「Poppet」

兵庫県　神戸海星女子学院小学校　５年　 呉　愛梨

Once upon a time in Africa, there was a baby elephant.
His name was Poppet.

One day his mum cried,“Run!”
Poppet didn't understand.
“Why?”he asked her.
“Because I saw a mouse!”his mum said,“and all elephants are scared of a mouse!”

“What's a mouse?”Poppet asked.
He went into the jungle.
“Are you a mouse?”
“No, I'm a frog!”
“No, I'm a lizard!”
“No, I'm a beetle!”
“I'm a caterpillar!”

Poppet looked for mice near the river.
“Are you a mouse?”
“No. I'm a snake!”
Poppet found an animal in the grass.
“Are you a mouse?”
“Yes! My name's Momo.”

“Elephants are scared of mice,”Momo said,“because we're small!”
“Mice like running into holes ... and elephants have holes in their trunks!”
“Ugh!”Poppet said.
“Don't be scared!”Momo said.

“Mice don't like running into elephants' trunks.
But can I look inside yours?”Momo asked.
Poppet was scared, but Momo did not go into his trunk.
Then, Poppet sneezed.
“A... a... chooo!”

Mum and the elephants came.
When they saw Momo near Poppet's trunk, they were unhappy.
They were angry with Poppet and scared of Momo.
Poppet said,“Momo's my friend. Look!”

Momo slowly walked up the outside of Poppet's trunk!
“Hooray!”everyone cried,“mice are nice!”

　発音やリズム、イントネーションが良いのはもちろんですが、表現力がとても豊かで他の作品と差がつきました。ぞうの赤ちゃん“Poppet”と他の昆虫の声色を変えたり、上手に間をとったりすることができています。また、声量も聞きやすく、相手を意識したスピーチになっていることがうかがえます。今回は昨年に続き、二度目の入賞となりますが、今後のさらなる成長が期待されます。