Tiddalick The Frog
Tiddalick the Frog was the biggest frog in the world. He drank all the water of the billabong and left nothing for all the other animals. The rest of the animals devised a plan to make Tiddalick laugh to get all the water out again.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the Dreamtime, lived a frog called Tiddalick.
Tiddalick was the largest frog in the entire world. One very warm morning, he woke up feeling incredibly thirsty and started to drink the fresh water. He drank and he drank until all the fresh water was gone!
When the other animals arrived at the billabong to get their morning drink, they found it was all dried up. This made them very sad.
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They knew they needed to come up with a plan to get the water back, but they didn’t know how. After lots of thought they realised that the best way to get the water back was to make Tiddalick laugh. If they could make him laugh, then all the water would come spilling out of his mouth and back into the waterways.
The echidna rolled herself up into a tight little ball and rolled down the bank of the billabong like a bowling ball! The kangaroo laughed and so did the emu, but Tiddalick didn’t laugh.
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The wombat stood up on his hind legs and danced around until he fell over in the dirt! The Galah laughed and so did the goanna, but Tiddalick didn’t laugh.
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The kookaburra. She perched herself on a branch close to Tiddalick and told her funniest story. But still Tiddalick did not laugh.
Finally, the snake decided to try and make Tiddalick laugh. She started to dance and dance, wriggling and squirming all over the ground until she eventually tied herself into a knot. The knot was so tight that she struggled and struggled to untie herself but was stuck! Tiddalick watched struggle around, trying to untie herself, and let out a small chuckle.
That small chuckle turned into a rumbling in his tummy before it turned into a great big belly laugh! The water came gushing out of his mouth and filled the billabong back up once again. Every animal was then able to have a drink.
