Chapter Three: A House to Call Home
Dindi D. Cheetah and her friends had just successfully foiled a plot by Annie Conda and her friends in the Poison Dart Gang from robbing the zoo, and even Sam Silverback was smiling. The animals threw a victory party, and the lemurs even wrote a song for the occasion:
OLD MCDINDI HAD A ZOO
(To the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm)
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a lion, e-i-e-i-o!
With a ROAR, ROAR here
And a ROAR, ROAR there
Here a ROAR, there a ROAR
Everywhere a ROAR, ROAR
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a zebra, e-i-e-i-o!
With a WHINNY, WHINNY here
And a WHINNY, WHINNY there
Here a WHINNY, there a WHINNY
Everywhere a WHINNY, WHINNY
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a giraffe, e-i-e-i-o!
With a BLEAT, BLEAT here
And a BLEAT, BLEAT there
Here a BLEAT, there a BLEAT
Everywhere a BLEAT, BLEAT
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
When the lemurs were done, Sam cleared his voice and a hush came over the crowd. “Listen, everyone!” he called out in his deep bass voice. “I know Dindi and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but everyone here knows that the zoo could’ve been in big trouble if he hadn’t been looking out for all of us. So I talked to the Zoo superintendant, and he agreed that something special was in order.” Sam motioned to Dindi to follow him, and of course all the other animals followed behind. (It was after hours, and since the humans weren’t around, the animals had the run of the place.)
The parade of animals wound through the middle of the zoo, past the gift shop and the up behind the large outdoor food court, where all kinds of cuisine was prepared during the day. In a small woodsy grove behind the food court Sam stopped and pointed up. “Look Dindi!” he shouted so everyone could hear. “Welcome to your new home.”
Dindi looked where Sam was pointing, and his jaw dropped. There, in the trees, was the most beautiful tree house he had ever seen. It was as if the builder had split an enormous walnut shell and made a two-story home out of it. As magnificent as it was, though, Dindi was still confused. “Sam,” he said quietly, “cheetahs don’t climb trees.”
Sam just smiled again. “I know. Watch this.” And Sam waved his arm toward one of his gorilla guards, who threw a switch. The tree house lit up, and behind it was a long stairway that led up to its front door. “You don’t have to climb, Dindi. You just have to take the stairs.”
“You don’t have to climb, Dindi. You just have to go up the stairs.”
Dindi just shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Dindi.” Sam answered. “With a lookout like that, you’ll be able to survey the whole zoo. That should help you to keep us out of trouble.”
* * * * *
The next morning, Dindi woke up in his new home. In the light of daybreak, the food court vendors just beginning to open their carts and begin cooking. The animals were in their enclosures, some stretching, some calling out to greet the morning.
“Wow!” said Dindi to herself. “There is so much I can see, and smell, and touch, and taste, and hear from up here! All I want to do is describe it all!”
CHAPTER 3: DESCRIBE DINDI’S NEW HOME!
This is a different kind of assignment. You don’t have a case to solve. Instead, you have a space to explore and to describe in words.
Your assignment is to imagine yourself in Dindi’s new tree-house home, and to use your senses and your imagination
to learn about it.
Before you write, use the worksheet to take some notes about what Dindi experiences with his senses. Once you’ve thought of at least three things experienced with each sense, then you can go ahead and write about the tree-house in complete sentences. (I made room for five different examples for each sense, but you don’t have to think of more than three.
Please read this passage from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. It’s a great example of this kind of writing:
The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell – as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft overhead.
What sense was E.B. White focusing on here? That’s right: smell. You can almost smell the barn yourself when you read his words.
OLD MCDINDI HAD A ZOO
(To the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm)
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a lion, e-i-e-i-o!
With a ROAR, ROAR here
And a ROAR, ROAR there
Here a ROAR, there a ROAR
Everywhere a ROAR, ROAR
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a zebra, e-i-e-i-o!
With a WHINNY, WHINNY here
And a WHINNY, WHINNY there
Here a WHINNY, there a WHINNY
Everywhere a WHINNY, WHINNY
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
And at this zoo he had a giraffe, e-i-e-i-o!
With a BLEAT, BLEAT here
And a BLEAT, BLEAT there
Here a BLEAT, there a BLEAT
Everywhere a BLEAT, BLEAT
Old McDindi had a Zoo, e-i-e-i-o!
When the lemurs were done, Sam cleared his voice and a hush came over the crowd. “Listen, everyone!” he called out in his deep bass voice. “I know Dindi and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but everyone here knows that the zoo could’ve been in big trouble if he hadn’t been looking out for all of us. So I talked to the Zoo superintendant, and he agreed that something special was in order.” Sam motioned to Dindi to follow him, and of course all the other animals followed behind. (It was after hours, and since the humans weren’t around, the animals had the run of the place.)
The parade of animals wound through the middle of the zoo, past the gift shop and the up behind the large outdoor food court, where all kinds of cuisine was prepared during the day. In a small woodsy grove behind the food court Sam stopped and pointed up. “Look Dindi!” he shouted so everyone could hear. “Welcome to your new home.”
Dindi looked where Sam was pointing, and his jaw dropped. There, in the trees, was the most beautiful tree house he had ever seen. It was as if the builder had split an enormous walnut shell and made a two-story home out of it. As magnificent as it was, though, Dindi was still confused. “Sam,” he said quietly, “cheetahs don’t climb trees.”
Sam just smiled again. “I know. Watch this.” And Sam waved his arm toward one of his gorilla guards, who threw a switch. The tree house lit up, and behind it was a long stairway that led up to its front door. “You don’t have to climb, Dindi. You just have to take the stairs.”
“You don’t have to climb, Dindi. You just have to go up the stairs.”
Dindi just shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Dindi.” Sam answered. “With a lookout like that, you’ll be able to survey the whole zoo. That should help you to keep us out of trouble.”
* * * * *
The next morning, Dindi woke up in his new home. In the light of daybreak, the food court vendors just beginning to open their carts and begin cooking. The animals were in their enclosures, some stretching, some calling out to greet the morning.
“Wow!” said Dindi to herself. “There is so much I can see, and smell, and touch, and taste, and hear from up here! All I want to do is describe it all!”
CHAPTER 3: DESCRIBE DINDI’S NEW HOME!
This is a different kind of assignment. You don’t have a case to solve. Instead, you have a space to explore and to describe in words.
Your assignment is to imagine yourself in Dindi’s new tree-house home, and to use your senses and your imagination
to learn about it.
Before you write, use the worksheet to take some notes about what Dindi experiences with his senses. Once you’ve thought of at least three things experienced with each sense, then you can go ahead and write about the tree-house in complete sentences. (I made room for five different examples for each sense, but you don’t have to think of more than three.
Please read this passage from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. It’s a great example of this kind of writing:
The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell – as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft overhead.
What sense was E.B. White focusing on here? That’s right: smell. You can almost smell the barn yourself when you read his words.
