Anansi and the Talking Melon

1. Anansi and the Talking Melon by Retold and Illustrated byMs. Bains’ Third Grade Class November, 2007

2. Long ago Elephant went to his garden hoeing melons and he went inside to take a nap because the sun was getting too hot.

3. Anansi jumped out of the thorn tree to eat some melons. To get into the melon, he dug a hole with the thorn.

4. He ate until he was round as a berry. He tried to get out of the melon but he couldn’t. So he had to wait until he was thin again.

5. He was bored so he thinks to play a trick on Elephant when Elephant wakes up. When Elephant comes outside he notices the melon and he picks it up and Anansi says, “Ouch!” Elephant gets startled.

6. He says, “Who said that?” and Anansi replies, “I did. The melon.” Elephant decides to take it to the king.

7. On the way, he runs into Hippo. Hippo asks where he is going.

8. Elephant tells him about the talking melon. Hippo doesn’t believe him. Hippo says, “That’s as ridiculous as…”

9. “… a skinny hippo,” says Anansi. Hippo asks, “Did you say that, Elephant?”

10. Elephant says he didn’t say it but the melon said it. Hippo decides to go with Elephant to see the king.

11. On the way to the king they run into Warthog. Warthog asks where they are going. They told him they are going to the king and give him the talking melon.

12. Warthog doesn’t believe them. Anansi insults Warthog by saying, “That’s as ridiculous as…a handsome warthog.”

13. Warthog says, “Did you say that, Elephant? Did you say that, Hippo?” They tell him they did not say it. The melon said it. Warthog decides to go see the king, too.

14. On the way, they run into Rhino, Ostrich, and Turtle. Anansi insults them and they want to go see the king, too. They walk until they get to the king.

15. The king says, “Why did you bring me this melon?” The king tells them he has tons of melons in his garden. Elephant tells him he doesn’t have one like this. The king tries to make the melon talk but he doesn’t.

16. So he says it again and the melon still isn’t talking so the king gets angry and says, “You stupid melon.” Anansi says, “Me, stupid? I’m not the one talking to melons.”The king is so angry he throws the melon.

17. It lands on a thorn in the thorn tree in Elephant’s garden. It breaks open and Anansi can crawl out. All the excitement made him skinny again. He climbs into the banana tree and starts eating.

18. When Elephant comes back, he yells at the melons for getting him in trouble. Anansi says, “We bananas should have warned you about those melons. They are nothing but trouble.”