The Clever Tortoise

Author: Prashaanth Ramalingam

Illustrator: Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri
Translator: Alisha Berger
The monkeys were
eating wood
apples*.

*A wood apple is a common

fruit in Sri Lanka. It has a
hard shell, is quite smelly,
and tastes like a cross
between raisin and tamarind.

2/15
The tortoises
wanted them too!

3/15
“We want tasty wood apples too!” said Kibba, the Tortoise.
“But how do we crack them open?” asked the others.

4/15
“Monkeys, please
help us crack open
the apples!” called
Kibba.

5/15
“Ooh! Ooh! We
can't! We won't!”
The monkeys
made fun of the
clumsy tortoises.

6/15
The tortoises tried
to bite into the fruit.
But they couldn't!

Boo!

7/15
They tried to knock
it open with their
awkward tortoise
feet.

Boo!

8/15
They tried to break
the fruit with their
heads.

Boo!

9/15
They tried to soak
the fruit to make it
soft... but the apples
just bobbed on top
of the pond.

Boo! Boo! Boo! all

the tortoises cried.
"We want to try the
tasty wood apple!"

10/15
 Meanwhile, the mean old monkeys
kept teasing the tortoises. They threw
wood apples and giggled.

11/15
The raining fruit
gave Kibba an idea!

12/15
Kibba told his
friends to spread
stones under the
trees.

13/15
And then, when the
monkeys threw
wood apples on the
ground...

TAGAD! TAGAD!

CRACKKKK!

14/15
Yum! Yum! Yum!

At last, the tortoises

could have their
tasty party!

15/15
 This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative
Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐
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Story Attribution:
This story: The Clever Tortoise is translated by Alisha Berger . The © for this translation lies with Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under
CC BY 4.0 license. Based on Original story: 'ஆைம ர ', by Prashaanth Ramalingam . © Room to Read , 2012. Some rights reserved. Released
under CC BY 4.0 license.
Other Credits:
This story 'The Clever Tortoise' has been published on StoryWeaver by Room to Read.
Images Attributions:
Cover page: Three tortoises, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2:
Monkeys eat wood apples as tortoises look on, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0
license. Page 3: Monkeys eat fruit as tortoises look on, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC
BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Tortoises discuss among each other, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under
CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Tortoises talk to monkeys, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY
4.0 license. Page 6: Monkeys mock tortoises, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0
license. Page 7: Monkeys throw stones at tortoises, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY
4.0 license. Page 8: Tortoise tries to break open a wood apple, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released
under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Tortoises push around a wood apple, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved.
Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Tortoises look at balls floating on water, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights
reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

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Some rights reserved. This book is CC​-BY​-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify,
distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking
permission. For full terms of use and attribution,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
 This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative
Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐
provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about
this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link.

Images Attributions:
Page 11: Tortoises trip over wood apples, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.
Page 12: Monkeys tease tortoises, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page
13: Tortoises push wood apples, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14:
Monkeys throw wood apples down a tree, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0
license. Page 15: Tortoises eat wood apples, by Nuwan Chathuranga Athulasiri © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0
license.

Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC​-BY​-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify,
distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking
permission. For full terms of use and attribution,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Clever Tortoise The tortoise sees the monkeys eating wood apples and wants to
taste them. But first, he has to figure out how to crack open the
(English) hard shell. Can you help him?

This is a Level 2 book for children who recognize familiar words and can read new words with help.

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