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1.24.26 - Part 2 · Children's Hour

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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to rado Ice Children's Story Hour. As
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a reminder, Radio Eye is a reading service intended for
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people who are blind or have other disabilities that make
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it difficult to read printed material. Today we will be
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reading from various books on winter. Your reader today is Diane.
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We will begin with the first book, Bears in the Snow.
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It was published by Candlewick Press and has a copyright
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year of twenty sixteen. The author of our book is
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Shirley parent Too. Here's a bright red sled on a
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snowy day. Where are the bears to come out and play?
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Floppy grabs a cat to keep warm outside. Fuzzy pulls
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on mittens for a fast sled ride. Oops, calicos scarflies
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like a kite. Yellow ties his boots on tight. The
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four small bears whirl and the snow shouting. Big brown
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Bear come on, let's go. Big Brown Bear carries the
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sled for small bears scamper ahead. Hummm, the sled is small.
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Just two can go first. Floppy zips down with kaliko.
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Two more zoomed down, then Big brown Bear. It's hard
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to take turns, but they want to be there. Let's
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squeeze close says Kaliko. If we make room, four bears
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can go. They pack together in a furry ball with
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that small sled. Will that small sledge carry them all?
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No Yellow falls off at the top of the hill.
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Floppy Bear is the next to spill. Then Fuzzy Bear
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tumbles into the snow. Whoop. Kaliko is the last to go.
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Big Bear sees each little bear fall. What can they
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use to carry them all? He gets an idea and
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suddenly PLoP. Big Brown Bear does a belly flop. Climb on.
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He calls, this will be fun. I'll be the sled.
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Come on, everyone, ue. They scramble a board and down
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they go, Yellow, Fuzzy, Floppy, and Calico. They shriek with joy.
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That hill is steep. They land at the bottom in
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a laughing heap. More bear sled rides keep them laughing
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until is that hot chocolate? They all smell. Hooray, time
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for hot chocolate. They run in to share a warm
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up and hugs with Big Brown Bear. Her next book
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is titled The Snow Rabbit. It was first published by
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Little Tiger Press and then by Tiger Tills. It has
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a copyright year of twenty eighteen and the author is
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Georgiana Douche. Bear was always grumpy. He had a big,
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furry frown and a sulky scowl. Whenever he felt really,
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really grumpy, he would give a grisly, grumbly growl. Sh
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Bear's in a really bad mood. The animals didn't dare
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to go near Bear's beautiful yard, except for one very
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smiley rabbit. Good morning, Bear, go away, please, Bear, said
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rabbit as she skipped away. He needs cheering up, and
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rabbit knew just what to do. That night, Bear could
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not sleep. He crouched and grumbled and looked out his window,
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and there in the moonlight was a snow rabbit. Bear
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was outraged. He stomped outside, took a deep breath, and bellowed,
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who has been in my yard? The trees trembled and
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shook at the sound of Bear's rumbling roar, until crash,
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a pile of snow landed right on top of Bear
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and the snow rabbit. Oh no, now I have suggy
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fur and a squish snow rabbit. The next morning, Bear
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woke up in a very bad mood. He peeked outside,
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frowning as he saw the lean snow rabbit. Sitting sadly
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in the sunshine. That's it, Bear grumped, I'm going to
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find out who built this snow rabbits fox. Bear growled,
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Did you build a snow rabbit in my yard? Fox gulped, No,
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he stuttered. Bear harrumphed and stomped off. It must have
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been badger, he grumbled. Bear stormed up Badger's path. Badger,
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did you build the snow rabbit? No, it was me, squirrels,
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it must have been you, it wasn't It wasn't. I
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know who it was? Fine, roareds Bear. If it wasn't
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fox or badger, and it wasn't the squirrels, it must
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have been rabbit. Hello, Bear smiled, Rabbit hopping up, did
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you call? Yes, bellowed Bear, you put a snow rabbit
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in my yard. I thought it might make you smile,
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said rabbit hopefully. Bear took a deep breath. The animals
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covered their ears. Well, it did not make me smile.
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Bear growds, it made a giant mess, and you're going
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to help me fix it or else. Bear turned and
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marched home. Rabbit blinked in amazement. We can fix this,
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rabbit offered when she saw the squish snow rabbit and together,
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that's what they did. Then, when the snow rabbit looked
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just right, they made a snowbar, and for the first
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time in a long time, Bear forgot to be grumpy.
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That night, Bear couldn't sleep. He stood at his window
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and gazed out at the snow bear and the snow
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rabbit standing together in the moonlight. A slow smile spread
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across Bear's face. It feels good to have a friend,
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he said, and that gave Bear a wonderful idea. Chuckling
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to himself, Bear pulled on his boots, marched into his yard,
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and got to work on his mysterious plan. The next morning,
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the animals were in first spry surprise. No squirrels, it
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looks just like me. Thank you Bear. This is amazing.
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Come on everyone, let's go sledding. And with so many
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new friends, Bear was never grumpy again. Our next story
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is tiled Little Fox in the Snow and it was
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published by a Candlewick Press. It has a copyright year
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of twenty eighteen and the author is Jonathan London. Little
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Fox Ling, little Fox, asleep in your hoe, in your
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halo of warmth, It's time to wake up. Your eyes
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open your whiskers twitch, You stretch, then follow your breath
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out into the snow. Little fox, lan, where will you go?
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Hunger draws you like a bow. You must seek your target,
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You must hunt. What's that? Your head tilts, your ear swivel,
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tiny footsteps beneath the snow. You pounce, You crouch as
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sure as an arrow. You pierce the surface and pop
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up with a mouse. Little fox, You cannot satisfy your
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hunger with just a mouse. More. Your belly cries more,
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Little fox, leen, where will you go? Oh? You flow
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like a shadow across the fields. You leave little paw
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prints behind in the snow. What's that? White on white?
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It sniffs you freeze, you charge, It flees two shadows
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bound across some sparkle snow. A snowshoe hair is no
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match for a fleet footed fox. Little fox, lean, belly
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full and make your way down to the snow patch.
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Stream lap, tiny tongue curls of icy cold water. Back
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up the bank by the trunk of a tree. You stop,
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You sniff. What's that? The scent of a shea fox,
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a vixen. Your heart quickens, your ears stand tall. But
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what do you see? Two eyes in the shadows, It sniffs,
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you freeze, it charges you flee, Little fox, you must go,
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go go. A fox is no match for a wolf.
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You're a blur of a fur across the snow. The
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sinking sun sets, your coat a glow. Wolverene's eyes flur
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up like strike matches. But you follow your breath down
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into your hoe. Now, crow up safe, your breathing slows,
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and go back to sleep in your cozy burrow. Little
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fox lean, What do you dream of? The bushy tailed
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she fox sleeping in the moon glow, or your own
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little fox family playing in the meadow, Little fox lean,
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little fox, safe in your hoe. Tomorrow you'll will go
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back out into the snow. But tonight you can rest
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in your halo of warmth. Good night, little fox. Our
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next story is titled Crow and Snow and it was
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published by Simon and Schuster, an imprint of Simon and
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Schuster Children's Publishing Division. It has a copyright ear of
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twenty twenty and the author of our book is Robert Roder.
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One spring, a farmer built a scarecrow. Crow tried to
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say hello to the tractor as it passed. Hello, said crow, Hello,
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said crow. But the tractor never said hello. Back in
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the middle of the summer, the sun would beat down.
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Perhaps it will rain today, thought Crow. Sometimes it did.
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Winter came, the corn was gone, and Crow didn't see
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much of the farmer. It was windy and gray. Crow
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just stood there. Then it started to snow. The farmer's
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children ran outside and rowed and rowed the snow into
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enormous ball. They rowed another ball until they had built
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a snowman right next to crow. Crow and the snowman
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stood side by side. Crow wondered if he should say
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something Hello, said Crow. Hello, said Snow. It's nice to
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have someone out in this field with me, said Crow.
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It certainly is a nice field, said Snow. Crow tried
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to think of something else to say. I like your scarf,
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said Crow. Thank you, said Snow. I like your hat.
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Will you be staying a while? Asked Crow. I'm not sure,
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said Snow maybe. And Crow and Snow stood side by side.
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The days became warmer. Are you leaving? Asked Crow? It
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seems that way, said Snow. Will you come back, asked Crow.
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I'm not sure, said Snow maybe. Well, I certainly have
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enjoyed your company, said Crow. But Snow was already gone.
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All through the spring, Crow stood tall and alone in
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the field. The farmer plow planted and watered. The tractor
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drove by without saying hello. Crow couldn't help thinking about snow.
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Another harvest went by, and it started snowing. Why Hello,
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said Crow. Nice to see you again. Yes, indeed, said Snow,
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Nice to see you again. You look a bit different,
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said Crow. You look about the same, said Snow, and
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the two friends stood side by side. One bitterly cold day,
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A blizzard covered Crow and Snow in a blanket of white.
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I like an under here, said Crow, Me too, said Snow.
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It's like our little home. Crow was happy until the
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days became warmer. Snow said Crow. Yes, said Snow. I
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will miss you, said Crow. I will miss you too,
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said Snow, and he was gone. As the seasons passed,
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the tractor in the corn came and went, and the
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children grew older, and every winter, Snow would return and
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stand next to Crow. One winter, it snowed so much
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the children built a second snowman. Who is that, asked Crow.
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I'm not sure, said Snow. It sure. Do us feel
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crowded out here? Said Crow? It certainly does, agreed snow.
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The visitor did not stay long, and as the sun
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rose higher in the sky, neither did Snow. When Snow returns,
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thought Crow, I will tell him how I feel. But
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many years passed where the children didn't come out to play,
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so Crow never saw snow. Then one winter, new children
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came and rolled and rolled the snow into enormous ball.
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Welcome back, said Crow excitedly. It's good to be back,
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said Snow. I see you have a new hat. Yes,
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said Crow, the last one blew away. Well I like it,
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said Snow. Crow wondered if he could say what he
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was feeling. One night, a strong wind came bursting across
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the field and knocked Crow over. You caught me, said Crow.
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It's the least I can do, said Snow. It was quiet, Snow,
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said Crow. Yes, said Snow. I love you, said Crow.
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I love you too, said Snow. Crow and Snow stood
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side by side. They were happy. Our next book is
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titled Winter Sleep, a Hibernation Story, and it was published
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by Quarter Publishing Place. It has a copyright year of
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twenty nineteen and the authors of the book are Sean
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Taylor and Alex Morse. When it was Summer, I stayed
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at Grannie Sylvie's house. She knows lots of things, like
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the names of flowers and how to spot a deer's
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hoof print, and where to splash around the pond, climb
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a slope of green ferns, pass through oak trees with
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moss on one side, and the secret glade. Butterflies fluttered
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even though it was late. Grannie Sylvie helped me listen
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for psalms of different birds. It was still warm. We
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stayed right into the summer magic of the night and
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we kept so still. We saw the dor mouse who
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lives there, run up a hazel tree. When I went
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back to stay with Grannie, it was winter. I asked her,
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can we go to the secret glade? She said, yes,
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if you can find it. Everything was different. The pond
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was frozen hard, the ferns on the slope looked dead,
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the oak trees with moss on one side were all bony,
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and the glade was quiet and bare. It wasn't anything
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the same, no butterflies, no flowers, no birds. I wanted
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to see the dormouse, but Grannie said the dormouse will
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be having a winter sleep. It was too cold to stay,
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and I said nothing's alive in winter. Grannie Sylvie told
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me it is. We can't see the dormouse, but she's
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hiding here. She'll be safely, deeply sleeping all winter long.
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This is her hibernation time. In autumn, she feasted on
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forest nuts, fruits, and insects. Then the long nights came.
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She felt cold, heavy and sleeping. There was nothing more
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to eat, so she made a nest spot and she's inside,
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secretly snoring until she until the spring sun warms her
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body again. On the way back, I asked, are there
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other animals hiding in the trees. Grannie said, yes, lots
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of fats hibernating trees. On warm nights, they fly across
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the forest, chasing insects and pulling spiders from webs. But
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even their food rest in winter. So bats snug go
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up in a hollow trunk or cave and snooze through
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the frosty weather. I said, where do all the insects go?
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Granny told me Some are sleeping right under your feet.
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The ground is frozen hard, but down below there are
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stag beetles waiting to come out. The queen bumblebee sleeps
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in a tiny tunnel. Some moths and butterflies hide underground,
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often wrapped up, waiting for spring. Mother earwigs look after
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their eggs until they hatch when spring comes. We were
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coming to the pond, so I asked, what about in
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the water. Grannie said, there's ice on top, but pond
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life waits below before froze. Frogs dive down deep into
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slimy mud. Now they are still and breathing so slowly
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they seem dead. But when the water warms in the spring,
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we'll hear them croaking again. I said, So all sorts
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of animals are having a winter sleep. That's right, Grannie
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Sylvie told me. Some even make a special home for winter.
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A bear builds a den deep in the woods, perhaps
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in a cave, an oak tree trunk, or hidden hollow.
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Mommy bear slows right down and rest there with her
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cubs curled up tight on a bit she's made from
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soft moss, twigs and leaves. Grainy Sylvie was still telling
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me about the animals in winter when I was in bed.
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You see, she told me there's plenty of life tucked
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up hiding in the cold. I nodded. I could feel
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the cozy magic of the dark night outside, and even
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though it wasn't very late, I closed my eyes for
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a winter sleep. What is hibernation? Can you imagine going
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to bed in winter and not getting up until spring
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when a snowy blanket arrives. Much of the world seems sleepy,
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The sun feels lazy, The nights are long, trees looking dressed,
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ponds freeze over, fewer birds seeing, even the flowers are resting.
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With plants shutting down for the cold or darker winter months,
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there are few flowers, fruits, nuts, and for animals to
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feed on. There are also fewer insects to eat. It
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is difficult for many creatures to find food and keep warm. Instead,
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they snug up somewhere secret, sheltered, and safe. Hibernation is
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a special kind of deep sleep. It helps animals live
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through the coldest and hungriest times by saving them energy.
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They find or make a place to hide out of
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danger from hungry predators. Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and many
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beasts have different kinds of winter sleep mammals. In the winter,
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mammals need lots of food to keep warm and active,
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but where it is the codas, some hibernate instead. In autumn.
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They eat a lot of fat. They eat a lot
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to fatten up. Their fat protects them against the coat
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and gives them energy. When there is no food, they
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become sleepier as their bodies cool down. Woodchuck. When it
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is high gernading, the woodchuk or groundhog might only take
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one breath every five minutes an Arctic ground squirrel. The
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Arctic ground squirrel has the coldest winter body of any
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hibernating mammal. It gets so cold its sprain almost freezes,
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and its heart only beats once per minute. Polar bear.
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A pregnant polar bear digs out a den in the snow.
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She shelters inside and hardly eats for months. When her
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cubs are born, they will dough snuggled up in her
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warm fur. Bat in chili places, bats spend most of
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the winter hanging upside down, snoozing in their roost. They
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store up warm fat on their backs and bellies to
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give them energy. Deer mouse deer mice coat up to
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stay warm on cold days. They also survive by making
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different blood, which provides more energy in winter. They hide
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store of snacks away from others in old unused burdness.
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Hedgehog a hedgehog builds a nest of leaves in winter.
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This is often under a shed, in an old rabbit burrow,
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or under a compost heap. As it sleeps rolled into
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a tight ball, its body temperature drops from ninety five
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degrees fahrenheit to almost forty one degrees fahrenheit. European hamster.
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The wild European hamster may spend half the year hiding
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away deep in the earth in her maze of underground tunnels.
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She is safe from most predators and sheltered from winter weather. Reptiles, amphibians, fish,
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and birds. Reptiles and amphibians are coblooded so they can
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control their temperature. The sun warms them up so when
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it's cold they bury themselves away to hibernate. Very few
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birds hibernate, but some species go into short rests called
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torpor terrapine Europeans wild terrapine spends winter down at the
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soft money bottom of the pond lake or slow river,
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but it also takes a long lazy rest in summer
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if it gets too hot. Tortoise. Some tortoises survive the
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code by burying themselves in soft soil for about three months.
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Gill a monster. The gill a monster rests through winter,
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and her eggs do too. She lays them in July
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or August, but the hatchling stone emerge until the spring.
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Leopard get coat. On sunny days, get coos lay soaking
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up as much sunlight as they can. Then at night
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they use the energy to run around feeding, but even
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their desert home can get cold when the temperature drops
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below fifty degrees fahrenheit. Get cooast rest underground sand lizard.
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The sand lizard likes sand dunes, rocks, and sandy heat flant.
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In winter, it dives down into a burrow and sometimes
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shares its home with other sand lizards. Grass snake. A
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grass snake finds a sheltered refuge underground or in a
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deep pile of leaves or compost. Its winter resting place
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is called hybrid nicoleum wood frog. In winter, wood frogs
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wriggle into a pile of leaves or under a log.
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Their heart stops, their breathing stops, and they freeze almost solid. Fish.
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Some fish become much less active in winter. Their bodies
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slow down and they eat less. Poor will. Unusually for
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a bird, the poor will hibernates it retreats under rocks
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or logs for about one hundred days. Many beasts. Many
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beasts have a winter sleep called diapause. Many insects, spiders, slugs,
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and other tiny creatures live for less than one whole year,
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but they find ways to make sure their young get
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through the cold. Their babies may spend time as an egg,
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as a sleepy larvae safely inside a cocaine or resting.
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Diapause can happen for other reasons. Too much is during
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very hot or dry times. The tobacco hornworm. The tobacco
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hornworm grows into an auck moth. Sunlight works like a
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clock for this little creature, so when the days get shorter,
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it wriggles down into the ground and rests. Arctic wooly bear.
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The Arctic wooly bear lives in the chilliest place on Earth.
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Every year, it wakes up for just one month, it
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sleeps for all the rest of its fifteen year long life.
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Evert jumping spider. The everage jumping spider lives and probably
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the highest animal home in the world, twenty two thousand
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feet up on Mount Everest. To survive the coat of times,
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it needs a special liquid in its body to stop
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it from freezing. Short horned grasshopper. The short hern grasshopper
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lays one hundred tiny eggs in a burrow. She covers
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them in a sticky foam. This dries into a pod
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that protects the eggs through the winter. Not grass moth.
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The not grass moth gets through winter in a cocoon
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disguised with leaves, grass, and twigs. Guy wasp Oak trees
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often have strange wooden galls on their branches. Inside each
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one is the larva of a little wasp. The mother
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lays an egg that makes the tree grow a small
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house around her baby, giving it food in a safe
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home for winter. Wood ant wood ants make a giant
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city on the forest floor with hidden chambers underground. In winter,
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they get sluggish and close the doors to keep out
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the wishing wind. Ladybug Adult ladybugs find shelter from the
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cold behind bark, under leaves, or in a dry building,
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often in groups. Earthworm. For the winter. Some earthworms buril
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down and curl up in an oval shaped chamber deep
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in the dirt. Catt Is fly catts fly larva builds
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a tube made of silk with twigs and grit. It
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hides inside it all winter long, at the bottom of
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a pond or stream. This concludes their Children's Story Hour
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for today. Please join us next time as we will
26:07
read more stories, fables and fairy tales. Thank you for listening,
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and please stay tuned for the legs tune Herald Leader
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here on Radio I