The Ugly Five

Product Information

My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. The stomach acid of a vulture is more powerful and corrosive than that of other birds or animals. These scavengers can eat rotting carcasses infected by dangerous bacteria, as the acid kills the bacteria and does not threaten their health. Bring along a camera with a long lens if you can. You’ll definitely want to get some close-ups of the ‘uglies’. The ugly five include the wildebeest, marabou stork, warthog, vultures, and the spotted hyena. IMPOSSIBLE FIVE. The size of a hyena’s kill or scavenge depends on the size of its clan, which can range between 12 and 24 hyenas. Some clans even have more members. Any extra food will be hidden in watering holes. Hyenas never waste anything. They will even feed on the hooves of their prey. Did You Know?

Tell a hyena that it’s ugly and it will probably ‘laugh’ in your face. In all honesty, they’re not terribly unattractive. The (blue) wildebeests are popular for the great migration in Africa, as they can be witnessed moving in groups of thousands of individuals. They are herbivores and thus in the drier months, like any other animal has to go there where food and water can be provided in abundance.

Creative Play

The reader would need to have experience of empathy and support so they could put themselves in that situation and see what it may be like to feel that you are not beautiful or wanted. The story teaches about friendships and the importance of family. It allows children to explore ‘beauty’ and how there is more than what meets the eye. However, when exploring the narrative of this story teachers may need to be wary of the past experiences that the children may have had before digging deeper into the teachings the story could hold. The birds in the Ugly 5 group are both completely dependent on carcasses for their meals, and perhaps the gruesomeness of their ecological niche is a little distasteful. But vultures are quite beautiful in the air, with broad wingspans and effortless grace. Think of some speech / thought bubbles to add to the illustrations. What are the animals saying / thinking? There would be lots of ways to incorporate The Ugly Five into teaching. It would fit beautifully into any topic work on Africa or animals, particularly looking at how animals are suited to their habitats and the idea of food chains - both the vulture and the hyena are seen scavenging - and also how animals grow. Fortunately for them, they got a friendlier portrayal in The Lion King. Most people think of them as the loveable, slightly daft ‘Pumbaa’.Which, in Swahili, actually means ‘to be absentminded, careless, foolish, ignorant, lazy, stupid, and negligent’.

I see Julia’s point. These animals aren’t on my list to see either. Still, I’m glad they have a book about them and a little bit of love thrown their way. The rhymes are great and this is a beautiful book.These animals are normally found in groups and they spend most of their time in search of food. Warthogs are members of the pig family and are widely distributed across Africa. These animals sleep underground in burrows which they steal from other animals such as the aardvark. When running through grass their tails stand up straight, and when in danger these animals choose to run, rather than fight. T The Ugly 5 is a whimsical listing of animals that includes the hyena, marabou stork, vulture, warthog and wildebeest. The list provides a fun alternative when the Big 5 are proving difficult to see. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many think the Ugly 5 are gorgeous. When it comes to animal spotting, most people are well aware of the ‘ Big 5’. Some may even have heard of the ‘Little 5’. Recently years a bit more attention has been given to other animals, again in the form of ‘fives’. However, the list is just created by Safari guides and conservationists who wanted people to give a look at other more elusive animal species in Africa’s wilderness. BIG 5.