As the sun went down, a group of goats gathered together. Jaina, one of the goats, said, “Tonight might be the night the chupacabra comes to visit us!”
Bumsie, another goat, replied, “Oh no! We don’t have anything ready for him. By the way, what is a chupacabra?”
Pep, the third goat, explained, “Well, you wouldn’t want to have dinner with him because he might eat us instead!”
Bumsie asked, “What does the chupacabra eat for breakfast?”
“Goats,” Jaina answered.
“And for lunch?” Bumsie continued.
“More goats,” Jaina said.
Pep shook his head and said, “No veggies? That’s not healthy!”
Bumsie had an idea. “I know how we can save ourselves! Wait, can chupacabras climb trees?”
Jaina replied, “I think they can, and besides, you can’t climb trees.”
“Right,” Bumsie said. “I guess I’ll just stay scared.”
Jaina encouraged the group, “Come on, goats! Let’s find the chupacabra before he finds us. We can scare him away!”
“Who’s with me?” she asked.
There was silence until Bumsie said, “Everyone is right here.”
“I mean, who will come with me?” Jaina clarified.
Pep said, “I would, but it’s too dark.”
Jaina pulled out a candelabra and said, “Not with this! The bravest will be in the back, and the most frightened in the front.”
Bumsie asked, “Don’t you mean the most frightened in the back?”
“No,” Jaina said. “The bravest is in the back to watch behind us. Let’s go!”
The goats walked nervously across the field. Pep asked, “How are we going to scare the chupacabra?”
Jaina replied, “There are lots of us and only one of him. That’s my plan so far.”
Soon, Bumsie felt something strange under his feet. “Welcome! Ha! That map won’t fool us,” Jaina said. “It’s a trap!”
Bumsie said, “The trap is delicious!”
Suddenly, a voice from the darkness said, “You know what else is delicious?”
The chupacabra jumped out, and the goats screamed. The lights went out, and the candelabra was gone!
“The chupacabra ate the candelabra!” Pep exclaimed.
Bumsie was surprised, “I thought he only eats goats.”
The chupacabra said, “Candelabras are my third favorite thing. Did you bring more? I’m still hungry.”
Jaina replied, “Sorry, we didn’t.”
The chupacabra asked, “Then what should I eat next?”
Pep suggested, “How about some veggies?”
Bumsie added, “And maybe chew your food. We can get you another candelabra.”
The goats hurried home, worried. Jaina said, “That was my only candelabra.”
Bumsie said, “If we give him more, maybe he won’t eat us.”
Pep agreed, “We need to find another candelabra.”
Just then, the chupacabra appeared again. “Nice place you have here,” he said.
Jaina asked, “Are you in the mood for weeds?”
The chupacabra replied, “No, I want cucarachas!”
He spotted one and gobbled it up. “The chupacabra ate the cucaracha!”
He asked for more, but Jaina said, “We don’t have any more.”
The chupacabra said, “No problem, because you have my favorite thing to eat.”
The goats were scared. “Please let that be weeds,” Pep said.
The chupacabra said, “No, my favorite thing is goat cheese!”
The goats sighed with relief. “We have lots of goat cheese,” Jaina said.
The chupacabra ate lots of goat cheese and even the plate and napkin!
In the end, the goats learned that the chupacabra wasn’t so scary after all, as long as they had goat cheese to share!
Chupacabra Snack Time: Imagine you are the chupacabra and you have to choose your favorite snacks. Create a list of three snacks you would like to eat if you were a chupacabra. Draw a picture of each snack and explain why you chose them. Share your drawings and ideas with your classmates.
Goat Cheese Recipe: The goats found out that the chupacabra loves goat cheese. With the help of an adult, find a simple recipe that uses goat cheese. Try making it at home and bring a picture or a sample to class to share with your friends. Discuss how the recipe turned out and what you liked about it.
Bravery Role Play: In the story, Jaina shows bravery by leading the goats to face the chupacabra. Think of a time when you had to be brave. Share your story with the class. Then, in pairs, act out a short scene where one of you is Jaina and the other is a goat, showing how you would face the chupacabra together. Discuss what it means to be brave and how you can help each other be brave in real life.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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**Title: The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra**
**By: Mark Tyler Nobleman**
**Illustrated by: Anna Aranda**
As the sun set, the goats gathered. “Tonight could be the night,” Jaina said, “the night the chupacabra comes for dinner.”
“On such short notice, but we have nothing prepared,” Bumsie replied. “By the way, what’s a chupacabra?”
“Let’s put it this way: you would not want to join us for dinner; he would eat us for dinner,” Pep said.
“How impolite!” Pep added.
“What does the chupacabra eat for breakfast?” Bumsie asked.
“Goats,” Jaina replied.
“For lunch?”
“More goats.”
“No veggies?” Pep said, shaking his head. “Not healthy.”
“I know how we can save ourselves,” Bumsie said. “Wait, can chupacabras climb trees?”
“I hear they can,” Jaina said. “Besides, you can’t.”
“Right,” Bumsie said. “I sort of stick with being frightened.”
“Come on, goats!” Jaina said. “I say we find the chupacabra before he finds us. We scare him off before he eats us.”
“Who’s with me?”
Nobody answered.
“I said, who’s with me?”
“Silly,” Bumsie said. “Everyone is right here.”
“I mean, who’s going with me?”
“I would,” Pep said, “but it’s too dark.”
“Not with this,” Jaina said, whipping out a candelabra. “Bravest in back, most frightened in front.”
“Don’t you mean most frightened in back?” Bumsie asked.
“No,” Jaina said. “The most frightened is in the back. We’ll have no one to watch behind him. Line up: bravest in back, me and the candelabra in front,” Bumsie said.
The goats filed nervously across the plains.
“Just how are we going to scare the chupacabra?” Pep asked.
“There’s lots of us and only one of him,” Jaina said. “That’s all I’ve thought of so far.”
Soon, Bumsie felt something other than grass underfoot.
“Welcome! Ha! That map won’t fool us,” Jaina said. “It’s a trap!”
“The trap is delicious,” Bumsie said.
“You know what else is delicious?” a voice said from the darkness.
The chupacabra jumped out. The goats called out, and poof! The lights went out. The candelabra was gone.
“The chupacabra ate the candelabra!”
“He swallowed it whole!” Pep exclaimed.
“But I thought the only thing he eats is goats,” Bumsie said.
“Candelabras are my third favorite thing,” the chupacabra said. “Did you bring more? I’m still hungry.”
“Sorry, we didn’t,” Jaina said.
“Then whatever shall I eat next?” the chupacabra asked.
“I recommend the veggies,” Pep suggested.
“And chewing,” Bumsie added. “We can get you another candelabra.”
“Oh, would it be any trouble?”
“Not at all! We’ll be back,” Bumsie said, “with me in back.”
The goats headed home to worry.
“That was the only candelabra I had,” Jaina said.
“But if we feed him more, maybe he won’t eat us,” Bumsie said.
“We have to find another candelabra,” Pep said.
“Or else…”
“Nice place you have here,” the chupacabra said, stepping out of the sunlight.
“Hey, Karambah!” the goat shrieked. “I came by just to tell you that I’m more in the mood for my second favorite thing to eat.”
“Might you mean weeds?” Jaina asked.
“If so, it’s our—I mean your lucky day.”
“No,” the chupacabra said. “What I crave are cucarachas.”
“And what do you know? Here comes one now!”
The chupacabra snatched it up and gulped it down.
“The chupacabra ate the cucaracha!”
“Might you have any more?” the chupacabra asked.
“We don’t, I’m afraid,” Jaina said.
“I’m also afraid,” Bumsie said, scampering off.
“No cucarachas, no candelabras,” the chupacabra said.
“We’re sorry again,” Jaina said.
“No problem,” the chupacabra said, “because you do have my favorite thing to eat.”
Jaina and Pep shuddered.
“Please let that be weeds,” Pep said.
“Would I come all that way for weeds? No! My favorite thing to eat is a candelabra!”
“Bumsie said, scampering back. “Say, goat, I found one! But that’s my third favorite thing to eat, remember?”
“The cucaracha!” Pep said, spotting one on the ground just in time. “But that’s my second favorite thing to eat!”
“We know,” Jaina said. “But here’s an idea: if you eat your third and second favorite thing at the same time, it might taste even better than your favorite thing.”
The chupacabra tried it.
The chupacabra ate the candelabra and the cucaracha.
“Thank you for the suggestion,” the chupacabra said, “but that was gross.”
The chupacabra straightened up and smacked his lips. “As I was saying, my favorite thing to eat is…”
“Goat!”
“Cheese!”
The goats sighed with relief.
“There’s lots of us and only one of you,” Jaina said.
“You’ll have so much goat cheese you’ll never be hungry.”
“But I’m always hungry,” the chupacabra said. “So I’ll eat anything.”
“Bubsy’s relief was brief. Does that include anyone?”
“Not friends, of course. Just everything else.”
“The whole chimichanga?”
“You mean the whole enchilada?” Pep asked.
“That too,” the chupacabra said, finishing off his 18th piece of goat cheese plus the plate and the napkin.
**The End**
[Applause]
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This version maintains the essence of the story while removing any inappropriate or unclear language.
