Leo Armadillo from Argentina

Larry the Letter Carrier hopped into Argentina the other day and began telling me how busy he has been jumping all over the globe delivering the new book, Eelfish a Rock and Roll King, written by Liz Salton! And I was like, whoa mate – I got my copy, and it inspired me to follow my dream to become a duckpin champion! Larry was like, whoa mate – put it in a letter so I can share with my online friends.

Hello! My name is Leo Armadillo, and I am a southern 3-banded armadillo from Argentina. I have always dreamed of being a duckpin champion! Let me tell you a little bit about myself, Argentina, my friends, and duckpin.

Argentina is in South America and a game called Pato is the national sport. There are other sports played as well, such as soccer, rugby, and cricket. The least played game is duckpin, but it is the most played by me and my friends.

Pato is a game played on horseback where the player tries to get a ball into a basket. An armadillo on horseback is not a good combo! Duckpin on the other hand is right up an armadillo’s alley! Me and my friend Franko roll into balls and roll wobbly down an alley and knock down short fat pins! Not all my friends can play. The Brazilian three-banded armadillo and the southern three-banded armadillos are the only ones that can roll their bodies into balls. But our other friends, like Paola the pink fairy armadillo, like to come along to cheer us on. Me and Franko go head-to-head and tail to tail competing against each other to be the best duckpin player in Argentina! Franko knows how much being a champion means to me, so he pushes me to be my best. He is the best friend ever! We play every day to roll ourselves to regional competitions. One day I will be a duckpin champion! It will take a lot of work since there has only been one Argentinian to ever play internationally. But I know I can do it if I stick to it!

We don’t always play duckpin. Most of my other friends prefer swimming to any other sport. We are excellent swimmers and also enjoy walking along the bottom of streams. Josefina is a giant armadillo and is the best swimmer of all, she can hold her breath for up to six minutes underwater!  Paola enjoys “swimming” in sand! She actually just burrows really fast through sand, so it looks like she is swimming. She is a very unique armadillo; she doesn’t have a hard shell like the rest of us, and she can only be found in Argentina.

That about wraps it up! A little bit about me, Argentina, my friends and duckpin!

Remember, writing is right on! So, write a comment below.

Your friend,

Leo Armadillo

Do you remember? What is the name of the book by Liz Salton? What type of armadillo is Leo? What is the national sport of Argentina?

Additional tidbits – Armadillos can be found in North and South America, but the pink fairy armadillo is indigenous to Argentina. Armadillos range in size from the giant armadillo who weighs almost 120 pounds and is over 5 feet long, the southern three-banded armadillo is about 9 inches long. They weigh about 3 pounds. The pink fairy armadillos are the smallest of armadillos. They are about 4 inches long and weigh about 4 ounces, about the size of a hamster! An interesting fact about Pato, the national sport of Argentina, is that Pato means duck in Spanish. The game was originally played trying to get a duck into a net!