Hurricane Hilda Meets Mr Crabby Crab

It was a very sunny day in Rainbow Town and Hurricane Hilda was at the beach with all her friends. When all of the sudden, out of the water came Mr Crabby Crab with his two big eyes and pincers... Snip! Snip! Snap! Snap!

He climbed over Hurricane Hilda (tickle, tickle) and he swiped Mandy's pink sunglasses. And he put them on his two big eyes. Snip! Snip!

Then he climbed over Andy (tickle, tickle) and he swiped Sandy's ice-cream cone. And he ate it! Snap! Snap!

Next Mr Crabby Crab pinched Policeman Dandy's big toe! Snip! Snap! "Aaaaagh!" cried Policeman Dandy as he kicked his foot, sending Mr Crabby Crab flying through the air...

Mr Crabby Crab landed in the bucket where Mandy was building a sandcastle. And he had to Snip-Snap his way out of the sand!

Finally, Mr Crabby Crab crawled onto the blanket where Candy was having a picnic. He climbed into the picnic basket. And he was a very greedy little crab! He ate all the sandwiches, cakes and fruit, and then he drank all the juice. When he was finished eating and drinking, he was so heavy and tired that he could not climb out of the picnic basket. He was stuck! So he covered himself with a napkin and went to sleep.

Soon it was time to go home, and Hurricane Hilda closed the lid of the picnic basket where Mr Crabby Crab was still soundly asleep. Then everyone returned to their rainbow-coloured houses. When Hurricane Hilda got home, she put the picnic basket down on her kitchen floor. And she found someone who was waiting for his dinner. It was Tandy, the cat! "Meow!" said Tandy. "Are you hungry?" asked Hurricane Hilda. And she gave him a big bowl of cat food and a bowl of water. Then Hurricane Hilda went to bed and Tandy snuggled down in his cat basket.

Just as Tandy was about to fall asleep, he heard a noise in the kitchen. He crept quietly out of his basket to see what was going on. He saw the picnic basket move, the lid flew open and out came a big crab's pincer SNAP! SNAP! "Meeeeooow!" cried Tandy, and he scampered into Hurricane Hilda's bed. "Oh, Tandy, you're so soft and fluffy," said Hurricane Hilda. Then they both went to sleep.

While they were asleep, and everything was dark and quiet in the house, Mr Crabby Crab climbed out of the picnic basket and went Snip-Snip-Snap-Snap all over Hurricane Hilda's house. He snipped holes in the carpets and the curtains. Snip! Snip! He snapped holes in the couch and the cushions. Snap! Snap! Then he climbed into Tandy's cat basket and fell asleep.

The next morning it was another sunny day in Rainbow Town. Hurricane Hilda had breakfast with Tandy in the kitchen. Then she noticed the holes all over her living room! "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "Who made all this mess?" Tandy found Mr Crabby Crab still sleeping in his basket and he cried, "Meow!"

Then Hurricane Hilda understood what had happened. "Poor wee thing!" she said, "We will have to take him back to the beach." And she placed Mr Crabby Crab back in the picnic basket... very carefully, of course, for she did not want to waken him and get snapped with those big pincers!

Back at the beach, Hurricane Hilda placed Mr Crabby Crab on a soft bed of warm sand, in the sun. When he woke up, Mr Crabby Crab was so happy to be home on the beach that he sang a happy crab song:

Mr Crabby Crab was a happy little crab,

With his two big eyes and pincers,

And he snip, snip snapped all day long,

With his two big pointy pincers!


Mr Crabby Crab And The Scarecrow
It was a very windy day in Rainbow Town. So windy that the Scarecrow in Hurricane Hilda’s vegetable patch was blown right up into the sky! The wind carried him high above all the rainbow-coloured houses and dropped him down on the sandy beach.

The Scarecrow was frightened because he could not walk, and he did not know how to find his way home. As he lay there in the sand looking up at the clouds, he called, “Help! Somebody, please help me!” His cries woke up Mr Crabby Crab, who had been sleeping under a nearby rock.

“Who’s making all that noise on my beach?” wondered Mr Crabby Crab, as he crawled out from under his rock, looking around with his two big eyes and snapping with his pincers.

Snip, Snip! Snap, Snap!

Then Mr Crabby Crab saw the Scarecrow lying at the water’s edge, with the tide creeping closer and closer. “What are you doing on my beach?” demanded Mr Crabby Crab with a snap of his pincers.

“Oh, please help me!” said the Scarecrow, “The strong wind blew me off my pole in Hurricane Hilda’s vegetable patch. I need help to get home and scare the birds away before they eat all the seeds.”

Mr Crabby Crab felt sorry for the Scarecrow, but he was too small to help all by himself. “Wait one moment,” said Mr Crabby Crab, and with a snap of his pincers he was gone.

He gathered together all his crab friends who were swimming in rock pools, hiding behind driftwood, and sleeping under stones.

The Scarecrow was very surprised when Mr Crabby Crab returned with hundreds of little crabs, all looking at him with their two big eyes and snapping their pincers. Snip, Snip! Snap, Snap!

Mr Crabby Crab explained to the other crabs that the Scarecrow needed help to get home to Hurricane Hilda’s vegetable patch. So all the crabs shuffled around the Scarecrow and lifted him out of the sand with their pincers.

Then they carried the Scarecrow off the beach and along the High Street, past all the rainbow-coloured houses, until they reached Hurricane Hilda’s vegetable patch.

Finally the army of crabs laid the Scarecrow down on the ground, and Mr Crabby Crab led them back to the beach, snip-snapping all the way.

When Hurricane Hilda looked out of her window, she noticed that the Scarecrow was lying in the dirt. “Oh, dear!” she exclaimed, “The wind must have blown him down!” So Hurricane Hilda went into the vegetable patch and lifted the Scarecrow back onto his pole.

The Scarecrow was so happy to be home again, scaring birds away, that he sang a happy scarecrow song:

I’m a little scarecrow,

In the cabbage patch and weeds,

I chase away the birds,

From eating all the seeds!

Mr Crabby Crab In Rainbow Town

A long time ago, when Rainbow Town was first built, it was not called Rainbow Town. It was called Grey Town because all the buildings were made of grey bricks.

One day a new Postman came from Twinkle Town and he was surprised at how dull everything looked. He delivered some mail to Andy the Artist, and asked him to make the town more colourful, like Twinkle Town.

Andy thought this was a great idea, and he set off in his van with his paints and brushes. He delivered a bucket of paint and a brush to each of his friends: Mandy, Candy, Policeman Dandy, Hurricane Hilda and her cat, Tandy. They were all very excited at the idea of turning Grey Town into a rainbow!

Sandy, the Fireman, raised the tall ladder on his fire engine. He drove around the town with all the friends painting coloured stripes across the grey buildings, as they stood at different heights up the ladder.

At the very bottom of the ladder sat Tandy, the cat, with a pot of orange paint and a brush tied to his tail! Hurricane Hilda was next, and she began painting a yellow stripe. Mandy and Candy were a little higher, using green and blue paint. At the next level, Andy was painting an indigo stripe. And Policeman Dandy, the bravest of the group, sat at the very top of the ladder with his bucket of violet paint.

Sandy could not paint, of course, because he was driving the fire engine all around the town.

Very soon every building looked like a beautiful rainbow.

But there was still a grey stripe at the very bottom of every building where a red stripe belonged. Andy the Artist realised that he needed one more friend to make a stripe of red paint in order to complete the seven colours of a rainbow.

He scratched his head and took a walk along the beach to try to think of a way to paint a red stripe around the bottom of every building. He could not think of anyone who could paint so many buildings – and it would hurt a person's back to bend down so low. Andy kept walking along the sandy beach, thinking and thinking.

“Ouch!” cried Andy, as he suddenly felt a sharp pain. Mr Crabby Crab had crawled out from under a rock and snapped Andy's foot with a big pointy pincer! Mr Crabby Crab had an angry look in his two big eyes, as he did not like people disturbing him on his beach.

Suddenly Andy had an idea!

He rounded up Mr Crabby Crab and all his crab friends and tied a tiny paint brush on every pincer. Then he got them to dip their brushes in a big bucket of red paint and he set them to painting a stripe along the bottom of every building in the town.

When they had finished, everyone sang a song about their new Rainbow Town:

We thought it rather boring,

Living in a town of grey,

But thanks to all the crabby crabs,

It's Rainbow Town today!