GARY THE GRITTY CAMEL LOSES HIS GLASSES
by Bailey, 8, QLD
One day Gary the camel was going to the River Nile for a bath.
“I hate grit. It’s in my ears, my fur, my mouth and in my hair. It’s everywhere!” complained Gary as he trudged down to the river. Just as he was stepping in to take a bath, his glasses slipped off! “Oh dear! Now I’ll have to get a new pair of glasses”, said Gary. So off he went to the shops at Cairo to get some new glasses.
Without his glasses, Gary had a lot of trouble seeing clearly. Not before long Gary came to a Hairdresser.
“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Kerri the Hairdresser. “We don’t sell glasses but I can give you a haircut”.
“Okay” said Gary, feeling disappointed.
BUUZZZZ! In no time at all he had a new haircut. Then he thanked Kerri the hairdresser and off he went to find some glasses.
After a while Gary found a Beauty Parlour.
“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Tina the Beautician. “We don’t sell glasses but I can shampoo and perfume your fur for you”.
“Okay” said Gary disappointed.
SCRUB, SCRUB, SQUIRT!!! In no time at all he had his fur washed and perfumed. Gary thanked Tina the Beautician, and then off he went to buy some new glasses.
Ten minutes later, he came to a hat shop.
“Can I buy some glasses please?” he asked Terry the Hatter.
“Sorry” said Terry. “We don’t sell glasses but I can make you a hat?” offered Terry.
“Okay” said Gary disappointed. TAP! TAP! TAP! In no time at all, Gary had a new hat. He thanked Terry the Hatter, and then off he went to find some new glasses.
As he entered the next shop, he was sure he’d found the glasses shop.
“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Bronwyn the Tailor. “We don’t sell glasses but I can give you some clothes”.
“Okay”, said Gary still feeling disappointed. Suddenly the sweet smell of lollies wafted up his nose. So he thanked Bronwyn the Tailor and off he went following that sweet smell.
In the lolly shop Gary bought a Gobstopper.
“Be very careful with it”, said Chris the Candy Man. “You don’t want to break a … ” But it was too late; Gary had already broken his tooth.
“Ouch! That hurts!” Gary howled to Chris the Candy Man as he left the shop.
When he finally got over the pain of his broken tooth, Gary came to another shop.
“Can I buy some glasses please?” Gary whimpered to the receptionist behind the counter.
“Sorry”, said Dali the receptionist. “We don’t sell glasses but I can get Cameron the Dentist to fix and clean your teeth”.
“Yes, please,” said Gary, feeling relieved. Not before long Gary had sparkling clean teeth.
He thanked Cameron the Dentist who said, “I know an Optometrist called Peter, he’s a friend of mine. I’ll take you to see him”. And with that, they headed off to meet Peter the Optometrist.
Finally Gary had found the right place to buy a new pair of glasses. Without delay, he chose a smart and shiny new pair, and looked in the mirror. He was surprised to see the camel staring back at him. His hair was trimmed, his ears were clipped, his fur was washed and perfumed. He had a new hat, a brown and blue shawl and his teeth were clean and sparkling. He was no longer a spitty, nitty, gritty camel. Now he was Gary the spunky, funky, hunky camel! He wasn’t disappointed anymore, he was delightedly distinguished!
The End
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Wow, Bailey, I never realised until I read your story how difficult it must be to be a camel! I loved your story, particularly the rhyming parts like “spitty, nitty, gritty”, and the way, despite all the problems, Gary had a really happy ending.
What a lovely story and a pleasure to read! Well done Bailey!!
Thank you BookChook! Bailey loves to rhyme or use alliteration in his life, we are always making up such games to play when travelling in the car! Bailey also wears glasses and has done since he was 2yrs old..so his story shows me he’s accepting of this. I’d love to get his story published into a children’s picture book….but not sure where to start. Can you help us with any ideas? Thanks from his proud Mum, Katrina.
Hi Katrina, bit tricky to answer properly in comments. Can you email me via the contact me top left on my blog, http://www.thebookchook.com? It all depends on what you mean by ” a children’s picture book” as there are a range of options.