A Day in Woolly Wonderland Grandpa In My Pocket

.

-BOTH:

-Not the shrinking cap, Grandpa!

Catch me if you can!

TYRES SCREECH

Come down, Grandpa!

THEY GASP

Grandpa!

'Since there were no visitors at the Mill on the Marsh this weekend,

'Uncle CJ had got into Campo to go to Sunnysands.

'He was going to buy some wool for Auntie Jules

'because knitting was her new hobby, as you can see.

'She knitted things for everyone.

'Woolly hats and gloves and scarves

'and hot water bottle covers that look like vegetables.'

-Look at this!

-Oh, that's very original, Jules.

-I know.

And these, Grandpa, these are for you. Ta-da!

-Bed socks.

-Bed socks.

-Oh, but they're wonderful.

-I know.

'Yes, everything was woolly today.

'We were spending a Day in Woolly Wonderland.'

'We heard someone calling.'

-Riddle-de-ree!

-I know that voice.

'It was Mr Yomper Stomper.'

-Mr Yomper Stomper!

-Mr Yomper Stomper, what a surprise!

# Riddle-de-ree, riddle-de-ree

# It's a rambler's life for me

# Up in the mountains and down in the Dales

# Rivers and waterfalls, valleys and vales

# Yomping and stomping through England and Wales

# Rambling and gambolling free. #

'Mr Yomper Stomper always sings when he arrives.'

Mrs Ostrich heard your singing.

Oh, hello, Elsie. Hello, Mrs Ostrich.

You're always so cheerful, Mr Yomper Stomper.

Happy as a lark, me, Grandpa. Oh, and look -

here's what I've spotted today in the way of flora and fauna.

'Which means plants and animals.'

Squirrel, rabbit, pine cone.

Oh, and a small brown thingummy that might be a nut.

This is a very good day to go on a nature ramble.

It says in the Sunnysands Gazette

that there is a huge caterpillar on the loose.

Riddle-de-ree! The giant woolly carpet caterpillar.

I think it might be called that

-cos it looks like a giant woolly carpet.

-Really?

I would love to get a photo of that.

I could start a collection of nature ramble photos called

Extraordinary Creepy-Crawly Things That Look A Bit Like Carpets.

You could, Mr Yomper Stomper. What fun!

I could easily take up rambling as a hobby.

In fact, why don't we go outside now and see

if we can spot the giant woolly carpet caterpillar?

-That is a great idea. Come on, Jules.

-We'll come, too.

I bet Mrs Ostrich could find it.

I think I'll go and watch from upstairs.

'So we all started looking, then suddenly Mr Yomper Stomper cried...'

Jules! Jules! Come quick!

Something has been nibbling your Bellis perennis.

'That's the Latin name for a daisy.

'Mr Yomper Stomper always uses Latin names for plants.'

Gracious! Something very hungry has been nibbling my Bellis perennis!

I take this as a sign that

the ginormous carpety caterpillar is on the loose...

right here!

'Grandpa was watching from the balcony.'

There's a hungry caterpillar here somewhere, Grandpa!

Find it, Elsie. Find it!

'And just then, we did.'

-It's here, look.

-I want to get a picture! Out the way!

I need to get a picture!

'But the ginormous carpet caterpillar was scared.'

Fiddle-de-fee. It's gone down the hole. All my fault. I scared him.

I'm sure he'll be fine, Mr Yomper Stomper.

Come on. Let's go inside.

We have to talk to Grandpa.

'So we ran upstairs to find Grandpa.'

Grandpa, Grandpa! The ginormous carpety caterpillar has

-gone down the rabbit hole.

-I know. I'm going to rescue him.

-But he's gone right down. You can't reach him.

-I think I will.

-BOTH:

-Not the shrinking cap, Grandpa!

Catch me if you can!

'When Grandpa shrinks, there's no stopping him.

'He can hide in all kinds of tiny places.'

'And he can get under strange things.

'And his magic can make things go. Like the car.'

'And Gordon the toy seagull. And our cousin Jason's plane.

'He can even make an ostrich fly and today that's what he did.'

Where's Grandpa?

Here he is!

'He was on Mrs Ostrich. He took off and flew out of the window

'And he landed in the meadow...

'..got off and down the rabbit hole he went.'

Ah, Mr Twitchwhiskers.

Sorry to crash in on you like this.

You haven't seen a caterpillar

that looks like a woolly carpet, have you?

I'll take that as a no.

I'll have a look down here.

'And Grandpa set off to search for the caterpillar.'

Caterpillar?

Woolly caterpillar?

Where are you?

'Mr Twitchwhiskers followed.'

Ah! There you are!

Oh, and here's Mr Twitchwhiskers, too.

He's not looking very happy.

I think we'd better get out of here. Follow me.

'And Grandpa showed the caterpillar the way out of the rabbit hole.'

'We were watching from the balcony.'

There he is!

Come down, you two, and bring me a bed sock.

-BOTH:

-A bed sock?!

Oh, cheer up, Mr Yomper Stomper,

I'm sure the caterpillar will be fine.

Here, have a woolly hat.

Thank you, Jules.

It's a lovely hat,

but I'm still very sad I'll never see the caterpillar again.

There, there, Mr Yomper Stomper.

Have a woolly scarf!

'Just then, we came in.'

'I had the bed sock stuffed up my T-shirt.'

Help me clear up the wool, then I can make tea.

Erm, I'm going to have one more look for the caterpillar.

HE SOBS

Oh, dear.

I'll never get to see him turn into a beautiful butterfly!

Oh, have some woolly earmuffs!

'Just then, the phone rang.'

PHONE RINGS

Mill on the Marsh?

'So Josh ran into the meadow to find Grandpa.'

The caterpillar's gone up the tree.

He has to be left in peace to turn into a butterfly.

-Right. Brought you the bed sock.

-Marvellous.

But what's it for?

I'm guessing Mr Yomper Stomper will want a picture?

Yes, he's all upset.

So now we'll get one.

'And Grandpa crawled inside the bed sock,

'and he looked just like the woolly carpet caterpillar.'

I'll go and tell Mr Yomper Stomper.

'Before long, Mr Yomper Stomper was back in the meadow

'and very excited.'

'He was taking loads of pictures of the woolly carpet caterpillar.'

I love him! I just love him!

Who is a cuddly little carpety caterpillar?

I'm sorry I frightened you, Mr Catercarpet.

CAMERA CLICKS AND WHIRRS

I've had an idea.

He can come home with me!

I can make it up to him.

We can be friends.

He can live in my garden where he can turn into a beautiful butterfly.

I'm sure he'd rather stay here.

But he'll eat all your auntie's plants.

'And Mr Yomper Stomper put him in his lunchbox.'

'This was a disaster!'

There, I'll leave the lid like that so you can get some air,

my little woolly friend.

'Suddenly, I had an idea.'

Just before you go, Mr Yomper Stomper,

can I download all the photos you've taken on to our computer?

Of course, that way you will always remember Mr Catercarpet.

You know what to do, Elsie. I'll be back.

Get me out of the lunchbox, Elsie.

Then there's one more thing I have to do.

-What's that, Grandpa?

-Turn into a butterfly, of course.

Lovely. See you soon, bye!

-Did you find the caterpillar?

-Yes.

-Josh and Mr Yomper Stomper seemed very excited.

-They are!

They dashed upstairs.

-They're looking at the pictures.

-Oh, lovely!

I've got to rush. Got more guests coming

so I need to make some beds up.

'I was glad she had a job to do, because so did I.

'I got some material out of the bits and bobs box

'and some pipe cleaners.

'Then I ran back outside.

'And, very soon, Grandpa looked like this.'

'He was an extraordinary butterfly!'

-How do I look, Elsie?

-Amazing!

'Then Mr Yomper Stomper came outside.'

Josh is printing the pictures for me. How exciting!

'Mr Yomper Stomper picked up the lunchbox...'

'..and saw that the caterpillar had gone!'

Fiddledy-fee! I've lost him again!

No you haven't, look!

He's turned into a butterfly! I had no idea it could happen so quickly!

How lovely! He looks for all the world like something I knitted!

I am so happy!

It would be cruel to catch him know.

-Can he stay in your garden, Jules?

-He certainly can -

now he's not going to eat everything!

Well, I must be away.

Climb another mountain, ford another stream.

I might even see another carpety caterpillar, who knows?!

'And off went Mr Yomper Stomper.'

'And in went Auntie Jules.'

'And down flew Grandpa.'

Let's get you out of there.

'And I picked him up very carefully and ran inside.

'We got Grandpa out of his butterfly costume...'

'..and put him down on the floor.'

Cap off, quick!

Well, we made Mr Yomper Stomper happy.

Can't have him upset, can we?

-You were an amazing caterpillar.

-And a fantastic butterfly!

Couldn't have done it without you two!

What do we call it?

ALL: Teamwork!

Grandpa, did you spot the butterfly?

It was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen!

Couldn't agree with you more, Jules. Gorgeous!

THEY LAUGH

ALL: Teamwork!