The Boy and the Chameleon

Leo is a curious boy who is fascinated by every creature that crawls or flies. When his teacher Ms. Reed announces the school science fair, he picks chameleons as his topic. At home he studies a big book and draws a bright green chameleon with turquoise and yellow bands and a curled spiral tail. A visit to the pet shop with his mom introduces him to Cam, a small chameleon whose turret eyes look in two directions at once. Leo returns every afternoon with a notebook clipped to his belt, recording what he sees.

At first Leo believes the colors are simply for hiding, since Cam turns brown on a rock and green on leaves. Then Cam flashes bright yellow and orange near another chameleon named Pip, standing out instead of blending in. Leo charts each color and event, and Ms. Reed wonders whether the colors might be messages. With his classmate Maya, he tests the idea by moving Pip across the tank and starts to notice a pattern. Written by Çınar BİBER, this tale can be read on Masalcı Baba.