Little Wolf’s Diary of Daring Deeds

Copyright

First published in Great Britain by Collins in 1996

This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2012

Collins and HarperCollins Children’s Books are imprints of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

Text copyright © Ian Whybrow 1996

Illustrations copyright © Tony Ross 1996

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

Source ISBN 9780007458561

Ebook Edition © JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780007458578

Version: 2015-06-19

Dedication

To my own daring-deeders:

Ted and Amelie, Ella and Fifi

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Little Wolf’s Diary of Daring Deeds

Also by Ian Whybrow

About the Author

About the Publisher

Please please PLEEEZ come and move in here, you said you would. Because my cuz Yeller is coming soonly to be a Head with me.Then we can get some pupils and start up Adventure Academy at last!!

I cannot wait hardly. I have found bags and bags of gold that Uncle Bigbad hid. That means I am RICH!! So we are going to have the best fun school ever. Also we are going to buy the best adventures in the world and put them in our playground. Then we can do daring deeds all the time, arrrooo!

Go on, I want you to come so you can be proud of me. Dad can retire from his work at Fang and Mauler and put his paws up. I have made the cellar all nice and smelly for you just like the Lair, so you can be happy hibernators for ever after.

Tell Smellybreff, yes, he can be a teacher because he is my baby bruv, but remember, me and Yeller are pack leaders, so no moaning.

Yours hurryuply,

Posh paper, eh?

Big gales in the night. Tell the helicopter pilot I am a bit wurrid about him not seeing which part of the forest to come down in. So I have done HELLO HELLY LAND ON YOUR BELLY on a big mat for him.

Still no Yeller, boo shame, where is he? I wish he would hurry up because his ideas are just the best. Also I need him to help me with adverts for our school. I did one today but it is rubbish, look:

Well it is quite good rhyming. But shame I forgot to say about having fun and getting Daring Deed badges.

I ’spect Yeller is coming by slowcoach (get it?).

Arrrroooo! the postman came today with a big parcel saying, “Phew, heavy, hint hint.” So I said to put it down in the hall and filled up his hands with gold.

He said, “Cor thanks, Master L, you are a lot nicer than your Uncle Bigbad. When he was here being Head of Cunning College for Brute Beasts, he used to eat postmen. He was a big horrible miser, he was. They say he had bags and bags of gold buried all over the place, but he never spent one penny, not like you. Good thing he went off bang if you ask me.”

I gave him a small wolfly nip and a grrr for cheek and off he went happy and rich.

All of a suddenly the parcel went crickle crackle rip. Then out jumped a something saying a huge big

and making my heart hop like frogs. And what was it? It was Yeller! I was so pleased to see his funny pointy face and my trick arrow through his head. And so good to hear his voice again, yelling, “HELLO LICKLE, HOW DID YOU LIKE MY TRICK PARCEL?”

Who else would think of a clever trick joke like posting yourself? Plus he brought me a posh present, a book for writing our adventures in. I am calling it My Diary of Daring Deeds, so 1 day all our grandcubs will read it and go, “Oo look, so brave,” ect.

Yours proudly,

Your crool letter you sent yesterday says you will not move in here now. Whyo Y have you changed your minds? Is it because Uncle Bigbad went off bang and Dad blames me? I bet it is. But I told him not to scoff all my bakebeans with a shovel. He just did not listen, being such a greedyguts.

PLEEEZ change your minds back again.

Yours upsettly,

Murkshire is nice, yes, and the Lair is cosy, yes. But you will soon like Beastshire when you see it. Also Frettnin Forest is just the scaryest, Dad will love it.

But you say you think my plans are 2 showoff and cubbish. Dad says he does not agree with Adventure Playgrounds. He is so oldfashy. Because when you are rich and modern, you can buy adventures and be daring deeders at home. No need to go a long way for them. Or get killed, ect. See?

Yours pantingly,

Just to show you what you are missing. Look at this advert. Yeller found it in Wolf Weekly yesterday.

See? it is brilliant. I am writing for a Mister Marvo appointment today! So go on, Mum and Dad, get on the helicopter quick!

Yours reallywantingly,

Yes I was surprised when the helicopter landed and baby bruv Smellybreff got out but not you. Yes I got your note off him, no he did not do a sick down his new sailor suit.

Yes I made sure he did not leave his ted in the helicopter. Yes I do know teddy is his best friend.

Yes I do understand that you are trusting me with your small darling baby pet till Springtime comes. Yes I know you will go RAVING MAD if I let anything bad happen to him.

Yes I promise I will keep writing and say if Smellybreff gets homesick or bangs his tiny nose, ect.

Yes you are right, it is furfluffingly chilly here and all the chestnuts have fallen.

I hope you enjoy your long winter zizz without us. When are you starting xactly? Also, are you sure you do not want to have your tiny Smells tucked up cosy in your bed?

Yours ??ly,

Smells has been here 2 days now. He has been stupid and whiny and keeps messing my things up. Also, he will not call me and Yeller sir, even though we are Heads.

He is hopeless at Schools and playing teachers. But 1 thing he likes a lot is gold. I bought him a metal detector yesterday and off he went hunting for more of Uncle Bigbad’s gold. He found 4 more bags. Now he wants a safe with a big key, PLUS combination lock.

Yours a bit fedupply,

Guess what! A letter came from Mr Marvo today. He is coming soonly to tell us all about Instant Adventures for our playground, arrroooo! Yeller has got some brilliant BIG IDEAS for what we want, gokarts, motorbikes, roller-coasters, zipwire, dodgems, wall-of-death, helter skelter, parachute-jumper, arcade racing machines, ect! What is rubbish about that, Dad? Answer, nothing.

No winter zizzes for us cubs, we are much 2 excited.

Yours cannotwaitly,

Smells wants me to send you a pic of his new safe so here it is.

Also he says har har he knows the number to open it but not me. So cubbish.

Your big boy,

Smells is OK today but a bit goldfeverish. He howled his head off till I gave him all my gold to put in his safe. Plus all the new bags he keeps finding with his metal detector.

This is what he does all the time. 1st he piles up gold in sixes (he only knows up to 6). Then he kisses each pile and puts them in his safe. Then he locks up. Then he whispers through the keyhole, “Night night darlings, sleepy tight. Daddy soon find you some more nice shiny friends to chink with.”

What do you think about this?

Askingly

Just got your letter saying let him get on with it. Good because I have.

From your not so wurrid,

Good thing Adventure Acad is snowproof. Outside is all white, Yeller’s worst thing. It made his voice lose some of its loudness. He said to me, “OH NO, LICKLE, NOW MISTER MARVO WON’T COME! THE SNOW IS TERRIBLE!”

But he did, he came by snowmobile! It is a big shiny one with a propeller behind. Plus cosy glass cabin in front. Mister M is tall and smart with his black coat sticking out at the back and a big fuzzy beard. It comes right up to his glinty eyes. His voice is a sleepy one and his smell is like pepper and his eyebrows are red and bristly.

After tea he showed me and Yeller some plans of Instant Adventures. He does nice curly capitals and he is a good colourinner. But plans are hard to understand for small cubs. Never mind, because Mister Marvo is so clever. He says, “Believe me, my boys, these are the most marvellous, most modernest adventures money can buy! They cost a lot, but remember, they are all under 1 winterproof dome. So you can have the thrills without the chills.”

Yeller said, “ARRRROOOO! BECAUSE SNOW IS MY WORST THING, IT GIVES ME THE TREMBLES. BUT NOW, GUESS WHAT LICKLE, WE CAN HAVE A GO WITHOUT THE SNOW!!”

See what you are missing?

Yours xcitedly

Smells thinks Mister Marvo is brilliant. He has let him share his dorm, also shown him his ted and his safe even!

Me and Yeller are not jealous because now we can get on playing Bossy Heads and Daring Deeders by ourself. Important for the practiss. And tomorrow we choose our Instant Adventures, arrrroooo!

Yours thrilly,

Plan plan plan is what me and Yeller and Mister Marvo are up to, phew. Smells will not help, he only likes counting gold.

These are our best IAs so far (short for Instant Adventures).

Mister Marvo said did we want BANGS-U-LIKE ADVENTURE which is like a forest? You creep through it and loads of pretend hunters jump out and shoot their guns at you. Yeller said “GOOD IDEA, I LOVE LOUDNESS.”

But I said, “No, that is enough IAs for now.”

I did not want to say I am v scared of bangs, but all of a suddenly, Mister Marvo said softly, “Look deep into my eyes, my boy, and tell me. Are bangs your worst thing?” Just then Yeller did a loud sneeze, lucky for me. It made me jump plus it stopped me giving away my secret.

So Mister Marvo said, “Well done, my boy, it is plain that you do not fear bangs. Naturally you are thinking of your pupils, who will not all be as fearless as you. By the way, the Instant Adventures you have selected will cost 3 wheelbarrowsful of gold, paid in advance.”

I said, “What, before you build anything? Good joke har har.”

Then Mister Marvo got quite snarly. It made his beard slip a bit and show his sharp teeth. But quick as a chick he hid them, saying he would build us a nice X-ample of his marvellous work, a TARZAN ZIPWIRE. Good, eh?

Yours proudly,

Smells is still OK but a bit jealous and fidgety because of Mister Marvo doing planning with us. Yesterday he kept climbing on top of his safe and falling off. Just so we would stick plasters on him.

Then Yeller had a BIG IDEA. He made Smells a tape of gold going chinkle chinkle. Now it is 1 of his best things. He sits and listens to it all the time with his Earpod on.

See, we are looking after him still.

Your trusted

Today Mister Marvo put up the mini Tarzan Zipwire in our dorm to show us.

I said to Yeller, “Yeller, what do you think?” He said to me, “I THINK IT IS A BIT RUBBISH, LICKLE.” Mister Marvo said to Yeller, “With respect, my boy, Master Little is the true owner here. I advise you to keep silent.” He gave Yeller a deep look in the eyes and guess what, Yeller said, “OF COURSE, GREAT SIR, I WILL OBEY.” It is so hard to say no to Mister Marvo.

True the zipwire is a bit smaller than we hoped. More washingliney than Tarzanny. But still, we had 236 goes on it. It is good the way it makes your eyes water and blows your fur back. Also you go dong off the tyres at the end and that takes some daringness.

Mister Marvo says not to be wurrid, it is just an Example IA. When we pay him, he will build a huge big scary real 1 over a stream with pretend crocs going snap. Oo-er!

Yours phewly,

Sorry to hear about your blizzard blowing. Another white whisker day here also. So have a nice hibernate and see you in Springtime. Us cubs are much 2 busy for long zizzing.