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Raintree 2 Ammu’s Kitten

 Summary: Ammu’s Kitten

This play revolves around a little girl called Ammu and her desire for a pet kitten. Ammu fabricates a

story about an imaginary pet kitten called Shankar. She describes Shankar in great details to her

friends, right down to his food habits. She lands in trouble, however, when the friends insist on

coming home to see Shankar. She requests her father to buy her a kitten but he laughs off her

request. Ridden with guilt, Ammu falls ill and misses school the next day. That evening when her

friends come home, she feels she should tell them the truth.

However, before Ammu can confess, her friends tell her that they saw Shankar in the garden. Ammu

cannot believe her ears and rushes to the garden to see that they were telling the truth. Although

the story does not say how Shankar came there, students can easily guess that her parents bought

the kitten for her.

The story points out how we humans are not completely black and white, but a mix of grey. On the

one hand, Ammu is an animal lover but on the other hand, she does not hesitate in telling lies. She

does realise eventually that lying is not good and she is prepared to confess that she lied; this proves

she is a good human being at the core. 

UNIT 10 AMMU’S KITTEN

EMBEDDED QUESTIONS

1. Suggested response: Ammu really wanted a kitten. May be she lied to her friends because she wanted them

to think she had a kitten and that she was cool.

2. fish, milk

Comprehension

A. pet kitten; friends; house; Achan; lie; garden

B. 1. Ammu lies to her friends at school that she has a pet kitten named Shankar. She also says that the

kitten is grey and has white spots. She says that Shankar eats bananas and plays ball with her in

the garden.

2. a) Ammu says this to her friends.

b) Ammu’s friends want to come home to see her pet kitten, Shankar. She is scared that they will

find out she told them a lie. So she says this to stop them from coming home.

3. Ammu is worried and sad because she told a lie to her friends. She does not know what she will do

if they come home and find out that she doesn’t have a pet kitten.

4. Ammu requests Achan to buy a kitten for her.

C. Ammu did not have a pet kitten. She told her friends a lie that she had one. She requested her father

to buy a kitten for her but he just laughed. She thought he would not buy her a kitten. So, she was

surprised to see Shankar. Her parents may have bought the kitten for her.

D. a

Grammar
5. elephant (2nd pic)
A. 2. He eats bananas.
3. She is singing a song.
4. He likes to drink milk.
5. My friends laughed loudly.
3. bee (2nd pic)
6. 9 o’clock (1st pic)
B. 2. girl in 1st pic
C. 2. Which 3. Where 4. Who
4. sea (2nd pic)
5. When

Vocabulary
1. powerful 2. useful 3. colourful 4. careful 5. helpful
Writing
(Suggested Answer)
Rohit and his family are camping in a field. Rohit is playing cricket with Father. Seema is flying a
kite near the tent. Pooja is jumping (on the trampoline) / playing. Mother is sitting at the table and
drinking juice.
(Accept any logical answer)

AMMU’S KITTEN

A. Answer in brief.

1. What does Ammu want? What does she tell her friends at school?

 Ans: Ammu wants a pet kitten, but she does not have one. At school, she tells her friends that she

has a beautiful kitten.

2. Who are Ammu’s friends? How does she describe her kitten to them?

 Ans: Venu, Abdul, Kumari and Unni are Ammu’s friends. She tells them that she has a beautiful

grey kitten with white spots.

3. What does Amma see when she goes to Ammu’s room, the next morning?

 Ans: Amma finds Ammu in bed even at 8 in the morning. When she touches Ammu’s forehead,

she finds that Ammu has a fever.

B. Answer in detail.

1. What does Ammu tell her friends when they say that they want to come and see Shankar?

 Ans: When Ammu’s friends say that they want to see Shankar, she asks them not to come as he is

afraid of crowds. When they say that they will then come home one by one, Ammu says they may

not be at home that day.

2. What happens when Ammu’s friends come to visit her? Why is Ammu shocked?

 Ans: When Ammu’s friends visit her, Ammu wants to tell them that she had lied. But, before she

says anything, her friends tell her that they have seen Shankar. Ammu is shocked as she does not

own a kitten.

3. How does Ammu feel about lying? What did you learn from this story?

 Ans: Ammu is very worried and sad. She feels very bad about lying to her friends as one lie leads

to another. We learn that lying is wrong. When we make something up, we say something that is

not true.


C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. “Achan, please could you buy a kitten for me?

 a. Who does Ammu ask for a kitten?

 b. Why does she want a kitten so urgently?

 c. Did she get a kitten before her friends came?

 Ans: a. Ammu asks her father for a kitten.

 b. She lied to her friends that she had a kitten and they were coming to see it. So she wants

a kitten urgently.

 c. Yes, her friends say that they saw Shankar, her kitten, in the garden.

2. Oh! I made that up! (Ammu’s Kitten)

 a. Who made it all up?

 b. What all did she make up?

 c. Which one lie about Shankar turned out to be true?

 Ans: a. Ammu made it all up.

 b. Ammu told them that Shankar was grey with white spots and was scared of crowds. She

said that he liked to play with a ball.

 c. Shankar really loved bananas, which was true.




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