Season 3, introduction
The island nation of Cuba is full of amazing animals. One of the most fascinating is the tiny bee hummingbird, also called the zunzuncito. I was inspired by this little hummingbird and, with some motivation from my students, I wrote a short novel called “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. For this third season of Simple Stories in English, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week.
This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, hummingbird, frog, and flower.
Zunzuncito’s Adventure
The island of Cuba is in the Caribbean Sea. It is only 90 miles from the coast of the state of Florida. Cuba is the biggest island in the Caribbean with 42,000 square miles. But it is not very big compared to other countries.
Cuba is very interesting. It has a lot of biodiversity. There are mountains and plains. There are rivers, lakes, and the sea. There is a large variety of animals. There are some animals that only live on the island of Cuba. These are called “endemic” animals.
One of the most special animals in Cuba is the hummingbird. A hummingbird is a small, fast bird. Its wings move very quickly. Hummingbirds suck nectar from flowers. They also eat very small insects.
There is a special kind of hummingbird in Cuba. It is called the bee hummingbird. It has the name bee hummingbird because it is a very small hummingbird. It is as small as a bee. The bee hummingbird also has another name. In Cuba, it is called zunzuncito, which means “little zoom zoom”. The zunzuncito is only two and a half inches long. It is the smallest bird in the whole world!
In my book “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”, there is a bee hummingbird that is tired of being small. Being small causes problems for Zunzuncito. He doesn’t want to be the smallest bird in the world – he wants to be big!
Zunzuncito gets help from a special frog. It is a pygmy frog named Monty. Monty is also small. He is smaller than Zunzuncito. But Monty has an idea. He knows about a magic flower. When an animal or insect sucks the magic flower’s nectar, he receives anything he wishes.
So, Zunzuncito and Monty have an adventure to find the magic flower. Zunzuncito has a wish. He wants to suck the magic flower’s nectar and become big.
On their way to the flower, Zunzuncito and Monty meet several animals from Cuba. They meet Maja, a boa constrictor endemic to Cuba that is 20 feet long! They meet Tocororo, Cuba’s national bird that bears the bright blue, white, and red of the Cuban flag. They meet Polly, a Cuban painted snail, with a multicolored shell.
Zunzuncito and Monty meet dogs, cats, spiders, insects, and turtles. Some animals help the tiny adventurers and others cause problems.
Zunzuncito has a grand adventure. At the end of his adventure, he needs to decide what his wish really is. Does he really want to be big, or does he want something else?
I am very excited to share chapters of “The Adventure of Zunzuncito” with you in this season of Simple Stories in English!
You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!
Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.
I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!
