About The Story
In this delightfully funny tale, a young boy arrives at school without his homework. When the teacher questions him, he launches into an unbelievable—but oddly logical—series of events that all began with a cat stuck on a tree. Every attempt to solve one problem leads to another: a broken ladder, a hammering noise that wakes the baby, chaos spreading through the house, a monkey eating the food, and finally a greedy dog that devours the boy’s homework. This style is reminiscent of the work of Anushka Ravishankar, often celebrated as the queen of humorous children’s writing. Her book 'Excuses! Excuses!' shows how inventive children can be when offering explanations for being late or forgetting their homework. Children everywhere can be wonderfully ingenious when it comes to making excuses, and this story captures that universal truth beautifully. With whacky humor and escalating mayhem, children aged 5–8 will delight in the unfolding chaos and may even recognize themselves in the boy’s imaginative storytelling.
Themes
Social and Emotional Learning
Family &Friends
Sub Themes
Responsibility & Accountability
Cause & Effect
Humor & Imagination
Parent-Teacher Guide
Learning Outcome
- Understand the impactof homelessness on children.
- Recognize global housing insecurity and its effect on education.
- Reflect on social exclusion and bullying due to poverty.
- Cultivate empathy and respect for all peers. Inspire strength and hope in children facing hardship.
Lesson Plan
- Before Reading: Discuss creative excuses.
- During Reading: Track cause-and-effect and predictions.
- After Reading: Explore responsibility and alternative choices
- Activities: Sequencing, role-play, silly excuses, responsibility charts.

Activities
- Cause-and-Effect Story Chain Children arrange story events in sequence.
- Create Your Own Silly Excuse Write or draw a playful excuse using 3 chain-reaction events.
- Role-Play: Teacher & Student Act out the excuse scene with sound effects.
- Responsibility Reflection Chart Children write one responsible action they will take.
- Animal Antics Puppets Create puppets of the cat, monkey, dog, and baby to retell the story.
- Chain Reaction STEAM Experiment Build a simple domino chain to visualize cause-andeffect.

Story Discussion Guide
Before reading
- Have you ever forgotten something important?
- Have you ever given a funny excuse?
- Why do people make excuses?

During reading
- Why does the boy want to rescue the cat?
- Predict what might happen next.
- What happened next?
- How does one event cause another?

After reading
- Which part was the funniest?
- Was the boy telling the truth or exaggerating?
- Why is responsibility important?
- Is it okay to make silly excuses sometimes?
- How do our actions affect others?

Applicable Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 4 – Quality Education
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