Extrait du livre Vipo in Venice- Betty kidnapped
Join us today as VIPO and his friends, Henry the Stork and Betty the toy cat, travel to one of the most amazing, beautiful and wonderful cities in the world: Venice, Italy. Additional Info: Wow, Venice is over a thousand years old! All the buildings in Venice were built on piles sunk into the ground under water.
At first, VIPO thinks the city is sinking. There’s water everywhere! But then, Henry explains that Venice is built on the water. It is made up of a few islands in a shallow lagoon. “There are over 150 canals in Venice, and over 400 bridges!” he says.
They land on the main square, St. Mark’s Square. It is full of people feeding the many pigeons that live there. “Pigeons! I love pigeons!” yells Betty, and jumps out of VIPO’s backpack. She starts chasing the pigeons and scaring them all away.
“Later, we can take a tour of the canals and the city in a gondola,” Henry says to VIPO, as they feed breadcrumbs to the remaining pigeons. “What’s a gombola, Henry?” VIPO wants to know. “A gondola,” Henry corrects him and laughs.
Henry explains that a gondola is a special kind of boat, found only in Venice. It’s just like a taxi, only on water. It’s the main means of transportation that people in Venice use, to get from one place to another! Additional Info: The man who stands on a gondola is called the "gondolier." He steers the gondola with a single oar!
Meanwhile, Betty is still chasing the pigeons around the square, sending them flying in all directions. Betty is having a lot of fun. But the boss of the pigeons, Don Leone, doesn’t look very happy about it. Oh oh!
Who does this annoying toy cat think she is?” he mutters, and then he calls: “Luca! Armando!” Two of his trusty assistants jump to his side. “Nobody messes with us pigeons…” whispers the Don angrily.
“Meow!” Look what the pigeons have done to Betty! Looks like she got a little carried away! “VIPO! Henry! Help me!” she cries, as the angry pigeons fly away with her, into the skies over Venice. Additional Info: Did you know that pigeons are almost everywhere in the world, except for the Arctic and Antarctic, where it's too cold for them!
“Betty! We’ll save you!” VIPO and Henry quickly fly to the rescue, racing after her. A fast and furious chase commences between the towers and over the rooftops of the beautiful city. VIPO almost catches her a few times, but just misses.
