Mr. Woggle’s Tales- Monty’s Big Day

Mr. Woggle is an ostrich,
Tall and wise and old,
And all day long he can be found,
Writing stories to be told.
And when the school day is over,
And all homework is done,
The children gather by his favourite tree,
All of the children, yes, everyone.
Four o’clock is story time,
As all the children know…
Come on Mr. Woggle tell us a story…
Ready…. steady…. Go….

‘Monty’s Big Day’.

Today is Monty’s birthday,
Listen closely, hear him say,
“If it’s my birthday, this day is mine,
This is my special day.”
But what really makes the day special?
The presents? The food? The drinks?
Well, let’s hear this tale about Monty,
And then tell me what you all think.

Monty the elephant is seven today.
“You’re a big boy now” Mummy says.
And with that she gives her boy a cuddle
And a little kiss on his head.
“I hope you are enjoying your party,”
Says Mummy, “all of your friends are here”.
Monty answers, “This is the best birthday,
now where are the presents, mummy tell me where”.

The cake had been cut already,
Guests had sung ‘Happy Birthday’ and such,
So Mummy said he could open his presents,
And he liked each special gift very much.
But after unwrapping each of the parcels,
Monty began to look all around,
He knew that there was a box missing,
One which just could not be found.

‘Is there something wrong Monty darling?”
Asked Monty’s Grandmother with a small smile,
“You look like you’ve lost something precious,
Now what have you lost my dear child.”
“Well Granny you see,” began Monty,
“There’s something I saw yesterday,
I saw it and straight away I loved it,
I saw it although it was packed far away”.

“It wasn’t that I was snooping,
It wasn’t that I was bad,
It just happens I saw this one parcel,
And when I saw it I was so glad”.
“Inside were skates oh so shiny,
With colours of red, blue and green,
With the smallest and blackest of spinning wheels,
They were the most wonderful skates I had ever seen”.

“And straight away I got excited,
Because I knew these skates were for me,
Although I do not know who had bought them,
You, Mummy or Daddy”.
“But I knew that they would make my birthday,
The best birthday that I had ever had,
But Granny I can not find the wonderful skates,
And Granny, I want them so bad”.

Granny looked down at Monty disappointed,
And slowly she shook her wise head,
“Now Monty, you said you were not snooping,
Monty, isn’t that what you said?
I am having trouble believing that,
As those skates were hidden so deep,
Monty were you in my room peeping?
Monty did you go there and peep?”

Monty seemed to want to say something,
Granny asked “Have you something to say?”,
He began “Yes Granny, I was snooping,
But I was just so excited about today.
It was wrong, and for that I am sorry,
I did something I should not have done,
I hope that you are not too angry.
I’m sorry for the wrong that I’ve done.”

Granny looked down at Monty smiling,
“I accept your apology my sweet boy,
Now run along and have some fun,
On this wonderful day of great joy.
But there are no more gifts for you today,
As those skates are not yours Monty dear,
I bought those skates especially,
For your baby sister - St. Clair”.

St. Claire was surprised to hear this,
She asked‘ “You really bought something for me?
But it’s not even my birthday.
Oh wow Granny, I am so lucky”.
Granny handed the box with the skates to her,
A big smile spread across her face,
She took her time and put them on,
Then started skating at a slow pace.

Suddenly Mummy realized that Monty was missing,
She and Granny looked all around.
In the house, in the yard, they looked everywhere,
But Monty just could not be found.
Then suddenly mummy saw a small shadow,
Moving between the tall coconut trees,
And slowly mummy walked over,
To see what was wrong with Monty.

“Why did you suddenly leave the party?’
Mummy asked when she reached by his side.
“Because I’m not feeling very happy,
Monty quietly replied.
“But Monty, today is your birthday,
And you seemed to be having lots of fun.
Why did you leave the party?
Please tell me, Monty what’s wrong.”

The little elephant started,
“Well today is my special day.
So shouldn’t I get all of the presents?”
Monty began to say.
“All the other gifts were really nice,
And the party has been so much fun.
But why did St. Claire get the skates mummy?,
All the presents should be mine, every one”.

Mummy looked into his eyes very deeply,
And let out a very long sigh,
“And that’s what’s upset you little elephant?
That’s why you came over here to hide?”
“Now listen to me very closely,
Monty, you should be feeling so great,
Today is a day to be joyous,
And look at you in this sad state”.

“You have friends and family around you,
A party of cakes, food and drinks,
And I think, you should be happy,
Yes that is what I think.”
Everybody gave you nice presents,
Everybody was here just for you,
And because St. Claire gets one present,
You run and hide, That’s what you do”.

“Now listen to me little elephant,
As today you get older by a year,
And you need to learn understanding,
You need to learn how to care,
Sometimes we need to think about others,
Maybe put ourselves in their place,
Try and see things from their side,
Now look at St. Claire’s happy face”.

“Yes today is your birthday,
And a lot has been done just for you,
But don’t you think your baby sister,
Should get a little something special too,
Remember not too long ago,
When she celebrated her sixth birthday,
Monty, now think back, remember,
Didn’t you also get something that day”.

Monty’s head now bowed lowly,
As he knew his mummy was right,
And now he began to feel guilty,
He wanted to run away with all of his might.
But Mummy just smiled and said “Monty,
I know you are feeling a little bad.
But I think you have leant your lesson.
So please, stop feeling so sad.”

“Instead lets go back to the party,
And if you ask nicely I’m sure,
Your sister will let you try her skates out,
For a few minutes or maybe some more.”
And off they went back to the party,
And I feel it would be right to say,
Even with all that had happened,
Monty still had a wonderful day.

He learnt it was wrong to go snooping,
And to think about only himself,
He learnt that small untruths will always be found out,
And that sharing days gives you great wealth.
He learnt that special days like birthdays,
Were about more than parties, gifts and such,
He learnt a range of good lessons,
He learnt very, very, very, much.

“And now children,” said Mr. Woggle,
“Lets think about Monty’s big day.”
“Was it made special by what he had learnt,
Or simply because it was his birthday.”
Now don’t all rush at once to tell me,
Go home and think about it tonight,
Discuss it with your Mummy’s and Daddy‘s,
Ask them which answer they think is right.

“In the morning talk to your teachers,
Talk to them about Monty’s day,
I think it might make for a good lesson.
Take time to hear what they say.”
“Now run on home little children,
And tomorrow come back here at four,
As Mr. Woggle always has a good tale to tell,
Oh yes I have many many more”.

And with that all the children departed,
Thinking about Monty and birthdays and things,
Thinking about what can be gained by snooping,
And also the trouble it brings.
Thinking about sharing with brothers and sisters,
About how sharing is better by far,
About how tomorrow they’ll hear another tale from Mr. Woggle,
And about how wonderful his tales always are.