Young

Readers

Jane Cadwallader

Uncle Jack
and the Meerkats
Illustrated by Gustavo Mazali

ncle Jack was reading a book in the garden.

Jim and his sisters, Daisy and May, were
playing with a ball. Grumpy the dog
began to bark. He wanted to show them something.
Whats the matter Grumpy? asked Daisy.

Uncle Jack, Grumpy, Jim, Daisy and May looked

into the next door garden. They saw two meerkats
in a cage. They were baby meerkats and they were
crying! Hm. Lets go and talk to Mr Smith, said
Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack and the children went to see Mr Smith

who lived next door. Mr Smith said sadly, I
bought the meerkats in a pet shop but they never
stop crying! Perhaps they have a toothache or a
stomach-ache, said Jim.

No, said Uncle Jack. I dont think so. Meerkats

have very strong family feelings. I think they are
crying for their mothers and fathers. Oh no! said
Daisy and May.

Jim pointed to the cage, Look! he said, Witdraai,

Kalahari Desert, South Africa. Its their address!
They come from the Kalahari Desert! Hm. I think
youre right, said Uncle Jack. He looked at Mr
Smith. Shall we take them home? he asked. Oh,
yes, please! answered Mr Smith. YES! shouted
the twins.

The next day Uncle Jack put the things in the

hot-air balloon. He put in some food and some
blankets (it can be very cold in the desert at night).
Jim went to get the meerkats but they werent
there! We must go and look for them, said Daisy
and May.

Uncle Jack, Mr Smith, Jim, the twins and Grumpy

looked for the meerkats all over the town.
Uncle Jack looked in the gym. Mr Smith looked in
the bank.

Jim looked in the bus station. Daisy looked in the

caf. May looked in the cinema. But they couldnt
find the meerkats (can you?).

Supermarket

Joes
Caf

Bus Station

Cinema

City

Library

Ban

3 Find the words. Fill the gaps in the song.

Activity Pages
1 Who are the characters in the story?
1

_______ _______

_______

from the lorry.

from next door.

the dog.

_______

and the twins.

The six
_______.

_______
_______.

2 Fill the gaps to tell the story.

meerkats meerkats cages
families
hot-air balloon

desert
men

lorry
lions

hot-air
Uncle Jack and the children went in the _________
balloon to look for the _________ of the _________.
_________
When they were in the Kalahari _________ some
_________ arrived in a _________. They put the meerkats
into _________. Suddenly some _________ arrived too!
Uncle Jack rescued the men but first they promised
never to catch _________ again.
28

yad

takreem

dnuora

tar

teef
takreem

The ________
men
_______
4

lerriuqs

yad
smra

tac
yalp

tresed
yalp

dnuorg

tresed

squirrel or a __________.
Im not a __________
Im certainly not a horrible __________!
Im a __________ and I love to __________
In the __________ all the long __________.
Flap your __________ all __________.
Tap your __________ on the __________.
Come with me. Be a __________ and __________
In the __________ all the long __________.
4 Match the speech bubble to the character.
WOOOOF!

I bought the
meerkats in
a pet shop.

Its their
address!

Meerkats
are wild
animals.

29

5 Write the words. Match the words with

the pictures and the past forms.
t u
r
n
o n
turn on
________
flew
c ar
y r
________
barked
c at
h c

________

r u
n

________

f l
y

________

a
r
k

________

the their in
1 themeerkats netswith 3 meerkats
school bags
their holes
at
2 the loudly meerkats 4 quickly
to
5

ran
turned on
carried

caught

6 Write the verbs from Activity 5 in the right

column.
Regular past verbs
Irregular past verbs

30

7 Use the characters from Activity 1, the past

verbs from Activity 5 and the words in the
boxes to make sentences.

barked
______________________

flew
______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

1
2
3
4
5

the

MP3

The two men caught the meerkats with nets.

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

8 Fill the gaps with next, over, between,

inside or in.
next door to Uncle Jack.
1 Mr Smith lived ______
2 ________ the pet shop there were four baby
meerkats.
3 The lions were ________ the men and their lorry.
4 The balloon flew ________ forests and seas.
5 Jim and the twins carried the meerkats
________ their school bags.
31

PICTURE DICTIONARY
Uncle Jack and the Meerkats

9 Draw and write a description of what the

balloon is flying over.
address
(to) bark

between
cage
Uncle Jacks balloon is flying over ______________
There are ______________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

(to) cry

________________________________________________
________________________________________________

10 Do you like the story? Draw your face.

desert
hills

= I love the story!

= I like the story.
= I quite like the story.

32

hole
hot-air balloon

+971 2 645 8987

= I dont like the story.

info@jarirbookstores.ae

A hilarious
adventure with
Uncle Jack,
Daisy, May,
Jim and the
meerkats.

inside

loudspeaker

My name is Jane and

I live in a beautiful
Spanish city, Madrid.
Im an English author
of childrens books.
Ive always loved
creating stories and
songs for children.
The best ideas
come to me while
Im jogging!

toothache

stomach-ache

meerkats

twins
Jane Cadwallader

and the
Meerkats

Vocabulary areas
Animals, nature, feelings, town

lorry

net

Uncle
Jack

SYLLABUS

PICTURE DICTIONARY
Uncle Jack and the Meerkats

next to

My name is Gustavo.
I live in a very big
city, Buenos Aires.
I have been drawing
all my life, ever since
I was a child as
I didnt have a TV.
I enjoy most of all
drawing comic strips
and picturing myself
and my kids in the
illustrations that
I create.

Grammar and structures

Past simple regular and irregular forms
Verb + infinitive
Verb + -ing
Could
Must for obligation
Shall for obligation
Adverbs: never, sadly, a lot
Comparatives / superlatives: better best

YOUNG JARIR & ELI READERS ( PRIMARY )

Stage

primary grade 1 - 6

Title

w/ video

ISBN

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978-9948-22-149-4

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978-9948-22-150-0

Granny Fixit and the Ball + CD

978-9948-22-151-7

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978-9948-22-152-4

Granny Fixit and the Yellow String + CD

978-9948-22-153-1

Aladdin + CD

978-9948-22-154-8

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz + CD

978-9948-22-155-5

PB3 and the Vegetables + CD

978-9948-22-156-2

PB3 and the Jacket + CD

978-9948-22-157-9

PB3 and Coco the Clown + CD

978-9948-22-158-6

PB3 and the Helping Hands + CD

978-9948-22-159-3

Uncle Jack and the Bakonzi Tree + CD

978-9948-22-160-9

Uncle jack and the Emperor Penguins + CD

978-9948-22-161-6

The Canterville Ghost + CD

978-9948-22-162-3

Uncle Jack and the Meerkats + CD

978-9948-22-163-0

Peter Pan + CD

978-9948-22-164-7

Harry and the Crown + CD

978-9948-22-165-4

Harry and the Egyptian Tomb + CD

978-9948-22-166-1

The Secret Passage + CD

978-9948-22-167-8

White Fang + CD

978-9948-22-168-5

proficiency advanced

upper intermediate

intermediate

YOUNG ADULT JARIR & ELI READERS ( SECONDARY )

3

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978-9948-22-202-6

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978-9948-22-203-3

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978-9948-22-204-0

Stories of Mystery and Suspense + CD

978-9948-22-205-7

Dubliners + CD

978-9948-22-206-4

The Turn of the Screw + CD

978-9948-22-196-8

Frankenstein + CD

978-9948-22-197-5

Mrs. Dalloway + CD

978-9948-22-198-2

The Great Gatsby + CD

978-9948-22-199-9

A Collection of First World War Poetry + CD

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Heart of Darkness + CD

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