0:15:07 > 0:15:10A one, a two, a three, a four, a five, a six...
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Oh, hello! I'm Ted.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17You've just caught me trying out my funniest dance moves
0:15:17 > 0:15:19ready to show my friend Marvin.
0:15:19 > 0:15:25He's the star of tonight's bedtime story. Are you ready to hear it?
0:15:25 > 0:15:30Great. It's called Marvin's Funny Dance, by Sarah McConnell.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Early one morning, Marvin meerkat squeezed himself out
0:15:38 > 0:15:43of his cold, dark burrow and into the hot African sun.
0:15:43 > 0:15:50Moe was already up as usual doing the stretching exercises for merecadets.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53"Morning, Marv!" said Moe chirpily.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58"Humph," grumbled Marvin. "Have I missed anything?" "Nope," said Moe.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00"Same as usual."
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Marvin was in a grumpy mood.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05He hated morning merecadets.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Every day was the same old thing.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11You see, Marvin liked to be different.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17He gave Moe a little wink and he began wiggling his hips,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19waggling his toes,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22rubbing his tummy
0:16:22 > 0:16:24and touching his nose.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28"Marvin Meer!" shouted Thelma the chief meerkat
0:16:28 > 0:16:30at the top of her voice.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33"Stop that now and be serious for once."
0:16:33 > 0:16:37But Marvin couldn't be serious. No matter how hard he tried.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41His head was too full of cheeky tricks and crazy ideas.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45"I just like making people laugh," he told Moe.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49But most of the time no-one laughed except for Moe, of course.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53"That Marvin's such a show-off," they said.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58One morning, two big brown birds called the buzzard brothers
0:16:58 > 0:17:01were spotted in the distance.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04The buzzard brothers were bully birds
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and they were always bothering the meerkat family.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09But it was so hot that day,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14that nearly all the meerkats had drifted into a deep sleep.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Even wide-awake Warren had dropped off
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and he was supposed to be the lookout.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Only Marvin was still awake with no-one to play with
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and nothing to do.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Suddenly, a mischievous idea popped into his head.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34"He he he! This will make them laugh!" he chuckled.
0:17:34 > 0:17:40He cupped his paws around his mouth and "Squawk! Squawk!" went Marvin.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Exactly like a bad-tempered buzzard.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49The meerkats went wild. Leaping here, leaping there
0:17:49 > 0:17:51and diving into their burrows.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Old Bertie was shaking like a leaf
0:17:54 > 0:17:57and cousin Clarence fell out of his tree.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Even Moe got a fright.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03"Uh-oh," said Marvin, when he saw what he'd done.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06"Now I'm in trouble."
0:18:06 > 0:18:10"Marvin!" said Thelma. "You've gone too far!"
0:18:10 > 0:18:14and she sent him to his burrow to think about what he'd done.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20"Sorry," said Marvin sadly. "I just thought it would be fun."
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Outside, Moe shook his head.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Marvin had made him think.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32"The buzzard brothers have bullied us for too long," he said.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37"But I've got a plan! We need a tree,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40"some dung balls and plenty of guts,"
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and he rushed off to tell the others.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47The meerkats worked fast, they pulled and they puffed,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52they heaved and they huffed until there it was -
0:18:52 > 0:18:56a spectacular bird scaring contraption.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01"We'll call it the mere catapult!" said Moe.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Then, all of a sudden, wide-awake Warren chirped the alarm call!
0:19:05 > 0:19:08The buzzard brothers were back!
0:19:08 > 0:19:13But the meerkats weren't ready and they lost their nerve.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16They're not the bravest of animals, you know.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20"What are we going to do?" said Warren when the birds had gone.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22"Mmm..." said cousin Clarence.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26"We need someone to distract the brothers so our plan will work.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28"But who?"
0:19:28 > 0:19:31"It has to be someone brave," said Moe smiling.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35"Someone who doesn't mind standing out from the crowd.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39"A bit of a show-off, maybe?"
0:19:39 > 0:19:42"Marvin!" they all said at once.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Moe went to find him.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48"Marv," he said, "we need your help."
0:19:48 > 0:19:52and quickly he whispered the plan in Marvin's ear.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Marvin gave a little wink and crept up the hill
0:19:56 > 0:20:00which overlooked the meerkat's burrow.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05When he reached the top, he began to dance just like he had that morning.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09He twirled, he moved, he swirled, he grooved
0:20:09 > 0:20:12like no other meerkat had ever danced before.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18The birds spotted him and started flapping towards him.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23But this time the meerkats were ready.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25"Fire!" shouted Moe.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30The birds swerved as the dung balls shot through the air.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33They went right, they went left, but it was too much of them.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36"We've never had to put up with this before,"
0:20:36 > 0:20:40the buzzard brothers complained. And in a flurry of feathers
0:20:40 > 0:20:44they were gone. Two little dots in the distance.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48And they never came back!
0:20:48 > 0:20:51How the meerkats whooped and cheered!
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Marvin ran down the hill to join the others
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and, when he got to the bottom, do know what he saw?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01All the meerkats were laughing and dancing.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05A funny little dance where you wiggle your hips and waggle your toes,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08rub your tummy and touch your nose.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15That story was called Marvin's Funny Dance.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Marvin was a bit cheeky to begin with but, in the end,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20he saved the day.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24Tomorrow perhaps you can try some funny dancing just like Marvin.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27But now it's time for you to go to bed.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Get tucked up warm and cosy and have sweet dreams.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33I'll see you again soon.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Night-night.