In a bright, sunny meadow, ten friends got ready for a race. "I'm the fastest!" roared Leo the lion, shaking his big, fluffy mane. "No, I am!" zipped Pesi the cheetah, stretching her long legs.
"GO!" hooted Sofia the wise owl from her branch. Pesi the cheetah dashed ahead in a blur of spots! She was so fast, she didn't see a little puddle. SPLASH! She slipped and tumbled. "Oh no!" she cried, her leg was a little sore.
Gaj the elephant came stomping by. He was big and strong. He saw Pesi was sad. Instead of running past, he stopped. "Can I help?" he asked in his big, gentle voice. He carefully helped Pesi stand up with his trunk. Gaj learned it’s nice to be strong, but it's even nicer to be kind.
Next came Zinde the giraffe. With her long, long neck, she could see the whole race path. "Watch out!" she called down to Léim the rabbit. "There's a big bush of prickly thorns ahead!" Zinde learned that being able to see far could help her friends stay safe.
Léim the rabbit thanked Zinde and zipped a different way. He was so quick! He saw Mishka the bear trying to get a yummy honeycomb from a high branch. "I can help!" said Léim. He bounced up and down, shaking the branch until the honeycomb wobbled and fell right into Mishka's paws. Léim learned being fast was fun, but helping a friend was even better.
Mishka the bear shared his honey, and it was delicious! Then, they saw Brinco the monkey in a tangle. He had tried to swing on a vine, but it was full of knots! "Hee hee, I'm stuck!" he chattered. Mishka used his strong, gentle paws to untie the knots. Mishka learned that his big paws weren't just for stomping, but for helping too.
Brinco the monkey climbed up to thank Mishka. From above, he saw Yuki the penguin melting in the heat. Brinco swung down with a leafy branch and fanned him. He learned even silly climbing can help a friend.
Feeling much cooler, Yuki the penguin waddled on. He came to a little stream. On the other side was Lento the sloth, hanging from a branch and moving very, very slowly. "I... want... to... cross," said Lento. Yuki, a great swimmer, slid into the water and let Lento climb on his back. Yuki learned that even though he waddled on land, he was a super helper in the water.
Lento the sloth got off on the other side. "Thank... you," he smiled. He moved slowly, but he saw something everyone else had missed: a beautiful, sparkling finish line made of dewdrops on a spiderweb. Because Lento was slow, he noticed the tiny, beautiful things. He learned that going slow has its own special magic.
Soon, all ten friends arrived at the sparkling web. Leo the lion and Pesi the cheetah weren't first. Nobody was! They had all stopped to help. "Who won?" asked Leo. Sofia the owl hooted wisely, "You all did! You learned that being a good friend is the best prize of all." And they all cheered together.