03x09 - John Ritter

[bunniefuu]

what's the story amigos this is kino

with some cool stories for today's story

time

[Music]

why were the cats so important to the

island

the answer is in our first story read by

john ritter

and there were no field mice because

cats from town

chased them into the forest our second

story is about a

very neat boy with a huge problem

you can't keep him shouted his mother

from the window

then kim konzitong tells us of a boy who

can't decide if he should take his teddy

bear to his friend's house

suppose i won't like sleeping without my

teddy bear

suppose i just hate sleeping without my

teddy bear

and now the time is right the books are

hot

we'll hear fine stories and enjoy them a

lot

story time is a production of kcet

and is made possible by a gift from

helen and peter bing

so that families everywhere can share

the joy of reading

with their children

[Music]

and now join kino and his friend mara at

her place for story time

well we are so happy you came to visit

john

yup yup and now we can get the inside

story on how you read at home

well thanks well we're real happy to be

here um as far as how we read at home

it's easy i guess what we do is we just

pick up a book

we choose a nice comfortable spot and we

read away and we usually afterwards we

talk about the story or

about the pictures and i guess isn't

that pretty much how it goes tyler

pretty much yeah in my house my mom lets

us take turns choosing the stories

who chooses the stories in your house uh

mom

jason carly and dad and sometimes i do

yeah jason's his older brother carly's

his older sister oh

you know there's really one neat thing

about reading

and that's that you can do it almost

anywhere that's right

as a matter of fact we're ready to go on

a trip and uh what we do is we pack a

a special book bag for the kids um

so that in on the plane or in the

airport they'll have something to do and

read and they never

get bored right and so this time we

brought a book that i've read but tyler

hasn't read yet it's uh called the old

lady who liked

cats by carol green pictures by loretta

krapinski

is is that the same as the cat who liked

old ladies

no i i think that was a book by sammy

davis jr but i could be wrong i'm not

sure i've never heard of that is it any

good

john i think keno just made that up

didn't you

well i know the story of the old ladies

who liked cats

and you know what i like about this book

that it shows us how

things are connected in ways that we

don't always understand

what gee no i don't understand

well keno i think uh you'll understand

once we read this and we can talk about

it afterwards okay

once there was an island with a town in

the center

and beyond the town grew fields of sweet

red clover

and beyond the field stretched a dark

green forest all the way to the sea

and on the sea sailed the navy round and

round the island

keeping it safe now the sailors in the

navy were strong and healthy because

they drank plenty of good milk that came

from the cows in the fields

and the cows gave the good fresh milk

because they ate plenty of sweet red

clover

and the clover grew thick because long

tongue bees carried pollen from blossom

to blossom

and the bees carried pollen because

there were no field mice

to eat their honeycombs and there were

no field mice because

cats from town chased them into the

forest

and the cats chased the mice because the

old ladies who like cats let them

out each night and said chase those mice

and keep our island safe

they were wise old ladies you see and

they knew how things work together

but one night the mayor of the town went

for a walk

tripped over a cat and fell flat on his

face in a puddle

i shall make a new law he cried from now

on cats must stay inside at night and

that will keep our island safe

the old ladies who like cats sighed and

shook their heads but they kept their

cats

inside at night and the cats couldn't

chase the field mice

and the field mice ate the honeycombs

and the long

tongue bees stopped carrying pollen and

the clover grew

thin and sour and the cows gave

poor milk and the sailors

became weak and sickly and then one

night

invaders came they sailed right past the

navy

swarmed through the forest trampled over

the field stomped into the town and

shouted

this is our island now in the days that

followed they ate everything in sight

littered the streets frightened the

children and took up

all the room what shall we do cried the

townsfolk

what shall we do cried the mayor this is

what you must do

said the old ladies who like cats they

were wise old ladies you'll remember and

knew how things work together

you must change your law and let our

cats out at night

then the island will be safe again the

mayor scratched his head

imagine that he said all right the law

has changed

so out came the cats that chased the

field mice

and away ran the mice and left the

honeycombs

and back came the long tongue bees that

carried the pollen

and up grew the clover thick and sweet

and the cows ate plenty and gave

good fresh milk and the sailors drank

plenty

and became strong and healthy and one

day they threw the invaders

off the island well done said the mayor

and pinned medals on all of them

but the sailors took them off and gave

them to the real heroes

the ladies who liked cats and that's the

end

who were the real heroes tyler the

ladies

that's right because they knew how

things work together

you know i just wanted to mention

there's a note here from carol greene

that says for many years scientists have

known that plants and animals need each

other each has a particular job in the

community

if that job isn't done the whole

community

can fall apart that's what mara was

talking about at the beginning how

things depend on each other to work

together

did you like the book boy yeah i thought

it was really good

i like the faces of the old ladies too

yeah they

are wise i think they i think this is i

think this is the point of the story

see for the cows to give milk a whole

bunch of things need to happen okay

like like the cats have to run the field

mice into the forest so they won't get

into the honeycombs of the bees

so the bees can work on the clover so

the cows can eat the clover

so the sailors can drink the milk from

the cows and be strong and defend the

island right

that's right that's how things are

connected in the story way to go kino

now i understand about all the things

being connected

now i understand yeah oh john thank you

so much for showing us how you read to

tyler i know her

mark i have some i have something right

keno i know give me a minute let me

finish and i'll get to you okay i know

you're excited

john i i wanted to ask you what kind of

stories do you prefer to read

well um personally i like stephen king

but i don't think he's ready for that

yeah

he loves he started reading dr seuss god

rest his soul what a great

writer he was um and maurice sendak

and tom sawyer he's sort of interested

in

my older boy jason has read all the

tarzan books and tyler

pays attention to what the older kids

read and looks over their shoulders so

i think very soon he's going to go into

the lord of the jungle land

wow mark i have something very very

important i have to ask you oh

okay kino it's your turn what do you

need well you see i've invited my amiga

kim to come today

and i was sort of hoping that she could

read us one of my favorite stories okay

well why not well that's what we're all

about here at story time of course what

a great idea

excellent kim loves stories i'm sure

you'll really like her oh great kino

hey i have an idea we have just about

enough time to read another book before

your friends arrive

maybe john will read us alistair's

elephant

sure i'll read it i'd be happy to it

looks like it's going to be a group

reading

hi we're here hi everybody

make yourselves at home we'll be right

down okay

okay okay where's your friend kim oh

that's kim right down there with the

rest of my compadres what's the story

kim

read along amigo that's my kim

well i'm so glad that kim and all your

friends were able to come

john looks like our eager story fans are

ready well i'm ready too come on t-ball

let's go down and meet these guys

i know kim's gonna knock mara's socks

off with her reading

she's really great at this

hi i'm john it's my son tyler and i'm

going to read alistair's elephant

by marilyn sadler illustrated by roger

boland

okay aleister griddle was a very busy

boy

he had no time for nonsense

he worked very hard at school when he

knew the answer to a question

he would raise both his hands

[Music]

he was very neat and tidy he cleaned his

room

every night and slept on top of his

covers

alster also found time to play he was

very careful to choose games that

exercised his mind

as well as his body

every saturday alistair went to the zoo

because that was the day they offered a

special admission rate for children

under 10.

alistair was very thrifty too on

saturday when alistair was going to the

zoo it threatened to rain so alistair

took

an umbrella now when he got to the zoo

he decided which animals he most wanted

to see then he studied the zoo map

he walked quickly and stopped only once

for a chocolate bar

too small to spoil his dinner

okay he set out for home only after he

had thanked the zookeeper for a most

enjoyable afternoon

see there he's leaving the zoo now

when it began to rain alistair was glad

he had taken his umbrella

he was nearly home when he realized

something quite surprising

he was being followed by an

hour the plot thickens

the zookeeper will be very worried about

you cried alistair

you must go back to the zoo but the

elephant

wouldn't go alistar was late for dinner

so there was nothing he could do

but let the elephant follow him home

you can't keep him shouted his mother

from the window

alistair didn't want to he he didn't

have time for a pet

so he called the zookeeper and the

zookeeper checked his records

there was a hippopotamus missing but not

an elephant

are you sure it's not a hippo ask the

zookeeper alistair was certain

well there was nothing alistar could do

but eat his dinner and hope that the

elephant would leave

he was so upset he couldn't eat his

favorite vegetables

the elephant didn't leave that night nor

any night that week alistair had a very

hard time sleeping with the elephant

at his window and even though alistair

got up early the

elephant got up earlier

ouster didn't have any privacy he had to

dress in the cupboard

the elephant followed him to school and

caused so much excitement that

everyone had to be sent home alistair

did not get to take the arithmetic

test he'd studied so hard for the

elephant ate

all of alistar's house plants as well as

his science book

and his stamp collection

alistair tried to teach the elephant how

to behave the elephant did get a little

better and even gave alastair

some privacy on school days the elephant

learned

to stay at home on saturday however

alistair took the elephant back to the

zoo he just

didn't have time for an elephant every

day of the week

the zookeeper checked his records again

and

found a mistake he had been missing an

elephant after all

he thanked aleister very much the

elephant

was very sad alistair was a little sad

too but he promised the elephant

he would visit every saturday then

alistair left for home it had been a

busier week than usual and at times

it had been fun but he was very happy to

be going home

to his quiet tidy room where at last

he could get some work done

[Music]

and guess what happens kids

now he's got more problems and they're

taller

you want to know what's the difference

between an elephant and a jar of peanut

butter

well you either get a jar of peanut

butter that never forgets or an elephant

that sticks to the roof of your mouth

but i want how many from out of town

thank you very much i'm sorry

what would your mom say if you brought

home an elephant

no you can't keep that for your pet why

because an elephant can

fit through your door that's right

tyler and because it will wreck

everything

and destroy your house thank you very

much

my brother sleeps on top of the covers

too just like alistair

but it's not because he's neat it's

because he's lazy

and he doesn't want to make the bed

uh-huh and do you make your bed every

morning keno

[Music]

yeah well actually uh most of the time

sorry but but right now

it's time for a poem

i am itching for a story now

it's like a tickle in my head so my

friend

kim will take a bow and read a book

about going to bed got it keno

kim it's your turn okay what are you

reading today

oh this story was recommended by kino

ooh

and i really like it too it's called ira

sleeps over

and the pictures and the words are by

bernard weber

i was invited to sleep at reggie's house

was i happy i had never slept at a

friend's house before

but i had a problem it began when my

sister

said are you taking your teddy bear

along

taking my teddy bear along i said

to my friend's house are you kidding

that's the silliest thing i've ever

heard of course i'm not taking my teddy

bear

and then she said but you never slept

without your teddy bear before

how will you feel sleeping without your

teddy bear for the very first time

i'll feel fine i'll feel great i'll

probably

love sleeping without my teddy bear just

don't worry about it

i said who's worried

she said but now she had me thinking

about it

now she really had me thinking about it

i began to wonder suppose i won't like

sleeping without my teddy bear

suppose i just hate sleeping without my

teddy bear

should i take him

take him said my mother take him

said my father but reggie will laugh i

said

he'll say i'm a baby

he won't laugh say my mother he won't

laugh

send my father he'll laugh

[Music]

said my sister i decided not to take my

teddy bear

that afternoon i played with reggie

reggie had plans

big plans tonight he said

when you come to my house we're gonna

have fun fun

fun first i'll show you my junk

collection

and after that we'll have a wrestling

match and after that we'll have a pillow

fight

and after that we'll do magic tricks and

after that we'll play

checkers and after that we'll play

dominoes and after that we can fool

around with my magnifying glass

great i said i can hardly wait

by the way i asked what do you think of

teddy bears but reggie just went on

talking and planning as if he had never

heard of teddy bears

and after that he said do you know what

we can do after that

i mean when the lights are out and the

house is really dark

guess what we can do what i asked

we can tell ghost stories

ghost stories i said ghost stories

said reggie scary creepy

spooky ghost stories

i began to think about my teddy bear

does your house get very dark i asked

uh-huh said reggie very

very dark

[Music]

said reggie by the way i said again

what do you think of teddy bears

suddenly reggie was in a big hurry to go

someplace

see you tonight he said see you

i said i decided to take

my teddy bear good

said my mother good said my father

but my sister said what if reggie wants

to know your teddy bear's name did you

think about that

and did you think about how he'll laugh

and say tata is a silly baby name

even for a teddy bear he won't

ask i said he'll ask

she said i decided not to take my teddy

bear

at last it was time to go to reggie's

house good night

said my mother good night said my father

sleep tight said my sister

i went next door where reggie lived

night reggie showed me his junk he

showed me his flashlight

his collection of bottle caps a chain

made of chewing gum wrappers

some picture postcards an egg timer

jumbo goggles

a false nose and mustache and a bunch of

old rubber stamps from his father's

office

we decided to play office with the

rubber stamps

and after that we had a wrestling match

and after that we had a pillow fight

and after that reggie's father said

bedtime already

said reggie alrighty said his father

we got into bed good night said reggie's

father

good night we said reggie sighed

i sighed we can still tell ghost stories

said reggie

do you know any i asked um

said reggie rosie began to tell a ghost

story

once there was this ghost and he lived

in a haunted house

only he did most of the haunting himself

this house was empty except for this

ghost

because nobody wanted to go near this

house

because they were so afraid of this

ghost

and every night this ghost would go

around this house

and make all kinds of clunky and creaky

noises like that

and he would go around looking for

people to scare

because that's what he liked most to do

scare

people and he was very scary to look at

oh was he scary to look at

reggie stopped are you scared he asked

i said are you what said reggie

are you scared just a minute said reggie

i have to get something what do you have

to get i asked

oh something said reggie reggie pulled

the something out of the drawer

the room was dark but i could see it had

fuzzy arms and legs

it was about the size of a teddy bear i

looked again

it was a teddy bear

bridge you got back into bed now about

this ghost

he said is that a teddy bear i asked

what said reggie is that your teddy bear

you mean this teddy bear the one you're

holding i said

uh-huh reggie answer him do you sleep

with him all the time

what said richie do you sleep with him

all the time

uh-huh does your teddy bear have a name

does your teddy bear have a name uh-huh

reggie answered what is it

you won't laugh said reggie no

i won't laugh i said promise

i promise it's fufu

did you say fufu

reggie said just a minute i said

i have to get something what do you have

to get reggie asked

oh something i answered the next minute

i was ringing my own doorbell the door

opened

ira everyone said what are you doing

here i changed my mind i answered

you what said my mother you what

said my father you what said my sister

she was still up i changed my mind i

said

i decided to bring tata after all

i went upstairs soon i was down again

with tata

my sister said red you'll laugh

you'll see how he'll laugh he's just

gonna fall down laughing

he won't laugh said my mother he won't

laugh

said my father he won't laugh i said

i came back to reggie's room i have a

teddy bear too i said

do you want to know his name i waited

for reggie to say uh-huh

but reggie didn't say uh-huh reggie

didn't say

anything i looked at reggie he was

fast asleep just like that he had fallen

asleep

reggie wake up i said you have to finish

telling the ghost story

already just held his teddy bear closer

and went right on sleeping

and after that well there wasn't

anything to do after that

good night i was for tata and i fell

asleep

too

[Music]

kim that was excellent a first-rate

reading for a first-rate book

boy way to go kim way to go she's an old

friend of mine you know

i know thanks i still have a teddy bear

but i i never gave him a name i just

called him

teddy bear let me ask you something how

do you feel about what ira went through

in the book that kim read

i have a special blanket and i used to

have a special frog

a special frog i still do but i don't

sleep with it

with it anymore why not i don't know

you outgrew them both you don't need

them anymore

well i'm still going to use them okay

that's good just in emergencies

yes ryan my rapper's name is you have a

rabbit named bugs bunny

that's great was iron nervous about

taking that teddy bear over

what do you think dillinger what do you

think yes what in the story makes you

makes you realize that he's nervous

about taking his teddy bear over he

thought that reggie was gonna call him

a baby yeah and what what actually

happened afterwards

yeah he um pulled out his own um

favorite teddy bear yes does anybody

remember what that teddy bear's name was

yeah oh you knew everything phoebe

there you go very good well

you know i just want to tell you one

thing i think it's a really good thing

that ira finds out that reggie

is very much like himself and that

reggie is also afraid sometimes

you know people do that sometimes they

make you think that you're the only one

that's afraid

and deep down we know everybody's afraid

sometimes

and that's why those teddy bears are

good because they help them to fight

their fears right

and at the end once ira realizes that

reggie's not going to laugh uh ira

decides to

go ahead and show up with his teddy bear

regardless of what his sister says and

that's good to do too don't you think

yeah

yeah just like me like you but

what i really want to know is if anybody

here

can tell me what the big firecracker

said to the little firecracker oh

keno that is so easy let's go

out with a bang no no

the big firecracker said my pop

is bigger than your pop

well that was very good very good but

let's go out with a bang

okay no no it's my pop is bigger than

your pup oh no no i know i know but

but we gotta go now and it's the end of

story time so

let's go out with a bang get it oh

oh of course i get it now i get it yeah

okay yeah all right well thank you so

much john

and kim and all of you for coming to our

story time today

let's see which are your story picks for

today keno oh

oh yeah over here sienna i got him oh

there it is i

i brought another story about a a boy

and a girl who wonder

about what happens in the dark it's

called what's under my bed

i really like this one sounds very

interesting

well i would like to recommend the great

k-pop tree

a tale of the amazon rainforest and it's

also about

all living things and how they're

connected just like

the old ladies who like cats well until

we connect again

keep a story in your heart

[Music]

thanks bye

today's story time books are the old

ladies who liked cats

alistair's elephant iris sleeps over

what's under my bed and the great k-pop

tree

you can find these and other books at

your local library or bookstore

story time has been made possible by a

gift from helen and peter bing

so that families everywhere can share

the joy of reading

with their children