Kipling stories come to life in this playful retelling of a classic tale of a hedgehog and tortoise using their wits to escape a hungry jaguar. As the predator prowls through the jungle seeking dinner, Stickly-Prickly and Slow-Solid devise a brilliant plan to confuse their would-be captor.

Once upon a time, two friends played in the jungle. Stickly-Prickly was a prickly hedgehog. His tortoise buddy was named Slow-Solid.

A hungry, Jaguar walked through the jungle looking for something yummy to eat. His Jaguar mommy had told him how to catch a hedgehog and a tortoise.

“Tonight’s dinner will be delicious!” he said. 

The two friends said, “We must be clever to get out of this.”

Stickly-Prickly curled up tightly into a spiky ball, while Slow-Solid pulled his head and legs into his hard shell. 

Jaguar was puzzled.

“Oh, Jaguar,” Stickly-Prickly  said, trying to sound helpful, “Your mother told you to scoop the hedgehog out of its shell, didn’t she?”

Jaguar could not remember what his mother had taught him.

Slow-Solid joined in, “And don’t forget; you’re supposed to drop the tortoise in the water to smooth out its prickles!”

Painted Jaguar scratched his head with a big paw. “Well, if you say so…” he mumbled.

Painted Jaguar tried to scoop up Stickly-Prickly, thinking he was the tortoise, but—“OUCH!” He yelped and pulled back his paw! It was full of sharp prickles! Stickly-Prickly quickly rolled into the bushes and out of sight.

While Jaguar was busy shaking his paw, Slow-Solid quietly slipped into the river, paddling away to safety. 

Jaguar’s would-be dinners had disappeared. He sat by the river, licking his sore paw and feeling very sorry for himself. “Maybe I should stick to catching things that don’t have prickles or shells,” he sighed.

These two friends outsmarted Jaguar with their clever teamwork.

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