Bomani Meerkat The Friendship Feather and other adventures

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Bomani the Meerkat & other stories

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the adventures of

Bomani the Meerkat & other stories �nspirational stories �or young children

Ewald van Rensburg

�wa�� van �ens�ur�

(available from orders@cmpublishing.co.za or your local book shop.)

hip ends i r f The

feather and o ther

a d v e n t u re s

Bomani Meerkat – the children’s hero is back!

King Lion is very sick: Is there anyone in the Kalahari who can help him?

The question is: Will he be able to find the feather in time?

Coming during 2013 (Make sure you don’t miss out on the next Bomani Book: Bomani Meerkat – The two jealous meerkats and other adventures.

Send your name and email address to orders@cmpublishing.co.za with Two Jealous Meerkats in the subject line and we will contact you when the new Bomani book is available).

Join Bomani Meerkat on his adventures and learn about friendship, peace and how to share with others.

Ewald van Rensburg

As usual Bomani Meerkat has a plan… the feather of the black eagle!

The

ip feather and ot h s d her a frien

The friendship feather and other adventures

Have you read the previous Bomani book: The Adventures of Bomani the Meerkat & other stories?

bomani meerkat

20 460013

bomAni b

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the adventures of

8-1-92046-001-3

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Ewald van Rensburg Illustrations by Tanja Joubert

d v e n t u re s

ship riend f e Th

feather and o ther

a d v e n t u re s

Ewald van Rensburg Illustrations by Tanja Joubert

The feather of friendship values:

O

friendship and joy

ne day everyone in the Kalahari was in a panic.

King Lion was sick. He lay inside his thorn tree palace, and nobody knew how to help him.

The Kalahari creatures were so worried.

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Naturally they turned to brave Bomani, the famous meerkat. He would know what to do. Do you remember that Bomani’s name means ‘strong soldier’?

But even he couldn’t help his friend King Lion.

While Bomani sat sadly by, with his head sunk in his hands, his friend Thandi Meerkat came to visit. Thandi’s name means ‘the loving one’, and she really is a very loving creature.

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Thandi patted Bomani’s shoulder.

‘I know what we can do to help,’ she said.

Bomani looked up, surprised. ‘Do you?’ he asked.

‘Tell me your plan.’

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‘Do you remember,’ she said in her gentle voice, ‘what old meerkat told us long ago? The feather of the Black Eagle has miraculous powers.’

Bomani’s face lit up. ‘Thank you,’ he said, giving her a big hug.

‘The only problem is, we don’t know where to find a Black Eagle feather,’ said Thandi.

Bomani smiled. ‘You know me! I always make a plan, especially when it comes to helping a friend.’

5

Bomani hurried off to find his friend, Ethan Eagle. Ethan is Bomani’s private plane and personal pilot all in one.

They had a quick meeting, and the next time the Kalahari creatures saw them, Bomani was flying away, perched on Ethan Eagle’s back.

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After a long journey Bomani and Ethan arrived at the Black Eagles’ house. Ethan Eagle landed silently.

Bomani crept closer and saw a beautiful feather lying on the ground.

Quick as a flash he grabbed it, and crept back to Ethan Eagle.

He had to get away before the eagles woke up and decided he’d make a tasty breakfast.

At last they landed back home in the Kalahari. The news of the Black Eagle feather spread quickly to all the creatures. They all wondered if it really could cure poor King Lion.

Soon Bomani, with Thandi at his side, arrived at the thorn tree palace.

Bomani took the Black Eagle feather, and rubbed it gently on the bottom of King Lion’s paw. King Lion began to wriggle.

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He began to giggle.

‘Stop it, Bomani, it’s too much,’ cried King Lion.

But Bomani kept on tickling him, until King Lion burst out laughing.

Later, when Bomani Meerkat and Thandi set off for home, King Lion was still laughing, and he was feeling much better.

‘Thandi, this feather taught all the Kalahari creatures that it’s always good to laugh,’ said Bomani. ‘Laughter is the best medicine.’

Thandi smiled, ‘You are right, Bomani. And you also showed us all what a true friend you are to everyone.’

Remember, always do what’s best for your friends. And don’t forget to laugh a lot. It’s really good for you.

Friends always show their love. What are relatives for if not to share trouble?

P r ov e r b s 17: 17

Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.

P r ov e r b s 17: 2 2

pr ayer

Jesus, help me to be a good friend to others. Thank you that I can laugh, and that laughing is good for me.

Amen

picture activit y

Look at the pictures of King Lion and Bomani Meerkat on pages 2 & 3.

How do you think they are feeling? The insect on pages 2 & 3 and 10 & 11 has an interesting name. It’s called a Praying Mantis. Why do you think it’s called this?

11

Bomani the master storyteller value :

O

peace

ne warm day in the Kalahari, brave Bomani Meerkat was having a rest under a shady tree. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two meerkats arguing. They began to push and shove each other, and soon things got ugly.

Just then Mpu Meerkat came by. He pushed his way between the two meerkats. ‘Stop fighting,’ he said. ‘Meerkats do not hurt each other.’

The two naughty meerkats grabbed him and sent him head over heels.

He fell so hard that he hiccupped. When at last he looked up, he was staring into the face of his hero, Bomani.

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Slowly Mpu got to his feet. He would ask his hero to explain his confusion.

‘I don’t understand it, Bomani,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to help them stop fighting. And look how they treated me. It was very mean of them.’

Bomani took the blade of glass out of his mouth and said, ‘I know how hurt you are. Let me tell you a story so you can understand things a little better.’

As soon as Bomani said the word ‘story’ the news spread like wild fire.

The meerkats were so excited. ‘Bomani is going to tell one of his stories,’ they called. ‘Come quickly.’

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They left everything and ran to the tree where Bomani was resting in the shade.

‘Don’t start the story yet, Bomani,’ called Thandi.

‘We all want to listen.’

15

When everyone was sitting or lying around him, Bomani began.

Once upon a time an old wild dog was upset to see two wild dogs fighting. They were snarling and growling, and they bit each other until the blood ran.

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‘This fighting is stupid,’ said the old dog to himself.

‘I’ll put a stop to it right now.’ He stormed between the two fighting dogs and pushed the bigger one away.

17

‘Stop it, guys...’ the words were hardly out of his mouth when the smaller of the two dogs attacked him.

The bigger one joined in, and the two of them gave the poor old peace-maker a hiding.

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With his tail between his legs the old dog sneaked away.

He had learned an important lesson: it’s a good idea to let fighting dogs cool off before you try to make peace.

‘And that’s the end of the story. Do you understand now, Mpu, what happened today?’ asked Bomani.

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Mpu nodded. Bomani said gently, ‘What the two meerkats did today was wrong. It’s bad to hurt one another. Mpu, you did the right thing trying to make peace, but next time, choose your moment more carefully.’

Right then the two meerkats who had been fighting earlier came to say sorry to Mpu. Bomani clapped his hands, and before long, all the meerkats were clapping and cheering. Everyone knew that Bomani wasn’t just brave, but wise too. And to top it all, he also told the best stories.

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It’s wrong to fight with one another. Rather be a peace-maker.

Getting involved in an argument that is none of your business is like going down the street and grabbing a dog by the ears.

P r ov e r b s 2 6 : 17

pr ayer

Jesus, help me to make peace, and to be kind to everyone.

Amen picture activit y

Can you guess how the meerkats are feeling on pages 12 & 13?

Can you name all the colours on pages 12 & 13? How many meerkats can you see on pages 20 & 21? What have you learnt from Bomani in this story?

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Bomani teaches the meerkats how to share value :

generosity

T

he sun was burning down on the Kalahari. Bomani and the rest of the meerkat family were digging for food. As usual, the little meerkats were crowded around Bomani. Do you know why? It’s because brave Bomani is their hero. They love him!

Bomani always used times like these to teach the young meerkats new things; like how to look for food. And as usual he added, ‘Remember, Meerkats always help each other, and we share everything we find.’

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Bomani said to the young ones, ‘Remember, friends, when the meerkat standing guard gives the alarm, leave everything, and run home as fast as you can.’

‘Why?’ they asked.

‘Because, the meerkat guard only gives the alarm when he sees something that might hurt you,’ answered Bomani. The small meerkats listened wide eyed to his answer.

23

Bomani had scarcely finished speaking when there was a loud scream. ‘Bomani, Bomani, Bomani, help help!�

Bomani jumped up. Who was calling him?

Then, close by, he saw an angry cobra attacking a group of meerkats.

Quick as lighting, Bomani ran to help.

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It was clear that the angry cobra had never heard of Bomani, because he didn’t realise he was looking for trouble!

Quickly Bomani began to dance in a circle, round and round the snake. After a while the snake didn’t know where to look.

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‘Hey snake,’ shouted Bomani, ‘you’re going to come off second best today.’

The snake hissed. ‘Do you know how poisonous I am? I’m not scared of...’

Quickly Bomani sent him flying with one of his famous kicks.

The cobra saw stars.

‘Bomani! Bomani! Bomani!’ cheered the meerkats, while Bomani gave the snake one last extra hard kick.

Then the snake tried to bite him, but Bomani escaped every time. Finally Bomani stopped dancing, and pointed to the snake tooth necklace that he wore around his neck. ‘Do you see,’ he said, ‘somewhere, a snake just like you came off second best.’

The snake’s eyes grew big. He gulped. Then he slithered away, very scared.

Bomani yelled after him, ‘Don’t come and bother us here again!’

The meerkats clapped their paws and chanted, ‘Bomani, Bomani, Bomani.’

27

All the young meerkats were amazed. They gathered around Bomani, and said, ‘Brave Bomani, please teach us how to kick like you. We also want to make snakes see stars.’

Then caring Thandi said in her gentle voice, ‘Hey meerkats, leave Bomani alone for a while. He’s tired after the snake fight.’

‘Thank you Thandi,’ said Bomani, ‘but I’ve got a better plan. Let’s have a treat; who would like some lovely sweet honey?’ Every paw went up.

They set off for the nearest bee hive. It was hanging in a tree near the meerkat house.

‘Remember, how it works,’ Bomani said. ‘We all climb onto each other’s shoulders. I stand on top, take out the honey, and pass it down till everyone has their share.’

That’s just what they did. Bomani pulled out the honeycomb, and handed it down to everyone below.

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Suddenly he heard arguing.

‘What’s the problem?’ he asked.

‘Dozey’s not sharing.

He’s eating it all himself.’

Bomani shook his head.

‘Hey, Dozey, what do meerkats always do?’

In one voice the meerkats said, ‘We share.’

After that everything went much better. When Bomani could see that everyone had enough, he kept the last piece for himself.

29

Thandi and Bomani walked home enjoying their honey comb.

Thandi said, ‘Bomani, there’s nobody in the whole world like you.

No wonder you are famous throughout the Kalahari.’

Bomani just laughed, and passed her his last bite of honey comb.

The meerkats learned a lot from Bomani that day. But the best thing they learned was that you mustn’t be selfish. You must always share what you have with others.

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Don’t be selfish. It’s wrong to keep everything for yourself.

Always try to share with other people.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God. H e b r e ws 13 : 16

pr ayer

Jesus, help me not to be selfish, because it makes you happy when I share with other people.

Amen picture activit y

What do you see in the picture on pages 22 & 23?

What can you learn from Bomani on pages 30 & 31?

Why is it important for you to do what Bomani does?

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CMP Kids – an imprint of Christian Media Publishing PO Box 4502, Durbanville, 7551 www.christianmediapublishing.com All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means – electronically or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Reg no 2010/008573/07

Text: Ewald van Rensburg© 2012 Illustrations: Tanja Joubert© 2012 Design & Layout: Trinity Loubser Fry Publishing Project Management: Noeline N Neumann Printed and bound in China First edition, first printing 2012 ISBN 9781920593087

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A

Bomani the Meerkat & other stories

oo

the adventures of

Bomani the Meerkat & other stories �nspirational stories �or young children

Ewald van Rensburg

�wa�� van �ens�ur�

(available from orders@cmpublishing.co.za or your local book shop.)

hip ends i r f The

feather and o ther

a d v e n t u re s

Bomani Meerkat – the children’s hero is back!

King Lion is very sick: Is there anyone in the Kalahari who can help him?

The question is: Will he be able to find the feather in time?

Coming during 2013 (Make sure you don’t miss out on the next Bomani Book: Bomani Meerkat – The two jealous meerkats and other adventures.

Send your name and email address to orders@cmpublishing.co.za with Two Jealous Meerkats in the subject line and we will contact you when the new Bomani book is available).

Join Bomani Meerkat on his adventures and learn about friendship, peace and how to share with others.

Ewald van Rensburg

As usual Bomani Meerkat has a plan… the feather of the black eagle!

The

ip feather and ot h s d her a frien

The friendship feather and other adventures

Have you read the previous Bomani book: The Adventures of Bomani the Meerkat & other stories?

bomani meerkat

20 460013

bomAni b

k

the adventures of

8-1-92046-001-3

Ave br

Ewald van Rensburg Illustrations by Tanja Joubert

d v e n t u re s