The plains of the savannah are home to some of the world’s most majestic creatures, but this is not a book about them. This is a book about the other animals that don’t always get the limelight; the dumpy, the lumpy and the smelly. When five less than pretty animals get together they all decide that they are the ugliest creatures around. Can anyone love a face as hideous as theirs? They’re perhaps the most infamous scavengers of all, and they’re very good at what they do. In fact, they clear up to 70% of the carrion in Africa, helping prevent the spread of disease in animals and humans. 3. Wildebeest I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.

I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. These birds are unusually shaped, with a bald head and wisps, which makes them worthy of being added to the ugly five. They measure 1.5 metres in height and have a wingspan of 2.6 meters. A fascinating fact about marabou storks: they have hollow legs and feet that allow them to fly. Pregnancies for female wildebeests last for approximately 8.5 months. They give birth in middle of herd. Bring along a camera with a long lens if you can. You’ll definitely want to get some close-ups of the ‘uglies’. So why didn’t I like it as much as her other books? I think there wasn’t enough plot to keep the story moving along. I read it to six groups of key stage 1 children, and the Year 2s were definitely a bit twitchy. The rhyme is incredibly clever, but there is a lot of it and so for a picture book it is quite wordy. Also, there was no dramatic tension. In The Gruffalo, we are worried that the mouse will be eaten, in Room in the Broom, the witch needs to be rescued and in Tiddler, the protagonist needs to get home. But in The Ugly Five, there are five animals out for a walk and then they meet their children.

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There are strong PSHE messages about celebrating everyone as they are and not judging on appearance. Many of the children commented on how important it was to love everyone, no matter what they look like. The book would also be a good starting point for a discussion on family and love within the family. As a faith school, we could then expand this further to discuss the concept of how we are all unique and yet loved by God.

They feast on carrion that could otherwise spread pathogens and they break through the tough hides of carcasses, making them more accessible to weaker scavengers. 2. Vulture Curiously, warthogs are omnivorous, meaning they can eat both vegetation and meat. Their diet consists mostly of grass, bulbs, and roots, but they will occasionally scavenge for meat scraps. Who would have thought? An Unsightly Summary of The Ugly 5 The term ‘Ugly 5’ refers to a group of the five ‘ugliest’ animals in Africa that you can spot on a safari. It’s a rather brutal classification, and in reality, all animals are beautiful in their own way. Sure, they have a rather odd posture, an unflattering grin, and a slightly sinister face. Their portrayal in The Lion King didn’t do much for their reputation either. But hyenas are hardly hideous, and their cubs are even particularly cute. Their preferred habitat is open grasslands. They use seasonal migration as an optimal survival strategy to access and use large areas of resources, minimising overgrazing in both dry and wet seasons.These large birds are commonly found in the Lowveld. They are crucial species when it comes to cleaning up the environment. Like hyenas and vultures, they feed on carrion (decaying flesh) and thus provide a huge service to other animals, with regards to diseases spreading. They are also opportunistic fishers often seen on the edges of waterholes, but will also feed on anything from termites to smaller birds. Marabou storks in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi tinged by Marcel The book is about the animals known on safari as the Ugly Five - the cosmetically challenged companions of the more famous Big Five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and elephant). They are the wildebeest, warthog, spotted hyena, lappet-faced vulture and Marabou stork. The Ugly Five are an odd-looking bunch with a bad reputation. Yet each of them has their own unique and fascinating story. Some are vital to their ecosystems, while others dazzle us with spectacular wild shows.

Their faces are pointy with strange-looking snouts, and their tusks aren’t exactly pretty. Then there’s their leathery skin which is peppered with exactly the wrong amount of coarse hair. Wildebeests reproduce rapidly and give birth to approximately 150 offspring each spring.To impress the females, some of the dominant males perform elaborate mating rituals. Find all of the rhyming words in the book. Can you make your own rhyming dictionary using some of the words? In reality, warthogs are quite intelligent. They sleep underground at night, yet they don’t dig their own burrows. Rather, they steal them from other animals, such as aardvarks. Not a kind move, but a clever one.Think about how the different animals move. Could you try to recreate these movements? Could you put together a dance or a performance to show these movements? Their powerful jaws can crush the bones of some of Africa’s largest animals, and their strong stomach acid makes easy work of any meal. Hyenas will eat almost anything, including hoofs and bones. 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. The name ‘warthog’ doesn’t scream ‘ good looking’. And there’s no hiding the fact that they’re rather ill-favored in the beauty department.