tug of war

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Derek and Michelle Brookes STORIES TO GROW BY Tug of War

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Find out what happens when Mama and Papa Robin fl y away to fi nd food, and Billy has his fi rst brush with danger.

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Page 1: Tug of War

Derek and Michelle Brookes

STORIES TO GROW BY

Billy, Reddy, Cherry and Chirpy are four little baby robins with a variety of personalities and preferences, huge appetites, and a few things to learn about manners!

Find out what happens when Mama and Papa Robin fl y away to fi nd food, and Billy has his fi rst brush with danger.

STORIES TO GROW BY

THE Tug of W

ar

TugofWar_A4_hardcover_cvr.indd 1 1/14/2003, 12:36:44 PM

Page 2: Tug of War

Derek and Michelle Brookes

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Page 3: Tug of War

Illustrated by Max Belmont and Ana FieldsBased on an original story by Mary Roys

ISBN: 3-905332-62-0

Copyright © 1999–2003 by Aurora Production AG, Switzerland.

All Rights Reserved. Printed in Malaysia.

Third printing, 2003

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Deep within a well-forested park, there grew a tall and leafy oak tree. Its trunk was strong and its

branches were thick and wide. On one of the low er branch es sat a new nest. Two robins had cho sen this place to start a home. Mama Rob in had laid four beau ti ful blue eggs. Day and night she covered them with her body so they would stay cozy and warm.

Papa Robin worked hard to fi nd food for Mama Robin while she tended to the eggs.

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Finally, one day, the four little eggs cracked open and out came four little baby robins. They didn’t look much like robins to begin with, but in a short time they had fl uffy feath ers and had all opened their eyes for a look at the big, wide world around them.

Mama and Papa Robin gave them all names. They called the two boys Billy and Reddy, and they called the two girls Cherry and Chirpy.

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Reddy wasn’t actually red yet, since young robins do not get their colorful red breasts until they are much old er. So, why was he called Reddy? Well, as soon as he was hatched, he started cheeping so loudly, wanting to be fed, that his moth er said, “Boy, this one wants to eat al ready!”

“Then let’s call him Reddy,” said Papa Robin. “He is ready to eat now and will be red when he grows up!”

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REDDYCHER RY

CHIRPY BILLY

The two proud parent robins were still laughing about the name when a baby girl hatched. “Let’s call her Cher ry to match Reddy." Chirpy hatched next.

She got her name because she was the most active and talk ative and noisy of them all. The last baby bird to hatch had a very large beak, or bill, and he loved to eat so they called him Billy.

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One of the fi rst lessons of life that all these little baby rob ins needed to learn was to have better man ners. They often fought among themselves over who would get the best or the most food, and they never said “thank you” to Papa or Mama Robin, who worked very hard to fi nd food for all of them. No matter how much their par ents talked to them and tried to help them get along, they were be com ing quite naugh ty little birds, quar rel ing and teasing, and push ing and shoving much of the time. Then one day something hap pened that changed all that.

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Mama and Papa Robin were getting ready to fl y out to search for some break fast for everyone. This morn ing ev ery one was extra hungry.

“Papa, can you bring me a nice, fat, juicy worm?” plead ed Billy.

“I’ll try, Billy,” said Papa Robin, “but it’s not al ways easy to fi nd worms, be cause the ground is hard and dry now and the worms are hiding deep un der ground.”

“Oh, I don’t like worms,” whined Chirpy. “They’re too long and squiggly to swallow. Papa, can you just bring us some bugs?”

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“No way,” piped in Cherry. “Most bugs are hor ri ble tast ing. I’d rather have some nice fresh berries.”

“Children, remember your manners,” Mama Rob in gen tly re mind ed her hungry brood. “When you ask for things, you need to be kind and polite and say things like, ‘Please, Mama and Papa, could you bring me a nice worm?’ When there is food you do not like, you should still try to eat it with thankful hearts be cause God has supplied it and helped your father and me fi nd it for you.”

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The young birds listened for a moment, but soon for got all about what Mama Rob in had just told them.

“You know what I would really like?” demanded Reddy, “Some nice, crunchy seeds!”

“Papa,” said Billy, “why don’t you just get what ev ery one wants so we will all be happy?”

“Yes, get us all the things we want!” echoed the others. “That will make us happy!”

“Oh dear, what can we do?” whis pered Mama Rob in to Papa Robin.

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“I guess it would be good if we could give each one just what they want. We will have to do a lot of extra search ing, but if it will make them happy, it may be worth it. Come on, let’s go see what we can fi nd,” Papa Robin said at last.

Mama Robin usu al ly pre ferred to stay near the nest and look for food close by so she could watch over her young fl ock. The prob lem was that it was get ting hard er to fi nd food near the nest. Papa Rob in usu al ly went quite far away while look ing for dif fer ent kinds of food. Mama knew that today she and Papa would both have to go quite far away to fi nd all the dif fer ent things her chil dren were de mand ing.

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“Papa and I will have to fl y quite far away to fi nd all this dif fer ent food for you today. Please try to be patient and kind to each other while we are gone. Okay?”

“Okay,” all the young robins chirped.So Papa and Mama Robin went fl ying off to the far side of the

park. Papa Robin was the fi rst one to spot a very large earth worm wiggling his way up to the surface and into the grass.

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With great speed he fl ew down and grabbed the worm in his beak. The worm was very large and very strong and was still partly in the ground. The worm re sist ed with all its might, and Papa Robin pulled and pulled, but the worm was too strong and was get ting away. Mama saw the strug gle so she joined the fray and to geth er they pulled and pulled, and at last, the great big worm let go and the hap py rob ins fl ew back to the nest with their verylarge catch.

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“Oh look! Papa found my worm!” Billy chirped. “It looks like I’m going to get my break fast fi rst!” Bil ly opened his

very large mouth ex pect ing Papa to drop the whole worm in.

“Billy,” Mama Robin told him, “this worm is big enough for all of you. Papa and I will keep look ing, but it takes quite a long time to fl y across the park and back. You children will just have to share this worm until we get back.”

Reddy and Cher ry were happy to have Bil ly share the worm with them, and Chirpy, who said she didn’t like worms, was getting quite hun gry and the thought of eating a worm didn’t sound too bad anymore.

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Mama and Papa Robin fl ew off again to continue their search for breakfast, leav ing the young birds to work out the de tails of sharing the worm among them selves. Well, you guessed it … Billy didn’t want to share.

“Sorry, guys, this is my worm! You all ordered some thing else for breakfast. You’ll just have to wait your turn. Chirpy doesn’t even like worms anyway.”

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“But what if they can’t fi nd any crunchy seeds any where?” Reddy fret ted out loud. “I will have no food to day and I am very hungry right now!”

“Me too,” said Cherry. “Please, Billy, let us have some of the worm too!”

“No, no, no! No way! This is my worm, and I’m going to eat it all by myself!”

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That is when the great tug of war be gan. Billy grabbed one end of the worm and Chirpy, Cherry and Reddy grabbed the other end and started pulling. Billy was big, but he was no match for his three sib lings all pulling against him. Bil ly decided to climb up on the edge of the nest to get better foot ing and yank the worm away from the rest of them.

Cherry gasped, let go of the worm and cried, “Oh, please get down, Billy! It looks very dan ger ous up there and you might fall!”

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Billy didn’t want to answer, be cause if he opened his beak he would let go of the worm, so he just kept on pull ing. Bil ly was now almost completely out of the nest. He was stand ing against the edge of the nest and all that was holding him was the worm. When Cher ry let go, Billy yanked the worm with all his might, and Reddy and Chirpy lost their balance and fell for ward. Billy started to fall back wards off the edge of the nest! He opened his beak in fright and lost hold of the worm. Down and down Billy fell. He tried to fl ap his wings but it didn’t help much, because he didn’t have all of his wing feath ers yet, and besides, he didn’t know how to fl y. It was a long way down, and he land ed with a “plop” on some soft grass.

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“Oh no!” squawked Reddy. “Look, Billy has fall en all the way to the ground. Is he hurt?”

“I don’t think so,” said Cherry. “See, he’s getting up and hop ping around. But he can’t fl y yet and he is too big for Mama and Papa to try to lift, so how will he ever get back in the nest?”

Their eyes scanned the woods in every direction to see if help could be found, but there was none.

“Oh no!” cried Cher ry. “Look over there, coming across the lawn this way! It’s that big mean old tom cat that Mama and Papa and all their friends have to keep chasing away.”

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“Oh dear, this doesn’t look too good. Let’s all pray for Bil ly!” said Chirpy. “Dear God, please keep Billy. Rescue him from that terrible tomcat, and some how, help him to get back up here in the nest.”

Down on the ground, little Billy was having a few trou bled thoughts of his own. He had no worm. He had no nice warm nest. His parents were gone and he was all alone on the ground, the most dan ger ous place in the world for baby birds.

“Poor Billy doesn’t see him yet, but that old cat will soon see Billy! We have got to do some thing!” Reddy said in his most de ter mined voice.

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Billy peeked up above the grass and looked around. His eyes spot ted a large gray tom cat mak ing its way towards him. His heart froze. I’m in se ri ous trou ble, he said to himself. Billy de cid ed to pray too. He prayed harder than he had ever prayed be fore, and he was very, very polite when he talked to Jesus.

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“Please dear Jesus, I am so, so sor ry for being a bad, selfi sh, grabby and unthankful bird. I promise I’ll do my best to learn my lesson. Oh, please keep me safe. Hide me so that tomcat doesn’t see me. And please, some how help me get back into the nest.”

Closer and closer the old tomcat came to where Billy sat, still hiding in the grass. Any moment now the cat would dis cov er Billy. Suddenly, Chirpy spotted Papa fl ying towards them, and Mama be hind him. Chirpy cried out in her loudest voice, “Hur ry! Hurry! Billy is in trouble and there’s a cat com ing!”

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Papa’s sharp eyes soon spotted the cat and could see he was nearly to where poor Billy was trembling in the grass. Papa let out a loud, angry cry and dived straight down at the cat and pecked his head and fl apped his wings noisily.

Then Mama attacked the cat as well, swoop ing in for a quick peck and then es cap ing before the cat could catch her. The cat was so sur prised by this sud den at tack from the air that he raced off across the park.

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His brother and sisters gave a sigh of relief. Billy was safe for the moment. He wouldn’t starve because Mama and Papa would fi nd him and feed him on the ground. But the ground was still a very dangerous place and it would be some time before Billy could fl y.

Then the miracle happened. On the oth er side of the open space beside the great oak tree, an old man had been rest ing on a park bench. When he saw the robins attack the cat, he knew that they must be pro tect ing one of their babies.

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The kind old man rose from his bench and strolled over to the oak tree. It didn’t take him long to spot Billy hiding in the grass. When the man came over to him, Billy tried to run. He tried to fl ap his wings and escape but he could not. Billy was not in danger, though, be cause the old man loved birds. “Don’t wor ry, little fel low,” the man said. “Jesus loves little birds and so do I. He knows you have fallen to the ground and are in trou ble, so He brought me along to help you.”

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Billy was not so sure he could trust this giant, so he opened his big beak and made a loud noise. Mama and Papa watched from a nearby limb and chirped loudly too.

“You look quite healthy and perky,” the old man told lit tle Billy, as he knelt down to pick him up. “Is your nest some where near by?” Then he heard little Chirpy chirp ing loudly up in the tree. She was so wor ried about Billy.

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“It’s okay, Chirpy,” Reddy said to com fort her. “Don’t wor ry. I think Jesus sent this kind man along to help Billy and to an swer our prayers.”

“Look,” said Cherry. “The old man sees our nest and is reach ing way up over his head with Billy. He’s bringing Bil ly back to us! Oh, thank You, dear Jesus, for an swer ing our prayers!”

“There you go, little fellow,” said the old man, as he pushed Billy back into the nest. He smiled at Mama and Papa Robin and con tin ued on his walk.

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“It’s so good to be home!” said Billy. “I’m sorry, ev ery one! I was so selfi sh and unloving. I really learned a lesson the hard way today!”

“We all learned a lesson today,” said Chirpy. “I feel like we almost grew up in one day.”

“Come on, everyone,” said Reddy. “Look, we still have a nice big worm to eat.”

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So they all shared the worm with one another. Mama and Papa Rob in looked on proudly and were so pleased to see them all be hav ing so nicely. From then on, the young robins made a big effort to be kind to each other and they were very polite to their parents. When ev er they were given some yum my food, they all chorused a big “Thank you!”

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Farmyard HeroesJenny the baby chick wanted more action and ad ven ture in her life, but she

could not have guessed how suddenly her world was about to change! Discov-er how she and her friends were about to be come Farmyard Heroes.

A Christmas to RememberThis beautifully illustrated storybook will bring the warmth of the Christ mas season

into your heart and home. Meet the jolly Grand fa ther Ray, young Peter and his mer maid friend and many more Christmas friends in these en joy able and touch- ing stories that will make your Christmas season truly a Christ mas to Re mem ber.

MORESTORIES TO GROW BY

Jimmy’s LampLittle Jimmy was the kindest and most cheerful clown anyone knew, bright en ing lives and putting smiles on the faces of audiences and fellow circus artists alike.

Dis cov er how kindness can touch anyone’s heart, and for give ness can even make friends out of enemies!

Needy and GreedyFredrick and Hans have been fi shing partners for years at Pirate’s Cove, until

one day they stum ble upon a wood en chest. Needy and Greedy is a story about friends and the dis cov ery that drove them apart. Can anything bring

them back together again?

Good Morning, Grandpa GrumpyWill there ever be cheer and laughter in Grand pa and Grandma Grumpy’s

house? “Good morn ing!” Grandpa Grumpy hears from the yard next door, as he grumpily takes out the trash. Little does he know that some thing special is about

to happen!

Trudge and ZippyTwo fun animal friends with very different char ac ters share a day at the carnival

and are brought closer to God and to each other through a serious turn of events. With beautiful color illustrations throughout that your child will love!

To order these and other Aurora products for you and your chil dren, con tact:

Visit our Web Site at: www.auroraproduction.com

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Derek and Michelle Brookes

STORIES TO GROW BY

Billy, Reddy, Cherry and Chirpy are four little baby robins with a variety of personalities and preferences, huge appetites, and a few things to learn about manners!

Find out what happens when Mama and Papa Robin fl y away to fi nd food, and Billy has his fi rst brush with danger.

STORIES TO GROW BY

THE Tug of W

ar

TugofWar_A4_hardcover_cvr.indd 1 1/14/2003, 12:36:44 PM