The Giving Panda

Written by the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck team

Cover illustrated by: Lyra Starr Sater, Age 8

There once lived a panda named Noodle who loved to volunteer in his community.

Each year, he decided to volunteer his time with a new organization and this year he decided to work with an environmental group called Earth Patrol.

Things were great at first, but then one day a giant pipe burst in the park as the group was there cleaning up trash!

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Water was spraying everywhere!

Noodle thought and thought about what he and Earth Patrol could do to help fix the pipe and stop the water that was going to be wasted. He thought that maybe, because he is so big, he could sit on the hole in the pipe to stop the water while the rest of the Earth Patrol went to get help.

Noodle carefully got closer and closer to the pipe and got ready to sit himself down.

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Noodle sat down on the hole and stopped the water from leaking. But the longer he sat, the more the water pushed against him.

After a while, Noodle was launched into the air by a huge stream of water. Noodle was excited by the ride, but sad that he had not stopped the water.

Luckily, just as Noodle splashed down onto the ground, the rest of the Earth Patrol returned to help out.

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Noodle knew that the Earth Patrol were his people. That is, everyone but Jason Jackal, also known as “Jaws,” who was clearly the leader of the group. Jaws had located the shut off valve and turned off the water.

Fortunately, thanks to Noodle’s quick thinking, the water hadn’t flooded the park, but there was still much work to be done.

And Noodle, being the eternal optimist, just knew that by the end of the day, he and Jaws would be good friends.

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There was wet trash on the ground EVERYWHERE! Noodle soon felt overwhelmed. He remembered something that his best friend once told him, “Whenever you need me, take three deep breaths and I will be by your side”.

Noodle stood still and closed his eyes: breathe in - breathe out, breathe in - breathe out, breathe in - breath out. He opened his eyes and said, “Hi Bull!”

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“Hi Noodle! How are you?” said Bull.

“I am good! But I am a little overwhelmed with all of this trash laying around. What should we do?”

“Well, let’s get our Earth Patrol friends and help clean up the trash! We can make this place clean and trash free again” said Bull.

“Great idea, let’s get to work. I am so excited to help the environment!”

Noodle and his friends started picking up all the trash to make the park clean for everyone.

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Noodle started picking up a particularly large pile of trash and was surprised to find a small house underneath!

He picked up more and more trash and soon found a small door. He knocked on it and a fluffy pink rabbit opened the door.

The rabbit squinted out into the sunlight and said, “Oh my goodness! I haven’t been able to get out of my home for weeks. Thank you so much for helping me!”

The rabbit introduced himself as Strawberry and stepped outside his now clear house.

He looked around, saw Jaws, and a wide smile spread across his face. “My good friend, Jaws!” he exclaimed. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”

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Noodle was surprised to learn that Jaws – who he thought was intimidating – was great friends with a little bitty pink rabbit.

Strawberry ran over to Jaws and immediately started telling him how an extremely giving panda had saved him from under all of that trash!

When Jaws turned around and spotted Noodle standing near the large pile of trash he had removed from Strawberry’s home, there was only one thing left to do…

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SMILE! Jaws walked over to Noodle and said, “Thank you for saving my friend Strawberry. You are such a kind and giving panda.”

Noodle, Bull, Strawberry, and Jaws finished cleaning up the park together. To celebrate the special clean up day, they all sat together sharing a pot of hot cocoa at Strawberry’s house celebrating their new found friendship.

Noodle knew that he and his friends would have many more fun adventures together with Earth Patrol… especially he and Jaws!

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This book was collaboratively written by the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck team: Joan Coplan Peter Nagle Jennifer Lee Tracy Herrera Jayme Ritchie Courtney Bartkus Emily Ellis Allison Gambill Cover illustration by: Lyra Starr Sater, Age 8