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5.24.25 - Memorial Day 1 · Children's Hour

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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Radioized Children's Story Hour. As a reminder,
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ray I is a reading service intended for people who
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are blind or of other disabilities that make it difficult
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to read printed material. Today we will be reading from
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various books on sports. Your reader today is Diane. We
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will begin with the book The Benstein Bears Get Their Kicks.
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It was published by Random House as a copywriter of
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nineteen ninety eight and the authors of the book are
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Stein and Jan Berenstein. Papa Bear's family, friends and neighbors
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all knew that he was a traditional sort of fellow.
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That means he liked to do the things he'd always
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done in pretty much the same way as he always
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done them. He liked to use traditional tools in his
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work as a woods beear, though he did use more
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modern tools when he absolutely had to. He was a
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shirt and overall's kind of guy when it came to clothes.
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He was a meat and potatoes kind of guy when
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it came to food, And when it came to sports,
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Papa was devoted to the games he'd grown up with
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football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and in
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the summer baseball. Of course, Papa loved baseball the smike
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of the ball the catchers meant, the pull on the
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shoulders after that first hand swing, the loud walk of
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the ball on the bat when you hit a high
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fly over the fielder's heads. So when Cubs, brother and
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sister fell had over heels in love with soccer, Papa
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there was a bit surprised, especially when it turned out
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that Mama, who had played soccer as a cup, had
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signed up to coach for the neighborhood league. So it
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was that on a bright sunny summer day, Papa bounded
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out of the treehouse with a bat, a ball, and
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three gloves a catcher's meant for himself and two fielder
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gloves for brother and sister. Get ready for some baseball,
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He shouted, will shags some flies, work on the curve
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and filled some grounders. Uh, maybe some other time, Papa said, Brother,
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we're going to be busy today. Is he doing what,
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asked Papa? Playing soccer, said brother, Soccer, said Papa, do
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you mean you'd rather play soccer than baseball? Maybe we
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can play baseball later this afternoon, said brother. The soccer
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trials are today and we have to get over to
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the soccer field for some early practice. That's right, says sister.
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I'm going to try out for the Coupis. That's the
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younger team, said brother. I'm going to try out for
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the Buddies. The cupis the Buddies, said Papa. What kind
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of team names are they? Besides, I don't see why
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you need to practice. All you have to do is
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run around and kick the ball once in a while.
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There's a lot more to soccer than that, said Mama.
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She had just come out of the house wearing her
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Soccer Moms web shirt. Like what, asked Papa. Like all
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sorts of stuff, said brother, Like dribbling, passing, trapping, and
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headers and all different kinds of kicks, added sister. Oh oh, Papa,
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I've never played soccer in my life, he said, but
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I'll bet I can kick that ball farther and straighter
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than all three of you put together. Here, let me
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have that ball. Papa put the ball on the ground,
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stepped back a long way and said, see those two
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birch trees way over there. The two birch trees were
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quite far away. Then Papa charged forward at full speed,
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but he missjudge. His kick, missed the ball completely and
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landed on the ground. With a mighty oh of Mama
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and the cubs ran to Papa. Are you all right, dear,
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said Mama as she and the cups helped Papa get up.
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Of course, I'm all right, said Papa. Just let me
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try that again. Sorry, my dear, said Mama, picking up
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the ball. But we must be on our way. Come along, cubs.
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Papa watched a soccer mom, Mama, and the cubs headed
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for the soccer field, dribbling and passing as they went.
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Farther and straighter than all three of them put together,
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said Papa as he stared at a large stone that
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lay on the ground. I'll show them, he said, and
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he kicked the stone with all his might. But it
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wasn't a stone at all. It was the top of
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a big buried rock. Yellie, cried Papa as he hopped
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around holding his foot. As Papa sat on a low
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stup stump rubbing his foot, he heard sounds coming from
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the soccer field, which lay just over the hill. Maybe
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there's more soccer than I thought, he said. I think
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I'll go have a look. He limped off in the
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direction of the noise. When Papa arrived at the field,
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he saw that there was indeed more to soccer than
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he thought, a lot more. There were cubs coaches all
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over the field practicing. There were league officials moving among them,
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writing things down on clipboards. Brother and sister were right
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at the center of the action, learning different moves along
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with all the other cubs. They were learning the dribble,
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the trap, the pass and in step kick, the volley,
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and of course the header. And who was teaching the
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header but soccer mom Mama herself. And what's more, they
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had to do all those things without touching the ball
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with their hands. Baseball loving Papa couldn't help being impressed.
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The cubs and Mama were so busy with their dribbles, kicks,
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and headers that they didn't see Papa. But Papa saw them,
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and he was rooting hard for his cubs to make
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their teams. He also saw the league officials hand the
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reports to Bear, who was wearing a sweatshirt that said Commissioner.
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Papa sidled over to the missioner who was studying the reports.
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Sir said, Papa, have sister and brother Bear made their teams.
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I'm their dad. As a matter of fact, they have
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said the commissioner. Sister made the coue piss and brother
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made the buddies. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just
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about to post the results. How about that, said Papa
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with a big grin. He felt so good that he
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forgot all about his sore foot as he hurried home, say,
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said brother as they headed over to see the try
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out results. Isn't that papa? Hmm, thought brother and sister
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and Mama as they watched Papa heads home. Brother and
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sister were very happy to have made their teams, but
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they hadn't forgotten their promise to play a little baseball
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with Papa. They got the ball, bat in gloves. How
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about a little baseball, Papa said, Brother. Here catch, he
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cried as he tossed the ball to Papa, But Papa
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didn't catch it. He gave it a head or instead. Pop,
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it was a good thing he was wearing a soft
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brown hat, or he might have gotten himself a big headache.
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As it was, it knocked him down. The cubs and
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Mama ran over to him. Papa, Papa cried, brother, why
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did you do that? Oh? I just wanted to show
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you that if soccer is good enough for my cubs,
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it's good enough for me. I'll tell you what, Instead
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of playing a little baseball, why don't you two show
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me some of your best soccer moves? And brother and
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sister did while soccer mom Mama and soccer dad Papa
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watched proudly. Our next book is called stim in the
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Summer Olympics, The Science behind Volleyball. It was published by
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Jump and it has a copyright year of twenty twenty.
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The author of the book is Jenny Fretlin. Then Forced
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Chapter one Bump, set, Spike. Let's play volleyball. It is
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a popular sport around the world. It has been part
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of the Olympics since nineteen sixty four. Olympic volleyball players
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are some of the best. Did you know they use
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physics to win nettles. Volleyball players understand the forces acting
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on the ball's flight. They use them to control the ball.
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This player jumps up above the net. He spikes the
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ball down. He applies forced to move the ball. This
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is thrust. Drag works against thrust. It slows the ball's flight.
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Did you know? There are two Olympic volleyball events, beach
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and indoor. There are many differences between the two, like
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what the scoring court size, number of players in size
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and firmness of the ball are all different. Lift keeps
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the ball in the air. It is balanced by gravity.
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This force pulls the ball down. Four forces act on
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a volleyball when it is in the air gravity, drag, thrust, lift.
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Chapter two Start What they serve? Olympians use physics when
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they serve. How one way is by a playing topspin.
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The server tosses the ball up, She snaps her wrist
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and sends the ball over the net. The ball spins
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forward as it flies. Lift quickly decreases. The ball drops
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just past the net. Top spin is a fast serve,
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but it is predictable. The other team knows what the
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ball will do. The float serve is unpredictable. The server
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tosses the ball up, she jumps and slaps it flat
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with the palm of her hand. The ball does not spin.
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Drag and lift affect the flight differently each time. The
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other team cannot predict where the ball will land. In
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beach volleyball, the wind makes the balls patch even harder
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to predict. Did you know? As if twenty nineteen, the
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fastest serve on record was eighty three miles. Chapter three
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Motion in action volleyball is fast paced. The player's volley
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back and forth, bump, set, spike, score. The ball is
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always moving during play. This means the wall's motions affect
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the ball. How a player serves the ball. The ball
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flies in a low arc over the net. Why a
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moving object moves in one direction? It only changes if
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another force acts on it. The ball clears the net.
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But wait. A player on the other team jumps. She
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blocks the ball. Her force changes the ball's path. The
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ball goes back across the net. The setter sets the ball,
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her teammate jumps to spike it. Did you know as if?
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Twenty nineteen, the highest jump in Olympic volleyball was made
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by Linelle Marshall. He played for Cuba. He jumped four
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point two feet into the air. These players jump, another
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law of motion comes into play. They apply fourth to
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the ground with their feet. The ground returns the force.
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Downward force turns into upward force. They are pushed into
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the air. The harder they push, the higher they jump.
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Volleyball is fun. Olympians wind God with physics. How can
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you use it to play? Her next book is titled
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Sisters Venus and Serena Williams. It was published by Beach
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Lane Books and in print of Simon and Schuster Children's
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Publishing Division as the copywriter of twenty nineteen and the
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author is Jeanette Winter Venus Ebany Star Williams and Serena
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Jamika Williams, or the youngest sisters and a family of
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five girls and a mother and a father. Venus reached
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her little sister Serena as knight slips down over the
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bed they share in their house in Compton Call outside
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in the darkness. Life goes on till early dawn, when
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the sun rises up over the sister's sleepy bed. Daddy
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and Mama went their two youngest girls to learn tennis.
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They have dreams for their future. Daddy and Mama even
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learned to play tennis so they can teach Venus and
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Serena to play. Early morning, Dady takes the sisters to
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the court where some older boys still think it's a night.
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Dady tells the boys and girls and need to practice
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their tennis. Scal meets scow. The morning clean up happens
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again and again and again, and then the practice with
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used up balls not much bounce and used up rackets
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not much spring. I didn't grow up playing at the
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country club Sarena says, serve return BOLLI fourhand, backhand, over
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and over. Concentrate, Daddy says, back and forth, back and
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forth to little sisters learning the game. Venus and Serena
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concentrate hard, trying not to hear the gunfire down the
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street like in a cocoon. The sisters focus on the ball.
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The boys start hanging around watching the sisters have their
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attention and respect. Venus and Serena hit the ball so
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hard and fast that the boys cheer them on and
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protect them. Practice over in the gimmy light. Daddy and
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the little sisters go home to Mama and their big sisters.
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Do your schoolwork, Venus, do your schoolwork, Serena. I want
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you girls to be educated, Mama says. The sisters listen,
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study and concentrate. When Venus laughs, I laugh harder. When
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Venus cries, I cry harder. Serena says, that's just how
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close those sisters are. Word gets around about how those
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Williams sisters can hit the tennis ball. Offers to give
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the sisters new tennis balls, new rackets, new tennis clothes,
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and chances to play tennis matches. Arrive at the house
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in Compton. Mama braids Venus's hair for her first tournament.
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When Venus walks out onto the perfect green court, she
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sees a sea of white faces. Croncentrate, she tells herself.
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The crowd fades away like the gunfire and Compton. She
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hits the ball hard. Venus wins. Then Serena plays her
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first tournament. White bees gleaming, Venus cheers from the stands concentrate,
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Serena tells herself, and the crowd fades away. She hits
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the ball hard, back and forth, wwonk whack, wonk whack.
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Their trophy collection begins. Word gets around. A tennis academy
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invites the sisters and their family to Florida. Venus and
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Serena practice under palm trees and go to school, and practice,
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and go to school until mommy and Daddy say they
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are old enough to play in the big tournaments. No longer.
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Little sisters Venus and Serena are tall and strong, and
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they play strong. Trophies pile up one after another. Trophies
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make some people green with envy, but the sisters concentrate,
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not hearing the booze, they keep on winning. They are powerful.
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The sisters try new ways of dressing and new hairstyles
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no one has seen on a tennis court before. Venus
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starts a business and designs tennis clothes and still plays tennis.
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Serena acts on TV and still plays tennis. But anyone
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can get sick. Venus gets a disease that makes her
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weak two weeks to play tennis. She fights to recover
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and play again. Serena gets a blood clod in her lungs.
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She fights to recover were in play again. The sisters
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train hard and practice hard and hit those bright balls
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on their own tennis court, concentrating like they did when
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they were little, and they continue to play and win
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one trophy after another. And when the sisters play each
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other before thousands of people, the cocoon of concentration wraps
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around each of them. It's like they're alone on the court,
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just like they were on the raggedy court, and Compton
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spirits soaring high together, sisters. Our next set of books
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are about Memorial Day, and the first one is called
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Happy Holidays Memorial Day. It was published by bell Weather
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Media and it has a copyright year of twenty twenty four.
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The author is Rebecca Sableco It is Memorial Day. Families
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lay flowers on graves. It is Memorial Day, a day
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to honor. Memorial Day is the last Monday in May.
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Many people call it the start of summer. We honor
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fallen soldiers that fought to keep the US free. A
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day to remember. People visit graves, They leave flowers, They
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put out flags. Many people wear red flowers. They honor
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people who die. People go to parade, they fly the flag.
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Summer begins. People have picnics, they play games. Many soldiers
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fought for us. Now we are free. Our next story
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is called Memorial Day. A true book was published by
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Children's Press, a division of Scholastic Incorporated, and it has
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a copyright year of two thousand and three. Was written
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by Kristin Ditchfield. A very special holiday on the last
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Monday and May. People in the United States celebrate Memorial Day.
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Memorial is something that is done to help remember someone
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who has died. Memorial Day honors all the American soldiers
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who died in wars. These brave men and women fought
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to keep the nation strong and free. They gave their
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lives to defend their country. A Memorial Day Americans show
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that they are grateful for their sacrifice. Schools, banks, and
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businesses close for the day. People wave American flags and
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sing patriotic palms. They march in parade and attend memorial
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services to honor the dead. Other holiday celebrations may be
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fun and exciting, Memorial Day is a more serious and
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solemn occasion. How it got started In eighteen sixty one,
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the northern and southern parts of the United States went
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to war with each other. People from the Northern States
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could not agree with those in the Southern States. They
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argued over whether or not slavery should be legal. They
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argued about whether or not each state had the right
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to make its own laws, and whether states can pass
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laws to disagree with the US Constitution. These arguments led
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to the bloodiest worn American history. It lasted four long years.
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Those years were filled with misery and suffering. Families were divided,
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friendships were destroyed. More than six hundred thousand soldiers lost
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their lives. Never have so many Americans died in a
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single war, And the years after the Civil War people
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looked for ways to remember those who had died. Some
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wrote poems and songs about the war. Heroes. Others wore
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ribbons or flowers as symbols of mourning. Across the country,
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communities set aside different ways to honor their dead. They
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decorated the soldiers graves with flowers and wreaths or flags.
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They called the new holiday Decks, Creation Day, or a
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Day of Remembrance. General John A. Logan had fought in
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the Civil War, later who became a senator in the
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United States Congress. On May fifth, eighteen sixty eight, Logan
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made a special announcement. The thirtieth of May eighteen sixty
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eight is designated for the purpose of strowing with flowers
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or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in
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defense of their country during the Late Rebellion, and whose
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bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet
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church yard in the land. Although thousands of people celebrating
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a Memorial Day, it would not become an official holiday
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for more than one hundred years. Nineteen seventy one Congress
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floated to make a Memorial Day a national holiday, to
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be celebrated on the last Monday in May. Memorial Day
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began as a way to remember those who died in
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the Civil war, but ever since World War One, people
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have set aside Memorial Day to honor those who have
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died in all American wars Poppy Day. During World War One,
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thousands of soldiers died on the battlefields of Europe. Later,
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poppies grew all over the fields. The bright red flowers
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reminded people of the blood of the soldiers. Poppies became
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a symbol of death and war. In nineteen fifteen, Mona
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Michael decided to wear red poppy a Memorial Day to
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honor Americans who died in war. She convinced her friends
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and neighbors to do the same. People who have been
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wearing red poppies a Memorial Day ever since. The United
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States at war. The United States of America became a
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country when it won the Revolutionary War against England in
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seventeen eighty three. Since then, the nation has taken part
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in many other wars. Some of these wars were fought
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for control of land in North America. The United States,
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Great Britain, France, Spain, and Mexico all claimed different parts
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of the continent as their own. They fought wars against
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each other, either to protect their own lands or take
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over someone else's. These war included the War of eighteen twelve,
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the Mexican War, and the Spanish American War. In World
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War One and World War II, most of the fighting
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took place in Europe and Asia. Both times the European
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countries started a war against another European country, other countries
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joined the fight. Most of the world took sightse with
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one country or the other. In both world wars, the
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United States came to the aid of its friends and allies.
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The nation understood the importance of protecting freedom around the world.
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By the mid nineteen hundreds, the United States had become
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one of the most powerful countries in the world. Whenever
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its allies called for help, the country responded. Several times,
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American soldiers thought to prevent the spread of communism. Communism
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is a way of organizing a country so that all
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the land, houses, and businesses belonged to the government. People
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who live in communist countries have very little freedom. The
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government controls everything. Often, the governments of communist countries have
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tried to take over other countries and forced them to
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become communists too. The United States tried to keep this
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from happening in the Korean War and the Vietnam War,
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American troops have often gone to other countries to help them.
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They try to keep things peaceful and safe. They try
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to help protection, helped protect nations or governments that aren't
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strong enough to protect themselves. They try to prevent wars
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from starting in the first place. In nineteen ninety, Iraq
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attacked Kuwait, a much smaller neighboring country. The United States
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helped Kuwait remained free during the Persian gol War. After
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the terrorist attacks on the United States on September eleventh,
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two thousand and one, the nation began a new kind
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of war, a war on terrorism. As President George W.
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Bush explained, the enemy is not one country or one
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political system. The United States enemy is anyone who commits
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acts of violence and attempt to destroy the lives of
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innocent people. In two thousand and three, the United States
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and its allies began Operation of Rocky Freedom to stop
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Iraq's leaders from aiding future terrorist attacks to protect and serve.
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People in the military are often called servicemen and service women.
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These titles cover all the four thousand different jobs that
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people have in the armed forces. Not everyone is trained
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in combat fighting, Some organized transportation and supplies. Some provide
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medical care to the sick and wounded. Others gather important
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information and passing along to those who need it. Still
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others work as engineers, educators, office assistants, and computer experts.
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The United States military has five branches, the Army, Navy,
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Air Force, and Coastguard. Each branch has its own responsibilities.
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Army troops are trained to fight on land, while Navy
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troops patrol the sea. Air Force pilous attack and defend
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from the sky. Marines are prepared to fight on both
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land and sea. The Coast Guard predects the nation shore
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and rescue ships in distress. There are more than two
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million men and women on active duty in the armed
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forces today. In peacetime, they train for war with the
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hope that maintaining a strong military may make other countries
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want to avoid starting a war in the first place.
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They conduct search and rescue operations. They provide assistance to
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victim of natural disasters such as floods, fires, and earthquakes.
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During national emergencies. They are in charge of security. Servicemen
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and service women make many sacrifices. They may be sent
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anywhere in the world. At times, they may have to
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work far away from friends and family. They know they
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may be called upon to give their lives for their
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country at any time. The Tomb of the Unknowns. Sometimes
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soldiers who die on the battlefield can't be identified. No
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one knows who they were, but they deserve to be
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honored for their bravery and sacrifice. At Arlington National Cemetery,
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there's a special monument called the Tomb of the Unknowns.
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The tomb holds the remains of an unknown soldier from
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World War One, a soldier from World War II, one
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from the Korean War, and one from the Vietnam War.
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They will represent all soldiers known and unknown who give
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their lives for their country. We will continue this book
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next time. This concludes our children's story I are for today.
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Please join us next time as we will read more stories,
26:52
fables and fairy tales. Thank you for listening, and please
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stay tuned for the next Senior Leader on RADIOI