With special thanks to Siobhan Curham
For Felicity, who is as cute as a raccoon but far less rascally.
First published in the UK in 2023 by Nosy Crow Ltd Wheat Wharf, 27a Shad Thames, London, SE1 2XZ, UK
Nosy Crow Eireann Ltd 44 Orchard Grove, Kenmare Co Kerry, V93 FY22, Ireland
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Working Partners Ltd, 2023 Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2023
The right of Working Partners Ltd and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978 1 83994 507 6
A CIP catalogue record for this book will be available from the British Library
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
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Chapter One
The Masked Bandit
Zoe Parker raced through the Rescue Zoo after her friend, Layla, and her pet mouse lemur, Meep. Layla was staying with Zoe for the weekend while her parents were away, and they had just finished all their homework. Now they had two whole days to play and explore!
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“I won!” Layla called back as she came to a stop outside the otters’ enclosure.
Zoe panted as she approached the fence with Meep close behind her. “Well done! You were so fast,” she smiled.
A river otter climbed out of the water and scampered towards them, squeaking excitedly.
“Hello, Otto,” called Zoe.
Otto made a chuckling sound and clapped his front paws together.
“It’s like he’s saying hello,” laughed Layla.
Zoe grinned. If only Layla knew that Otto really was saying hello. Zoe was able to understand Otto because she had a special secret. Ever since she was six years old, she’d been able to talk to animals and understand what they were saying.
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Nobody knew her secret though. Not even her mum, Lucy, who was the zoo’s vet, or her Great-Uncle Horace.
“Race you to the monkeys!” called Layla as she ran off down the path again.
“Layla has more energy than a mouse lemur!” sighed Meep, twitching his whiskers.
“Don’t worry, Meep, I’ll carry you.”
Zoe giggled and put him in her coat pocket.
When she got to the monkeys’ enclosure she found Layla copying the shrieking noises the monkeys were making.
“It’s like I’m talking to them,” said Layla, as a spider monkey named Mickey came swinging through the trees towards them. He scampered over to the fence,
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chattering loudly. “I think he’s asking me to play,” cried Layla excitedly.
Zoe bit her lip to stop herself from giggling.
Mickey was actually boasting that he was the fastest tree-climber. in the zoo. The cheeky monkey stuck out his tongue.
Layla burst out laughing. “Monkeys are so funny.”
Zoe grinned. She wasn’t surprised Layla liked the monkeys so much; she was just as fun as they were.
Layla turned back to grin at Zoe.
“Living in a zoo is the best thing ever!”
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Zoe couldn’t help agreeing. She loved living at her Great-Uncle Horace’s Rescue Zoo. And she loved how happy visiting the zoo made her friends too!
“Where would you like to go next?” she asked.
“Bed?” a tired-looking Meep chirped from her pocket.
“It’s not bedtime yet!” giggled Zoe.
Once the monkeys lost interest, Layla turned back to look at Zoe again. “Can we go and race the lion cubs?” she asked.
Meep groaned. Zoe thought it sounded like fun but before they could leave, her mum, Lucy, came hurrying over.
“Uncle Horace just called,” she said. “He’s on his way back to the zoo with a new animal.”
“Yes! What do you think it will be?”
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Layla asked Zoe.
“I don’t know.” Zoe’s skin prickled with excitement. Great-Uncle Horace was a world-famous animal expert. He’d created the Rescue Zoo as a safe place for animals who were endangered, lost, hurt or in need of a new home. The animals he rescued came from all over the world, so the new animal could be anything. They raced along the winding path to the zoo entrance just in time to see GreatUncle Horace’s jeep driving through the large wooden gates. A crowd of visitors and zookeepers gathered round as Zoe hurried over to greet him.
“Hello, Great-Uncle Horace!” she cried. “Do you have a new animal for us?”
“Hello, Zoe and Meep,” boomed GreatUncle Horace with a twinkly-eyed smile
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as he got out of the jeep. His beautiful pet hyacinth macaw, Kiki, was perched on his shoulder. When she saw Zoe she squawked loudly and fluffed up her bright-blue feathers.
“What is it? What is it?” chattered Meep as he clambered up on to Zoe’s shoulder for a better view.
Great-Uncle Horace called, “I am delighted to announce the arrival of our very first masked bandit at the Rescue Zoo!”
“My dear visitors and zookeepers,”
“I’ve never heard of an animal called a masked bandit before,” said Layla.
“Me neither,” said Zoe. She strained to look as Great-Uncle Horace took a crate from the back seat of his jeep and put it on the ground in front of him.
“Welcome to the Rescue Zoo!” he cried, opening the lid with a flourish.
The crowd watched in silence, but nothing happened.
Great-Uncle Horace tipped the crate on to its side. It was completely empty.
“Maybe the masked bandit is an invisible animal,” chirped Meep.
Zoe frowned. Great-Uncle Horace had rescued some unusual animals before, but never an invisible animal. There was no such thing, was there?
“Well, I never!” exclaimed Great-Uncle
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Horace. “The little rascal appears to have escaped.”
The crowd gasped, and excited chatter filled the air. Just then, Zoe noticed a pointy face with a pair of beady eyes peering out of the jeep from the driver’s seat.
“It’s there, in the jeep!” she cried.
The little creature stood on its hind legs and gripped the steering wheel with its front paws, as if it was about to drive off. The crowd all laughed and cheered in delight.
The animal was covered in fluffy grey fur, apart from its eyes, which were ringed in black, just like a mask.
“It’s a raccoon!” exclaimed Zoe.
“Cool!” replied Layla.
Great-Uncle Horace scooped the raccoon into his arms.
“Something tells me we’re going to have our hands full with this little one,” he chuckled as he showed the raccoon to the crowd.
“Where did you rescue him from?” asked Zoe.
“He was being kept as a pet,” replied Great-Uncle Horace. “But the family who gave him to the animal rescue moved to a place where they’re not allowed to keep raccoons. And the animal rescue didn’t know how to take care of raccoons properly. So I said we’d take care of him here.”
As the raccoon waved his front paw to everyone, Zoe grinned. It looked as if the raccoon was going to be a very fun new addition to the zoo!
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Chapter Two
Bathtime for Snacks!
“Great-Uncle Horace, we have another new arrival at the zoo,” giggled Zoe as she pointed to Layla. “My friend Layla is staying here for the weekend.”
“Excellent!” replied Great-Uncle Horace. “Perhaps you’d both like to come with me to the enclosure where he’ll be staying?”
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“Yes, please!” Layla grinned at Zoe. She bounced with excitement as they followed Great-Uncle Horace to an enclosure right by the zoo entrance. The pen was full of trees, and in the centre there was a pond.
“What’s the raccoon’s name?” Layla asked.
“The animal rescue didn’t know,” Great-Uncle Horace told her. “But I’m sure we can come up with the perfect name for him here.”
Great-Uncle Horace turned to Zoe.
“Would you mind opening the gate?
I’ve got my hands full with this one.”
He chuckled as the raccoon wriggled excitedly in his arms.
“Of course,” replied Zoe, reaching for the silver paw-print pendant around her neck. Great-Uncle Horace had given
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the pendant to her as a gift. It opened all of the enclosures in the zoo. She placed the pendant on a pad next to the gate and it swung open.
“Wow!” exclaimed Layla.
“I think Layla’s as excited as the raccoon,” chirped Meep as he hopped down from Zoe’s shoulder.
Great-Uncle Horace put the raccoon down and he came scampering over to Zoe.
“Why do raccoons have those dark patches around their eyes?” asked Layla.
“The dark patches have two purposes. They help raccoons see more clearly in the dark and also help them identify each other,” Great-Uncle Horace replied.
When Zoe was sure no one was paying attention, she crouched down. The raccoon barked, and sniffed curiously at her and Meep.
“Hello,” whispered Zoe. “I’m Zoe and this is Meep. Welcome to the Rescue Zoo.”
The raccoon barked again.
“He says his name is Rocco,” Zoe whispered to Meep. She patted the raccoon on the head. “That’s a lovely name.”
“Did I hear you say a name?” GreatUncle Horace asked.
“Oh – uh – yes – I’ve decided to name him Rocco,” Zoe said quickly. It was important that nobody discovered that she could understand all of the animals.
“Excellent choice!” replied Great-Uncle Horace. He turned to Layla and smiled. “Zoe always comes up with such good names for our animals.”
Zoe couldn’t help grinning. If only he
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knew she didn’t choose all the names – often, the animals told her what they were called!
“Right, I need to go and get this young chap something to eat,” said Great-Uncle Horace. Meep’s whiskers twitched excitedly. Food was his favourite subject.
“He means for Rocco, not you,” whispered Zoe as she scooped him up.
“Oh!” sighed Meep. “I’m starving after all that racing.”
“Layla, would you like to come and help me?” asked Great-Uncle Horace.
“Yes, please!” said Layla excitedly.
“Meep and I will stay here and help Rocco get settled in,” said Zoe. This would be the perfect chance to get to know the raccoon better.
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As soon as they’d gone, Zoe sat down beside Rocco. The raccoon yelped.
“He’s apologising for escaping from the crate,” Zoe explained to Meep. She patted Rocco on the head. “That’s OK, it was really funny. We thought you were invisible.”
The raccoon yelped again.
“I love pranks too,” replied Zoe.
Rocco ran over to a tree and scampered up the trunk. Meep waved his paws in excitement as the raccoon came speeding back down the trunk headfirst.
“Wow!” exclaimed Zoe. “Raccoons are really good at climbing!”
Rocco ran around in a circle barking.
“I’m so glad you like your new home,” said Zoe.
Rocco ran over to the fence and looked at the line of visitors coming in through the gates.
“He says he really likes people so this is a great view,” Zoe explained to Meep.
“I hope he likes mouse lemurs too,” chirped Meep.
“Oh, I’m sure he does.” Zoe picked Meep up and gave him a cuddle. “Who wouldn’t like you?”
“Mr Pinch,” chirped Meep.
Zoe giggled. Mr Pinch, the zoo manager, could be a little grumpy.
Rocco ran over to the pond just as Great-Uncle Horace and Layla returned. Mo, the meerkat keeper, was with them,
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holding a container.
“Hello, Zoe,” he called. “I’ve brought our new guest some food.”
“Does he mean me?” chirped Meep hopefully.
Zoe turned away from the approaching group as she laughed quietly at Meep. “Of course not, you’ve lived here for years!”
“But I am a new guest in this enclosure,” replied Meep.
Zoe grinned. Meep had an answer to everything when it came to food.
“I’m sure Mum will have got us something lovely for lunch,” she whispered. “As we have a new guest staying with us too.”
Mo took some puzzles with food inside from the container and placed them on the ground by Rocco.
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Rocco gave one of the puzzles a sniff and quickly opened it. There was a handful of walnuts inside. Rocco scampered over to the pond with them.
“Why does he have a pond in his enclosure?” asked Layla. “Do raccoons like to swim?”
Rocco dipped the walnuts into the pond and rolled them in his paws before popping them into his mouth.
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“They do like to swim,” replied Mo. “But they like having water to wash their food with too.”
“Wow, I didn’t realise raccoons were so clean!” said Zoe.
“Raccoons have very sensitive paws,” explained Mo. “When they’re wet they’re even more sensitive. It’s their way of telling that the food they’re about to eat is safe.”
“I don’t think I’d like to give my snacks a bath before I eat them,” chirped Meep.
Zoe grinned. What with their black masks and climbing down trees headfirst and washing their food, having a raccoon at the zoo was going to be very interesting!
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