Little Cub

Learns
About the World

Alice Barker
For all the children, staff and animals at
N/a’an ku sê.

Thank you for inspiring me every single

day.
One day, Mummy Lion
and Little Cub were
out for a walk. It
was a beautiful day.
They sat down for a
talk.
Mummy Lion opened her big
jaws wide, and said, with a
smile and a hint of pride:

“Little Cub, you are little no

more! It is time to see what
the world has in store.”

And into the grass she led the

way. This was a very
exciting day.
Little Cub thought that there was
lots to see, and everything filled
him to the brim with glee!

Suddenly, he heard a soft sound,

and, a little bit frightened, he
wondered what he had found.

“Quick, quick, quick, scurry, scurry,

scurry, I’m in quite a major
hurry!”

“Mummy? Who is that that's having

that rant?”

“Why, don’t be afraid dear, it’s only

an...
...ant!”
Little Cub had never seen an ant before, so he went up to it and asked what it had in
store. And the ant stood up tall and he raised his head, and in his bossiest voice,
this is what the ant said:

“I cut down leaves. I work all day. But right now, you are stood in my way!”

And the ant picked up his leaf and scurried away, and Little Cub and Mummy Lion
carried on with their day.
Little Cub was now listening
to his Mummy tell all,
when suddenly he heard
another loud call!

“Pow, pow, pow, zoom, zoom,

zoom, I’m the fastest
animal in the whole
room!”

“Mummy, who is that saying

I can’t defeat her?”

“Why, don’t be afraid dear,

it’s only a...
...cheetah!”
Little Cub had never seen a cheetah before, so he went up to it and asked
what it had in store. And the cheetah took it all in her stride, and with a
smile and a laugh she quickly replied:

“I like to race. I run quite fast. But you’d better watch out – I’m never last!”

And the cheetah dashed off and

sprinted away, and Little Cub
and Mummy Lion carried on with
their day.
Little Cub was certain there
couldn’t be any more. He was
sure that he knew what the
world had in store.

“Crunch, crunch, crunch, munch,

munch, munch! Oh, how
much I like my lunch!”

“Mummy, who is that with the

great booming laugh?”

“Why, don’t be afraid dear, it’s

only a...
...giraffe!”
Little Cub had never seen a giraffe before,
so he went up to it and asked what it had in
store. The giraffe smiled kindly – he looked
very wise – and said with a twinkle and mirth
in his eyes:

“I like to stretch. Yes, I’m very tall.

Why, I tower above every one of you all!”

And the giraffe finished chewing, and lumbered away,

and Little Cub and Mummy Lion carried on with their day.
 Little Cub was tired. He could learn no more.
He knew he knew everything the world had in store.

Suddenly, a movement in the grass caught his eye,

shining in the bright sun as he walked on by.

Little Cub decided he should take a look,

and taking a deep breath, a step forward he took.
There was a cheetah cub sat there, looking
very sad.

He wasn’t running. Little Cub knew this

was bad.
Little Cub asked his Mummy:
“Mummy? Why won’t he
run? I thought all cheetahs
ran to have fun.”

“Indeed they do, but can’t

you see? His back foot is
hurting quite painfully.”

Little Cub looked again, and

then he saw that the
cheetah cub did indeed
have a sore paw.

And he thought: “He must

lonely, sat there on his
own! Nobody has fun just
being alone!”
So up to the cub he decided to walk, and he opened his
mouth and he started to talk.
“Hello, baby cheetah! My name’s Little Cub. Please can I
sit beside you, in this cosy shrub?”
And the cheetah said: “Oh no, no one sits here with me!
Go and find someone else, and leave me to be!”
Little Cub said: “I do not mind if you cannot run! There are lots of
other ways we can have fun!”
And he sat next to Cheetah and played I Spy, Tic-Tac-Toe, and he
told funny jokes that made them laugh ever so!
And when Cheetah’s family came back and the day had to end,
Little Cub wasn’t sad – he knew he’d made a new friend.
“So what have you learnt
that’s important today?”
asked Mummy Lion as
they went on their way.

“Well I learnt about giraffes,

and ants, and cheetahs,
who usually run so fast
they’d always beat us.”

“Are you sure that’s all?”

Mummy Lion replied.

“Well of course it is!” Little

Cub cried.
Mummy Lion shook her head hard, and
then she smiled. “You have learnt
many lessons today, my child.

You have learnt that giraffes stand

incredibly tall, that cheetahs will
run and ants outwork us all.

You have learnt we’re all different,

have similarities too, even the
creatures that do not look like you.

And when learning to see what the

world has in store, you will spot all
these differences, and even more.

So no matter your knowledge, I think

you will find, the most important
lesson is...
... always be kind.”
 Image Credits
Cover Page 10
• Lion cub on rock: Ramon Vloon via Unsplash • Giraffe: Slawek K via Unsplash

Page 1 Page 11
• Background: Elcarito via Unsplash • Giraffe: Sergi Ferrete via Unsplash
• Lioness: Anaïs Buan via Unsplash
• Lion cub: Joel Sileno via Unsplash Page 12

Page 2 • Lion cub walking: chillervirus via Pixabay

• Cub and lioness relaxing in grass: Anders Jacobsen via Unsplash
Page 13
Page 3
• Lion cub: Edo Emmerig via Pixabay • Cheetah cub in trees: Eric MacDonell via Unsplash

Page 4 Page 14
• Ant: vlada11 via Pixabay • Background: Rodion Kutsaev via Unsplash
• Cheetah cub: Dustin Plunkett via Pixabay
Page 5 • Lion cub: chillervirus via Pixabay
• Ant holding leaf: juliocb via Pixabay • Lioness: maja7777 via Pixabay

Page 6 Page 15
• Lion cub: Suné de Bruyn via Unsplash • Background/lion cub: Sneha via Unsplash
• Cheetah cub: Kaz Turner via Pixabay
Page 7 • Grass: Chang Qing via Unsplash
• Cheetah: David Clode via Unsplash
Page 16
Page 8 • Lion cub: Belinda Cave via Pixabay
• Cheetah: Jean Wimmerlin via Unsplash
Page 17
Page 9: • Lioness: Jean Wimmerlin via Unsplash
• Lion cub in grass: Christopher Kean via Unsplash
Page 18
• Lioness and cub: Tim Tentcher via Pixabay