Latest / Children's Hour / 1.11.25 - Part 1
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Realized Children's Story Hour. As a
- 0:05REMINDERI is a reading service intended for people who are
- 0:09blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
- 0:13read printing material. Today we will be reading from various
- 0:17books about winter. Your reader today is Diane. Our first
- 0:23book is called The snow Globe Family and it was
- 0:27published by Puffin Books by Penguin Group. It has a
- 0:33copyright year of two thousand and six and the author
- 0:38of our book is Jane O'Connor. In a big house,
- 0:43high on a hill lives a family, a mama, a papa,
- 0:46a boy, a girl, and baby. On the mantel in
- 0:50the parlor sits snow globe. It has been there such
- 0:53a long time. Nobody notices it anymore. Nobody except baby.
- 0:59Who will like or to your crumb cake? The mama asks.
- 1:03Inside the snow globe lives another family, a very little family.
- 1:07A mama, a papa, a boy, a girl, and a
- 1:10little baby. They are having dessert too, Only their cups
- 1:15are so small. Each one holds no more than half
- 1:18a drop of tea. Who would like another crumb of
- 1:21crumb cake? The little mama asks. In the snow globe
- 1:27sparkly snow covers the ground all year round. The little
- 1:31family doesn't mind. They love snow. They build snowman as
- 1:35big as lumps of sugar. They skate on a pond
- 1:39as shiny as the silver coin. They throw snowballs, make
- 1:43snow angels, and tramp through the snow, leaving footprints smaller
- 1:48than the sprinkles on an ice cream cone. If only
- 1:51someone in the big family would shake the snow globe
- 1:54really hard and make a heel of snow, then the
- 1:57little family could go sledging. Sometimes the little family shouts
- 2:03hello out there, look at us, But the big Papa
- 2:06is reading aloud a story. Nobody notices them, nobody except baby.
- 2:15The little Papa is reading a story too. When he's done,
- 2:18the children say, tell us about the big snowstorms from
- 2:21long ago. Please, Papa, There used to be snowstorms all
- 2:26the time, big ones. Their papa begins. The house rattled
- 2:31and shook, Dishes flew from the cupboards, Furniture slid across
- 2:35the floor. Once I got thrown out of the bathtub.
- 2:38Those were the days. Now there's only a gentle flurry
- 2:42once a week. When the parlor made dust, the mantle
- 2:46inside the snow globe. Nobody except the little baby notices
- 2:50a flurry. Who cares. What the family wants is a great,
- 2:54big snowstorm, A blizzard. That's what the children in the
- 3:00cows are hoping for. Two a blizzard, and one evening
- 3:04snow starts to fall and doesn't stop. It is a
- 3:07perfect night for sledding. Off they go, leaving baby behind.
- 3:14It's your bedtime. The snow will still be here tomorrow,
- 3:17the mama says, and goes upstairs to run baby's path.
- 3:21But baby wants snow now. Baby pushes her papa's footstool
- 3:26over to the mantel. She piles books and pillows on top,
- 3:30Then up she climbs. Who does she see inside the
- 3:34snow globe? She sees the little baby. What does the
- 3:38little baby see? Two enormous eyes. Baby grabs the snow globe, oops,
- 3:47The books and pillows slip from under her. She lands
- 3:50on the pillows and giggles. She shakes the snow globe.
- 3:55She shakes it some more. Inside the snow globe, the
- 3:59little family hangs on for dear life. This is some storm,
- 4:06y'allhoo oh my in the big house. Baby, here's her
- 4:12mama calling, come baby, we'll go sledding too. The snow
- 4:16is too wonderful to miss. Inside the snow globe, the
- 4:20little family runs outside. There's a perfect hill for sledding.
- 4:26We we It is late now. In the big house.
- 4:33The mama, the papa, and the children are upstairs, fast asleep.
- 4:37The snow globe is up on the mantel again. The
- 4:40little family is fast asleep too. Everyone big and little
- 4:44is dreaming about the next big snowstorm. Who knows it
- 4:50might come very soon. Our next book is called Pete
- 4:55the Cat Snow Days, and it was published by harper
- 4:59An in print of her arthor Collins Publishers. It has
- 5:02a copyright year of twenty sixteen and the author is
- 5:06James Jen Pete the Cat wakes up and gets ready
- 5:10for school. He has Show and Tell today. There is
- 5:13no school today, said Pete's mom. It's a snow day. Hooray,
- 5:19yells Pete. Let's go sledding, says Pete. Great idea, says
- 5:24his brother Bob. Pete puts on his hat, boots and mittens.
- 5:30I'm ready to go, he says. On the way, Pete
- 5:33makes snowballs. He throws one at Bob. Bob throws one back.
- 5:38Pete makes a snow cat. Snow days are way more
- 5:42fun than school days, he says, sledding He'll here we come,
- 5:47says Pete. He can't wait to get there. Pete waves
- 5:51to CALLI comes sledding with us, He says. The hill
- 5:55is big. Trey and Emma look small at the top.
- 6:00Runch Crunch goes the snow as Pete, Bob and CALLI
- 6:04go up up, up wee, they yell as they go down,
- 6:08down down. I love snow days, says Pete. On the
- 6:13way home, Pete and Bob stop at Trey's house. The
- 6:16hot chocolate is yummy. What a fun day, says Pete.
- 6:21Tomorrow at school, I'll tell my class all about it.
- 6:25Pete wakes up to more snow. It's not a school day,
- 6:29it's another snow day. Pete makes a snow for it.
- 6:33He throws snowballs, he makes a snow dog. Then he
- 6:37has fun sledding. He can't wait to tell his teacher
- 6:40about it. But the next day is a snow day too.
- 6:44There's too much snow. Pete and Bob can barely even
- 6:49open the front door. Before you go sledding. Please shovel
- 6:52the walk, says Mom. But shoveling is hard work. When
- 6:56Pete is done, he's too tired to go sledding. Pete
- 7:00misses his teacher, He misses the other cats in his class.
- 7:04Pete can't wait to go back to school tomorrow. But
- 7:08when Pete wakes up, it's snowing. Oh no, he says,
- 7:13not another snow day. Pete wants to go to school,
- 7:17so Pete plows the streets all by himself. The other
- 7:20cats rush outside. They help clear the snow. Everyone wants
- 7:25to go to school. The streets are clear and safe,
- 7:28the bus can drive, school is open. All the kids
- 7:32are excited to see their teacher. He has a snow
- 7:35day show un tell. When it's Pete's turn, he tells
- 7:39everyone about the fun he had in the snow. I
- 7:43love snow days, says Pete, but I love school best.
- 7:49Our next book is titled On a Wintry Morning, and
- 7:52it was published by Biking, a division of Penguin Putnam,
- 7:56and it has a copyright year of two thousand. The
- 8:00author of our book is Dory shakhanas Daddy, Take the
- 8:05Baby out, Take your Bonnie Baby out, Show the baby
- 8:09all about on a wintry morning, Daddy, tire head on tight.
- 8:14Tie that baby's head on tight. The wind will blow
- 8:18with all its might. On a wintry morning, Daddy sweep
- 8:22her down the hill, sleding, sliding down the hill, chase
- 8:27the quill and whip her will. On a wintry morning,
- 8:32Daddy lift her up so high. Sweep that baby up
- 8:35so high. Catch a piece of snowy sky. On a
- 8:39wintry morning, Daddy find a bunny track, quickfoot, lightfoot, bunny track.
- 8:45Running here and hopping back. On a wintry morning, Daddy's
- 8:50throw your arms around, up and down and all around,
- 8:54make an angel on the ground. On a wintry morning,
- 8:59Danny harness up the sleigh, Harness up the black and gray.
- 9:03Sweep your baby fast away. On a wintry morning, Daddy
- 9:08take her to the square, to the market in the square,
- 9:12wave to everybody there. On a wintry morning, Daddy buy
- 9:18a long eared pup. Buy a lop beat long eared pup,
- 9:22one ear down and one ear up. On a wintry morning,
- 9:28Daddy wrap her in the sleigh. Rapper warmly in the
- 9:32sleigh homeward bounced with black and gray. On a wintry morning, Daddy,
- 9:40hold your hand up high, hold your hand up to
- 9:43the sky, point to wear the wild geese flight. On
- 9:46a wintry morning, Daddy, bring the baby in, Bring the
- 9:51bonnie baby in. Brush the snowflake from her chin. On
- 9:55a wintry morning, Daddy blew upon her toes, warm most
- 10:00tender toes, Rub her hands, and kiss her nose. On
- 10:04a wintry morning, Daddy kiss her cheeks, so Red, kiss
- 10:09her cherry cheek. So Red took the baby in her bed.
- 10:12On a wintry morning, Daddy sing a little tune, Sing
- 10:17a cozy dozy tune. Sleep for now, and very soon
- 10:21we'll share a wintry afternoon. Our next story is called
- 10:26The Snow Rabbit and it was published by Little Tiger
- 10:31Press has a copyright year of twenty eighteen. The author's
- 10:36Georgina Douche bear was always grumpy. He had a big
- 10:42furry frown and a sulky scout. Whenever he felt really
- 10:46really grumpy, he would give a grisly, grumpily growl. Sh
- 10:54bear's in a really bad moods. The animals didn't dare
- 10:58to go near a bear's full yard, except for one
- 11:02very smiley rabbit. Good morning, Bear, go away, poor bears,
- 11:08said rabbit as she skipped away. He needs cheering up,
- 11:12and Rabbit knew just what to do. Don't do it, rabbit,
- 11:17I have a great idea. That night, Bear couldn't sleep.
- 11:23He grouched and grumbled and looked out his window, and
- 11:26there in the moonlight was a snow rabbit. There was outraged.
- 11:32He stomped outside, took a deep breath, and bellowed, who
- 11:37has been in my yard? The trees trembled and shook
- 11:41at the sound of the bear's rumbling roar, until crash,
- 11:45a pile of snow landed right on top of a
- 11:47bear in the snow rabbit. Oh no, now I have
- 11:50soggy fir and a squish snow rabbit. The next morning,
- 11:54Bear woke up in a very bad mood. He peeked
- 11:58outside frownings saw the leaning snow rabbit sitting sadly in
- 12:03the sunshine. I've told rabbit this was a bad idea.
- 12:08That's it, Bear grumped. I'm going to find out who
- 12:11built this snow rabbit. She's going to be in so
- 12:15much trouble, Fox, Bear ground, did you build a snow
- 12:19rabbit in my yard? Fox gulped. No, he stuttered. Bear
- 12:28stomped off. It must have been badger, he grumbled. Look out, badger,
- 12:33I'd never seen bear so grumpy. Bear stormed up Badger's path. Badger,
- 12:41did you build the snow rabbit? No, it wasn't me, squirrels,
- 12:45It must have been you. It wasn't I know who
- 12:47it was, fine, roared bear. It wasn't fox or badger,
- 12:53And it wasn't the squirrels. It must have been rabbit. Hello, Bear, smile,
- 12:59rabbit hopping up, did you call? Yes, fellow bear, you
- 13:04put a snow rabbit in my yard. I thought it
- 13:08might make you smile, said rabbit hopefully. There took a
- 13:12deep breath. The animals covered their ears. Well, it did
- 13:16not make me smile. Bear grout. I can't watch eeke,
- 13:21poor rabbit. It made a giant mess, and you're going
- 13:28to help me fix it or else. Bear turned and
- 13:31marched home. Rabbit blinked in amazement. We can fix this,
- 13:37rabbit offered when he saw the squish snow rabbit. And together,
- 13:41that's what they did. Then, when the snow rabbit looked
- 13:44just right, they made a snowbar, and for the first
- 13:47time in a long time Bear forgot to be grumpy.
- 13:53That night there couldn't sleep. He stood at his window
- 13:56and gazed out at the snow bear and the snow
- 13:59rabbit standing together in the moonlight. A slow smile spread
- 14:04across Bear's face. It feels good to have a friend,
- 14:07he said, and that gave their a wonderful idea. Chuckling
- 14:13to himself, Bear pulled on his boots marched into his yard.
- 14:19Better changed this and he got to work on his
- 14:22mysterious plan. The next morning, the animals were in for
- 14:26a surprise. Snow squirrels. It looks just like me. Thank
- 14:31you Bear. Come on, everyone, let's go sletting. This is amazing,
- 14:37and with so many new friends, Bear was never grumpy again.
- 14:43Our next book is titled Swift, and it was published
- 14:46by Philammel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.
- 14:51It has a copyright year of two thousand and seven
- 14:57and the author of our book is Robert J. Blake.
- 15:03Swift smelled the gun oil. He knew we were going
- 15:07hunting a week before we left. He's what Paul calls
- 15:11a knowledgeable dog. Mas says, Pa and Swift were out
- 15:17hunting on the day I was born and that I
- 15:20have wanted to go with him ever since. This year
- 15:23I passed the gun course this year, Paul said, Johnny,
- 15:27get the dog. We're going hunting all the first day
- 15:30through sticks for Swift, but he wouldn't chase them like
- 15:33he does at home. How come Swift won't fetch, I
- 15:36asked Paul, because he's working now, Paul said. The second day,
- 15:40Swift led us through thickets and stream beds. Do you
- 15:44think Swift will find us up there? I asked. He'll
- 15:47have to if we're to have enough food to get
- 15:50us through the winter, Pa answered. The next day, Swift
- 15:54let us up steep hills and down deep ravines. Swift
- 15:58ain't having much love, I told Paul. My father's sighed
- 16:02and put down his gun. There's a lot of land
- 16:05out there, he said, and very few bears. It ain't
- 16:09about luck. It's about figuring out the bear before the
- 16:12bear figures out you. Paul turned with Swift let out
- 16:16a bark. A grizzly ran out of the brush. Paul
- 16:20pushed me to the ground. Tuck your head, he hollered,
- 16:23as he ran for the gun. I did. I heard
- 16:26the bear growl. Then I heard something heavy hit a tree.
- 16:29Swift went wild, snarling and barking like I'd never heard
- 16:33him before. Swift moves, Paul spit out. I heard click click.
- 16:39He got into his gun, boom boom. Then I heard nothing.
- 16:44I picked out for him under my arms. The bear
- 16:47was gone, Pa, I called, My father was down. Paul's
- 16:52lake was bent at a terrible angle. It's gonna need
- 16:55your help, he whispered. I nod in my head. Mind
- 16:59ap with straight branches, strap my leg to them, he said.
- 17:04I did get some brush and make a shelter under
- 17:07this tree. I did. Now you and Swift go get help.
- 17:11Paul said, what if the bear comes back, I asked.
- 17:14Pile tapped his gun. It might Listen carefully, he said,
- 17:19find the shortcut through the forest and take it to
- 17:21the beaver pond. From there, follow the runoff to Geezer's
- 17:26abandoned cabin. You got that forest pond run off cabin,
- 17:31I repeated. Then find his old rowboat and get downstream
- 17:35to Roscoe Junction for help. Boat river Roscoe. Paul looked
- 17:39at me with hard, unblinking ice. Keep your wits about you,
- 17:43and Johnny Swift knows the rout. Listen to the dog,
- 17:47Swift was already starting down the trail. I felt mixed
- 17:51up about leaving Pap. What if he was hurt worse
- 17:54than I thought. I walked faster. What if the bear
- 17:57came back for him? I started to run. What if
- 18:00the bear came after Swift in me? I ran? I ran,
- 18:04I ran until Swift dove under my feet and I
- 18:07went down hard. He stopped me from running off a cliff.
- 18:11Keep your wits about you, pod said Swift. Knew going
- 18:15too fast can be as bad as going too slow.
- 18:18Further on, Swift came to a tall tree. I thought
- 18:21he was going to leave a scent, but no, he
- 18:24just kept circling it. What is it? I asked? The
- 18:27dog looked up. He'd seen Paul climb many a tree
- 18:31to get his bearings. I grabbed a branch and pulled
- 18:34myself up. Directfully below us, I saw the trail into
- 18:38the forest. It looked like an easy shortcut to the
- 18:42beaver pond. Swift's hickles went up the moment he stepped
- 18:47into the forest. There were things in there that he
- 18:49didn't like, things that smelled wet and musky, things that
- 18:53rushed away when he ran up to the edge of
- 18:56the trail. A mile after mile there were things in
- 18:59the forest. Swift's ears went straight. He turned his head
- 19:03and suddenly ran off the trail. I ran in after him,
- 19:07but I couldn't keep up. I leaned on a tree,
- 19:09but then sucked in my breath. From far away came
- 19:13the sound of a fight. One final bark rose above
- 19:16the others. Swift, then the whole force went quiet. Checking
- 19:22my gun, I headed out again, but it wasn't long
- 19:25before every tree and every rock looked the same. By
- 19:28the time dust came on, I was lost. I took
- 19:32cover under a fallen tree. Swift would come. He had
- 19:36to come. The air turned cold, and the forest felt close.
- 19:40I wondered in the forest, I wondered if the forest
- 19:43felt his cold and close for Paul under the tree
- 19:46with his leg all busted up. Snap, something was coming.
- 19:51I peeked under the tree, and there it was, standing
- 19:54in the clearing, no sniffing near. The bear knew I
- 19:58was there. I eased the unbarrel up and got him
- 20:01in my sight. But the bear turned and narrowed its
- 20:04eyes at me. It froze me in my spot. When
- 20:08he moved toward me. I couldn't fire the gun. Swift
- 20:12burst out of the woods. I got a grip on myself. Boom,
- 20:16my head told my hand boom. The bear spun and
- 20:20went down on one knee. Go Swift. We turned tail
- 20:25and took off through the woods. I knew I didn't
- 20:28get a good shot off, and I knew what Paul
- 20:31always said that a wounded bear is the most dangerous bear.
- 20:35A wounded bear won't give you any warning. A wounded bear,
- 20:38Paul said, comes out of nowhere. I ran behind Swift
- 20:42until a bright white light dusted the trail. It was
- 20:45snowing outside the forest. The beaver dam was straight ahead.
- 20:51Swift didn't like the beaver dam, but I didn't like
- 20:54the forest. He carefully picked his way across the top.
- 20:58I kept turning around, gun ready, watching for the bear.
- 21:01Should have done what Swift did and watched my steps.
- 21:04My foot slipped and some logs kicked out from under me.
- 21:08Loose wood frozen mud, and I fell into the runoff below.
- 21:14Icy water seeped into every stitch of my clothes. Swift
- 21:18was next to me in an instant up. He nudged
- 21:21me up. My body started shaking from the coat. We
- 21:24ain't gonna make it, I cried. Swift stopped nudging. He
- 21:28moved his head so close to mine that I could
- 21:32fill his breath. That's when I saw all the dry
- 21:35blood and matted hair. The fight hadn't gone well for Swift.
- 21:39He was hurt and worn out too, but nothing was
- 21:42going to stop him him. He had a job to
- 21:46do now, time for tears, Time only to move on.
- 21:50My frozen clothes crackled as I got up and followed
- 21:53him down the stream bed to the tundra land. It
- 21:58was slow going through the tundra. Sometimes the frozen ground
- 22:01held up, other times it fell through, throwing me over
- 22:05the hayheads. First, my frozen feet were itchy, then they
- 22:09began to hurt. I chased away the pain by tying myself.
- 22:12I was walking on soft summer grass. Summer grass, I
- 22:16kept saying to myself, summer grass. But the next time
- 22:20I fell, I thought I actually was on summer grass,
- 22:23and it felt so good that I wanted to lie
- 22:25in that grass forever. I closed my eyes. I thought
- 22:29I heard Swift barking far away. Closer I heard him again.
- 22:34It's okay, Swift. I couldn't stop shaking, but he wouldn't
- 22:41stop until I looked up. He found Geezer's cabin. Inside.
- 22:46Swift sniffed every corner of the cabin. I tried to
- 22:50start a fire, but all the matches were wet. I
- 22:53threw them down and fell to the floor summer grass. Suddenly,
- 22:56Swift jumped on me. Go oh oh hey, I told him,
- 23:02still shaking, but he wouldn't stop. He grabbed hold of
- 23:05my pant leg and shook no. I kicked at him.
- 23:09Swift turned toward the door and growled. The grizz was outside,
- 23:12weaving it and insane that got into the cabin. Weav trapped.
- 23:17Swift leaped out the door. I grabbed the gun. The
- 23:22grizzly threw my dog. Swift's breath flew out of him
- 23:25as he hit the ground. He was slow getting up.
- 23:28The bear lurched forward and filled up the doorway. His
- 23:32eyes looked at me, trying to hold me still. But
- 23:34he wouldn't have me this time. This time, boom, This time,
- 23:39I dispatched the bear. I had to. Swift jumped aside
- 23:43as the grizz fell backward into the snow. My dog
- 23:47carefully approached the gris, sniffed it and jumped back. Then cautiously,
- 23:52he walked back and pawed at the bear. One more sniff,
- 23:55and Swift stepped aside. The bear wasn't going to trouble
- 23:59anyone anymore. Come on, Swift, I said, we have to
- 24:03get to Geezer's boat. Geezer's rowboat was frozen to the shoreline.
- 24:09I rocked it free, but I had to get into
- 24:13the river and break my way out to the running water.
- 24:16My body tightened as I stepped in. Paw, I said,
- 24:19each time I cocked the ice, Paw, I said, each
- 24:23time I pounded with my hands. My whole body was
- 24:26numb when we made it to the running water. After that,
- 24:29I don't know how I got into the boat. After that,
- 24:32I just remember dreaming. I dreamed. I dreamed that the
- 24:36boat was being tossed around on chattering white teeth. I
- 24:40dreamed the bear was sneaking up on Paul, and I
- 24:42jumped awake, wide eyed and scared for him. Then I
- 24:45dreamed that the frozen stiffness and my clothing softened, and
- 24:49snow turned to sleep, and sleep turned to rain, and
- 24:52always anytime my eyes opened, Swift was there, giving up
- 24:57his warmth to me. I dreamed the water sounded like
- 25:01voices as running water wheel. Then I felt Swift stir
- 25:05jamming his legs into me to stand up and look around.
- 25:09His whole body began to shake, and a low wine
- 25:11grew up from deep inside him. I dreamed that voices
- 25:15surrounded the boat. The voices became real. We made it
- 25:18to Roscoe Junction. Nothing seemed real until they asked me
- 25:23about Paul Bear broke his leg. He's above the beaver
- 25:26pond on Tarhook Ridge. Until they asked me how I
- 25:30made it back. Kept my wits about me until they
- 25:33asked me if there was anything else they needed to know,
- 25:36And I pointed to my dog already on his way.
- 25:39Listened to Swift. He's a knowledgeable dog. This concludes the
- 25:46Children's Story Hour for today. Please join us next time
- 25:49as we will read more stories, fables and fairy tales.
- 25:53Thank you for listening, and please stay tuned for the
- 25:56Legs and Harold Leader on Radio I