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ELLY GOES TO SCHOOL

Written by Valérie Cros, illustrated by Mélanie Allag

One morning, Seth was late for school.

“Don’t forget your cap!” said his mum.

“Oh yeah… and Elly!” He quickly popped his cuddly toy elephant into his school bag.

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Seth always took Elly everywhere.

But now that he was at big school, he was careful to keep Elly hidden.

But that day, Seth was in such a hurry that he didn’t even have time to close his school bag.

He and his mum dashed out of the house in a hurry to get to class on time.

Seth raced down the street.

With every step, his school bag bounced on his back. At the bottom of the bag, Elly was finding it hard to cling on.

He felt like he was riding a rodeo horse.

“It’s a bit bumpy… but fun!” he thought.

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Suddenly, Seth jumped over a puddle.

WHEE! Elly went flying high into the air.

Then… PLOP! He landed head-first in a pile of leaves.

“Seth!” shouted Elly. “Wait…”

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Unluckily, Seth and his mum were already far away.

They didn’t hear Elly calling.

When Seth arrived at school, he kissed his mum goodbye.

“See you later, Mum!” “See you later, Seth!

Oh dear! Your school bag is open.

I’ll close it for you.”

But Seth’s mum didn’t notice that Elly was not there any more…

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Elly ran down the street, trying to catch up with Seth.

But his legs were not very long and he couldn’t run very fast…

When he got to the school, it was already break time.

He squeezed through the railings and said to the children, “I’m Seth’s cuddly toy. Do you know him?”

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Seth has a cuddly toy!” laughed the children.

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When Seth saw Elly in the playground he felt very embarrassed.

All the children were looking at him.

Seth wished he was as small as a mouse, or even an ant.

He was so ashamed that he told a lie.

“Huh!” he sniffed. “That’s not my cuddly toy…”

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Suddenly, the children moved out of the way.

Hector, the tough kid, had arrived.

When he saw Seth and Elly, he said, “Aaw! Is that your cuddly toy, baby Seth?”

Seth blushed.

He felt he was about to cry.

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Elly wasn’t angry with Seth for having lied.

But… he didn’t like anyone making fun of his friend.

So he stood up on his little legs, puffed out his chest and showed off the tiny muscles in his arms.

He gave Seth a secret wink and said, “I’m not a cuddly toy!

I’m a tough toy!”

Seth understood. He said, “Yeah, see!

This is my terrible tough toy!

He’s the strongest tough toy ever!”

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To show how tough he was, Elly lifted a big pebble.

Then he scared a snail that crawled away as fast as it could!

Elly growled and made horrible faces.

The children stepped back‌

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They thought Elly was amazing.

They clapped and cheered.

Seth felt proud.

He smiled happily and puffed out his own chest too.

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Just then, a big soft cuddly toy came out of Hector’s school bag.

He had seen and heard everything.

“No!” he said. “I am the strongest cuddly toy!”

Now it was Hector’s turn to blush!

He had made fun of Seth but he had a cuddly toy in his school bag too!

So he said, “What? No, no…

He’s not a cuddly toy!

He’s a… a… big, tough toy!”

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“Really?” said Elly. “Okay, then!

Let’s see who is the strongest!

Whichever one of us manages to move that huge school bag will be the king of the tough toys!”

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Hector’s tough toy rubbed his hands and began to push the school bag.

He turned red in the face but the school bag didn’t move!

Then it was Elly’s turn.

He took a deep breath.

“Heave-ho!… Heave-ho!”

One more time… “Heeeave-ho!”

Suddenly the school bag moved.

Seth’s tough toy was the strongest!

“Hooray!” cried Seth.

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Seth picked up his tough toy and gave him a big cuddle.

Meanwhile, Hector was trying to comfort his tough toy‌ or maybe the tough toy was trying to comfort Hector.

We will never know!

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© Bayard Presse - Les Belles Histoires No.525 - Text: Valérie Cros; Illustrations: Mélanie Allag, 2016.

After that day, Seth was no longer embarrassed about having a tough toy in his school bag.

Well, Elly was a cuddly tough toy because Seth still needed lots of cuddles!

The end

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