Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Lily’s Underwater Journey

Author : Salsabeel Arabi

Illustrator : Husam Al-Tohamis

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The original work of this book was made possible through the generous support of the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) Partners (the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision, and the Australian Government). It was prepared by Asafeer Education Technologies FZ LLC and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ACR GCD Partners. Any adaptation or translation of this work should not be considered an official ACR GCD translation and ACR GCD shall not be liable for any content or error in this translation.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Lily and her father were out at sea on a big fishing boat.

Lily’s father sat on a chair and dangled his fishing rod in the water. As he sat and waited, he fell asleep beneath the rays of the warm sun.

Lily didn’t know what to do. She was really bored, so she stood on the edge of the boat and watched the beautiful, blue water.

A gust of wind blew her hair into her face and covered her eyes. Before she knew it, she lost her balance and fell into the sea.

She sank and sank and sank. Lily couldn’t breathe and feared she would drown!

But she calmed herself down and pulled out a small oxygen tank from her bag. She put the mask on and took a deep breath. Lily swam up towards the water’s surface but then she saw…

...a huge sea creature that looked like a vampire that had found its victim. She couldn’t tell if it was a whale or a shark. Lily froze from fear for a few seconds but then…

She swam with all her strength. It was as she had electricity coursing through her arms and legs which made her super fast and unstoppable. She hid in the wreckage of a sunken ship as her heart pounded.

She watched the whale shark circling and looking for her until it finally gave up. Lily took a deep breath and came out of her hiding place. She wondered, should she swim to the right or to the left?

She saw dim lights slowly swim by her. It was a school of small, luminous fish.

Lily followed the school. She then saw a fish that looked just like a stone swimming on the ocean floor. The stone fish opened its mouth and ate all the little fish that swam by as it lay there hiding.

A boneless fish passed by. It looked like a shapeless blob. Although it was small in size, the blob fish swallowed numerous little fish and weeds.

She felt the current suddenly change. A big fish was chasing a little one. Then something unexpected happened!!!

The little fish puffed up like a balloon with lots of spikes appearing all over its body! Suddenly the puffer fish turned around and now it was the one chasing the bigger fish.

The big fish escaped from the puffer fish, diving into the sand and disappearing.

Lily was amazed by the wonders of the ocean and all the new creatures she was discovering. She was intrigued by the angler fish who couldn’t shut their mouths because of their oversized teeth. There was so much to discover down below!

But just then she bumped into something… She woke up a giant squid from a sound sleep. He scowled as he chased her away.

Lily swam and swam, but the squid chased her wherever she went.

He was about to wrap one of his tentacles around her when a pod of dolphins surrounded her and saved her life.

Lily held onto one of the dolphins as it carried her away from the scary giant squid.

Once Lily was safely away from the giant squid, she looked down and saw an oyster sparkling on the ocean floor. She swam down to investigate it with her dolphin friend. She gently opened one of the oysters.

Inside were precious pearls! She took the oyster and put it in her bag.

The dolphin carried her to the surface where she found her father’s empty fishing line still dangling in the water.

Lily took the oyster from her bag, attached it to the fishing line and tugged.

She slid off the dolphin’s back, met its gaze and gently patted its face and bid it goodbye. Lily then climbed back into the boat.

Feeling the tug on his fishing line, Lily’s father woke up and reeled in his rod to find an oyster on the hook. When he opened it up, he was amazed to see the pearls inside.

He yelled, “Lily! Come look what I caught!”

Lily looked and said, “Wow! Those pearls are beautiful, Dad!” with a sweet smile on her face. “They will be a make a great souvenir.”

The End