Harry the Poisonous Centipede (14 page)

1. Hoo-Min
   
2. Up–Pipe
   
3. Big-yellow-ball
   
4. No-top-world
   
5. Hairy biter
   
6. Bright-time
   
7. Belly-crawle
   
8. White-choke
   
9. Meat-mountain
   

What do you think Harry and George would call these?

A snail

A car

An apple

A bunch of flowers

Rain

Centipedish is hard because all the vowels are left out. See if you can understand what Harry is saying!

To make it easier, here are some sentences in Centipedish, with x's where the vowels should go. Can you put in A,E,I,O or U in the right places?

1. My nxmx xs Hxrry. Whxt's yxxrs?
   
2. Lxxk bxhxnd yxx!!!! Xt's x hxge hxxry bxtxr!!! Rxn!!
   
3. X'm hxngry, Mxm! Cxn X hxvx sxmx sxppxr?
   

What does the next beetle in the series look like?

What is worse than an alligator with toothache?

A centipede with athlete's foot

What goes 99-clonk, 99-clonk, 99-clonk?

A centipede with a wooden leg

You need:

An adult to help with melting and pouring the chocolate, a swiss roll, a 250g block of chocolate, a packet of liquorice sticks, or chocolate fingers, two marshmallows and some small round coloured sweets.

What you do:

1. Put the swiss roll on a big plate.
   
2. Break up the chocolate into squares and put it in a small saucepan.
   
3. Get an adult to put a little water into another, bigger saucepan and put the first saucepan inside the second, so that the handle sticks out. Ask the adult to put the saucepans on a VERY LOW heat. But don't touch the chocolate! It's still going to get very hot.
   

WATCH OUT:
Chocolate MUSTN'T get too hot, or it goes dry and crumbly, so get the adult to check that the water in the bottom saucepan doesn't dry out. Don't splash any water into the chocolate, either.

When the chocolate is smooth and creamy, ask the adult to pour it over the swiss roll, so that the cake is evenly coated.

Wait until the chocolate has started to cool. Cut a liquorice stick lengthwise in two to make feelers for your centipede. Stick them firmly in one end of the swiss roll at the top. Use the marshmallows to make eyes and the small coloured sweets to divide the body into segments.

Now take the liquorice sticks or chocolate fingers and press them into the cooling chocolate coat to make “legs” for your centipede. (Make as many as will fit.) Leave the cake for about an hour until the chocolate has hardened. Cut a slice.

Yum!

If you think that George and Harry's idea of a yummy snack is yeuch!, try some of these strange dishes from around the world.

France

Snails

Australia

Kangaroo

Korea

Live eels

Asia

Deep fried scorpions, silk worms & cockroaches

USA

Grilled rattlesnake

Scotland

Haggis – sheep's stomach stuffed with mincemeat

Japan

Fugu – a fish so poisonous that if there is a mistake in the way it is prepared, the diner will die. Every year there are fatal accidents…

Tibet

Tea with rancid butter made of yak's milk

Iceland

Shark

Mexico

Roasted grasshoppers

Bali

Black rice pudding

George said to Harry, “My grandpa is only six days older than my dad.”

“Don't believe you,” said Harry.

George was right – how come?