Latest / Children's Hour / 10.25.25 - Part 1
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Realized Children's Story Hour. As a reminder,
- 0:06Realize a reading service intended for people who are blind
- 0:10or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
- 0:13printed material. Today we will be reading from various books
- 0:17on Halloween. Your reader today is Diane. Our first book
- 0:23is called Bertie's Happiest Halloween and it was published by
- 0:27Little Brown and Company. It has a copyright year of
- 0:32twenty sixteen and the author is Sue Jeanne rim.
- 0:36Speaker 2: Bertie loved the fall.
- 0:38Speaker 1: There were so many things to do, like watching the
- 0:41leaves change color, apple picking with Mommy and Monster, wearing
- 0:46big fuzzy sweaters, and playing touch football with her friends.
- 0:51But Bertie's most favorite thing about fall was Halloween. She
- 0:55loved trigger treating and carving pumpkins, and she especially loved dress.
- 1:00One year she dressed up as a robot. Another year
- 1:03she was a mummy princess. It was so much fun
- 1:07being anything she wanted to be. Everyone was excited for Halloween.
- 1:13I'm going to be a superhero, said Coco. I'm going
- 1:16as Confume Master, cheered for Red to Coke, a Baseball
- 1:21Hall of Famer, cried Byron a juggling monkey, said, Eve,
- 1:25I'm going to be Elvis, exclaimed Charlie, what are you
- 1:29going to be?
- 1:30Speaker 2: Bertie?
- 1:32Speaker 1: But Bertie didn't know yet and she'd be too worry
- 1:34if she ever would, Monster had some ideas. The next day,
- 1:40on the way to pick out their pumpkin, Bertie, Mommy
- 1:43and Monster walked by a museum. Look, there's a new exhibit,
- 1:47and Mommy said, oh, can we go in? Bertie asked,
- 1:51maybe I'll get some ideas for my Halloween costume. Mommy agreed,
- 1:55great idea, sweetheart. The museum can be full of it
- 1:59inspiration whoa and it was looked at all the historic
- 2:04figures Joan of Arc, the French heroine, Neil Armstrong, first
- 2:10person to walk the moon, Amelia Earhart, first woman to
- 2:14fly across the Atlantic, Betsy Ross, maker of the first
- 2:18American flag, Albert Einstein, a physicist, William Shakespeare of playwright,
- 2:25George Washington, the first President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln,
- 2:29the sixteenth President of the United States, Leonardo da Vinci,
- 2:33artist inventor, intellectual, Martin Luther King, junior minister, humanitarian, civil
- 2:41rights activist. Sandra Dale O'Connor, first female US Supreme Court justice,
- 2:47Eleanor Roosevelt, first Lady of the United States nineteen thirty
- 2:52three to nineteen forty five, a humanitarian. Later at the
- 2:56pumpkin patch, Bertie asked, Mommy, can I really be anything
- 3:00that I want to be? Absolutely, Mommy assured her, and
- 3:05I can't wait to see what you decide. Over the
- 3:08next few days, Bertie enjoyed the colorful fallen leaves, eight
- 3:12candy apples, and even scored the winning touchdown, but she
- 3:16never stopped thinking about Halloween. She imagined herself in different costumes,
- 3:22or if she was an astronaut like Neil Armstrong, or
- 3:27how about a physicist like Albert Einstein? What about a
- 3:30Supreme Court justice like Sandra Day O'Connor. Bertie liked these ideas,
- 3:36but they didn't feel quite right. On the night before Halloween,
- 3:41as Bertie finished carving her pumpkin, she had an historic idea.
- 3:46She knew just what she wanted to be. On Halloween Day, Charlie, Coco,
- 3:52and Farico met even Byron outside to go trigger treating.
- 3:57They all looked for Bertie and there she was. It's
- 4:03the first Late of the United States, said Charlie, what
- 4:06a great costume.
- 4:07Speaker 2: Oh, I'm not the first.
- 4:08Speaker 1: Lady Bertie declared, I am the President. Together the Juggling Monkey,
- 4:16the Superhero, the kung Fu Master, the Baseball Hall of
- 4:19Famer Elvis and the President went off to celebrate Halloween
- 4:24and they had the best time ever being just too
- 4:26they wanted to be trick or treat. Our next stories
- 4:31called pet On, Poppy and the Spooky Halloween, and it
- 4:35was published by green Light Readers, an imprint of Hooton
- 4:40Mifflin Hardcourt. It has a copywriter of twenty fourteen and
- 4:45the author of the book is Lisa Klowe.
- 4:50Speaker 2: I will spook pedal.
- 4:52Speaker 1: Woo ahh it's me Poppy. See you are spooky. It
- 4:59is only a costume, but it's still me. See where is.
- 5:04Speaker 2: Your party costume? I do not have one.
- 5:07Speaker 1: Everyone wears a costume, not me. I'm a scaredy cat.
- 5:11You do not have to wear a scary costume. Can
- 5:14I be a butterfly?
- 5:16Speaker 2: Yes?
- 5:17Speaker 1: We can make queens now egg glitter, lots of glitter
- 5:21ready to go. Yes, a perfect night. All the goals
- 5:27are out. Do not be a scaredy cat. They are
- 5:29only costumes. Hoo pop oh, oh, what will we do?
- 5:37Maybe someone in there can help in that spooky house.
- 5:41Do not be such a scary cat. Knock knock, hello,
- 5:45anybody home? They must not hear us. We have a flat.
- 5:49This place is too spooky for me. Way here, I
- 5:53will find help. Hurry back. I hope there is nothing
- 5:57scary in there. I hope there is nothing scared area
- 6:00out here. Hello, gah, wish wish wishweez was there? Renal
- 6:09rental plank dunder dum Oh. I'm not a scaredy cat.
- 6:16Boo is only a costume. Why what are you doing
- 6:20in here? My friend went to get help.
- 6:22Speaker 2: I can help. Hmm, goa a monster clang pedal.
- 6:33Speaker 1: His house really is haunted a ghost Boo. We fixed
- 6:37the tire. Great time to get out of here. Hop on,
- 6:41bye bye. Are we still going to the party. I'm
- 6:44too scared. Don't be a scary cat. It's only a
- 6:48costume here. You do not have to wear a scary costume.
- 6:53You can be a butterfly. I will be a monster.
- 6:57Speaker 2: Ha ha, it is still me boo.
- 7:04Speaker 1: Their only costumes. Our next book is titled Happy Halloween
- 7:10Mittens and it was published by Harper, an imprint of
- 7:13Harper Collins Publishers. It has a copywriter of twenty ten
- 7:19and it was written.
- 7:19Speaker 2: By Lola M. Schaeffer.
- 7:22Speaker 1: Nick is getting ready for Halloween. Mintons wants to help.
- 7:26Nick paints spooky faces. Mittens paint's faces too. Oh, Mintons
- 7:32says Nick, you are not helping. Nick puts up a
- 7:35spooky cobweb. Mittens puts up a cobweb too.
- 7:39Speaker 2: Oops. The cobweb falls down on Mittens.
- 7:43Speaker 1: Oh. Mittens says Nick, you are not helping. Nick makes
- 7:47spooky cookies. Mitten makes cookies too.
- 7:51Speaker 2: Oh.
- 7:51Speaker 1: Mintens says Nick, you are not helping at all. Mittens
- 7:56runs away. Minton licks and licks and licks. Soon he
- 8:00is quean and fluffy. Minton still wants to help. Mittens
- 8:04finds Nick on the porch. Nick hangs a ghost. The
- 8:08ghost blows in the wind. This ghost is not spooky,
- 8:12says Nick. I don't know what to do. Nick watches
- 8:16the ghost. Mittens watches the ghost too. He jumps up.
- 8:20The ghost blows past Minton's Mitten's bats. The ghost scratch
- 8:27Minton's bast bats. The ghost again, scratch scratch. Mittens moves away.
- 8:33A spooky ghost blows in the wind. Thank you for helping, Mittens,
- 8:37says Nick. Now we are ready for Halloween, Boo mew.
- 8:45Our next book is titled The Story of Halloween and
- 8:51it was published by Harper Collins Publishers, has a copyright
- 8:57year of two thousand and four and.
- 8:59Speaker 2: The author is Carol Green.
- 9:02Speaker 1: Grinning jackal lanterns, crowds of clowns, monsters, fairy princesses, and
- 9:07space travelers. Tramping through, crunching leaves, a chili breeze, tickling
- 9:12the back of your neck.
- 9:14Speaker 2: Coruses of voices.
- 9:15Speaker 1: Yelling trick or treat and candy, lots of candy. That's Halloween.
- 9:20Ghosts and singers. Hilltop fires blazing against a black velvet sky.
- 9:26Murmured prayers in old graveyard. That's Halloween too. The way
- 9:30it used to be the Story of Halloween begins over
- 9:34two thousand years ago. At that time, people known as
- 9:38Celts lived in Great Britain, Ireland and northern France. October
- 9:42thirty first was the last of the year for them.
- 9:45They called it Salin, which means summer's end on Salmon.
- 9:51The Celts thanked the sun for their hearts and honored
- 9:54it with fire ceremony. Each household put out the fire
- 9:58it had used for more than cooking during the previous year.
- 10:02The priests called druids, rubbing dry oak branches together until
- 10:06they made sparks. The druids then use these sparks to
- 10:10like huge bonfires on nearby hills. Later, the head of
- 10:14each household would take embers from one of the bonfires
- 10:17home to start a new fire. The Celts believed that
- 10:20their new fires born from the bon embers would protect
- 10:24their homes during the coming year, but on Salin itself
- 10:32they counted on the bonfires for special protection. On Salin,
- 10:36they believe the ghost of everyone who died during the
- 10:38past year came back with elves, fairies, and other scary creatures.
- 10:42No one wanted to fill a ghostly hand touch them
- 10:45as they slept. No one wanted an elf to snatch
- 10:48their hair on a faery or a fairy to sour
- 10:51their milk. So they let the bonfires burn bright and
- 10:54hoped that so much light would frighten the spoops away.
- 10:58In ad for three the Romans conquered the Celts. The
- 11:02Romans held different beliefs, but they also celebrated a harvest
- 11:05ceremony around October thirty first. Their feast honored Pomona, their
- 11:12Goddess the fruits. Since the Romans had just finished harvesting
- 11:15apples and nuts from the trees, they offered some of
- 11:18each to Pomona. This was their way of saying thank
- 11:22you and of encouraging Pomona to give them a good
- 11:25crop again the next year. Of course, the Romans ate
- 11:28some of the apples and nuts too, but they also
- 11:31used them to tell the future. And the years that followed,
- 11:34Christian missionaries came to the Celts and told them about
- 11:37a different God. Gradually, the cells S accepted their ideas,
- 11:41until Christianity became the main religion of Great Britain in
- 11:45the age seven hundreds, the Roman Catholic Church decided that
- 11:48November one would be All Saints Day or All Hallows
- 11:54Holy Ones Day, a time to remember and honor special
- 11:58people have died. On the evening before All Hollows Eve,
- 12:01which was shortened to Halloween, people visited cemeteries and prayed
- 12:05for loved ones buried there. But people in Great Britain
- 12:08still held on to some of their old ideas. Many,
- 12:11especially those who lived in the country, continued to believe
- 12:14that scoops wandered around. On October thirty, first bothering their
- 12:19crops and animals. So they went on burning bonfires, telling
- 12:22scary stories, eating nuts and apples, and playing a game called.
- 12:26Speaker 2: Bobbing for apples.
- 12:28Speaker 1: In some parts of England, folks wandered from house to
- 12:31house begging for soad cakes, which were currant buns, or
- 12:35a penny. At least, they sang, if you haven't got
- 12:38a penny, half a penny will do. If you haven't
- 12:40got half a penny, then God bless you. Not all
- 12:44of these old time trick or treaters wanted soad cakes
- 12:47or pennies. However, some would rather make mischief. They traveled
- 12:51in groups, walking up their neighbor's stores or covering their
- 12:54chimneys so the smoke would stay in sight. Often they
- 12:57wore masks so their neighbors wouldn't know who they were,
- 13:01just as trigger treaders often do today, and if someone complained,
- 13:05they just said, oh, the spirits did it. Folks in
- 13:08Ireland also held onto some of the old traditions. Groups
- 13:12of people traveled from house to house asking for food
- 13:15and money, sometimes for the poor and sometimes for themselves.
- 13:19They promised good luck for the generous and trouble for
- 13:22the stingy. But while some did all this in the
- 13:24name of Saint Columba, a Christian monk, others did it
- 13:28for muck.
- 13:30Speaker 2: Halla, a druid god.
- 13:32Speaker 1: Instead of using regular lanterns to light up their all
- 13:36hollows Eve activities, the Irish often hollowed out large turnips,
- 13:41rude begos, and potatoes. Then they carved ugly faces into
- 13:45the vegetables and stuck candles inside. The people of Great
- 13:49Britain remember the old custom of fortune telling on Halloween.
- 13:53They still believed that the world of the spirits came
- 13:55closer to the world of the living at that time
- 13:58than any others, and just maybe they thought those spirits
- 14:02would help them learn what lay in their future. In Ireland,
- 14:06people ate cal Canyon, a mixture of mashed potatoes, parsnips
- 14:11and onions. Hidden in the food were four objects. Whoever
- 14:14got the ring would be married that year, whoever got
- 14:17the little China doll would have children, the finder of
- 14:20the thimble would never marry, and the finder of the
- 14:23coin would get rich. Others use apples to tell their futures.
- 14:27They would toss the whole hill over their left shoulder,
- 14:30and when it landed, whatever initial it appeared to form
- 14:34would be that of a person they would marry. In
- 14:37eighteen forty, the potato crops failed in Ireland. Potatoes who
- 14:42are a big part of the Irish diet. Without them,
- 14:44many people didn't have enough to eat. Thousands of them
- 14:47decided to flee to the United States to begin new lives,
- 14:50but the Irish also brought with them many old traditions
- 14:54from their former lives, including those of Halloween. After that,
- 14:58more and more Americans began to see celebrate Halloween.
- 15:02Speaker 2: One story the.
- 15:02Speaker 1: Irish brought to the United States told of a man
- 15:05from long ago named Jack.
- 15:07Speaker 2: Jack was not a good man.
- 15:09Speaker 1: He drank too much, and he wouldn't share anything with anyone.
- 15:12Jack's sustingiust man around folks said. Everyone knew Jack wouldn't
- 15:17get into heaven, but after he placed some dirty tricks
- 15:20on the devil, he couldn't get into hell either. All
- 15:23he could do was wander around the dark. Eventually, even
- 15:26the devil felt sorry for Jack. He gave Jack a
- 15:29glowing coal so he could see where he was going.
- 15:32Jack stuck it into a carved turnip, and that became
- 15:35his lantern or Jack O' lantern. American substitute a local vegetable,
- 15:41the pumpkin for Jack's turnip. There were plenty of pumpkins
- 15:44around in late October. They were easier to carve than
- 15:47they looked just right grinning on Halloween. By the end
- 15:51of the eighteen hundreds of people all across America were
- 15:54celebrating Halloween. They especially liked trick or treating, a tradition
- 15:58that came partly from the Irish went around and masked,
- 16:01asking for food and money, and partly from the English,
- 16:04who asked for soap, cakes and pennies. Some mischievous Americans
- 16:08ignored the trees and just played tricks. Their neighbors might
- 16:12wake up on November first to find their windows soaked,
- 16:15their hay wagon on the roof, or their pigs shut
- 16:18up in the outhouse, and if someone complained, they just heard, oh,
- 16:22the goblins did it. Americans also fell in love with
- 16:25costumes as part of Halloween, an idea that might have
- 16:29come from several different places.
- 16:31Speaker 2: Some Irish wanderers.
- 16:32Speaker 1: Wore masks, and sometimes boys dressed like girls and girls
- 16:36like boys. In England, people wore costumes for Guy Fox Day,
- 16:40a holiday on November fifth, and hundreds of years before
- 16:43Americans ever heard of Halloween, Europeans she used to hope
- 16:47parades around their churches on All Hollows Day, when some
- 16:51people dressed as saints, angels, or devils. Maybe American trick
- 16:55or treers just decided to dress up as ghosts, which is,
- 16:58goblins and other fright in creatures because they were still
- 17:01frightening even after so many years. After all, a big
- 17:05part of Halloween today continues to be acting scary or scared. Unfortunately,
- 17:10some plankasters did real damage with their tricks. They broke
- 17:14street lights, slash car tires, and even set fires. People
- 17:18used to be afraid of spooky creatures on Halloween. Now
- 17:21they had to be afraid of other humans, and it
- 17:23was no longer safe for young children to go trick
- 17:26or treating. Community leaders talked about the problem. They knew
- 17:29how much people loved Halloween. They didn't want to stop
- 17:33celebrating it, but they had to do something to make
- 17:35it safer, especially for children. Soon, different communities came up
- 17:40with different solutions, and some everybody who wanted to march
- 17:43in one big parade. In others, schools, parks and shopping
- 17:47areas held smaller parades for children They often gave prizes
- 17:50for the best costumes. Some store owners cleverly figured out
- 17:55how to stop children from soaping other people's windows. They
- 17:58had children draw Halloween picks and enter them in a contest.
- 18:02The winners could then color their pictures on big store windows.
- 18:06In nineteen fifty, a group of Sunday school children near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
- 18:12collected seventeen dollars while trigger treating. They decided to send
- 18:15the money to the United Nations Children Fund UNICEF, which
- 18:20helps pouring stick children around the world. Other people felt
- 18:23this was a great idea. Now, millions of children in
- 18:26the United States trigger treat for UNISSEF, Some get money
- 18:30and candy. They take the money to collection centers where
- 18:33adults give them a party that Ironshod collected food and
- 18:36money for the poor centuries ago would be proud of
- 18:39these children. Today, Halloween parties have become another way to
- 18:45celebrate in the United States, and once again, some of
- 18:48the traditions.
- 18:48Speaker 2: Go way back.
- 18:49Speaker 1: Bobbing for apples in a tub of water and eating
- 18:52candy apples bring to mind the ancient Romans and their
- 18:55Goddess of fruits. Pomona, ghosts and other creatures that frighten
- 18:59the celts show up his costumes and decorations. Today, so
- 19:03do creatures such as owls, bats and spiders, which scared
- 19:06people want to go because they come out at night.
- 19:09A cheerful jacqueline in someone's front window is the descendant
- 19:13of a ruta baga, turn up or potato on long Ago, Ireland.
- 19:18And when someone begins telling spooky stories at a Halloween party,
- 19:21here she is doing the same thing others did in
- 19:24Great Britain hundreds of years ago. A cloudy October night,
- 19:29no moon, no stars. The dog barks, and you step
- 19:32outside for her. It's chili. Suddenly something brushes against your face.
- 19:37Is it a ghost or just a spiderweb? You shudder?
- 19:41The dog barks again. Now you see them, horrible grinning
- 19:45faces coming towards you. No, they're just a bunch of
- 19:48carved out vegetables with lights in sight. But who are
- 19:51the people in masks carrying them? Why they're your neighbors
- 19:54collecting food and money. Now everyone is talking and laughing.
- 19:58The dog is wagging his tell you give your visitors
- 20:01some coins and apples, lots of apples. Whatever year it is,
- 20:06Happy Halloween. Her next book is called How to Scare
- 20:11a Ghost a spooky how to book and it was
- 20:17published by Alfred A. Knoff has a copyright year of
- 20:21twenty eighteen and the author of our story is Jeane Reagan.
- 20:28Speaker 2: Do you want to scare a ghost?
- 20:30Speaker 1: The easiest, spookiest time to try is Halloween. First, you
- 20:35have to find one. How to attract a ghost high,
- 20:38scarecrows in your yard, Tangle up the porch, carved creepy pumpkins.
- 20:45No ghost shit, Keep your eyes wide open while you
- 20:47do more Halloween things, even at school. Ghosts can't resist
- 20:51bobbing for apples, cupcakes, games, glitter.
- 20:58Speaker 2: Still no luck.
- 20:59Speaker 1: Don't give up. Try one last trick. Makes scary sounds?
- 21:05Which is he he and als woo in eerie ghostly boo?
- 21:14Yes you found one. But is the ghost real or
- 21:17just a kid in a costume? How to tell if
- 21:19a ghost is real. Instead of walking, ghosts float, They
- 21:23never ever open doors. Ghosts are only visible to kids
- 21:27and cats, not to grown ups, not to dogs. Okay,
- 21:31your ghost is real. Time to get scary. Pop out
- 21:36with your most frightening face, make a gigantic monster shadow.
- 21:41Read spooky creepy stories. Your ghosts might say ghosts aren't
- 21:46scared of anything.
- 21:47Speaker 2: Except room room, who are too scary.
- 21:52Speaker 1: Help your ghosts calm down with a cup of warmsighter
- 21:56room room, promise no more scary, and instead play together.
- 22:02How to play with a ghost take trs writing, piggyback,
- 22:06we put on a magic show. Scare other people, just
- 22:11a teeny bit. What not to play with a ghost
- 22:16seesaw when a ghost plops down and doesn't even budge.
- 22:20Jumping on a trampoline, yep, not bounce, hide and seek.
- 22:25Ghosts are too good at hiding. It's almost time to
- 22:28trick or treat. Your ghost probably wants a costume too.
- 22:32How to choose a costume. Be your favorite thing, a
- 22:35soccer ball, a sparkling red robot, a banana split, be
- 22:39something scary, a skeleton, a witch, a vacuum cleaner.
- 22:43Speaker 2: Team up together and be a traffic light.
- 22:46Speaker 1: Remember, a ghost in a costume can be seen by everyone.
- 22:49But don't worry. Your parents will just think you made
- 22:53a new friend. Ghosts know nothing about trick or treating,
- 22:56so share your tips.
- 22:58Speaker 2: How to trick or treat. Don't go through doors knocking
- 23:02you out.
- 23:02Speaker 1: Trick or treat, then say as fast as you can
- 23:06Thank you very much, goodbye, and zoom to the next house.
- 23:11Remind your ghosts not to float too highe now wish
- 23:15everyone happy Hollowen. Our next story is called Happy Halloween
- 23:21Witch's Cat and it was published by Harper and Imprint
- 23:25of HarperCollins Publishers. It has a copyright year of twenty
- 23:29fifteen and the author is Harriet Moncaster. My mom is
- 23:34a witch and I am our special witch's cat. She's
- 23:37a good witch, and together we are just right. Halloween
- 23:42is coming. Well, what will I be?
- 23:45Speaker 2: A green frog too slimy.
- 23:48Speaker 1: Maybe a silver skeleton too bony? How about a pink
- 23:54ballerina too freely for a black vampire tooth feet, a
- 24:01yellow mummy too tangly, an orange.
- 24:05Speaker 2: Pumpkin too smiley?
- 24:10Speaker 1: I know, a white ghost too spooky. Nothing feels right,
- 24:16so we go home for supper just before bed. I
- 24:20have the best idea of all, Mam. I say, I
- 24:24will be a witch and you can be my special
- 24:26Witch's Cat. This concludes our children's story ire for today.
- 24:31Please join us next time as we will read more stories,
- 24:34fables and fairy tales. Thank you for listening, and please
- 24:38stay tuned for the lex and Hair leader on radio
- 24:41I