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The purpose of this book is to help children understand how to make their environment a better place to live and also encourage them to take actions. Children and parents will find it fun to read, share and enjoy.
All rights reserved.
Written by: Robinson Rhoda
Illustrated by: HACEY creativity centre
For more information, questions or comment email:
[email protected] or visit www.hacey.org
BOOK ONE:
SAVING THE
FOREST
It was the middle of the school break and Piggles was
visiting his cousins in Bluelily hills. He would be staying for a
few weeks and his cousins had planned many things they
would do together. They lived close to Greenwood forest
and played a lot among the trees that grew there.
Piggles had just woken up when he heard his cousins playing
outside.
“Come on sleepy head” called Paul, the eldest of his four
cousins, “we have lots of places we want to take you to”.
Piggles got out of bed and went to clean up. He took a bath
and brushed his teeth, then went to have breakfast. When
the dishes were done, Piggles and his cousins set out to
Greenwood forest. The trees were tall and thin, unlike the
trees they had in Greenvalley, which were thick and had
many leaves.
“There used to be a lot of trees here, but most of them
have been cut down” Anne said as they walked through
them.
“That‟s awful,” Piggles said as he passed a tree stump.
“Yes, but what can we do? The wood is used to make
furniture and for wood to start dinner and a fire when it‟s
cold. Soon all the trees will be gone and then we‟ll have to
look somewhere else”. As his cousins pointed out different
flowers and animals to Piggles, he could not help but think
about what would happen to the forest soon. Bluelily hills
had more animals living there than they had in Greenvalley
and soon they would have nowhere to stay. There had to be
something Piggles could do to save the forest, but what?
It was lunchtime when the little pigs came back home. Their
mother had made them a picnic basket so they could have
lunch in the garden. They kids were delighted and hurriedly
set the blanket on the grass under the oak tree. As they
ate, a little squirrel scampered up and down the tree
gathering nuts to store for winter.
“What a busy little animal‟ said Piggles “by the time winter
comes he‟ll have a lot of nuts in store”.
“That‟s just Roger,” Paul said, “He gathers nuts all the time
but the problem is he hardly remembers where he buries
them”.
“Yeah,” giggled Lily, the youngest “He‟s getting pretty old
and forgets things so we feed him during the winter”.
“But where are all the nuts he gathers?” asked Piggles a
little puzzled.
“They grow where he buries them”. John, who was Paul‟s
twin said. “One year during spring, we found little oak
seedlings springing from the ground by the house. Roger had
buried them there last summer and forgotten all about
them”.
Just then, Piggles had a brilliant idea. He knew exactly how
they could save the forest.
Just before supper, Piggles left the house and walked by
himself to Greenwood forest. He wanted to see if his idea
could be done. He walked through the tress searching the
grass as he passed by each tree. Just when he thought he
would not find what he was looking for, he spotted it next
to a flower beneath one of the trees. There in his hand was
the answer.
“We‟ll just do what Roger does, bury them and forget about
them,” Piggles told his cousins during supper as he showed
them the seed he had found in the forest.
“They‟ll grow into big trees and have seeds and they‟ll be
more trees in Bluelily hills then you can imagine”.
“Are you sure this will work?” asked John “I‟m sure Roger
buried more than one seed.”
“Then we‟ll do just that” Paul said, standing up “We‟ll gather
as many seeds as we can and we‟ll bury them where the
trees should be.”
“But we are just seven,” Lily said, “Bluelily is bigger than
just seven.”
“We‟ll get the other kids from school to join. I‟m sure their
parents won‟t mind when we tell them, and they could help.”
The little pigs talked about their plan to save Greenwood
forest till it was bedtime. In the morning, they would go to
each house and ask them to join in.
By mid morning, there were twenty-six children armed with
baskets ready to go seed hunting. Some parents went with
them to make sure they did not get lost or hurt in the
forest and to help with the picking. When it was lunch, the
children gathered in the park to know how much seed they
had. They had gathered sixteen baskets full of seeds! That
was a lot of seeds.
“I don‟t think there‟s enough space in the forest to plant all
these seeds,” Anne said, a little crest fallen.
“Then we‟ll just have to find space somewhere else” Piggles
said.
The grown-ups were very impressed with what the children
had done.
“I‟m sure the Mayor of Bluelily hill could find somewhere
for you to plant your seeds” said Mrs. Bison. They went
home hopeful that they would be given somewhere to plant
their seeds.
“Do you think we‟ll get a place to plant our seeds?” asked
Lily when they were in bed at night.
“I hope so,” replied Paul “I can‟t think of any other way we
can save the forest.”
They all slept, dreaming of a new forest full of sturdy trees
with lots of leaves.
The next morning, when the kids were out in the garden, a
message came for the Mayor for them.
“The Mayor would like to see us,” said Piggles as he read the
letter. “He asked that we meet him for tea this afternoon.”
“We get to have tea with the Mayor,” exclaimed Anne “This
is going to be so much fun.”
The Mayor was in his garden at home when Piggles and his
cousins arrived.
“Young lads!” boomed the Mayor in his loud voice “It‟s good
to have you here. Come have some tea.” After tea, they sat
down to have a little extra cake.
“This little town is very grateful to you young lads. You‟ve
found a way to save the forest and provide the next
generation with a source of wood.” The Mayor got up and
stood before Piggles and his cousins.
“We had a little meeting yesterday with everyone in Bluelily
hill and we‟ve all decided to make a little contribution to this
seed planting you‟ve started.”
The Mayor called his aid, Mr. Trump, and whispered
something into his ear. A few minute later, Mr. Trump came
back with a rolled up paper beneath his arm, which he gave
the Mayor. He opened it out and it showed a map of all
Bluelily hill.
“You see this area here,” said the Mayor, pointing to a
rather large area on the map. “This is where you and your
friends are going to plant all does wonderful seeds you‟ve
been collecting.” The Mayor turned the map so Piggles and
his cousins could see clearly where he was referring.
“Everyone has agreed to help you with the planting. So by
tomorrow be sure to be there in your overalls for some
planting.”
With that the mayor shook each of their hands thanking
them, and bade them a good day.
Piggles couldn‟t believe it. It was the next day and they
were standing on the large piece of land that the mayor had
given them; it was even bigger than Greenwood forest! It
had been called Lily Park and everyone who lived in Bluelily
hill was there in his or her overalls ready to plant the seeds.
Through the morning and most of the day, they planted
seeds that would eventually grow into strong trees. They
took breaks in between and talked of how nice it would all
look when the trees were grown. They decided to make it a
tradition in Bluelily hill. For every tree that was cut down,
they would plant more in its place.
Piggles spent the rest of his stay playing in the hills with his
cousins, and sometimes they would go and play in Lily Park
and imagine what it would look like when all the trees were
grown.
BOOK TWO:
CLEANING UP THE
RIVER
It was a Saturday morning and Piggles and his family
were doing their house cleaning. Each of them had a
particular chore that they had to complete by mid morning
when they would all sit down and have a late breakfast of
eggs, homemade bread, and some home-cooked broth.
Piggles was assigned to taking care of the garden, and of
course, cleaning his room. Piggles enjoyed taking care of the
garden. He loved watching things grow and taking care of
them. He picked up his garden towel and watering can, and a
pair of pruning forks, then went to their garden and began
pulling out the weeds and watering the flowers. When he
was through, he washed his hands before entering the
house and kept all his things he had taken out back in the
shed. His room was not really in a mess so he was able to
finish cleaning up in time for breakfast.
Piggles and his family sat down for breakfast and
talked about things they had planned for the day. Piggles
was going to visit a friend of his, Peter the hedgehog, and
they were going to the park with their other friends. After
breakfast, Piggles and his sisters washed the dishes and
placed them back in their proper places.
Piggles walked over to Peter‟s house, which was just beside
Cherrywood forest.
“Good morning ma‟am,” Piggles greeted Mrs. Hedgehog.
“Peter and I are going the park this morning.”
“That‟s nice Piggles, it‟s a beautiful morning and I think
Peter should be through with his breakfast by now. Why
don‟t you go in and check on him.”
Piggles walked into the house as Peter was clearing the
breakfast table.
“Hello Peter, are you almost ready?” Piggles asked as he
walked over to help Peter carry some dishes.
“Good morning Piggles.” Peter replied with a smile. He had
been waiting for Piggles to come over, he had something
important to tell him.
“I just need to wash the dishes and I‟ll be ready to go. But
we might have to make a stop on the way to park.” As they
washed the dishes together, Peter told him about the stop
they were making. One of their friends, Beverly Beaver, was
ill and had not been in school for a couple of days.
“We definitely have to go by her house,” said Piggles. They
told Mrs. Hedgehog that they would be going over to
Beverly‟s before meeting with their friends. Luckily, Beverly
lived by the park where they were supposed to meet.
When they got to Beverly‟s house, they noticed that the
place was oddly quiet.
“That‟s strange,” Piggles muttered to himself, “there‟s
always something going on in Beverly‟s house.” When they
got there, they had to knock for a while before the door
was opened by Beverly‟s father.
“Morning Piggles, Peter” Mr. Beaver greeted them with a
sniffle. He also looked sick and carried a handkerchief with
him.
“You must be here to see my little Beverly. It would make
her feel better to see her friends. Why don‟t you come in.”
Mr. Beaver invited them in and led them to Beverly‟s room.
“Please try to be quiet. You see, Beverly‟s mother and
sisters are also feeling under the weather,” he said as he
shut the door behind them.
Beverly lay on her bed with her blanket drawn up to her
chin.
“Hello Piggles, hello Peter, it‟s so nice of you to visit”
Beverley‟s voice was hoarse and underneath her eyes were
swollen. She looked very, very sick.
“Oh my! We didn‟t know you were this sick, or the whole
class would have been here to see you.” Peter said quietly so
as not to disturb the rest of the house.
“It looks like your whole family is sick Beverly,” Piggles said,
“what‟s wrong?”
“We really don‟t know.” Beverly replied sadly. ”One minute
we are all having dinner, and the next morning we are all
sick. Although my daddy was the last to fall sick.”
“I‟m really sorry you‟re feeling so bad,” Piggles said.
“Yeah, me too. I hope you feel better soon,” Peter added.
They talked for a while longer before they said goodbye and
left.
“I wonder what made Beverly‟s family sick?” said Piggles.
“Maybe it‟s something they ate, or drank or something.”
Peter guessed.
Piggles thought for a while and decided that maybe he
might be able to help. They told the rest of their friends
about Beverly and her family‟s illness and that maybe it was
something they had eaten. They knew the Beavers ate
fishes mostly so they decided to go to the river to see if
there was something wrong. There were six of them so
Piggles split them into two groups of three, one group to go
upstream and the other to go down stream. Piggles, Peter
and Sam the tortoise went up stream while Red the fox, Bill
the cuckoo and Paul the skunk went down stream.
Piggles and his friends followed the river upstream checking
if there was anything peculiar about the river. Just when
they were about to give up and turn round, they spotted
something floating downstream. Curious, they fetched it out
of the river. It was an empty soda can! What was that doing
in the river, thought Piggles. They walked on and finally got
to the source of the problem. There was a huge pile of
garbage beside the river, which was gradually spilling into
the river!
“So that‟s what‟s making the river bad!” Piggles exclaimed.
“No wonder the Beavers are so sick. The garbage is polluting
the river. I‟m sure they must have been swimming in the
river as well.”
“This isn‟t good.” muttered Peter “Who knows how many
other families are sick because they‟ve been swimming in
the river or getting their food from it.”
“We have to do something quick.” Piggles faced his friends
“We have to clean the river.”
They went back to the park were the rest of the group was
waiting.
“We didn‟t find anything,” said Paul the skunk.
“But we did” said Piggles.
He told them about the garbage that was spilling into the
river and how it was probably the reason why the Beavers
were sick.
“We‟ll clean the river and move the garbage from the bank
to stop it from spilling back in.” Piggles said. “I‟ll ask my
daddy where the garbage can be moved to, but first let‟s
clean the river.”
Piggles and his friends got some fishing nets, rakes, rods
and shovels. They started by first moving the garbage heap
away from the bank to stop it from spilling back in, then
they used the nets and rods to fetch the garbage out of
the river. They worked all morning and by lunchtime, they
were through.
“We need to make signs along the riverbank so that garbage
doesn‟t get dumped here anymore.” Piggles said as they sat
down to rest.
“We‟ll make them using cardboards,” said Bill “and nail it to
wooden beams so we can plant them in the ground and
everyone who passes can see them.”
“Everyone should make at least two sign post,” said Red,
“We‟ll come back after lunch and place them along the bank
of the river.”
They all went home excited about the signposts they were
going to make. They had been thought in class how to use
markers and crayons to write in big letter blocks on
cardboard so it could be seen from afar.
When Piggles got home, he told his father all they had done
that morning.
“Looks like you‟ve had a busy morning son” his father said
“I‟ll tell you what, I‟ll get you the wooden beams you need
and I‟ll go see Mr. Skunk. I think he has a truck we can use
to move the garbage somewhere else where it won‟t make
anyone sick.”
Piggles was very happy. He made three big signposts. One of
his signpost read „DON‟T DUMP GARBAGE BY THE RIVER‟.
He wrote it in big red letters on a plain white cardboard.
By the time the group assembled again after lunch, they had
sixteen signposts and placed all of them along the riverbank.
Piggles‟ father came in Mr. Skunk‟s truck with some of the
other parents and moved the garbage away from the river.
They also brought waste baskets that Piggles and his
friends placed around so garbage could be put in them
instead of in the river.
At the end of the day, Piggles and his friends were given
presents for cleaning the river and Piggles mother made
them a chocolate cake, which they all enjoyed.
BOOK THREE:
THE CLIMATE PLAY
It was getting close to the end of spring and Piggles
was very excited. Soon it would be time for the school
talent show. Piggles enjoyed participating in the school‟s
shows and was very happy it was here again.
“Rehearsals for the school talent show will be stating soon,”
said Miss. Tenderfoot in class one day. “I hope you all will
participate.”
“We will.” chorused the class.
After school, Piggles and his friends gathered in the
playground.
“What will you be doing at the show?” asked Sam.
“I don‟t know yet” said Piggles thoughtfully, “but I‟ll think of
something. I could always do a recital though.”
“I am going to do a juggling act,” Bill said proudly. Everyone
laughed, they all knew Bill could not juggle but he tried
every time.
On his way home, Piggles passed by the bookstore to say
hello to Mr. Williams, the owl.
“Why, if it isn‟t my favorite pig.” Mr. Williams said when he
spotted Piggles. “How are you Piggles?”
“Good afternoon Mr. Williams, I‟m very well, thank you.”
“I have a new book in store today” Mr. Williams told Piggles,
“would you like to see it?”
Piggles loved reading and was delighted that Mr. Williams
had offered to show him the new book. Piggles took the
book form him and sat down to go through it. The book was
about the environment and the things that were happening
to it.
“Can I buy the book, sir?” Piggles asked.
“I tell you what Piggles,” said Mr. Williams “since I still have
to put the book on show, I‟ll lend it to you for a while and
when you‟re through, you can return it.”
Piggles thanked him and hurried home. In his room, Piggles
sat on the bed and opened the book. He read about how the
climate was changing and why it was changing
“Oh no!” Piggles said, “This isn‟t good. The environment is
changing and not for the better. I don‟t think anyone knows
about it.”
Piggles took the book and went over to see his friend Peter
the hedgehog.
“All the smoke and waste we make is changing the climate,”
Piggles said to Peter.
“I didn‟t know we were doing so much harm” Peter said
sullenly “what can we do?”
“We could let people know how much they are hurting the
environment and causing a climate change” Piggles said “and
tell them how they can stop by reducing their carbon
footprint”
“What is a carbon footprint?” asked Peter puzzled.
“It‟s the amount of carbon you produce” Piggles said “it says
in the book that all the fuel we burn releases carbon in to
the environment and right now there‟s too much carbon
which is causing the change.”
“Oh dear!” Peter said getting more depressed, “maybe that‟s
why last summer was so hot and winter so dreadfully cold.”
“I think so,” said Piggles thoughtfully. “We have to let
everyone know what‟s going on and how they can prevent it.”
“But how?” asked Peter “how do we get everyone together
to listen to what we have to say?”
“The school talent show!” Piggles exclaimed.
They were going to give a drama performance at the school
talent show. That way, everyone who watched would get the
message and be able to do something about the climate
change.
“But we‟ll need actors.” thought Piggles. Before supper,
Piggles and Peter went to each of their friend‟s houses and
told them about the climate change and how they could tell
everyone else. They all agreed to meet the next day in
school during break to begin rehearsals for the play.
During break the next day, Piggles and his friends gathered
in the playground. Piggles had already informed Miss.
Tenderfoot that they would be performing a play during the
talent show and she was very pleased.
“What are the characters in the play?” asked Red the fox.
“How many scenes are we doing?” asked Sam the tortoise.
“Do I get to wear a costume?” asked Beverly the Beaver.
Piggles arranged everyone in line and assigned a part to
each. Beverly was in charge of costumes and Peter in charge
of refreshments. Piggles was going to be the director, which
was fine with everyone. The bell for the end of the break
rang and they had to stop rehearsing.
“We‟ll meet after school at the park,” said Piggles as they
walked back into class.
The talent show was in two weeks and Piggles and his
friends worked hard during rehearsals. Mrs. Hedgehog
made muffins and sandwiches for them and sometimes, the
other parents too would send them a meal. Mrs. Beaver
made the costumes for them, which they would wear, one
the day of the talent show.
It was the day of the talent show and Piggles and his
friends were rehearsing for the last time.
“Do you think we will do alright?” asked Sam a little
doubtfully.
“Of course we will” Beverly said self-confidently. “We
rehearsed well and we all know our line so we‟ll do fine.”
The talent show started by 1:00pm. The principal welcomed
everyone and thanked them for coming. Then he introduced
the anchor for the event that was going to call the
participants on stage. There were kids doing juggling acts,
magic, singing and other wonderful things. The audience
clapped after each performance and were really enjoying
themselves.
“It‟s our turn next,” said Piggles a little nervous when the
lat act finished performing.
Piggles and his friends were called on stage and they began
their act. Sam acted as the climate, and when Red acted as
though he was burning wood and causing a lot of smoke, his
face turned sad. Piggles, who was the rain refused to come
out and Bill, who was the sun danced around hotter and
hotter. Peter acted as the wind and came blowing strong and
hard causing a lot of damage. At the end, Red stopped
causing so much smoke and Sam was happy again. The
audience stood and clapped when the play was over and
Piggles and his friends left the stage.
Piggles had another performance to give in the talent show.
It was a recital about the environment and climate change,
and how our actions were doing more harm than good to the
environment.
After the show, the parents and children gathered on the
playground where a meal had been arranged.
“That was a wonderful performance,” said the principal to
Piggles and his friends. “I never knew we were causing so
much damage with the little things we did. “
Some of the parents who were around agreed with the
principal. They had not thought about what was happening to
the climate and how it could affect them.
“From now on” said Mrs. Mutton, “I‟ll watch my carbon
footprint and make sure it‟s as little as possible so I don‟t
leave a mark on the environment.”
The other parents agreed to also reduce their carbon
footprint and watch what they do to the environment.
Piggles and his friends had helped them understand how
they could help themselves and their environment.
OUR PAST ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS IN BRIEF.
HACEY 1st World AIDS day (Dec. 1st, 2007)
focused on addressing the challenges and chances available
for people living with HIV/AIDS, and those living with them.
‘Let’s talk about sex’ (Nov. 30th, 2007)
a symposium on the struggles faced by youths concerning
reproductive health and the choices they make.
Debate competition (Feb. 27th, 2008)
enlightening the youths on the various activities that they
engage in that affect the environment and what this pollution to the
environment causes.
World Health day (Apr. 7th, 2008)
educating and informing the youths and general public about
the effects of climate change, and how this affects their health. Also,
enlightening them on what they can do to protect themselves and
their families from these effects.
PSN and SPAN National Conference (July. 13th, 2008)
involved in the organizing of both events to promote the
interest of the youths and on public health research to combat
discovered hinderances to complete health.
HACEY 2nd World AIDS day (Dec. 1st, 2008)
focused on addressing the overlooked struggle of both the
infected and the affected.
Health clubs in secondary schools (Mar. 2008)
creating focus groups in secondary schools in Ilorin where
students can be educated and get involved in health issues
concerning them and their environment.
World health day (Apr. 7th, 2009)
spreading the information through telecommunication on
how health institution can better improve their safety to enable
them better provide service to the public.
World malaria day forum (Apr. 28th, 2008)
a coming together of students to discuss and proffer solutions
that can be implemented to reduce the occurrence of malaria and
reduce ignorance of causative factors of malaria.
Other projects by the organization include:
A health bulletin: PATH
a medium to effectively spread the information of health
throughout the society.
Human development centre
dedicated to developing the youths and students morally,
mentally, emotionally, physically, etc using behavioural change
methods and participation of every youth.
Research centre
undertaking research to discover and develop better methods
of improving the health of our society, and provide valuable
information to help researchers carry out comprehensive data
collection and interpretation.
Book on HIV//AIDS
titled ‘HIV/AIDS: the future of the infected and the affected’.
To empower people with adequate and relevant knowledge on the
effect of HIV/AIDS on those infected with the disease, and those that
live with them or have been disadvantaged by the disease.
Song on HIV/AIDS
composed to pass the message that there can be a world
where AIDS is no more a threat to humanity, and that we can all
live together, both infected and those that aren’t, in harmony.