1. WELCOME, CAMILLO!
Once upon a time, on the warm island of Madagascar, in the shadow of the equator between coloured flowers and palm trees, a little chameleon was born. But how strange! He wasn’t green like all the other chameleons, he was rather colourless… he never cried, he seemed very happy and was always smiling.
His mother and father were very happy and decided to call him Camillo, the little white chameleon.
2. I’VE LOST MY COLOURS!
As Camillo grew up, he wanted to make friends with two bigger chameleons, big fat Leo, who liked to rhyme all the time, and sharp, long, unfriendly Tanino.
One day, as the three of them were playing in a tree, Tanino mocked Camillo: “Little Camillo, listen to me! Come and play hide and seek in the tree!” Camillo followed his two friends happily, watching Leo, who became as brown as the branch and spurred him on by singing, “Change your colour, make it quick, or I’ll beat you purple with a stick, yo!” Camillo jumped from one tree to another, but remained pale green: “I can’t do it, how do you change colour?” Leo gave his friend Tanino a knowing smile and said, “Hold your breath to change your shade, but if you sleep your colour will fade, yo!” Little Camillo’s eyes popped out of his head and he blushed, while Tanino rolled about laughing…
3. UH OH, MY TUMMY!
…Oh no! Camillo lost his balance and fell from the tree into a bush full of strange, round, red fruit. Instead of helping him, Leo and Tanino laughed and Camillo looked at them sadly, “Ouch! Humph! How do you become all colourful?” Leo came down from the tree and said seriously, “Ahahaha, pooooor Ca-ca-millo, you won’t change colour if you fly, but perhaps eat the berries, give it a try! Yo!” Camillo trustingly jumped into the middle of the bush and stuffed himself with berries, covering himself with red, and cried, “look, guys!” It’s starting to work!” Leo and Tanino laughed so much that they cried, while little Camillo had a painful, bloated stomach and a distraught expression- he was feeling ill because of the berries. “Ouch, my tummy hurts so much!”
The two not-so-friendly friends lifted little Camillo up roughly and dumped him in front of his front door. Leo threatened him: “Ca-ca-camillo, tell your mum and I’ll give you a fright, and you’ll remain forever white!” Camillo dawdled at the door and promised,” “I swear, I won’t say anything, as long as we can play together again tomorrow…” Tanino and Leo looked at each other knowingly and smiled, “Of course, friend!”
As Leo headed off, he said seriously, “Yes, but we’re going to do it our way, at Find the Colour we shall play, But if you don’t change shade, if you stay white, you’ll be out of the gang tomorrow night, yo! Adios!”.
4. READY FOR COLOUR!
Camillo, feeling sad and with his tummy going brum brum, was met by his mother who gave him a cup of hot tea and put him to bed, while he grumbled, “Humph! Mum, why can’t I change colour like my friends?” His mum tucked him into bed and reassured him, “Sometimes, dear little Camillo, we are different from other people but at the same time we’re the same… you have to accept the differences.” Camillo looked at her in confusion, “but why?”, he asked. While kissing him goodnight, his mother replied, “You have to be yourself, Camillo, without copying other people. Be yourself and you’ll always have lots of friends who love you and accept you for who you are… Goodnight, my darling!” He looked at her, touched, and said, “Goodnight, mum!”
But, in the darkest of night, Camillo got out of bed and crept into the kitchen. Here he had a crazy, perhaps ingenious idea: he collected tins of red tomato sauce, green vegetable purée, blue insect pulp and yellow fruit juice. He tied them together with a piece of string to make a special belt, singing happily, “it’s like magic, red, green, blue, yellow… it’s the formula for wonderful colour!” That said, Camillo finished his paint-bomb belt and looked just like a warrior ready to colour!
5. HELP! THE KING IS COMING
The day of the Chameleons’ Find the Colour battle dawned. Camillo and the two braggart friends lined up on the branches of their favourite tree. Big, fat Leo spurred the others on, “Co-co-colour, power to colour, Camillo’s the colour of snow, I’m like a rainbow, I’m the king, you’re nothing, I eat cherries, you eat berries, yo!... Chameleon, find the colour…. Blue!”
Tanino plunged into some blue flowers. Camillo followed him and poured the tin of blue insects all over himself, to make it look like he had really changed colour. Leo gave him a mean look, then gave the second order: “Chameleon find the colour… Green!” Camillo raced into the bush and covered himself with vegetables, but the mixture made him look like a multicoloured crocodile, while the two friends were imitating the leaves perfectly . “Camillo, you’re cheating!” shouted Tanino, but the moment he finished speaking, Leo covered his mouth and, with his eyes full of terror, pointed to a proud lion coming their way, “Be quiet! Don’t let him see us! He can manage without us! All he needs is a mouthful of stupid, off-white ca-chameleon!”
6. FRIENDS WITH A LION
Camillo froze with terror and trembled, wide-eyed, as the lion headed towards him with slow, menacing steps, “Help me, my friends, help me!” The two not-so-friendly friends did not move a muscle and, amongst the bushes that they were imitating so perfectly, all that could be seen were their twirling eyes. The lion came even closer, “Roarrrrrr! How dare you enter my territory? That means a snack for me…” From terror, Camillo moved to rage and, as if by magic, he stopped trembling, became a warrior and threw himself against the lion, “OK then! Fight me, king of the Savannah on holiday in Madagascar, I’m not afraid of you! If you eat me, you’ll have eaten a hero!”
Leo and Tanino were stunned and, trembling amongst the leaves, watched the scene, “What’s he doing? It’s amazing! That off-white little thing has the courage of a lion!” said Tanino; “Be quiet! Or the lion will have seconds as well as a snack!” In the middle of the field, Camillo moved back and forth like a karate black belt, “Come on lion, make a move!” But the lion did not move, and roared with laughter, “Funny little creature! You’re great… I’ve never met such a brave little monster! I like you…” A stunned Camillo did not know what to say, “Well…er… I mean… so, you’re not going to eat me then?” The lion picked him up, sat him on his head and smiled, “I’m not hungry… now you’re my little chameleon friend, my best friend! Courage is a rare gift these days my friends, did you know that?” Camillo said, clinging to his mane, “But I’m not even a real chameleon, I don’t know how to change colour…” The lion replied, “What does it matter? You have the heart of a lion!” and began to trot towards the forest. Suddenly, he stopped, turned towards the bush where Leo and Tanino were hiding, and called out, “And you two, I’ve seen you, I know you’re there! Roarrrrrrr”. The two friends can hurry away, colour or no colour. Ca-ca-camillo the lion heart, this is the lesson!”
Tanino said, “Be quiet!!”
Do you like the story? Colour it!
Download the boards. You can print it off and use your imagination to colour it.
Do you think you have given the story a new colour? Show us! Show all your FILA
friends your design and look at the gallery.
