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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:

info@hacey.org 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.