The Curious Case Of The Missing Mammoth

**Lisa Bueno** (0:00)
So today, we are reading a story for you called The Curious Case Of The Missing Mammoth. Do you know what a mammoth is?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:12)
Yeah.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:13)
It's a word that describes something, but it is also a something. So mammoth could mean very big, or it could also mean an elephant type creature that lived in prehistoric times and was covered in a thick woolly fur.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:33)
I know.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:34)
The story was written by Ellie Hattie and Carl James Montford, and it is read today by Mommy and...
Meow. Oh, Captain Meow-Meow? No. You're a kitten, though.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:55)
Do I know you, kitten?

**Lisa Bueno** (0:58)
Are you floof?

**SPEAKER_6** (0:58)
Meow.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:01)
Yeah?

**Lisa Bueno** (1:03)
Mommy and floof. Her kitten.
I'm so excited that you're with me.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:08)
Are you ready, kitten?

**Lisa Bueno** (1:10)
Oh, and Captain Meow-Meow was here, too. So when we open the book, we see a little boy who is sitting on his bed in his room.

**SPEAKER_7** (1:19)
And bong!

**SPEAKER_8** (1:22)
The town clock struck midnight.

**Lisa Bueno** (1:26)
Oscar jumped awake.

**SPEAKER_8** (1:28)
He could hear strange stomping noises in the street.

**SPEAKER_9** (1:34)
And we, yeah, we lift up his curtain.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:38)
This book has lift up pages and they're so cool.

**SPEAKER_8** (1:42)
When Oscar peeped out, he saw a huge, hairy, woolly mammoth.

**Lisa Bueno** (1:53)
The animal, wow, gasped Oscar.

**SPEAKER_9** (1:59)
I'm Timothy, tooted the mammoth.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:05)
Have you seen my baby brother?

**SPEAKER_10** (2:08)
Oscar shook his head.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:10)
Crash!

**Lisa Bueno** (2:11)
Bang!

**SPEAKER_4** (2:13)
Wallop!

**Lisa Bueno** (2:14)
A thunderous den came from behind the trash cans. And we could flip those trash cans over and, Teddy, come back here, cried Timothy.

**SPEAKER_11** (2:28)
Quick, catch him.

**Lisa Bueno** (2:30)
The baby mammoth zoomed off towards the museum. Timothy and Oscar ran after him. Sure enough, behind the trash cans was Timothy, who was actually a lot, like, smaller than his big brother, Oscar. Wouldn't you agree?

**SPEAKER_12** (2:47)
The pair sneaked up the museum steps.

**Lisa Bueno** (2:51)
The heavy oak doors swung open a crack, and music and laughter wafted out on the breeze.

**SPEAKER_12** (3:01)
Curiouser and curiouser puzzled Oscar, peering inside.

**SPEAKER_13** (3:09)
And this is actually called The Curious Museum.

**Lisa Bueno** (3:13)
And when we flip the page open and see inside...
Oh, my friends, there are not words to do it justice. This is the coolest looking museum I think I've ever seen.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:30)
Mind your backs!

**Lisa Bueno** (3:31)
Chirped a hummingbird, swooping past.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:35)
No way!

**Lisa Bueno** (3:37)
Gasped Oscar, every creature in the place had come to life. A penguin who is riding an airplane, as penguins do.

**SPEAKER_13** (3:48)
The penguin has a joke for you.

**Lisa Bueno** (3:50)
And he says, What do polar bears eat?

**SPEAKER_10** (3:54)
Iceburgers!

**SPEAKER_9** (3:58)
That's funny, but it's not right, is it?

**SPEAKER_10** (4:01)
Actually, I eat seals, says the polar bear.

**Lisa Bueno** (4:06)
I'm glad that the polar bear speaks up and tells him the truth.
So once they have entered the beautiful and curious museum, there is in fact a gorilla in a suit offering cheese balls to people walking in. There is a Grecian urn with Hercules fighting against, it looks like, Hydra and recognizing that it tickles when the mammoth touches the urn or vase.

**SPEAKER_9** (4:39)
We must find Teddy, said Timothy.

**SPEAKER_11** (4:44)
Mom will be mad if I don't get him home before the magic hour's over.

**Lisa Bueno** (4:49)
But Teddy was nowhere to be seen. Oh, this only lasts for an hour.
Hang on, Oscar cried, spotting a trail of muddy mammoth prints.

**SPEAKER_12** (5:02)
He went that way.

**Lisa Bueno** (5:05)
And we can see all kinds of things for exhibit in this amazing museum. We can see portraits of Sir Francis Drake, Marie Antoinette and Mona Lisa.
And there are signs pointing us to the Egyptian Exhibition and to Underwater Worlds.

**SPEAKER_5** (5:26)
Should we go check out the Underwater Worlds?

**Lisa Bueno** (5:29)
Let's do it. The friends raced into Underwater Worlds where a party was in full swing.

**SPEAKER_11** (5:35)
Ooh, cake!

**Lisa Bueno** (5:37)
Smiled Timothy.

**SPEAKER_7** (5:40)
Have a slice, if you don't mind the mess.

**SPEAKER_5** (5:48)
Huffed Buddy the Blue Whale.

**SPEAKER_7** (5:51)
Someone ran right through it.

**Lisa Bueno** (5:56)
And all the animals that are here in this aquarium have something to say.

**SPEAKER_3** (6:02)
The Giant Squid says, It was a mini mammoth.

**SPEAKER_8** (6:06)
The porpoises say, He didn't do it on porpoise.

**SPEAKER_5** (6:13)
Because they're porpoises.

**SPEAKER_3** (6:15)
And yeah.