Laila's Zoo Adventure

Written by Hannah Frazier and Sarah Gruneisen Illustrated by Katie Ries

This book was created as a collaborative project at St. Norbert College in the Spring of 2014 between students from Bonnie Johnson’s class, The Writing Process, and Katie Ries’ class, Introduction to Design.

Written by Hannah Frazier and Sarah Gruneisen Illustrated by Katie Ries

It was a bright, sunny, spring day in Chicago and Timmy had a surprise for his best friend Laila.

“Wake up, Laila!” Timmy said. “We are going on a special walk today to the Lincoln Park Zoo!”

Laila barked happily. She had never been to the zoo before and she couldn’t wait to meet some new friends. Timmy put on Laila’s leash and they were ready to go.

“Here we are,” Timmy said. Laila barked and pulled on the leash.

She was very excited to explore the zoo. “Whoah, Laila. Slow down!” Timmy yelled as Laila raced towards the tall trees inside the zoo. This was going to be a great adventure.

The first animal Timmy and Laila saw was a great big lion. The lion stood on a huge rock, looked at Laila, and said, “Look what I can do!” Then he let out a mighty ROAR!

Laila wanted to roar like a lion too.

She thought, “I’m not a lion that lives in the zoo, but if I try, I bet I can roar like that too!” She took a deep breath and tried to roar like the lion, but all that came out was a regular “Woof!” Laila was frustrated and led Timmy to the next exhibit.

WOOF

Timmy and Laila entered the primate house. There were monkeys all around, swinging from tree to tree. One monkey saw Laila and shouted, “Look what I can do!”

Then she flipped from one branch to another, hanging on by her tail.

Laila wanted to swing like a monkey too. She thought, “I’m not a monkey that lives in the zoo, but if I try, I bet I can swing like that too!” Then she ran to the nearest tree and jumped, trying to grab a branch. But she couldn’t jump high enough and fell to the ground.

Timmy helped her up and they left the monkey house to see some more animals.

Next Timmy and Laila saw a lizard called a chameleon. The chameleon had rocks and plants in its tank. He looked at Laila and said, “Look what I can do!” Then he disappeared right in front of Laila’s eyes! He changed colors to match the rock!

Laila wanted to change colors too.

She thought, “I’m not a chameleon that lives in the zoo, but if I try, I bet I can change colors!” Then she ran behind Timmy and tried her hardest to blend into the stone wall behind. She stood very still, but Timmy turned around and smiled.

“Why are you hiding?” he asked her. Confused, Laila followed Timmy to the next exhibit.

Timmy led Laila to see the elephants.

The elephants were huge and gray, even the baby elephant! When the baby elephant saw Laila, she said, “Look what I can do!� Then she put her trunk into a tub of water, lifted it up, and blew the water out of her trunk, like a fountain.

Laila wanted to shoot water out her nose like a fountain too. She thought, “I’m not an elephant that lives in the zoo, but if I try, I bet I can squirt water out too!” Then she ran to the nearest fountain, gulped up some water and tried to squirt it out of her nose like the elephant.

But the water just poured out of her mouth. Grumpily, she sunk to the ground. Why couldn’t she do any of the tricks the other animals could do?

Timmy sat down next to Laila and patted her head. “Why are you so sad, Laila?” he asked her. “Were you trying to be like the other animals?” Laila licked Timmy’s hand and put her head on his knee. “I know what will cheer you up,” Timmy said, and he pulled a red ball out of his back pocket.

Timmy and Laila ran to a grassy area to play fetch. Timmy threw the red ball way up in the air and Laila jumped up to grab it. She never missed a single catch. Laila was good at fetch.

All the animals in the zoo watched as Laila jumped in the air and caught the ball. They wished they could play fetch the way Laila could. “You may not live in the zoo, but there is still a lot that you can do, Laila!” Timmy exclaimed.

Laila barked and licked Timmy’s hand. Maybe being a dog wasn’t so bad after all.

St. Norbert College - Spring 2014