Наталья Александровна Поддубная "Clumsy and Gracie"

Frogs and Fish

When it’s raining cats and dogs,
We are happy, ‘cause we’re frogs!
If there is no rain, we stay
In the river for the whole day.
Splash-splash-splash
Wet-wet-wet,
Dumpy-jumpy never sad!
Wet-wet-wet,
Splash-splash-splash,
Singing our songs in Welsh!
Fish (singing):
Jumpy frogs are my best friends.
Lovely song, that never ends.
They can jump and I can swim,
We are really a team!
(singing as a trio):
Splash-splash-splash
Swim-swim-swim,
By the bank and in the stream.
Jump-jump-jump,
Wet-wet-wet,
See you Clumsy for a chat!

In and by the river

When the bees see the beautiful picture of bright flowers, they will come back and bring some honey for our poor bear.

After breakfast bears usually go swimming in the river. Clumsy goes swimming, too. He likes playing in the water with the fish and jumping like a frog in the grass.

“Why do you swim so fast?” he asks the fish.

“Because we haven’t got any legs or arms to stop us. We’ve got only fins and tails to help us. Have you got any fins?”

“No, I haven’t. But I’ve got a big body and strong paws.”

“That’s why you can’t swim very fast.”

Clumsy is very sad. No, he can’t swim very fast but he can jump with frogs.

“Frogs, frogs, why do you jump so high?”

“Because we‘ve got long legs and we can sing beautifully, too.”

“Ha, ha! You can’t sing at all. Look! The bees can fly far-far away. What do you see, bees?”

“ZZZ…We fly over the city and see a lot of people. They have different jobs. Builders build houses, engineers draw cars, doctors treat people, pupils go to school and teachers teach them. They are busy all day long.”

“So they never play…Poor people. But I like playing very much. Bees, let’s play hide-and-seek. I’ll count up to ten and you hide.”

The bear closes his eyes and counts. When he opens his eyes he can’t see any bees. He begins to look for them.

My friend! Let’s help Clumsy. Draw the bees. One bee is on the yellow flower, two bees are under the purple flower, one bee is by the tree and three bees are behind the bees’ house. How many bees are playing with him?

Owl’s song

My eyes are big and bright as amber.
I have a voice, that you’ll remember.
I’m very old and very clever.
My name is Owl. Forget me never.

Hush-hush-hush!
Make no rush.
Please be quiet
As at night.

My nose is very sharp and hooky,
I know some stories strange and spooky.
But don’t get frightened Clumsy-bear,
You’ll like my favorite story I swear!

Hush-hush-hush!
No need to rush.
Look at the shelf!
(pointing to the raspberry jam jar)
And please help yourself!

In the wood

Hide-and-seek is a very funny game. But Clumsy is tired and hungry. He is sad. He always has raspberry jam for lunch, but raspberries grow only in the dark wood. The bees can’t help him; they work in the meadow. The frogs can give him only flies for lunch. But who likes flies? The fish can give him worms and grass. But bears don’t eat worms. So the bear goes to the wood.

The old wood is dark and spooky. You can’t see the sun in the afternoon or the moon and the stars at night. Strange birds and animals live in the wood. Wicked wolves and cowardly hares live there.

Clumsy is very brave and he has got many friends in the wood. So he goes to an old oak. An owl lives there. The owl knows a lot of different spooky stories and she can make tasty raspberry jam.

“Hey, dear owl! How are you? Give me some raspberry jam.”

“Don’t say “give me”! Say “Can I have” Ah! It’s you, my little bear. Come in.”

Clumsy comes in and sees the mess. The cups are on the floor, the table is on the bed, the chair is in the cupboard, the mirror is behind the armchair.

“What’s the matter?”

“The squirrels often play in my house when I go out. If you can help me, I’ll give you some raspberry jam and tell you a spooky story.”

My friend! Help the owl put the cups in the cupboard, put the table on the floor, put the chair and the armchair by the bed, put the mirror by the door. And draw the owl’s house.

A spooky story

“You are a good bear, so I can give you some hot tea with raspberry jam for lunch,” says the happy owl when her house is clean.

“And can you tell me a spooky story? I want to listen to a story about a black city.”

“Well…” and she begins her story.

“…In the black, black city there is a black street. In the black, black street there is a black, black house. This is a haunted house.

A little girl lives in the black city. She doesn’t like to listen to her parents. Her parents say “Little girl, little girl, don’t go out into the black street, don’t go into the black house.” But she is a naughty girl. One night she goes to the black, black street. She goes into the black, black house. She goes upstairs and sees a black, black room. In the black, black room there is a black table. On the black table there is a black box. The girl comes up to the table and looks into the black box… In the black, black box there is…

a white mouse! “A-a-a-h” cries the girl. She is afraid of mice. So she runs away.

Now the girl always listens to her parents and never goes out into the black street.”

“Do you like the story? Are you afraid of the black city?” asks the owl, but she can’t see Clumsy.

Where is the bear? Let’s look around. Is he in the cupboard? No, he isn’t. Is he in the wardrobe? No, he isn’t. Is he under the bed? Yes, he is. He is coward and he’s hiding under the bed.

My friend! Let’s help Clumsy get out. Draw a jar of honey, some raspberry jam, some tea and a funny animal in the black box that was in the story.

Squirrels

Making faces at the mirrors
Of the puddles on the road.
Very funny fluffy squirrels,
We like playing you should note!
Clumsy-Bumsy come and play!
Come and play with us we say!
Clumsy-Bumsy come and play!
Come and play with us we say!

Picking mushrooms is so boring,
Makes you sleepy. What a waste
Of the time, if you’re just snoring.
Let’s forget the mushrooms’ taste.

Clumsy-Trumsy let’s have fun.
We will jump and you will run.
Clumsy-Trumsy let’s have fun.
We will jump and you will run.

Squirrels and pine cones

Now, the bear is not hungry. He likes spooky stories and raspberry jam. Listen! Someone is knocking at the door!

“Who is it?” asks the owl.

But nobody answers.

“I know who it is. It’s the five naughty squirrels! They want to play with me, but I can’t. I usually write my stories in the book in the afternoon. Can you play with the squirrels?”

Yes! Bears like playing at any time of the day. But when he goes out, a small pine cone hits him on the head and all the squirrels laugh at him.

“We are jumping up and down teasing the silly bear. Ha, ha! What’s your name?”

“My name is Clumsy! I like playing, but I don’t like it when you throw pine cones at me.”

“His name is Bumsy-Pumsy-Jumsy-Trumsy! Hooray!” And the naughty squirrels begin jumping around the bear.

Clumsy is angry. He doesn’t like this game at all.

“Let’s play another game! I can throw pine cones far-far away. Can you throw with me?”