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Transcript

4.12.25 - Part 1 · Children's Hour

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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Radialized Children's Story Hour. As a reminder,
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RADII is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. Today we will be reading from various
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books about books. Your reader today is Diane and we
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will begin with the book How this Book Was Made.
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It was published by High Preing and in print of
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Disney Book and it has a copyright year of twenty sixteen.
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The author of the book is Mike Barnett. At first,
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this book wasn't a book. It was an idea. Ideas
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can come at funny times. When I had the idea
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for this book, I went to a quiet place and
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I wrote. I wrote from early in the morning until
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late at night. It was very hard work. Soon I
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had a bunch of words on paper. Those words were
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a first draft. The first draft of.
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Speaker 2: This book was not so good.
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Speaker 1: Neither was the second draft, or the third or the twelfth.
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But writing lots of drafts is a useful part of
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the writing process. For instance, when the tiger came back
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for revenge because I beat him in arm wrestling, I
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burned these drafts and scared him away. I worked and
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I worked, and with the twenty first draft, I was done.
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So I sent my words to my editor in New
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York City. An editor tells you what parts of your
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story are good and what parts.
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Speaker 2: You need to fix.
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Speaker 1: She is like a teacher, only she works in the
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skyscraper and is always eating fancy lunches. My editor called
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me and said, I love this. This is perfect. Now
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Here are all the things you have to change, and
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she sent the story back to me. I took some
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of her advice, and I ignored some of her advice,
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and then I sent the story back to her.
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Speaker 2: She sent the story.
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Speaker 1: Right back and asked me why I had ignored some
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of her advice, and I said I didn't think they
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were good ideas, and she said I thought they were
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great ideas. And I said, well, let's agree to disagree.
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And she said let's agree with me. And I said,
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you're not the boss of me. And it went back
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and forth, and back and forth and back and forth
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until most of the nice states of America was crossed out.
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Many Americans were not happy about this. Eventually, my editor
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loved all my words, and I loved all my words,
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even the tiger who had returned with the Posse loved
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all my words. I was finished writing, but this book
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was still not a book. The words needed pictures, so
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my editor in New York sent them to an illustrator
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in Arizona. It took the illustrator a very long time
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to draw all the pictures for this book. I don't
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know what he was doing that whole time, but he
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must have been working very hard. I sat around and waited. Finally,
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the illustrator sent all his artwork to New York, and
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his art and my text sat in the sky ice
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scraper waiting to be printed. Now, the fastest way to
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get this book to bookstores and libraries would be to
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print it nearby in New York or Philadelphia, or maybe
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even Miami. But this book was printed in Malaysia, Malaysia,
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where contraptions called printing presses rumble and steam. A lady
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put the words in the art into one side of
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the machine, and out the other came this book, and
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then another book, and another, and another, thousands and thousands
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of books. This book was very below a great pile
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so tall you could see it from space. Astronauts looked
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down at Earth that day and saw a stack of
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books and the great wall of China right next to
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each other. They smiled, then floated around a bunch while
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eating astronaut ice cream.
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Speaker 2: But that's science. This is literature.
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Speaker 1: And at last this book was ready to be read,
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and you needed to get to the United States as
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fast as it could. Of course, the fastest way would
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be to put them on a jt but this book
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got put on a boat. A slow boat took all
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the books across the sea. The journey was dull until
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the pirates arrived. The pirates swarmed the boat and quickly
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overran it. They tied up the crew and stole the
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captain's keys. The leads buccaneer kicked open the hatch to
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the ship's hold. The pirates held their breath and imagined
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their treasure. There was no going gold inside, just books.
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Pirates don't read, so they sailed away. When this book
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came into harbor, it was put on a truck. The
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driver put the truck into gear and drove down the highway.
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He breaked hard for a tiger crossing the road, and
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this book fell out the back, and eagles swooped down
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and grabbed this book. For a baby's to eat, not
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to read. Eagles don't read books either. She ripped a corner,
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but her chicks didn't like it. They pushed this book
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out of their nest. This book briefly sir as a
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roof for a toad, until it was picked up by
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a dog that brought it back to its owner, who
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lost it that night on a bad hand of poker,
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to a truck driver whose load was one book short,
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who made his delivery to a woman who put it
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on a shelf next to many other books. This book waited,
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and I waited, and the tiger waited, and as Polsey waited,
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and the pirates and astronauts, and the editor waited, and
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the illustrator, and the old lady and her dog waited,
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and the truck driver and the angry ink splattered Americans
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in the family of Eagles, and the people in Malaysia.
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Speaker 2: They waited.
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Speaker 1: We all waited here in this book, which was practically bursting,
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just waiting for someone to open it. Because a book
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can have words and pictures and paper and tigers, but
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a book still isn't a book, not really until it
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has a reader. And then you came along and you
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read this book through to the very.
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Speaker 2: Last page, which is how this book was made.
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Speaker 1: Our next story is called Dear Reader, a love Letter
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to Libraries. It was published like by Litchell B Books
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and has a copyright year of twenty twenty two. The
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author of the book is Tiffany Rose. Dear Reader. Do
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you see that little girl down there? That's me with
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the big hair, the one surrounded by all the books.
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Speaker 2: Look.
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Speaker 1: I devour so many books. I prefer them to meals.
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Books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a sight of
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adventures and heavy on the fields. Please big books, small books,
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thin books and tall books. Books about fish, alligators, science
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and shells. Books full of thrones, quest, friendship and dreams.
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Books and with brave heroines and heroes saving the day,
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overcoming every obstacle set in their way. I think of
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myself as a heroine too. In my catch ears, knee
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socks and my favorite green shorts, I'm ready to take
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on the worlds. From page to page, characters can become
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my best friends and make my heart sore, or they
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can become worthy adversaries to defeat with a clever plan.
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Even after spending all day in the library with them,
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I always want more and more and more. There was
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just this one thing this nagging suspicion that I didn't
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meet the criteria for a heroine's condition, and the books
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that I read, an absence of melanine was a clear omission.
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I looked at all the books that I loved, but
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could not remember a single solitary character that looked like
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myself in any of these different stories and fantastical worlds.
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There must be a mistake in oversight, a snaff foo,
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a misprint. So back to the library I went, searching
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for all the characters of the same hue, and all
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I found were books of struggle, hardship, and pain. The
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stories of Harriet, Malcolm Martin, and John Henry are surely
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one that needed to be told. But what of the
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brown people like me who could do magic, fight villains,
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and find lost cities of gold? What did that mean
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for a girl like me, who felt the call of
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destiny that all great stories provide, To never see a
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face like mine inked on the pages inside? It didn't
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make me love the stories I've read any less, But
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now I want more. I need more cocoa colored mirror people, honey,
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huge dragon slayers, and super heroes with locks afro puffs
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on other planets and a hair one who thinks outside
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of the box. I once read that if the path
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you want doesn't exist, create it. So that's just what
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I'll do. I'll put pen to paper, make my melanated
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words come to life. I'll tell stories of imagination, magic
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and adventure and set them on the shelf next to
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our ones of pain and strife. It'll save my name
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right there on the spine, populating every shelf, letting kids
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who look like me shine. With one turn of the page,
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you'll be whisked away to far off lands. I can
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tumble down rabbit holes, set sell upon ruby colored seas,
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and take twilight tea dhangled in long seaweed locks and
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abundance of words. I imagine worlds beyond the one we
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live in, and you can too. Scribbling away stories pour
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out of me all day and night, stories so that
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children who look like me can see themselves exploring and saving,
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and discovering and creating, daring to do the impossible as
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their imagination takes flight. Our stories are as diverse as
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our skin, and as diverse to be told. So pick
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up a book or a pen and let the magic unfolds.
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Next set of books will be about Easter and our
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first book is called Elijah's Easter Suit and it was
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published by Double Day Books for Young Readers. It has
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a copy right ear of twenty twenty four and the
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author is Brenam Jackson. On Easter, there are only two
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rules at the Third Avenue Church.
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Speaker 2: Number one, show up. Number two look good.
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Speaker 1: People come from miles around to strut down the aisle
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in their new Easter outfits. Reverend White always gives us
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a special Sunday sermon shout out to that one member
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wearing something so spectacular it makes the congregation rejoice and
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seeing Hallelujah. Last year was Mother Green, she wore a
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half the size of Saturn and seven rings the colors
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of the rainbow. The year before that it was Deacon Brown,
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whose favorite color is red, which he wore from the
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bottoms of his feet to the top of his head.
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This year, Elijah was determined to put the first kid
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to get the reverends nod and the church's applause. All
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he had to do was pick the perfect Easter suit.
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Elisha started his search at the newest department store uptown.
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It all had the fresh hip styles, but this one
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was too loose, and this one was too tap, and
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this one just didn't look quite right. Elijah continued his
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quest at the trendiest thrift store in midtown and had
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all the hard to find one of Kind's styles, but
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this one was for a prince, and this one was
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for a night, and this one just didn't look quite right.
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Elijah ended his hunt at the ODIs Fatigue store downtown.
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It had all the fancy, classic styles, but this one
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was too dark, this one was too bright, and this
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one just didn't look quite right. Elijah's hope for the
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best Easter suit were falling apart at the seams until
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he saw Deacon Brown and Mother Green outside the church.
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What's wrong, Elijah asked Deacon Brown. I've been all over
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town and I can't find the perfect Easter suit. Now
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I won't get Reverend White shout out. Mother Green said,
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when I was your age, they wouldn't let us shop
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in stores around town, so most of the time we
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had to make our own Easter suits. Chimed Deacon Brown.
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That's right, said Mother Green. My parents would take pieces
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of fabric and make me a beautiful new Easter outfit.
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I knew where every stitch of cloth came from, and
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that made it special. Dressing up on Easter Sunday is
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not about winning a competition, said Deacon Brown. It's about
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remembering our culture and celebrating new beginnings, added Mother Green. Inspired,
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Elijah hurried home. He found the old blue jeans dead
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war when he tended the garden last summer. Mama scarf
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that she wore last fall when Dad's pumpkin one first
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place at the fair. The blanket that covered Baby's sister
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when she came home from the hospital last spring. Deep
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in the back of the closet, Elijah found the homemade
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Easter outfits the generations of ancestors had worn in the past.
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Each chattered thread sang a song. Elijah opened his heart
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and listened. With his family's help, he sketched and measured,
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and cut and sewed until he created the perfect Easter suit,
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a beautiful garment created from things he loved. It wasn't
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too loose, it wasn't too tight, not meant for a prince,
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not fit for a night. It wasn't too dark, it
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wasn't too bright, and it looked just right. The next morning,
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Elijah showed up to the Third Avenue church looking good.
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Mother Green smiled deep and Brown winked, and Reverend Light preached.
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Speaker 2: Look at Eliza shining.
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Speaker 1: Like spring, reminding us to honor sacrifices of the past
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while we celebrate the new life. Easter brings Elijah strayed
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down the aisle and his patchwork of perfection, and the
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congregation shouted Holujah. Next book is titled Happy Easter, Little Critter,
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and it was published by a Random House and it
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has a copyright year nineteen eighty eight. It was written
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by Mercer Mayor. It's Easter morning. I bet the Easter
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Bunny has already come. I'll quietly tiptoe downstairs and find
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all the Easter goodies before anyone else wakes up. But
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as usual, little sister is up before me. I got
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a toy egg that you can look into, a wind
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up bunny, some candy chickens, a bunch of chocolate eggs,
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and millions of jelly beans. The Easter Bunny gave my
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little sister the same things. Dad says that so we
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won't argue. Mom says we can't eat any of it
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until after breakfast. After breakfast, we have to get dressed
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for church. Dad starts the car and we all get in.
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My little sister likes to get all dressed.
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Speaker 2: Up, but I don't.
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Speaker 1: At church, I can't see anything because everyone is wearing
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funny hats.
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Speaker 2: After church, all.
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Speaker 1: The kids die Easter eg I think my eggs are
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the best. While the eggs dry, we have a big
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picnic lunch, then our parents hide the eggs in the field.
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We're not supposed to peek. Next, we all line up
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and run into the field to find the eggs. Sometimes
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too many kids find the same egg. Sometimes you walk
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right by an egg and someone else finds it. Sometimes
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little kids don't find any, so you have to help them.
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But by the time we go home, everyone has had
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a happy Easter. Next book is called Queen of Easter,
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and it was published by Harper Collins Publishers and has
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a copyright year of two thousand and six. It was
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written by Mary Ingallbritt Year, Anna Still's neighborhood had an
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Easter park, and every year Anna Still got a new
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hat to wear in the park. This year, Anna Still
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wanted to a hat with flowers. She wanted pink and
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purple ribbons that hung all the way down her back.
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She wanted a hat that would make her the Queen
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of Easter, but her mother bought her a plain straw
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hat with a blue ribbon, one blue ribbon, one short
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blue ribbon, and nothing else. Isn't it pretty, said Anne
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Estelle's mother, so classic. Anna Stell didn't say a word.
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She took her new hat out on the porch. She
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put it on and tried to like it, but she
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just couldn't. Anna Stell. Her father called dinner. Anna Stell
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set her hat down on the porch railing. I cannot
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be the Queen of Easter with a hat like this,
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she said, and she went inside. A few days later,
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when Anna Stell came downstairs, her mother and father were
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very excited. Come here, her mother whispered. Anna Stell was surprised.
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There still on the porch railing was your new Easter hat.
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Inside the hat was a bundle of sticks and grass
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and bits of string, And on top of the bundle
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was a robin. It's a nest, whispered Anna Still's mother.
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She built a nest in your Easter hat. Anna Still
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certainly couldn't wear her new Easter hat. Now, I'm sorry, honey,
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said her mother. You'll have to wear last year's hat.
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Maybe we can put a new ribbon on it. That
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gave Anna Still an idea. The next day, Anna still
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took her old Easter hat and went to work. She
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glued and she stapled, she snipped, and she sewed not
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just one one new ribbon, but lots of them, long
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pink and purple ribbons, lilies and daisies. She put some
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plastic grass on top two, but that was just a start.
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Every day, when she came home from school, Anna still
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checked on the nest. Soon there were three tiny eggs.
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They were the most beautiful blue she had ever seen.
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So when Anna still went to work on her old hat,
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she stuck three tiny, light blue candy eggs on it.
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It was getting closer and closer to a hat that
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could belong to the Queen of Easter. A week before
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the Easter parade, the eggs in the nest hatched. Every day,
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Anna still watched the baby robins get bigger and stronger.
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Their voices grew louder. It was as though they were
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excited about Spring II. On the morning of the Easter parade,
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Anna still put on her pretty new dress. Then she
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put on her own newly decorated hat. It was so
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heavy she had to hold her head up very carefully.
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But as fabulous as her old hat was now, Anna
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still knew there was an even better one.
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Speaker 2: Outside.
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Speaker 1: Everyone was getting ready for the neighborhood Easter parade. Everybody
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was wearing bright new clothes and big smiles, insighed. Anna
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Stell was busy working. When the prey got to Anna
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Stell's house, she called everyone over. Look, she said, pointing
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to the singing birds. Her sighing said it all the
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very best Easter hat ever. Next book is called The
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Berenstein Beers in the Real Easter Eggs, and it was
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published by Random House. It has a copyright year of
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two thousand and two. And the authors of our book
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are Staying and Jan Benstein nineteen twenty twenty one, twenty
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two twenty three.
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Speaker 2: How about that, said sister Bear.
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Speaker 1: I got twenty three Valentines at school today, seven signed
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with names, eight guests who's in eight swaks.
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Speaker 2: Brother smiled.
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Speaker 1: He knew that there were twenty four cubs in sister's class,
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and teacher Jane made every cub give every other cup
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a Valentine. But sister was a joiner of Valentine's so
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much that he didn't say anything. Besides, he'd gotten quite
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a few himself. I just love holidays, said sister. I
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wish every day was a holiday, then you could get
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stuff every day. Oh, said Mama, who'd been listening. Is
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that all holidays mean to you? Getting stuff? Sure, said sister.
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You get turkey stuffing in pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, presents
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on Christmas, and Valentine's on Valentine's Day. What's wrong with that?
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What's wrong with that, said Mama, is that holidays are
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about much more. Thanksgiving is about being thankful, Christmas is
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about goodwill and peace on earth, and Valentine's Day is
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about loving friendship. What do you think about that, my dear,
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asked Papa. Where did sister go, he said, looking around.
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She went into the kitchen, said brother. She gone into
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the kitchen to look at the calendar on the wall.
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She was looking ahead for holidays. She looked at the
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rest of February. There weren't any more big holidays in February.
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She looked at March. She didn't sing any big holidays
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in March either, But then she looked at April, and
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right there in April was a really big holiday east Yum,
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she thought, coconut eggs, jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, yum and
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double yum. That night, Sister fell asleep while visions of
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jelly beans and chocolate bunnies danced in her head, But
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it was still winter When she woke up. The next morning,
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she forgot about Easter and spring because there was a
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new blanket of snow covering the earth, wonderful snow to
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sled on to make forts out of, to make angels wing.
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But their nature hadn't forgotten, and while brother Sister and
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their friends sledded and made forts and angel wings, she
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was getting ready for a whole new season. As the
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winter winds died down and the sun began to ride
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higher in the sky, signs of spring began to appear.
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The big icicles of winter dropped from roofs and stuck
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like swords in the last of the melting snow. Robins
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began looking for places to build their nest. Blue and
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yellow crocuses peeped through the softening earth. It wasn't very
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long before reminders of Easter began to appear in supermarkets
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and on television, But it was the big billboard in
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the town square that got sistern brother really excited about Easter.
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This is what it said, coming soon, the giant bear
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Town Easter egg Hunt.
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Speaker 2: Don't miss it.
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Speaker 1: All cups welcome, prizes, prizes, prizes, delicious chocolate Easter eggs,
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jelly beans, jelly beans, jelly beans, gigantic chocolate bunnies. Every
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cup will win a price. All prices on display and
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window of the bear Town General Store.
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Speaker 2: Look, said brother.
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Speaker 1: It says, the prizes are on display in the window
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of the bear Town General Store. And there they were.
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There were more jelly beans than you could ever count,
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sugar trim, dark chocolate, coconut filled eggs with sugar roses
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and violets on them, life size milk chocolate bunnies, and
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one chocolate bunny as big.
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Speaker 2: As Brother Bear himself. Happy Easter, indeep.
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Speaker 1: This was going to be the biggest, best, most delicious
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Easter ever. Brother and sister were so excited that they
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ran all the way home. Mama was in the treehouse
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front yard. Sister said, Brother, you tell Mama about the
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big Easter egg hunt while I go.
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Speaker 2: Find Papa and tell him. Mama.
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Speaker 1: Mama sputtered sister. She was so exciting, out of breath
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she could hardly talk. Now, My dear said Mama, I
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know that what you want to tell me is very exciting,
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but I'm sure it can wait until you catch your breath. Meanwhile,
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I've got some exciting things to show you. But Mama
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protested sister. Just look here, said Mama, kneeling down. See
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these little blue and yellow flowers. They're from the Crocus
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bulbs I plant at last fall. They've been sleeping under
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the snow all winter. Now they're first to push up
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through the earth and greet the spring. Aren't they lovely? Yes, Mama,
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they're nice, said sister. But brother and I were just
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down at the town square, and guess what that. Mama
24:08
didn't quite hear sister, because she had walked across the
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yard and was looking closely at a scratchy looking bush.
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It didn't look like much to sister. This is a
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foresee fis, said Mama. It doesn't look like much now,
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but come the first warm sunny day, it will burst
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with thousands of brilliant yellow flowers. Surely remember it from
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last spring, My dear sister did sort of, and it
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was pretty, but it didn't begin to compare with those
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sugar roses and violets on those dark chocolate Easter eggs
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or those zillions of brightly colored jelly beans. That's when
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Papa and brother came running around the house. Papa was
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just excited as brother and sister. How about that, cried Papa.
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How about what, said mama. Didn't sister tell you? Said Papa.
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There's going to be a big Easter egg hunt on
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the town square, and you should he the prizes. More
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jelly beans than you could ever count, Papa said, brother,
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All kinds of chocolate eggs, continued Papa. Papa, repeated brother,
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tugging on Papa's pant leg. Uh, yes, son, I forgot
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to tell you, said brother. The Easter a hunt is
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just for cubs. Just for cubs, said Papa. That's right,
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said brother. Oh, said Papa. He was more than a
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little disappointed. Papa was crazy about jelly beans, especially the
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black ones. Mama side. She looked at Papa and the cubs.
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She was a little disappointed too. We will have to
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stop and finish the story next time. So this concludes
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Children's Story Hour for today. Please join us next time
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as we will read more stories, fables and fairy tales.
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Thank you for listening, and please stay tuned for the
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Legston Herald Leader on Radio I