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Informationen zum Autor Aline Alexander Newman is a longtime contributor to National Geographic Kids magazine and a former teacher. She's a lifelong animal lover who has written more than 50 magazine stories about them. Her previous books for National Geographic include Lucky Leopards! And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues! , one of Amazon's picks for Best Children's Books of 2013; Rascally Rabbits!: And More True Stories of Animals Behaving Badly! ; and How to Speak Cat: A Guide to Decoding Cat Language , coauthored with Dr. Gary Weitzman. Klappentext This is the first in a line of four books within the National Geographic Kids Chapters series that tell the true and hilarious stories of animals that love hijinks. In this book you'll meet three naughty animals, including Fu Manchu, the orangutan escape artist. Fu Manchu lived at the Omaha Zoo and would routinely break out of his habitat to explore the zoo on a nice day. Zookeepers were baffled as to how the ape was escaping, until one day they caught him in the act. Fu Manchu knew how to pick locks. Not only that, he had created his own tool that he used to pick the locks with, which he would store in his mouth so as not to be found out. This and two other charming stories will engage readers and leave them wondering if humans are really the smartest animals. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.July 1965, Omaha, Nebraska A young orangutan peers out of his cage at the Henry Doorly Zoo. No humans are in sight. The coast is clear. He sticks his long fingers through the chain-link fence. He bends back one corner. He pulls. ZZIIIIP! The stiff metal fencing unravels like a hand-knit scarf. Some time later, veterinarian Lee Simmons arrives at work. He rounds a bend in the path and yikes! Dr. Simmons stops in his tracks. It couldn’t be, but it is. A shaggy, red-haired ape sits up in a tree. How did he get loose? The ape is about six years old, tailless, and weighs 100 pounds (45 kg). He has a mustache and beard like a famous movie character. For that reason he is called Fu Manchu. Fu’s arms are super strong and longer than most fourth graders are tall. In a wrestling match against a man, the orangutan would win. The ape doesn’t move or make a sound. But Dr. Simmons sees a twinkle in his eyes. The vet can’t help but wonder if Fu knew what he was doing. It’s like he’s been sitting there just waiting for me. Fu climbs down. The sun sparkles on his red hair as he scrambles back to his cage. Dr. Simmons follows, shaking his head. What a crazy ape! He locks Fu inside. He calls someone to fix the fence and then goes about his normal business. And Fu goes about his—dreaming up more hijinks to come. Fu was born in a rain forest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra (sounds like sue-mah-tra). Like most baby orangutans, Fu probably never knew his father. Orangutan mothers care for their helpless babies. Fu’s mother nursed him. She held him and snuggled him. Every night she built them a nest high in the treetops. These sleeping nests were the size of bathtubs. Fu’s mother made them by twisting leafy branches together. Each fresh, new nest must have felt as comfy to Fu as clean bedsheets do to you. Usually Fu and his mom stayed dry in their cozy bed in the sky. At other times thunder boomed. Rain fell in sheets. Then the apes huddled together and turned giant leaves into umbrellas. During the day, Fu often rode on his mother’s back. He clutched her hair as they swung through the trees looking for durian (sounds like dur-ee-ann) fruits. Durian fruits stink like sweaty gym socks. But orangutans go ape for the smelly stuff. The problem is durian fruits don’t all ripen at the same time...
