Uncle Jack and the Meerkats by ELI Publishing

ELT A1.1

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In this reader you will find:

- Games and language activities - An audio recording of the story and the song - A picture dictionary

Tags

Animals | Adventure Downloadable

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STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 STAGE 4

100 headwords 200 headwords 300 headwords 400 headwords

below A1 A1 A1.1 A2

Stage 3 A1.1

Eli Design Department Diletta Brutti

Jane Cadwallader

Uncle Jack

and the Meerkats

Starters Starters/Movers Movers Flyers

Illustrated by Gustavo Mazali

Production Manager Francesco Capitano Typeset in 14 / 20 pt Monotype Plantin Schoolbook © New edition 2021 ELI s.r.l. © First edition 2011 ELI s.r.l. P.O. Box 6 - 62019 Recanati MC - Italy T +39 071750701 - F +39 071977851 info@elionline.com - www.elionline.com Printed in Italy by Tecnostampa Recanati - ERY310.10 ISBN 978-88-536-3147-3

Original www.eligradedreaders.com

Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classic and original stories for learners of English.

The pleasure of Reading

Readers

S ts ER rka l. D e -3 .r. EA Me 47 I s I R e 31 EL EL d th 36G an -5 N k 88 U ac 78YO le J N 9 c Un ISB

• Extra activities for students • Extra resources for teachers

Files

Graphic Design Sergio Elisei

Young

My name is Gustavo. I live in a very big city, Buenos Aires. I have been drawing all my life, ever since I was a child as I didn’t have a TV. I enjoy most of all drawing comic strips and picturing myself and my kids in the illustrations that I create.

ELI Readers Founder and Series Editors Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director)

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Multimedia

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The FSC® certification guarantees that the paper used in these publications comes from certified forests, promoting responsible forestry management worldwide.

For this series of ELI graded readers, we have planted 5000 new trees.

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Uncle Jack and the Meerkats by Jane Cadwallader Illustrated by Gustavo Mazali

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The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless classics. There are four series, each catering for a different age group: First ELI Readers, Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and Young Adult ELI Readers. The books are carefully edited and beautifully illustrated to capture the essence of the stories and plots.

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To download the multimedia files

Six baby meerkats sad and far from home! Uncle Jack and the children come to the rescue! When Uncle Jack and the children find some homesick baby meerkats they decide to take them home to the Kalahari Desert. Getting there is easy in Uncle Jack’s balloon. But the desert is a dangerous place. Can they keep them safe?

Original

My name is Jane and I live in a beautiful Spanish city, Madrid. I’m an English author of children’s books. I’ve always loved creating stories and songs for children. The best ideas come to me while… I’m jogging!

Grammar and structures Past simple regular and irregular forms Verb + infinitive / Verb + -ing Could Must for obligation / Shall for obligation Adverbs: never, sadly, a lot Comparatives / superlatives: better best

Jane Cadwallader Uncle Jack and the Meerkats

Vocabulary areas Animals, nature, feelings, town

Stage 3 A1.1

Syllabus

Young

Readers

Young

Readers

Jane Cadwallader

Uncle Jack and the Meerkats Illustrated by Gustavo Mazali

ncle Jack was reading a book in the garden. Jim and his sisters, Daisy and May, were playing with a ball. Grumpy the dog began to bark. He wanted to show them something. ‘What’s the matter Grumpy?’ asked Daisy.

Uncle Jack, Grumpy, Jim, Daisy and May looked into the next door garden. They saw two meerkats in a cage. They were baby meerkats and they were crying! ‘Hm. Let’s go and talk to Mr Smith,’ said Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack and the children went to see Mr Smith who lived next door. Mr Smith said sadly, ‘I bought the meerkats in a pet shop but they never stop crying!’ ‘Perhaps they have a toothache or a stomach-ache,’ said Jim.

‘No,’ said Uncle Jack. ‘I don’t think so. Meerkats have very strong family feelings. I think they are crying for their mothers and fathers.’ ‘Oh no!’ said Daisy and May.

Jim pointed to the cage, ‘Look!’ he said, “Witdraai, Kalahari Desert, South Africa”. It’s their address! They come from the Kalahari Desert!’ ‘Hm. I think you’re right,’ said Uncle Jack. He looked at Mr Smith. ‘Shall we take them home?’ he asked. ‘Oh, yes, please!’ answered Mr Smith. ‘YES!’ shouted the twins.

The next day Uncle Jack put the things in the hot-air balloon. He put in some food and some blankets (it can be very cold in the desert at night). Jim went to get the meerkats but … they weren’t there! ‘We must go and look for them,’ said Daisy and May.

Uncle Jack, Mr Smith, Jim, the twins and Grumpy looked for the meerkats all over the town. Uncle Jack looked in the gym. Mr Smith looked in the bank.

Library

Jim looked in the bus station. Daisy looked in the café. May looked in the cinema. But they couldn’t find the meerkats (can you?).

Supermarket

Cit

an k

In the end they found the meerkats outside the pet shop window. They were looking inside. Inside the pet shop were FOUR MORE BABY MEERKATS. They were ALL crying! ‘Oh look!’ said May. ‘Maybe they are all brothers and sisters.’ ‘I think you are right,’ said Uncle Jack. ‘Please buy them Uncle Jack,’ said Jim. ‘Then we can take them all home to the Kalahari Desert.’

Uncle Jack bought the baby meerkats and the children carried them home. Now they were ready to go. Jim asked Uncle Jack, ‘How can we find the family of the baby meerkats? Is the Kalahari Desert very big?’ Uncle Jack answered ‘Yes, it is, but I have an idea. Can you give me your MP3 please Jim?’

‘What are you doing Uncle Jack? Why are you recording the meerkats crying?’ asked Jim. But Uncle Jack smiled and said, ‘Wait and see!’

Grumpy was very very grumpy! He barked loudly WOOOOOOOF. The meerkats suddenly stopped crying and looked at Grumpy in surprise. ‘Hey! Well done Grumpy! That’s much better!’ said Jim.