May 4, 2025 • 27 mins
This week Geraldine's happy pants are fire-engine-siren red. While Jo's are calmer - more like the silver of shiny, tinkling bells.
There are some spiky fruits in their happy pants pockets, some nuts in shells and butterflies... can they all be eaten? The fruit, sure - but the nuts would need to be cracked open. And the butterflies? Yuck - surely they aren't on the menu. What could all these clues have in common? Things aren't always as they seem...
Join us this week for lots of fun, an entertaining story and of course plenty of music. Keep wearing those happy pants!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:22):
G'day, and welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially for
kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine and
my name is Joe. And together, we're your happy pants
team for today. Are you wearing your happy pants? We
are today. My happy pants make me think of this color.
(00:46):
That sounds like red to me. Bright. Clear the way. Red. Well,
I think my happy pants color sounds like this. To
(01:07):
me that sounds like silver shining tinkling silver bells. Happy
pants have lots of pockets and mine seem to be
full this morning. I wonder what clues Happy Pants has
put in there today. Well, whatever the clues, we will
need to work them out and put them together correctly
(01:27):
if we want to find out what we're supposed to
talk about. You go first, Geraldine, and I'll make a list. Okay.
Pocket number one has. Oh, yes. A bag of apricots.
Pocket number two has. Oh, it's a bunch of pretty
(01:48):
little purple flowers. And round the back is. Wait till
I unfold it. A picture of a beautiful butterfly. How
about yours, Joe? Okay. Um. Mine has some hard, round
wooden marbles. Oh. Hang on. They're macadamia nuts with the
(02:11):
shells on. Now, pocket number two has some kiwi fruit.
And round the back. 00000, a whole pineapple, spiky leaves
and all. Oh, now I wonder what all those clues mean. Well,
we know they all fit together. But how could you
(02:35):
read out that list, please, Joe? Sure. Here we go. Apricots,
purple flowers and a butterfly. Macadamia nuts, Kiwi fruit and
a pineapple. Mhm. We can eat apricots, macadamias, kiwi fruit
and pineapples. But no way am I going to eat
(02:59):
those purple flowers, even if they are pretty and butterflies
are definitely not on the menu, well, we'd need to
crack the shells off the macadamias, rub the fuzz off
and peel the kiwi fruit and take off that prickly
skin from the pineapple before we could eat them. Oh,
but I agree about the little flowers and the butterfly.
(03:22):
Definitely not edible. Big word alert. Edible just means able
to be eaten. Some flowers can be eaten, but you
need to know which ones. I'm a bit suspicious of
those purple ones. Thinking music needed. Thinking music needed. Some
(03:47):
butterfly music, perhaps. Oh, could you be a beautiful, fluttery butterfly?
You might need to clear some space so you can
dance through the air. Butterflies do dance. When they fly,
they flap their wings, then glide for a bit, then
flap some more. That dipping and gliding makes it hard
(04:09):
for birds to catch them. The music will tell you
when it's flapping or gliding time.
S3 (05:29):
National simultaneous storytime is coming to Vision Australia radio. Tune
in on Wednesday the 21st of May at midday to
hear a reading of this year's picture book, The Truck
Cat by Deborah Frenkel.
S2 (05:42):
We'll also be reading the truck Cat on Happy Pants
later that week. On Saturday the 24th and Sunday the
25th of May. Hooray! It's a beautiful story about homes
lost and found friendship. A trucker and his cat. We
look forward to your company in a couple of weeks
(06:02):
for national simultaneous storytime.
S4 (06:06):
Nothing can stop me when I'm wearing my happy pants.
S2 (06:10):
We can eat most of the things on the list,
but not all, so eating them can't be the answer.
It must be something to do with how they look. Well,
let me have another look at those purple flowers. I
think I remember seeing this kind before, but they were
white and some were yellow. They looked like tiny petunia flowers. Oh.
(06:35):
That's it. They're the same family as petunias and tomatoes
and capsicums. They're potato flowers. Hey, Joe, did you know
that most of the parts of a potato plant are poisonous? Yeah.
The only part that isn't poisonous is the tubers. And
they are delicious. Big word alert. A tuber is a
(07:03):
swollen root. It's where the plant stores all the food
it makes. We eat potato tubers all the time. They
are only poisonous if they go green. So if someone
in your house finds a green potato, chuck it out
or plant it. Let it grow and maybe it will
make some nice edible tubers for you. How about apricots?
(07:28):
I love apricots. I love them raw or dried in
pies or made into jam. Sweet, juicy, summery tasting apricots.
Apricots are quite safe to eat. Well, at least the sweet,
juicy outside bit is. It is the kernel inside that
hard seed that's poisonous. Mind you, you'd have to eat
(07:51):
quite a few before you were sick, but eating apricot
kernels is not a good idea. Okay. That's apricots and
potato flowers. What about that butterfly? Well, it's a big yellow,
orange and brown one. Well, I'm pretty sure it is
a monarch butterfly. And monarch butterflies lay their eggs on
(08:14):
milkweed plants, and the caterpillars feed on the juicy leaves
and stems. When they hatch, the stems and leaves have
poison in them, and that collects in the caterpillar's body. Well,
it doesn't harm the caterpillar, but it does make birds
and lizards think twice about eating them. And when the
caterpillar changes into a butterfly, the poison goes too. So
(08:39):
monarch butterflies look beautiful, but their bodies carry a poison. Oh,
I get it. I get it. All those things. The apricots,
the potato flowers and the monarch butterfly looked beautiful on
the outside. But there's something nasty inside. Hmm. But macadamias,
(09:02):
they have that hard wooden cover. But the kernel inside
is delicious. Oh, I love macadamias. But first you have
to get that shell off, and it's as hard as concrete. Well,
they're usually already shelled if you buy them. But if
you have a macadamia tree in the backyard, you probably
hit them with a hammer or a brick or something.
(09:25):
Or maybe buy the special macadamia shelling gadget. Anyway, who'd
have thought that such a hard, ugly shell could hide
such a tasty kernel? Come to think of it, kiwi
fruit are a bit like that. They don't have a shell,
but when they're first picked, they're wearing a fuzzy brown overcoat.
(09:46):
And before you get it, the juicy inside the fuzz
has to be rubbed off and the brown peel removed. Oh, Geraldine,
that's the answer. It works for pineapple, too. They don't
look like anything that might be good to eat from
the outside, but cut off that crown of leaves and
the prickly skin, and they are delicious. Don't throw that
(10:09):
leafy top away, though. Plant it. And in a year's time,
it might grow you another pineapple. I think you're right.
Some things are beautiful on the outside, but there's something
unpleasant inside. And some things look pretty ordinary, even off
putting on the outside, but are very nice indeed. Inside. Hmm.
(10:32):
I've always wondered why kiwi fruit are called kiwi fruit
when I know the plant comes from China. Oh, they
first came to Australia and then New Zealand more than
100 years ago. Back then, they were called Chinese gooseberries.
People who grew them in New Zealand thought they were
brown and fuzzy like little kiwis. So they called them
(10:55):
kiwi fruit and the name stuck. But do potatoes really
have pretty flowers? Oh indeed they do. Potatoes are cousins
of plants, like petunias, so they have the same sort
of flower, only it's a lot smaller. Some potato relatives
have tasty fruit like tomatoes and capsicums, but some are
(11:18):
very poisonous. That's why it's best not to nibble on
anything unless you know exactly what it is. One potato
relative is really, really poisonous, though. It's called deadly nightshade
for a very good reason. A couple of hundred years ago,
it was called belladonna. Belladonna means beautiful lady, and back
(11:42):
then some ladies would drink the juice of belladonna, even
though they knew it was a poison because it made
their eyes big and dark and big. Dark eyes were
supposed to be a sign of beauty. I'll stick to potatoes.
Thank you. Baked. Roasted. Mashed. Oh, I'm even up for
(12:04):
a hot potato dance. Come on, join in. You surely
(12:28):
do love your hot potato. I couldn't keep up. So
can you think of any things which are beautiful on
the outside, but not so nice on the inside? Oh, frangipanni,
that has lovely flowers. And the perfume is Gorgeous, but
the milky sap can give you a nasty rash. Um. Oh, platypus.
(12:54):
They have soft, silky fur, but the male has a
poison spur on each hind leg, and it can give
a very painful wound. How about things that look ordinary outside,
but are really very nice inside. Like passion fruit. The
skin is inedible. That's the opposite of edible. But the
(13:16):
inside is yummy. Especially with ice cream. I suppose, Geraldine,
we could count people in that group too. Most people
are not film star beautiful outside, but they are kind
and caring inside. Some people think that outside beauty is
(13:38):
so important that they go in for way out clothes
and mad hairstyles just so other people will notice them.
I think I'd rather have an ordinary person with a
kind heart for a friend. Me too. Inside beauty is
much nicer. Today's story is about someone who felt very ordinary.
(13:59):
She was afraid no one would notice her, so she
decided to do something about it. She had a makeover
bit by bit. She changed everything about her outside. Did
it work? Was she noticed? Well, you'll have to listen
to the story to find out.
S5 (14:19):
Feathers for Phoebe by Rod Clement Phoebe was small and grey,
and she didn't like it. Not one little bit. I
want to be noticed. I want to stand out in
a crowd. I want to look like you, Phoebe told Zelda.
(14:41):
Of course you do, Zelda, replied Zelda was beautiful. Zelda
was talented. Zelda was famous. Zelda ran the most popular
beauty salon in the forest. Where do I start? Asked Phoebe.
(15:01):
At the top, darling. Always the top. You need a crest.
A brand new crest. Something bright, something big, something more marvelous.
Have a look at the samples and tell me what
you like. No no no. Maybe no. Maybe no. Yes, yes,
(15:33):
said Phoebe. Mhm. Marvelous, said Zelda. Me marvelous. My marvelous.
No one has ever asked for this one before. Well,
said Phoebe. Why, said Zelda, so much color. Determined to
(15:54):
show off her new look, Phoebe flew backwards and forwards
through the busiest part of the forest, but no one
stopped to stare. I need something more, thought Phoebe. Darling, darling, darling,
(16:15):
the crest is a start. But it's not enough. You
need a tail. Zelda exclaimed. Something long, something elegant. You decide. No, no. Maybe. No. Yes, yes,
(16:38):
said Phoebe. Be careful, darling, it will go perfectly with
your new crest. Phoebe's new tail did go perfectly with
her new crest, but it did not go perfectly with
anything else. It was so long she could barely get
off the ground. The only heads she turned were the
(17:01):
ones she whacked as she flew by. I need something
else to set off the tail, said Phoebe. Of course
you do. You need wings, said Zelda. The choice was huge.
Take your time, darling. Wings are everything. Every thing. No, no. Maybe. Maybe.
(17:34):
Your niece said Phoebe were wonderful. Wonder ful, said Zelda.
With these wings you will shine like the morning sun.
Phoebe's new wings looked stunning. It was just a pity
(17:56):
she couldn't use them. No flying, darling, said Zelda. They're
just for show from now on. You walk. Walking wasn't easy.
It was difficult to turn or lift her head and
down on the forest floor. She wasn't sure if anyone
(18:18):
saw her at all. It's your chest and back, said Zelda.
The grey cannot stay. It has to go. You choose,
Phoebe told Zelda. Choose anything you like, so long as
(18:39):
it's fabulous. No no, no. For fabulous. No no no no.
For for fabulous. Fabulous! Exclaimed Zelda as she added the
(19:03):
last fluffy feather to Phoebe's new chest. You're finished darling.
The old Phoebe has gone. The new Phoebe has arrived,
taking care to avoid thorns, spiderwebs, prickly leaves and snagging branches,
(19:24):
Phoebe climbed a low hanging vine and began parading up
and down, but no one called out to her. No
one stopped for a closer look. I have a crest,
a tail, feathers, every color of the rainbow, but still
(19:46):
no one notices me, moaned Phoebe. Sometimes feathers are not enough, darling.
You need more. Much more, said Zelda. You need a song,
a sound, anything, so long as it's loud. And then
you will need some moves. Some moves? Asked Phoebe. Moves.
(20:12):
Moves that show off your tail, your crest, your shiny
new wings. I like to puff out my chest, fan
out my tail, wiggle my rump and sing. Jingang guli
guli wash, wash jingang ghoul. Jingang ghoul. But remember this
(20:32):
is my song. These are my moves. You need your own,
said Zelda. Phoebe spent the rest of the day trying
things out. Bada bing, bada boom, bada bing bang boom. Na.
Tum tum tum tum tum. Ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka. Yay!
(21:03):
Then she tried prancing and dancing, whirling and twirling, nodding
and bobbing. Until finally she came up with the perfect
moves for the perfect grooves. The all new singing, dancing.
Phoebe was now ready to show herself to the world.
(21:24):
Very slowly and very carefully, Phoebe climbed to the top
of the tallest tree. She stood on one leg, shook.
her tail, flicked up her crest, slowly, flapped her wings
and began to sing. Ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka cha.
(21:48):
No one noticed. Ticka ticka ticka ticka choo! Still no
one noticed. Tick, tick. Phoebe's claw slipped off the branch. Clunk!
Her head hit a vine, ripping off her new crest. Caw!
(22:12):
She fell through an old hawk's nest, pulling off her
new wings, for she collided with a sleeping lizard which
yanked off her new tail. Thud! Phoebe landed smack bang
on top of another bird. They stood up, a little
dazed and a little dusty. 82 birds. No fancy crests.
(22:38):
No shiny wings. No long, elegant tails. Just two small
gray birds. Sorry, said Phoebe. I fell. I know, I
caught you, said the other small gray bird. You did,
(23:01):
said Phoebe. Sort of. I'm glad, said the other small
gray bird. So am I, said Phoebe. Oh, said the
other small gray bird, you sure know how to get noticed.
S2 (23:20):
That was feathers for Phoebe. Written by Rod Clement. The
reader was Mike cannon. If you like stories, the Phoenix
Children's Library has loads of books just waiting for you.
You can choose large print, audio or braille. Do you
(23:41):
think Phoebe's makeover worked? Did all those feathers work in
the end? More than 2000 years ago, a Greek storyteller
called Aesop wrote, fine feathers do not make a fine bird.
What do you think he meant? I don't know about Aesop,
but I want some fine feathers to decorate my new hat.
(24:05):
I'm off to a garden party. Well, we've quite a
selection in the craft cupboard. Oh, great. Um, I'll put
four green ones around here. And those three blue ones
in the spaces. How many is that, Geraldine? Well, there
(24:26):
were four blue and three green. That comes to four
and Trees. Seven feathers. How about those little yellow ones? Oh.
They're perfect. How many do we have? Oh, there's ten
of them. Lovely. I'll tuck them in here. Hmm. Now,
(24:48):
how many is that altogether? Well, we started with seven,
and then you added ten. So that comes to seven.
And ten more is. 17. 17. But that's not enough.
It needs a touch of red. If I use these
(25:10):
three long red ones, how many feathers is that altogether? 17.
And three more is 20. You've decorated your hat with
20 feathers. It really is a hat with fine feathers.
I'll bet everyone will be asking. Ah, where did she
(25:30):
get that hat? So what have we done today? Well,
we thought about some things which were beautiful on the outside,
but maybe not so good on the inside. And about some,
which were very ordinary outside but beautiful inside. And we
(25:50):
worked out that doing things just to be noticed doesn't
really work. Fine. Feathers are lovely, but they don't count
in the end. And we had two big words there
was edible. That just means you can eat it. And tuba.
That's the swollen part of a root where the plant
(26:11):
stores the food. It makes a shout out to our listeners,
both young and young at heart, who have sent in
their feedback to the young man in Brisbane who listens
every week and follows all the activities. Thank you. so
great to have you with us. Remember, if you would
(26:33):
like to say hello or share any new ideas or
thoughts on the program, you can do so via Radio
Vision Australia. Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch
you next time.
S6 (26:56):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(27:19):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:22):
G'day, and welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially for
kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine and
my name is Joe. And together, we're your happy pants
team for today. Are you wearing your happy pants? We
are today. My happy pants make me think of this color.
(00:46):
That sounds like red to me. Bright. Clear the way. Red. Well,
I think my happy pants color sounds like this. To
(01:07):
me that sounds like silver shining tinkling silver bells. Happy
pants have lots of pockets and mine seem to be
full this morning. I wonder what clues Happy Pants has
put in there today. Well, whatever the clues, we will
need to work them out and put them together correctly
(01:27):
if we want to find out what we're supposed to
talk about. You go first, Geraldine, and I'll make a list. Okay.
Pocket number one has. Oh, yes. A bag of apricots.
Pocket number two has. Oh, it's a bunch of pretty
(01:48):
little purple flowers. And round the back is. Wait till
I unfold it. A picture of a beautiful butterfly. How
about yours, Joe? Okay. Um. Mine has some hard, round
wooden marbles. Oh. Hang on. They're macadamia nuts with the
(02:11):
shells on. Now, pocket number two has some kiwi fruit.
And round the back. 00000, a whole pineapple, spiky leaves
and all. Oh, now I wonder what all those clues mean. Well,
we know they all fit together. But how could you
(02:35):
read out that list, please, Joe? Sure. Here we go. Apricots,
purple flowers and a butterfly. Macadamia nuts, Kiwi fruit and
a pineapple. Mhm. We can eat apricots, macadamias, kiwi fruit
and pineapples. But no way am I going to eat
(02:59):
those purple flowers, even if they are pretty and butterflies
are definitely not on the menu, well, we'd need to
crack the shells off the macadamias, rub the fuzz off
and peel the kiwi fruit and take off that prickly
skin from the pineapple before we could eat them. Oh,
but I agree about the little flowers and the butterfly.
(03:22):
Definitely not edible. Big word alert. Edible just means able
to be eaten. Some flowers can be eaten, but you
need to know which ones. I'm a bit suspicious of
those purple ones. Thinking music needed. Thinking music needed. Some
(03:47):
butterfly music, perhaps. Oh, could you be a beautiful, fluttery butterfly?
You might need to clear some space so you can
dance through the air. Butterflies do dance. When they fly,
they flap their wings, then glide for a bit, then
flap some more. That dipping and gliding makes it hard
(04:09):
for birds to catch them. The music will tell you
when it's flapping or gliding time.
S3 (05:29):
National simultaneous storytime is coming to Vision Australia radio. Tune
in on Wednesday the 21st of May at midday to
hear a reading of this year's picture book, The Truck
Cat by Deborah Frenkel.
S2 (05:42):
We'll also be reading the truck Cat on Happy Pants
later that week. On Saturday the 24th and Sunday the
25th of May. Hooray! It's a beautiful story about homes
lost and found friendship. A trucker and his cat. We
look forward to your company in a couple of weeks
(06:02):
for national simultaneous storytime.
S4 (06:06):
Nothing can stop me when I'm wearing my happy pants.
S2 (06:10):
We can eat most of the things on the list,
but not all, so eating them can't be the answer.
It must be something to do with how they look. Well,
let me have another look at those purple flowers. I
think I remember seeing this kind before, but they were
white and some were yellow. They looked like tiny petunia flowers. Oh.
(06:35):
That's it. They're the same family as petunias and tomatoes
and capsicums. They're potato flowers. Hey, Joe, did you know
that most of the parts of a potato plant are poisonous? Yeah.
The only part that isn't poisonous is the tubers. And
they are delicious. Big word alert. A tuber is a
(07:03):
swollen root. It's where the plant stores all the food
it makes. We eat potato tubers all the time. They
are only poisonous if they go green. So if someone
in your house finds a green potato, chuck it out
or plant it. Let it grow and maybe it will
make some nice edible tubers for you. How about apricots?
(07:28):
I love apricots. I love them raw or dried in
pies or made into jam. Sweet, juicy, summery tasting apricots.
Apricots are quite safe to eat. Well, at least the sweet,
juicy outside bit is. It is the kernel inside that
hard seed that's poisonous. Mind you, you'd have to eat
(07:51):
quite a few before you were sick, but eating apricot
kernels is not a good idea. Okay. That's apricots and
potato flowers. What about that butterfly? Well, it's a big yellow,
orange and brown one. Well, I'm pretty sure it is
a monarch butterfly. And monarch butterflies lay their eggs on
(08:14):
milkweed plants, and the caterpillars feed on the juicy leaves
and stems. When they hatch, the stems and leaves have
poison in them, and that collects in the caterpillar's body. Well,
it doesn't harm the caterpillar, but it does make birds
and lizards think twice about eating them. And when the
caterpillar changes into a butterfly, the poison goes too. So
(08:39):
monarch butterflies look beautiful, but their bodies carry a poison. Oh,
I get it. I get it. All those things. The apricots,
the potato flowers and the monarch butterfly looked beautiful on
the outside. But there's something nasty inside. Hmm. But macadamias,
(09:02):
they have that hard wooden cover. But the kernel inside
is delicious. Oh, I love macadamias. But first you have
to get that shell off, and it's as hard as concrete. Well,
they're usually already shelled if you buy them. But if
you have a macadamia tree in the backyard, you probably
hit them with a hammer or a brick or something.
(09:25):
Or maybe buy the special macadamia shelling gadget. Anyway, who'd
have thought that such a hard, ugly shell could hide
such a tasty kernel? Come to think of it, kiwi
fruit are a bit like that. They don't have a shell,
but when they're first picked, they're wearing a fuzzy brown overcoat.
(09:46):
And before you get it, the juicy inside the fuzz
has to be rubbed off and the brown peel removed. Oh, Geraldine,
that's the answer. It works for pineapple, too. They don't
look like anything that might be good to eat from
the outside, but cut off that crown of leaves and
the prickly skin, and they are delicious. Don't throw that
(10:09):
leafy top away, though. Plant it. And in a year's time,
it might grow you another pineapple. I think you're right.
Some things are beautiful on the outside, but there's something
unpleasant inside. And some things look pretty ordinary, even off
putting on the outside, but are very nice indeed. Inside. Hmm.
(10:32):
I've always wondered why kiwi fruit are called kiwi fruit
when I know the plant comes from China. Oh, they
first came to Australia and then New Zealand more than
100 years ago. Back then, they were called Chinese gooseberries.
People who grew them in New Zealand thought they were
brown and fuzzy like little kiwis. So they called them
(10:55):
kiwi fruit and the name stuck. But do potatoes really
have pretty flowers? Oh indeed they do. Potatoes are cousins
of plants, like petunias, so they have the same sort
of flower, only it's a lot smaller. Some potato relatives
have tasty fruit like tomatoes and capsicums, but some are
(11:18):
very poisonous. That's why it's best not to nibble on
anything unless you know exactly what it is. One potato
relative is really, really poisonous, though. It's called deadly nightshade
for a very good reason. A couple of hundred years ago,
it was called belladonna. Belladonna means beautiful lady, and back
(11:42):
then some ladies would drink the juice of belladonna, even
though they knew it was a poison because it made
their eyes big and dark and big. Dark eyes were
supposed to be a sign of beauty. I'll stick to potatoes.
Thank you. Baked. Roasted. Mashed. Oh, I'm even up for
(12:04):
a hot potato dance. Come on, join in. You surely
(12:28):
do love your hot potato. I couldn't keep up. So
can you think of any things which are beautiful on
the outside, but not so nice on the inside? Oh, frangipanni,
that has lovely flowers. And the perfume is Gorgeous, but
the milky sap can give you a nasty rash. Um. Oh, platypus.
(12:54):
They have soft, silky fur, but the male has a
poison spur on each hind leg, and it can give
a very painful wound. How about things that look ordinary outside,
but are really very nice inside. Like passion fruit. The
skin is inedible. That's the opposite of edible. But the
(13:16):
inside is yummy. Especially with ice cream. I suppose, Geraldine,
we could count people in that group too. Most people
are not film star beautiful outside, but they are kind
and caring inside. Some people think that outside beauty is
(13:38):
so important that they go in for way out clothes
and mad hairstyles just so other people will notice them.
I think I'd rather have an ordinary person with a
kind heart for a friend. Me too. Inside beauty is
much nicer. Today's story is about someone who felt very ordinary.
(13:59):
She was afraid no one would notice her, so she
decided to do something about it. She had a makeover
bit by bit. She changed everything about her outside. Did
it work? Was she noticed? Well, you'll have to listen
to the story to find out.
S5 (14:19):
Feathers for Phoebe by Rod Clement Phoebe was small and grey,
and she didn't like it. Not one little bit. I
want to be noticed. I want to stand out in
a crowd. I want to look like you, Phoebe told Zelda.
(14:41):
Of course you do, Zelda, replied Zelda was beautiful. Zelda
was talented. Zelda was famous. Zelda ran the most popular
beauty salon in the forest. Where do I start? Asked Phoebe.
(15:01):
At the top, darling. Always the top. You need a crest.
A brand new crest. Something bright, something big, something more marvelous.
Have a look at the samples and tell me what
you like. No no no. Maybe no. Maybe no. Yes, yes,
(15:33):
said Phoebe. Mhm. Marvelous, said Zelda. Me marvelous. My marvelous.
No one has ever asked for this one before. Well,
said Phoebe. Why, said Zelda, so much color. Determined to
(15:54):
show off her new look, Phoebe flew backwards and forwards
through the busiest part of the forest, but no one
stopped to stare. I need something more, thought Phoebe. Darling, darling, darling,
(16:15):
the crest is a start. But it's not enough. You
need a tail. Zelda exclaimed. Something long, something elegant. You decide. No, no. Maybe. No. Yes, yes,
(16:38):
said Phoebe. Be careful, darling, it will go perfectly with
your new crest. Phoebe's new tail did go perfectly with
her new crest, but it did not go perfectly with
anything else. It was so long she could barely get
off the ground. The only heads she turned were the
(17:01):
ones she whacked as she flew by. I need something
else to set off the tail, said Phoebe. Of course
you do. You need wings, said Zelda. The choice was huge.
Take your time, darling. Wings are everything. Every thing. No, no. Maybe. Maybe.
(17:34):
Your niece said Phoebe were wonderful. Wonder ful, said Zelda.
With these wings you will shine like the morning sun.
Phoebe's new wings looked stunning. It was just a pity
(17:56):
she couldn't use them. No flying, darling, said Zelda. They're
just for show from now on. You walk. Walking wasn't easy.
It was difficult to turn or lift her head and
down on the forest floor. She wasn't sure if anyone
(18:18):
saw her at all. It's your chest and back, said Zelda.
The grey cannot stay. It has to go. You choose,
Phoebe told Zelda. Choose anything you like, so long as
(18:39):
it's fabulous. No no, no. For fabulous. No no no no.
For for fabulous. Fabulous! Exclaimed Zelda as she added the
(19:03):
last fluffy feather to Phoebe's new chest. You're finished darling.
The old Phoebe has gone. The new Phoebe has arrived,
taking care to avoid thorns, spiderwebs, prickly leaves and snagging branches,
(19:24):
Phoebe climbed a low hanging vine and began parading up
and down, but no one called out to her. No
one stopped for a closer look. I have a crest,
a tail, feathers, every color of the rainbow, but still
(19:46):
no one notices me, moaned Phoebe. Sometimes feathers are not enough, darling.
You need more. Much more, said Zelda. You need a song,
a sound, anything, so long as it's loud. And then
you will need some moves. Some moves? Asked Phoebe. Moves.
(20:12):
Moves that show off your tail, your crest, your shiny
new wings. I like to puff out my chest, fan
out my tail, wiggle my rump and sing. Jingang guli
guli wash, wash jingang ghoul. Jingang ghoul. But remember this
(20:32):
is my song. These are my moves. You need your own,
said Zelda. Phoebe spent the rest of the day trying
things out. Bada bing, bada boom, bada bing bang boom. Na.
Tum tum tum tum tum. Ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka. Yay!
(21:03):
Then she tried prancing and dancing, whirling and twirling, nodding
and bobbing. Until finally she came up with the perfect
moves for the perfect grooves. The all new singing, dancing.
Phoebe was now ready to show herself to the world.
(21:24):
Very slowly and very carefully, Phoebe climbed to the top
of the tallest tree. She stood on one leg, shook.
her tail, flicked up her crest, slowly, flapped her wings
and began to sing. Ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka cha.
(21:48):
No one noticed. Ticka ticka ticka ticka choo! Still no
one noticed. Tick, tick. Phoebe's claw slipped off the branch. Clunk!
Her head hit a vine, ripping off her new crest. Caw!
(22:12):
She fell through an old hawk's nest, pulling off her
new wings, for she collided with a sleeping lizard which
yanked off her new tail. Thud! Phoebe landed smack bang
on top of another bird. They stood up, a little
dazed and a little dusty. 82 birds. No fancy crests.
(22:38):
No shiny wings. No long, elegant tails. Just two small
gray birds. Sorry, said Phoebe. I fell. I know, I
caught you, said the other small gray bird. You did,
(23:01):
said Phoebe. Sort of. I'm glad, said the other small
gray bird. So am I, said Phoebe. Oh, said the
other small gray bird, you sure know how to get noticed.
S2 (23:20):
That was feathers for Phoebe. Written by Rod Clement. The
reader was Mike cannon. If you like stories, the Phoenix
Children's Library has loads of books just waiting for you.
You can choose large print, audio or braille. Do you
(23:41):
think Phoebe's makeover worked? Did all those feathers work in
the end? More than 2000 years ago, a Greek storyteller
called Aesop wrote, fine feathers do not make a fine bird.
What do you think he meant? I don't know about Aesop,
but I want some fine feathers to decorate my new hat.
(24:05):
I'm off to a garden party. Well, we've quite a
selection in the craft cupboard. Oh, great. Um, I'll put
four green ones around here. And those three blue ones
in the spaces. How many is that, Geraldine? Well, there
(24:26):
were four blue and three green. That comes to four
and Trees. Seven feathers. How about those little yellow ones? Oh.
They're perfect. How many do we have? Oh, there's ten
of them. Lovely. I'll tuck them in here. Hmm. Now,
(24:48):
how many is that altogether? Well, we started with seven,
and then you added ten. So that comes to seven.
And ten more is. 17. 17. But that's not enough.
It needs a touch of red. If I use these
(25:10):
three long red ones, how many feathers is that altogether? 17.
And three more is 20. You've decorated your hat with
20 feathers. It really is a hat with fine feathers.
I'll bet everyone will be asking. Ah, where did she
(25:30):
get that hat? So what have we done today? Well,
we thought about some things which were beautiful on the outside,
but maybe not so good on the inside. And about some,
which were very ordinary outside but beautiful inside. And we
(25:50):
worked out that doing things just to be noticed doesn't
really work. Fine. Feathers are lovely, but they don't count
in the end. And we had two big words there
was edible. That just means you can eat it. And tuba.
That's the swollen part of a root where the plant
(26:11):
stores the food. It makes a shout out to our listeners,
both young and young at heart, who have sent in
their feedback to the young man in Brisbane who listens
every week and follows all the activities. Thank you. so
great to have you with us. Remember, if you would
(26:33):
like to say hello or share any new ideas or
thoughts on the program, you can do so via Radio
Vision Australia. Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch
you next time.
S6 (26:56):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(27:19):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
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