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CONTENTS

Calling all explorers!

Meet the characters

Word search

Miss Spider's maze

Become a bug explorer

Meet the scientist

Centipede's new shoes

The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me

Dot-to-Croc

Match the pairs

Mirrored messages

Fantastic colouring

Draw your own animal

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Ready your backpack, pop those binoculars in your pocket and don’t forget your pen. Tick off the activities you have completed in the boxes on the left!

CALLING ALLEXPLORERS!

Have an extraordinary adventure with the Natural History Museum and Roald Dahl! Embark on an intrepid expedition in-store and online. Tunnel through Fantastic Mr Fox’s Den, stomp through Mugglewump’s jungle and watch out for The Enormous Crocodile in

the squelchy muddy river!

Discover your favourite Roald Dahl creatures and learn fascinating facts about their real life counterparts

courtesy of the Natural History Museum.

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Crocodiles can swim at 10mph with the help of their powerful tail.FUN FACT!

The Enormous Crocodile is just about the beastliest crocodile in all of Africa. Venturing out of his home in the muddy river, there’s only one thing The Enormous Crocodile is after - a yummy tasting child!

THE ENORMOUS CROCODILEFOUND IN THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE

A group of foxes is called a skulk.FUN FACT!

Mr Fox is very, very clever. Far too clever for three nasty local farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Even the most cunning of foxes sometimes get into trouble, however, and when he angers the farmers Mr Fox is in quite a bit of trouble indeed.

FANTASTIC MR FOXFOUND IN FANTASTIC MR FOX

MEET THE CHARACTERS

Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals.FUN FACT!

The Giraffe in The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me is a very special giraffe indeed. With her superior neck she is invaluable in helping her friends the Pelly, the Monkey and Billy in their adventure.

GIRAFFEFOUND IN THE GIRAFFE AND THE PELLY AND ME

There are more than 473 species of monkeys in the world today.FUN FACT!

Muggle-Wump the Monkey is a very generous fellow with rather terrible luck, encountering both the nasty Enormous Crocodile and the terrible Twits. But Muggle-Wump is a pretty marvellous monkey, so tricksy Twits and crafty Crocs had better beware.

MUGGLE-WUMPFOUND IN THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE, THE TWITS

FUN FACT!

Poor Miss Spider is a very lovely and helpful, if often misunderstood, creature and her incredible thread helps to get James and his friends out of a rather sticky situation.

MISS SPIDERFOUND IN JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

Garden spiders spin orb webs tocatch their prey.

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WORD SEARCHThe sneaky creatures in our collection have hidden themselves in the word

search below. Can you find them all?

MONKEY

CROCODILE

PELICAN

ELEPHANT

CENTIPEDE

SPIDER

FOX

GIRAFFE

TORTOISE

LADYBIRD

MISS SPIDER'S MAZEHelp Miss Spider avoid the sticky lines of the maze and

navigate herself to the centre to of her web.

DID YOU KNOW THAT SPIDER WEBS AREN’T ACTUALLY STICKY? The spider drops a sticky substance onto the web and then sends vibrations down the strands by plucking them to spread out the sticky blobs evenly and catch its prey. When moving around the web, the spider steps between these

blobs to avoid becoming stuck itself. Terrifico!

START

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BECOME A BUG EXPLORER

Before the start of their adventure in James and the Giant Peach, James’ insect friends live under the peach tree. In real life, however, bugs live in all sorts of places. Take a look in your nearest green space to see if you can discover some of James’ friends, as well as many others. Explore habitats such as:

Snails and slugs

Woodlice

Sandhoppers

Centipedes

Millipedes

Spiders

Beetles

Earthworms

Butterflies

Moths

Bees

BUGS TO SPOT:

IN THE AIR

ON A LEAF OR FLOWER

ON THE PATH

ON A PLANT

UNDER A ROCK

IN THE SOIL

IN OR BY A POND

ON OR UNDER FALLEN BRANCHES, LOGS OR LEAVES

Garden spiders vary in colour but they all have a white, cross-shaped group of spots on their abdomen formed by their own poo!

FUN FACTS!

Earthworms do not have lungs. Instead they breathe through their skin. That’s why it’s important they stay moist.

Grasshoppers can jump about 25cm high and around 1 metre long. If humans could jump as far as grasshoppers do, relative to size, we could leap more than the length of a football field!

As well as the more common red and black ladybirds, they also come in other colours such as black and yellow, white and brown, or even striped.

Centipede comes from Latin language and means hundred legs. However, most centipedes have less than 100 legs. Usually they have 15-55 pairs of legs.

TOP TIPS FOR BUG EXPLORING:

Bugs are much smaller than you. Be very careful if picking any bugs up and always return them to their homes when done.

A clear container, a spoon to gently scoop bugs up and a magnifying glass can come in very handy for taking a closer look.

Take care to avoid any insects that may bite or sting.

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MEET THE SCIENTIST!

Hello! I work as the senior curator of Arachnids at the Natural History Museum.

A curator is basically someone who looks after museum collections, and I’m lucky enough to be in charge of the ARACHNIDS!

Most people know that spiders are arachnids, but there are a few other types of creatures in this group as well, such as scorpions, ticks and harvestmen. What makes them related to each other is that they all have two body parts and 8 legs.

I’ve learned loads of fun facts about spiders. For example, did you know

that spiders are very good mothers? They carefully carry their babies around with them to protect them from predators. Spiders are also very clever, some can camouflage to look (and smell!) just like bird poo to avoid being eaten by birds! There is even one species which actually lives under water in a great big air bubble.

People often tell me that they find spiders scary. I think this is a real shame! So do remember these stories to tell your friends who are ARACHNOPHOBIC (scared of spiders) – hopefully it might make change their minds!

JAN BECCALONIFAVOURITE SPIDER:

Goliath Birdeater - the BIGGEST spider in the world by mass!

FUN FACT:Has a pet spider called

Mariah Hairy!

CENTIPEDE’S NEW SHOESThe Centipede in James and the Giant Peach likes to boast about

having 100 legs, but really he only has 42! Use the outline below to design some fancy new footwear for him - why not get outside and see if you can get

any inspiration or materials to stick on from the world around you?

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THE GIRAFFE, THE PELLYAND ME

The Giraffe, the Pelly and the Monkey are all starving and loudly lament the lack of their favourite foods, but some of the things they eat in the story are a little bit different to what the real-life animals like to chomp on. Read on to see

what these clever creatures really like to eat!

MONKEYSFor many monkeys fruit is the primary food that they eat. They often do not digest the seeds from the fruit so these come out in their poo! This is part of why monkeys are so important to the habitat - they

spread the seeds which help the forest vgrow!

PELICANS

GIRAFFESGiraffes use their long necks and tongues to reach high leaves. A giraffe’s tongue can be up to 45cm long (that’s very long indeed!)

and is used to draw leaves into its mouth.

While fish are high on the menu, pelicans are also known to eat crustaceans, amphibians, turtles and even other birds!

The Giraffe looked out of her window at me and said, ‘How do you do? What is

your name?’

‘Billy,’ I told her.

‘Well, Billy,’ she said, ‘we need your help and we need it fast. We must have some windows to clean. We’ve spent

every penny we had on buying this house and we’ve got to earn some more money quickly. The Pelly is starving, the Monkey

is famished and I am perishing with hunger. The Pelly needs fish. The Monkey needs nuts and I am even more difficult to feed. I am a Geraneous

Giraffe and a Geraneous Giraffe cannot eat anything except the pink and purple flowers of the tinkle-tinkle tree. But those, as I am sure you know, are hard to find and expensive to buy.’

The Pelican cried out, ‘Right now I am so hungry I could eat a stale sardine!

‘Has anyone seen a stale sardine Or a bucket of rotten cod? I’d eat the lot upon the spot, I’m such a hungry bod!’

Every time the Pelican spoke, the beak I was standing in jiggled madly up and down, and the more excited he got, the more it jiggled.

The Monkey said, ‘What Pelly’s really crazy about is salmon!’ ‘Yes, yes!’ cried the Pelican. ‘Salmon! Oh, glorious salmon! I dream about it all day long but I never get any!’

‘And I dream about walnuts!’ shouted the Monkey. ‘A walnut fresh from the tree is scrumptious-galumptious, so flavory-savory, so sweet to eat that it makes me all wobbly just thinking about it!’

BOOK EXTRACT (PAGES 16 -18)

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Crocodiles are great predators - they are fast over short distances, they have sharp teeth and they have the strongest bite of any animal in the world!

Join the dots below to find out who is scaring Roly-Poly Bird…

DOT-TO-CROC

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45

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Whoopsy-splunkers, what a muddle! Can you help draw a line to match each animal up to the correct fact below?

This animal digs dens with underground tunnels that can be

up to 22 metres long!

This animal’s eyes are on the top of their head, so when they hide under water they

can still see their prey.

This animal is the tallest of the world’s mammals.

When this animal is too hot, they flap their ears or hold them out to

catch a breeze.

MATCH THE PAIRS

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In Esio Trot, Mr Hoppy uses a clever trick to come up with his secret magic spell to help Alfie the tortoise to grow. See if you can be just as clever and

crack the codes below to reveal more fun facts about tortoises!

‘PEERC’ A DELLAC SI SESIOTORT FO PUORG A1.TORTOISES AND TURTLES HAVE EXISTED SINCE THE ERA OF THE DINOSAURS,AROUND 300 MILLION YEARS AGO!

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20-15-18-20-15-9-19-5-19 3-1-14-14-15-20 19-23-9-133.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN - WRITE YOUR OWN SECRET CODE BELOW!4.

Answers: 1. A group of tortoises is called a ‘creep’ 2. Tortoises and Turtles have existed since the era of the dinosaurs, around 300 million years ago! 3. Tortoises cannot swim

MIRRORED MESSAGES

A LITTLE STUCK?Question 1 uses the same trick as Mr Hoppy does

when creating his magic spell! And for Question 2, how many letters are there in the alphabet?

Boggis, Bunce and Bean will have to work very hard to catch up to Fantastic Mr Fox, as foxes can reach speeds of around 30 miles per hour! Can you

colour in this very speedy fox?

FANTASTIC COLOURING

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WANT TO EXPLORE MORE?Visit the Roald Dahl and Natural History Museum websites to

discover even more adventure, fun and story-telling!

DRAW YOUR OWN ANIMALNow that you’ve met some of our very clever creatures why not have a go at creating your own? Draw them in the space below and tell us a little bit about them. What animal are they? Where do they live? What do they like to do?

www.nhm.ac.uk www.roalddahl.com

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