phone started to ring. Like most of the things in Great-Uncle Horace’s house, the phone was very old-fashioned.You had to move the phone’s dial in a circle instead of pressing the numbers to make a call. It was very loud too.
Great-Uncle Horace hurried into the room. His white beard was longer than ever. He’d been growing it to make him look more like Santa. A beautiful bright-
blue macaw flew in after him. It was Kiki, Great-Uncle Horace’s pet who went everywhere with him. She perched on top of the grandfather clock and fluffed up her feathers.
“Hello, girls, hello, Meep,” said GreatUncle Horace, before picking up the receiver. “Good morning, Higgins Hall, Horace Higgins speaking,” he boomed. His smile faded as he listened to the caller. “Oh dear,” he said. “Oh dear, dear, dear.”
Zoe and Talia exchanged worried glances.
“I’ll be there straight away,” said GreatUncle Horace before putting the receiver down.
“What’s happened?” asked Zoe.
“There’s been a Christmas emergency,” replied Great-Uncle Horace. “A family of animals need a home. I need to tell Mr Pinch to get ready for some new arrivals.
I’ll see you girls later.” He hurried from the room.
Talia turned to Zoe, her eyes shining.
“Wow, new animals arriving! Isn’t that amazing?”
Zoe started to smile. “It feels like the best Christmas present ever!”
Chapter Two Clicking Hooves
That afternoon, Zoe and Talia waited by the Rescue Zoo gates, eagerly looking for any sign of Great-Uncle Horace coming down the road.
“I wonder which animals he’s had to rescue this time,” said Zoe.
“I hope it’s something unusual,” said Talia. “I hope he has – ACHOO!”
“I hope he has a tissue too,” chattered Meep, swinging from the carved animals on the top of the zoo gates, “to give to sneezy Talia!”
Zoe had to bite her lip to stop herself laughing. “Bless you – again!” she said to Talia. “I hope you’re not catching a cold.”
Talia’s face fell. “I hope not. I’d hate to get ill at Christmas!”
“I hope Great-Uncle Horace has rescued a family of animals who like fruit,” chattered Meep. “And who like to share their fruit too – especially with mouse lemurs.”
“Here he comes!” cried Zoe, as she spotted Great-Uncle Horace’s jeep coming along the road. “He’s pulling the horse trailer.”
“Ooh, do you think he’s rescued some
horses?” asked Talia. “I love horses.”
As the jeep got closer, Zoe’s skin tingled with excitement. And as Great-Uncle Horace drove through the gates, she saw something that made her even more excited, poking out of the window in the horse box.
“Look, look!”
cried Zoe. “I can see an antler!”
“Do animals with antlers like fruit?” chirped Meep, scampering down from the gate.
“I’m not sure, but we’ll soon find out,” whispered Zoe as she crouched down to pick him up.
“Hello girls,” said Great-Uncle Horace, as he got out of the jeep. “Allow me to introduce you to the newest residents of the Rescue Zoo.” He opened the door at
the back of the horsebox and a huge pair of antlers appeared, followed by the most beautiful reindeer Zoe had ever seen. Its coat was white and grey, and its eyes were black and shiny.
“This is Dasher,” said Great-Uncle Horace, patting the large reindeer on the back. “He’s the father of the family. And this is Dancer, the mum.”
Another reindeer came down from the horsebox. She was almost as big as Dasher and her fur was brown, with white patches on her face. As she trotted on to the ground Zoe heard a clicking sound that seemed to be coming from Dancer’s feet.
“What’s that noise?” asked Zoe.
“Aha!” beamed Great-Uncle Horace. “All reindeers’ hooves make a clicking
sound when they move. It can be very helpful when they’re in a snowstorm as the other reindeer in the herd are able to hear where they are.”
“That’s so clever,” said Talia.
“I wish my paws made a clicking sound,” chattered Meep, scampering up on to Zoe’s shoulder. “How would you find me if I got lost in a snowstorm?”
“Luckily, you have a very noisy mouth,” whispered Zoe with a giggle.
“This is their oldest calf,” said GreatUncle Horace, as a much smaller reindeer with much smaller antlers came out of the horse box. “His name is Comet.”
Great-Uncle Horace stroked the calf’s head.
“He’s so cute!” exclaimed Talia.
“And this is Comet’s sister,” said Great-
Uncle Horace, as a little fawn-coloured reindeer with white patches came out of the trailer on wobbly legs. Her antlers were so tiny, they were even smaller than her ears!
“I wonder what her name is,” said Talia. “Maybe she’s Prancer.”
“Or she could be Blitzen,” replied Zoe.
“She’s actually called Raina,” said Great-Uncle Horace.
“Oh,” said Talia. “I wonder why she doesn’t have a traditional reindeer name.”
“It’s a lovely name though,” said Zoe, “and she’s so beautiful. Where did you rescue them from?”
“They were in a Christmas fair,” explained Great-Uncle Horace. “The owners didn’t really know how to take care of reindeer, so they asked if I’d provide them with a home here instead.”
“This is a great Christmas surprise!” exclaimed Zoe.
“I hate surprises,” a voice muttered.
Zoe turned to see Mr Pinch, the zoo
manager, standing behind her. He was dressed very smartly in his uniform, and his polished shoes gleamed in the wintery sun.
“Why do you hate surprises?” asked Zoe.
“Because they usually involve a mess of one kind or another.” Mr Pinch frowned as the reindeer started grazing on the grass beside them. “See, they’ve already started to chew up my neatly mown lawn.”
“Don’t worry, Mr Pinch,” said GreatUncle Horace with a smile. “We’ll soon have them in their new home.” He turned to Zoe and Talia. “Would you girls like to help me get them settled?”
“Of course!” exclaimed Zoe.
“Yes please!” cried Talia.
Great-Uncle Horace took some rope from the jeep and made them into leads for each of the reindeer.
“I’ll take the big ’uns,” he said, “And you can take the little ’uns.” He gave Talia Comet’s lead and passed Raina’s lead to Zoe.
Zoe stroked Raina’s fur. “Welcome to the Rescue Zoo,” she whispered in her ear. Raina gave a friendly grunt in reply.
Great-Uncle Horace led them through the zoo to a field next to the llamas’ enclosure. The field had been kept wild and was full of evergreens. Tony, the llamas’ keeper, came hurrying over.
“Hello, Horace, hello Zoe,” he said.
“Hello, Tony,” replied Zoe. “This is my friend Talia. She’s staying with me for Christmas.”
“Will the reindeer be all right living out here in the cold?” asked Talia with a shiver.
“Don’t worry,” replied Tony. “Reindeers love the cold.”
Raina grunted and nuzzled up to Zoe.
“Apparently, reindeer have two coats to
keep them warm,” said Zoe.
Raina grunted again.
“They have a nice soft undercoat, and a topcoat of longer, stiffer hairs.”
“Wow, how do you know so much, Zoe?” asked Talia.
“Oh, I – uh – read it in a book,” Zoe stammered. She could hardly tell Talia that Raina had told her!
“The reindeers are going to make such a great addition to our Christmas celebration,” said Great-Uncle Horace.
“We’ll have to move our Santa’s grotto here beside the enclosure so the visitors can see them. They’ll be just like Santa’s real reindeer.”
“They even have the same names as Santa’s reindeer,” said Talia with a sniff.
“Well, apart from Raina.”
Raina’s head fell and her tail drooped.
“The Christmas celebration is going to be so cool!” exclaimed Zoe.
But Mr Pinch scowled. “More visitors making more mess,” he muttered.
As they led the reindeer into the field to let them explore their new home, Zoe noticed that Raina didn’t look as happy as the others.
“Are you all right?” she whispered.
Raina nuzzled her head against Zoe and gave a low bark.
“Oh, I’m sure you won’t get your new antlers tangled in something,” replied Zoe.
Raina gave a worried neigh.
“It doesn’t matter that you don’t have a Christmassy name,” replied Zoe. “I bet you’ll be great at being a Christmas reindeer!”
Comet came over with Meep riding on his back. He nudged Raina playfully and barked.
“Hey, don’t say that to your sister,” called Zoe.
“What did he say?” asked Meep.
“He said that Raina’s so clumsy she’d better be careful not to knock Santa over,” replied Zoe.
Raina hung her head and gave a sad yelp.
Comet barked again.
“Don’t worry, he’s just teasing,” said Zoe. “You won’t really knock him over.”
Comet nuzzled his sister.
“There, see? He didn’t mean it,” said Zoe kindly.
Raina gave a doubtful grunt.
“Of course being part of the Christmas celebration will be fun,” said Zoe, patting the little reindeer on the head. She looked around for Talia and saw her leaning against the fence, shivering.
“Are you OK, Talia?” Zoe asked,
hurrying over. “You look really pale.”
Talia gave another loud sneeze. “Oh, Zoe, I think I really might be getting ill. My head hurts and I can’t stop shivering.”
“Maybe it’s just the cold,” said Zoe. “I bet once you get back inside you’ll feel OK.”
But as the two girls headed back out of the field, Zoe couldn’t help worrying.
Talia getting ill would be a serious Christmas emergency!