YEEK the EMU

By Aya Imam

Illustrations by Ryan

Alghussein

This book was inspired by the works of author Sheena

Knowles and illustrator Rod Clement.

ACS Doha International School

Doha, Qatar

March 2013

To Miss Debbie and the

teachers and staff at

ACS Doha International

School who help us learn

new things about ourselves

everyday.

Yeek the emu was

tired of the zoo.

He was getting so

bored; he had

nothing to do.

Compared to the

school across the

street,

life at the zoo was

not so sweet.

“Daddy, Daddy please listen to me!”

yelled Yeek with a squeal.

“Have some patience my darling, as

you can see, I’m as busy as a bee,”

shouted Edward, his dad.

“Mommy, Mommy, please listen to

me!” demanded Yeek with a pout.

“Yes, yes my dear darling, but

please say it fast. Your little brother’s

about to fall off the couch,” replied

Edwina, his mother.

“I want to go to school,” Yeek

pleaded.

“Oh nay, nay, nay. School is not the

place for an emu,” Edwina squealed.

“But, Mommy, I’m so bored here in

the zoo. I want to make some new

friends,” Yeek cried.

“Okay, if you must. But, if something

goes wrong, it’s up to you to figure it

out,” replied Edwina.

Yeek was bursting with

excitement as he always

wanted to go to school.

The next morning, Yeek and

Edward walked to the school

across the street from the zoo.

“Yeek, this is your first day of

school and I want you to do your

best and be kind,” said Edward.

Hearing his dad’s kind words a tear

fell from Yeek’s eye.

“Daddy, you’re embarrassing me,”

shouted Yeek

As Edward headed back to the

zoo, Yeek entered the main

entrance of the school.

“Eew! What is an emu doing in

school. Someone do something

about this,” a small boy

exclaimed.

“Excuse me. I have a name.

My name is Yeek. I’m an emu -

that’s true.

What’s the problem with an

emu going to school?

Everybody goes to school and

an emu can too.”

Yeek was upset, but that wouldn’t

stop him from staying in school. The

best thing to do, he thought, was to

get involved in something so that he

could prove that an emu belonged in

school.

Yeek decided to try out for the school

play. He marched to the auditorium,

sat down and waited to be called.

“Next,” the director shouted.

Yeek walked out onto the stage with

confidence.

“Eew,” the director shrieked,

“there are no emus in my play so

please get out.”

‘Excuse me,” Yeek replied, “why is

an emu in the play a problem.

Anybody can try out for the play

and an emu can too.”

Yeek left the stage feeling quite sad.

He didn’t understand why emus could

not be in the play.

Yeek knew that if you were the best at

something that people would treat you

well, and Yeek knew that he was a

very fast runner.

So the next morning, when Yeek got

to school, he signed up for track.

“Eew,” the track

coach screamed,

“there are no emus

on the track team,

so please go away.”

“Excuse me,” Yeek said, “I don’t see

the problem of an emu on the track

team,” and Yeek walked away.

Yeek looked around. He spotted a

poster that read ‘Guitar Auditions in

the Music Room.’

Yeek had a good idea. He would

play a song for his classmates and

then get chosen to perform in the

concert.

The next morning, Yeek got up early

and practiced his song.

When he got to school, he played

the song for his class and

everybody laughed.

So, he ran straight to the audition

and waited in line.

“Someone named Yeek is next,”

called the Music teacher.

Yeek took a few steps onto

the stage. But before he

could even start playing, he

heard the Music teacher

gasp.

“Eew. What is an emu with a

guitar doing on my stage?

Please go away.”

That afternoon, Yeek went to his

mom and asked, “What’s wrong

with being an emu actor, an emu

runner, or an emu musician?”

“Oh nothing,” said Edwina. “But

what’s wrong with just being

yourself?”

The next morning, Yeek took his

mother’s advice. Instead of trying to

be something that he thought would

impress his classmates, he would

just be himself.

He was an emu who knew

everything about the animals who

lived in the zoo.

When he got to school, he began

telling his classmates about the new

panda cubs that had been born

overnight.

His new friends were amazed by

his stories about life at the zoo.

The zoo, Yeek realized, was an

interesting place after all, and the

best way to make new friends

was to just be yourself.