La Larga y Corta Historia de Colo y Ruff

Colo el puma y su amigo Ruff el gato montés saltan y juegan juntos, pero descubren que Ruff no puede saltar tan lejos como Colo. Ruff no tiene una cola larga y elegante como la de Colo, para darle balance en los saltos más largos. La cola de Ruff es mucho más corta. Está seguro de que algo no está bien con él. La comprensiva Colo sugiere que busquen una cola que le guste más a Ruff y salen a buscarla. Los dos felinos exploran una variedad de colas de otros animales y hacen el mejor descubrimiento de todos.

English Translation: Colo the cougar and her friend Ruff jump and play together, but they find that Ruff can t jump nearly as far as Colo. Ruff doesn t have a long, swishy tail like Colo does, to provide balance on long leaps. Ruff is a bobcat and his tail is much shorter. He is sure that something is wrong with him. The sympathetic Colo suggests that they go find a tail that Ruff would like better, so off they go. As the two kittens explore the variety of tails worn by other animals, they make the best discovery of all.

Keywords: Spanish, cougar, bobcat, tail, physical adaptations, tails

Diane Lang volunteers at two different nature centers where she gives programs and classes to share nature with young children-and that love of sharing nature led her to her writing picture books. In addition to authoring The Long and Short Tail of Colo and Ruff for Arbordale, Diane's other books include Daytime, Nighttime, All Through the Year; Vulture Verses, Love Poems for the Unloved and Fur, Feather, Fin: All of Us Are Kin. Diane lives in California with her husband and several beloved pets-a gentle snake, two dogs, two tortoises, and two sweet tarantulas.

Award-winning illustrator Laurie Allen Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 25 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals to illustrating children's activity books. Laurie has also illustrated Dear Komodo Dragon, Saving Kate's Flowers, Balloon Trees, Fur and Feathers, The Ghost of Donley Farm, If a Dolphin Were a Fish, Little Skink's Tail, Meet the Planets, Solar System Forecast, They Just Knowand Where Should Turtle Be? for Arbordale. Laurie lives in Florida.