0:00:07 > 0:00:12Oh, hello. I'm Sam. Welcome to my tea party.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Well, it's not my tea party, really. It's Daddy Lion's tea party.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21But you're invited, too. This is a story by Mark Sperring,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23with pictures by Sarah Warburton.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Teacups at the ready?
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Then I'll begin.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29One bright, sunny day,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Daddy Lion reached for his favourite teapot
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and smiled at the lion cubs.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36"Ah! Today is the perfect day
0:00:36 > 0:00:39"for a quiet, little tea party," he announced.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41But the three lion cubs looked doubtful.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46They liked big, noisy parties, not quiet, little ones.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49"Can we at least invite the chimps?" they asked.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Daddy Lion shook his mane.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53"I don't think so," he said.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55"Those chimps are always monkeying about."
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Ooh-ooh-ooh-ah-ah-ah-ah!
0:00:58 > 0:01:01"Then how about the potbellied pigs and the rhino?"
0:01:01 > 0:01:03asked the cubs.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06"Can they come, please and pretty please?"
0:01:06 > 0:01:08"Not today," said Daddy Lion.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11"The potbellied pigs always hog the cream buns."
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Oink! Oink!
0:01:13 > 0:01:15"And Rhino never stops charging about."
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Kerthump, kerthump, kerthump!
0:01:18 > 0:01:21"Then what about all our other friends?"
0:01:21 > 0:01:24asked the cubs. "Can they come instead?"
0:01:24 > 0:01:26"Well, my dears," sighed Daddy Lion.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31"They could, but you know how all the other animals normally behave."
0:01:31 > 0:01:33"Crocodile snaps at everyone."
0:01:33 > 0:01:34Snap!
0:01:35 > 0:01:38"Sloth only turns up when all the other guests have gone.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42"And as for skunk, that awful skunk,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45"he always poo-pong-stinks the whole place out."
0:01:47 > 0:01:50So it was decided. It would just be Daddy Lion
0:01:50 > 0:01:52and the lion cubs at the tea party.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Wouldn't that be nice?
0:01:55 > 0:01:57There was just one huge problem.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Elephant, who was all ears, had overheard the whole thing.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04"Psst," he whispered.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07"Did you know Daddy Lion is having a tea party
0:02:07 > 0:02:10"and none of us are invited?"
0:02:10 > 0:02:13But Ostrich, for obvious reasons,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15was only half listening.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18So when she shook the sand from her ears, she told the parrots,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23who were all talk, what she thought she'd heard the elephant say.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29Which is how the parrots ended up flying high overhead, squawking,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33"Daddy Lion's having a tea party and we're all invited."
0:02:33 > 0:02:35And which is why, just as Daddy Lion
0:02:35 > 0:02:39lifted his favourite china teacup daintily to his lips,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42the lion cubs let out a mighty cheer.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43"Yippee!"
0:02:43 > 0:02:47For there stood all the animals, ready to join in the fun.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51"Well, now you're here, you might as well all sit down,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54"but remember, this is a quiet, little tea party.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56"So best behaviour, please."
0:02:58 > 0:03:02So down they sat as nicely and politely as they possibly could.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04And no-one hogged the buns or monkeyed about.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09But just when the lion cubs thought things were a little too quiet,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Ostrich nudged Daddy Lion.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14"Psst," she said.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17"Look. Everyone's staring at us."
0:03:17 > 0:03:20And for a moment, everyone froze.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23"Zoo visitors," muttered Daddy Lion.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25"I think we should all ignore them
0:03:25 > 0:03:28"and just behave as we normally would."
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Which is how Daddy Lion's party
0:03:30 > 0:03:32finally turned into a rip-roaring
0:03:32 > 0:03:36poo-pong stinking, big, noisy, wild success.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40And that is why, the very next day, the lion cubs asked,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44"Can we please have another quiet, little tea party,
0:03:44 > 0:03:45"just like yesterday?"
0:03:47 > 0:03:49A quiet, little tea party, yeah?
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Well, it didn't turn out that way, did it?
0:03:51 > 0:03:53I hope you enjoyed that story,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57and maybe you could have a tea party of your own tomorrow.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59But now, it's time for you to sleep.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02I'll see you again soon for another bedtime story.