Noko's Surprise Party

This story about good friends Takadu the aardvark and Noko the porcupine is set in Africa. Takadu plans a surprise birthday party for Noko and sends out invitations to the other animals – everyone, that is, apart from Greedy Hyena because he’s so bad-mannered. Hyena metes out his revenge by eating all the figs that Takadu has spent the whole day picking especially for the party. But Hyena’s plan to ruin the party backfires because the other animals end up having a lot of fun picking figs and playing together. Noko sees Hyena watching grumpily and invites him to join in (he wants everyone to be happy on his birthday). So a good time is had by all in the end. The unusual illustrative style is particularly eye-catching and complements the narrative well. I’m less certain about whether the story is quite as compelling.