9.7.25 - Part 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, and welcome to Reis Children's Story Hours. A reminder.
RADII is a reading service intended for people who are
blind to have other disabilities that make it difficult to
read printed material. Today we will be reading from various
books on the season Autumn. Your reader today is Diane.

(00:22):
We will continue with the book Off Some Autumn, All
Kinds of Fall Facts and Fun. It was published by
Henry Hot and Company and has a copyright year of
twenty twelve. The author is Bruce Goadstone. Migrating isn't just

(00:42):
for birds. Ocean waters get cold in the autumn. Dolphins
and welles also migrate, fouling warmer water currents. Some insects
migrate too. Monarch, butterflies, grasshoppers, and some dragonflies travel hundreds
or even thousands of miles to reach their winter homes.
Some animals don't migrate south, they migrate down. Mountain Goats,

(01:05):
big horned sheep, and elk that live high in the
mountains during the summer move down to lower, warmer lands
in the autumn. Some animals don't move in on them. Instead,
they stop moving. Many animals become much less active in
the late fall. Chipmunks, hedgehogs, hedgehogs, bats, frogs, toads, and

(01:26):
even earthworms hibernate. They seem to be sleeping for a
very very long time. Their body temperature and heartbeat decrease.
They live all fat stored in their body. Bears spend
the cold season in caves, hollow trees, or dens. They
can sleep for as long as a month, but they
can also wake up if they are threatened. Before they

(01:47):
go to sleep, bears prepare their sleeping areas by lining
them with dried leaves and grasses. These materials help to
keep out the cold. Animals who stay awake in the
winter use autumn days to get ready for the code.
Many animals stay where they are all year round. In
the autumn, they gather food while it is plentiful. Squirrels, beavers,

(02:10):
and other mammals store food for the winter. Some mammals,
like fox, is to grow thicker fur in the autumn.
This helps them stay warm as temperatures drop. Other mammals,
like the snowshoe hair and the ermine even change colors.
Their fur changes from brown to white to blend in

(02:31):
better with the winter snow. What do people do in
the autumn, They break leaves into pileand then jump. They
play soccer. In football, people still play baseball in Autumn two.
The World Series ends baseball season in October. What will
you be on Halloween? Halloween comes every October three. First,

(02:55):
it began as a holiday to bridge the light part
of the year in the dark part. People wore masks
and costumes to scareway spirits from the dark world. Today,
many kids wear costumes to go trigg or treating. Some
costumes are scary, others are silly. When you put on
a costume, you get to pretend you are someone or
something else for a little while. What food will you

(03:19):
share on Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving started as a harvest festival. Families
gather together to show they are thankful for the food
of the growing season. Thanksgiving traditions go back to sixteen
twenty one. The Pilgrims at the Plymouth Colony wanted to
celebrate their first successful harvest in a new country. Then

(03:39):
Whampa nog, an Eastern Native American tribe, joined the festivities,
which lasted three days. People in the United States celebrate
Thanksgiving on the four Thursday November. In Canada, Thanksgiving comes
on the second Monday in October. Finally, the last change
of autumn arrives. Awesome autumn turns into wonderful winter. Soon

(04:04):
the cool a fall turns into the code of winter.
Tree branches are bare. A blanket of fresh snow might
cover the leaves on the ground. What other changes will
winter bring? Our next book is called Scarecrow, and it
was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and it has a

(04:27):
copyright year of nineteen ninety eight. It was written by
Cynthia Ryland. His hat borrowed, his suit is borrowed, his
hands are borrowed, even his head is borrowed, and his
eyes probably came out of someone's drawer. But a scarecrow's
life is all his own. It takes a certain piece

(04:49):
hanging around a garden all day, takes a love of
silence and air, a liking for long, slow thoughts of
friendliness towards birds, Yes, birds, crows, grackles, starling's chase, and
them how they feel about a scarecrow. Ask them how
they feel about a scarecrow, and they'll say lovely. They

(05:11):
ignore the pie p in hands and the button eyes,
and see instead of a scarecrow's best gift, his gentleness.
They line up on his arms and can chat all day.
He knows he isn't real. A scarecrow understands right away
that he has just borrowed parts made to look like somebody.

(05:33):
But he knows this too, that there is a certain
wonder going around him. Seeds are being planted, and inside
them there are ten foot tall sunflowers and mammoth pumpkins
and beans that just go on forever, and those. Scarecrow
knows that he can as quickly be turned back into
straw and buttons as he was turned into me, and

(05:55):
he does not care. He has been with the owls
in evening and the rabbits at dawn. He has watched
a spider work for hours, making a web like lace.
He has seen the sun tremble and the moon lies still.
The scarecrow doesn't care what he is made of or
how long he might last, for he has been a
witness to life. The earth has rained and snowed, and

(06:18):
blossomed and wilted and yellowed and greened and vined itself
all around him. His hat has housed mice, and his
arms have rested birds. A morning glory has held tight
to his legs in A worm is living in his lapel.
There's not much else a person might want, and the

(06:40):
scarecrow knows this, so he doesn't mind that there's always
a smile on his face, or that his eyes are
always open. He doesn't mind being up high. He doesn't
mind staying there. The wind is brushing his barrowed head,
and the sun is warming his borrowed hair. Hands, and

(07:00):
clouds are floating across this button burrowed eyes. The scarecrow
is thinking his long, slow thoughts, and soon birds will
be coming by. Our next book is titled Pumpkinheads, and
it was published by Charles Bridge and it has a

(07:22):
copyright year of two thousand. The story was written by
Wendell Minor. October is here. It is time to pick
a pumpkin. On Halloween. Every pumpkin becomes a pumpkinhead. Some
are big, some are small. Some may float high in
the sky, some peak from windows, and some go for

(07:46):
a hay ride. A pumpkinhead might pretend to be a cowboy,
or a snowman, or a witch. Some pumpkinheads greet trick
or treaters, and some scarecrow pumpkin heads can be found
in the strangest places, but no matter where you find them.

(08:06):
Pumpkin heads of all shapes and sizes wish you a
happy Halloween. Our next book is titled Birds and it
was published by Miguel. It has a copyright year of

(08:27):
twenty twenty. The author is John Willis. Birds. In this
book you will learn about what they are, what they do,
how they change, in much more. Storing food, it is
false days are not as long, the wind is cold.
It is time for animals to store food. Acorn woodpeckers

(08:50):
in California's use Semine National Park, drill hose and trees
to hide acorns. Birds eat fruits and berries. They also
find nuts seeds to eat. Birds put their food in
trees and other places. They will save it for winter.
A clarks and nutcracker can store one hundred thousand seeds

(09:13):
each year. Some birds migrate. They leave for places in
the south. It is warmer there. These birds may travel
together in groups. Groups of birds are called flocks. Swan
and geese. Flocks make a V shape when they fly.
Migrating geese may fly one thy five hundred miles each day.

(09:35):
Some birds fly for many miles. They stop on the
way to rest. Other birds stay north and fall they
do not sing as much as they did in the
spring and summer. These birds grow warmer feathers. Soon winter
will be here. It can take a song bird up
to six weeks to grow its winter feathers. How to

(09:59):
make pop paper owls supplies an empty toilet paper rows,
large white paper circles, small black paper circles, small yellow
paper triangles, small brown paper ovals, and egloustic instructions. Gently
pushed one end of the toilet paper row into a

(10:20):
curve to make the owl's head and ears. Glue brown
oval shapes all over the toilet paper row for feathers.
To make eyes, glue two large white circles below the
ears they should be touching. Glue two black circles inside them. Next,
glue a yellow triangle between the eyes to make the beak.
Repeat steps one through four with different sizes of rows

(10:42):
and paper to make different members of your owl family.
Our next book is called Signs of Autumns and it
was published by ab Dough and it has a copyright
year of twenty thirteen. The off of our book is
Colleen Dawson Seasons. There are four seasons during the year.

(11:09):
They are called spring, Summer, Autumn, and winter. The weather, plants, animals,
and daylight hours change during each season. During the year,
Earth travels around the Sun. This brings some parts of
Earth closer to the Sun. Other parts of Earth get
farther from the Sun. Autumn happens in the parts that
are moving farther from the sun. Did you know in

(11:33):
the United States it is autumn and September, and Chile
it is autumn. In March, it starts to get cold.
In autumn there are more clouds in the sky. Jordan
and Sydney where their new yellow hats to stay warm.
There is less daylight in autumn. The sun sets earlier
each day. Sara flies her kite outside until it gets

(11:56):
too dark. During autumn, the leaves on the trees change color,
then they fall to the ground. Did you know Autumn
is also called fall. Apples are ready to be eaten.
In autumn. Ashley helps pick some at an apple orchard.
Her family goes there every year. Geese, stucks and many

(12:20):
other birds fly south in the autumn. They spend the
winter in warmer places. This is called migrating. Did you
know Flocks of geese fly in a V shape and
the autumn squirrels collect nuts. They save them to eat
in the winter. It is harder for them to find
food in the winter. Did you know autumn comes after

(12:41):
summer and before winter. In autumn, Tristan likes to play
in the crisp but crunchy leaves. What do you do
in the autumn autumn activities? Carb a pumpkin, go camping,
playing leaves, go on a hay ride. Our next book

(13:03):
is called Celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival and it was
published by Shine High Press. Has a copyright year of
two thousand and seven, and the author of our story
is San Move Tang Auntie, Uncle ma'amo. What brings you
to our house today? Little May? We're here to celebrate

(13:25):
a special holiday. We brought you some moon cakes. What
kind of holiday is it today, Dan, Today's the fifteenth
day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. We're
right in the middle of the autumn, so we called
the mid Autumn Festival. Today the moon is especially around
and its perfect circle symbolizes the gathering of all the

(13:49):
family members. Little May and ma'amo. Would you like to
hear a story about the mid Autumn Festival? Yes, a
long long time ago, there were ten sons in the sky.
They were so bright and hot that they scorched the
earth and nothing would grow everywhere people suffered. One day,

(14:10):
a powerful archer named hu Yah took his bow and
shot down nine of the sons to help the people.
To thank him for his heroic deed, the heavenly Emperor
awarded him the ex Sller for internal life. But pag Men,
one of who Has disciples, wanted to wanted it for himself.

(14:33):
One day, who Ha let his house to go hunting.
Pay Men stole into who Ha's house and demanded that
Huha's wife Change hand over it. Not willing to let
pay Men have it, Change swallowed the elixir herself. As

(14:56):
soon as she swallowed it, she started flowing to the moon,
where she remained ever since as an immortal. When Hua
discovered that his wife had disappeared, he stared up at
the sky and cried out for her. Then he saw
a shadow figure just like Change in the moon. Who
I knew that it was his wife. Who then placed
fruit and cakes in his garden to pay tribute to

(15:19):
his wife as a sign of her true devotion. And
that is why we eat the mooncakes and pay tribute
to the moon today. What a wonderful story. Dad, Little
may Mamo, come and help Grannie make the mooncakes. Grannie,
there are so many things to do here. How to

(15:45):
make mooncakes. First, soak red beans for two hours. Then
squeeze out water from the red beans. Prepare the dough
with flour, egg and water. Oil the plate. Mix the
sugar and oil to the red bean paste. Break off
small pieces and put it on the plate. Shape the
pieces into little balls. Now you are ready to make

(16:08):
moon cakes. Wrap the dough around the filling and close it.
Place the moon cake into a mode. Gently shake it
out of the mode. Bake it in the oven for
twenty minutes. That three hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit. Everyone,
the moon cakes are ready. It's time for dinner tonight.
Let's eat in the courtyard. We'll set up the table outside.

(16:31):
Little Maya ma Mo, would you like a taste of
greenies mooncake? Yes, there's eight of us. I'll cut the
cake and take pieces. Let's celebrate tonight. Our family is
gathered together. Goodbye, Uncle, Auntie and Ma'amo, see you soon.

(16:52):
Our next stories are about the holiday Halloween that happens
to be in the fall in Our first story is
titled Celebrate Halloween with Pumpkins, Costumes and Candy and it
was published by National Geographic. It has a copyright year

(17:13):
of two thousand and seven and the author of our
book is Deborah hellening Man. In Autumnus, the days get
shorter and the nights grow longer. We get ready for Halloween.
October thirty first is the big day we celebrate with pumpkins,

(17:33):
costumes and candies. People in the United States, Canda, and
the British Isles and other countries celebrate Halloween. It comes
from an ancient holiday long long ago. Celtic people who
lived in Ireland, Scotland and England had their most important
holiday around October thirty first. It was called Swallowing. The

(17:57):
Celts believe that on this night, people who had died
crossed over into the other world. The Celts lit bonfires
to help the dead make their journey. Many centuries later,
the leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope, named November one,
All Saints Are All Hollows Day. Hollow is the word

(18:19):
for saint. The night before All Hollows Day was called
All Hollows Eve. This was shortened to Halloween. The Pope
and other church leaders wanted Halloween to be a holy night,
but Celtic traditions remained, and over the years more customs
were added. People put out food and drink for wandering
spirits or ghosts, and for other spooky creatures said to

(18:42):
be about children and adults started dressing up as those
creatures and doing tricks so they could get goodies to
Since Halloween falls during harvest time, customs from harvest festivals
also became part of Halloween. That's why we go apple picking,
drink apple, say Bob for apples, decorate with gourds, visit

(19:03):
pumpkin patches, and go on hay rides. We carved pumpkins
into jack o' lanterns too. This tradition comes from an
old legend about a man named Jack. Jack died, but
he wasn't good enough to get into heaven. He was
doomed to wander the earth at night forever, so he
carved a large turn up and put a lighted coal

(19:24):
in site so he could see where he was going.
The turnip with a lighted coal was a lantern. The
Jack of the lantern legend comes from England, but in
many places we've carved pumpkins instead of turnips. We get
ready for Halloween for weeks. We decorate our homes and

(19:44):
our schools with pictures of ghosts and witches and blackcats
and jack o lanterns. We buy candy to give it
out to trick or treaters. We plan our trick or
training route, and we plan what we will be on Halloween.
We buy or make costumes for trigger treat night and
Halloween parades and mass grade parties. What will you be

(20:06):
this year? A goblin, a ghost, a superhero, a princess,
a which a scary cat? On Halloween Day, we have
so much fun. We march in Halloween parades around our schools,
in towns. At school, we seen Halloween songs, play games,
put on play and have parties. As darkness comes, we

(20:30):
put on our costumes and head outside with other Halloween creatures.
We knock on doors, we say trigg or treat. Our
friends try to guess who we are. They give us candy.
We say thank you and go on our way. We
also trick or treat for Unsif an organization helps poor
children around the world, We bring a special box with

(20:51):
us and ask our friends and neighbors to contribute money.
Then we bring our boxes into school. Our teacher make
sure the money goes to you and sef We go
to Halloween parties too. We dress in costumes. We try
to guess who our friends are. We play games, sing songs,
and listen to scary stories. We go on ghost walks

(21:12):
and visit haunted houses. We have fun and don't get
too scared. It's all pretend. Halloween is the time to
get a little scared, get dressed in a costume, and
have a lot of fun. Boo more about Halloween, just
the facts. Who celebrates it children and adults around the world,

(21:36):
but especially the United States, Canada, and the British Isles.
A holidays dress up in costumes and eat treats is
on October thirty first. The main celebration is one day
and evening, though sometimes activities are held on the weekend
year October thirty first, the ritual is trigger treating, wearing
costumes and carving pumpkins, and food is candy and ironly

(22:03):
in other countries. In the Bridge Ales, a favorite game
is snap Apple. You can play it too. You can
use apples or donuts. You want to use a string
enough for the apples or donuts for each player and
an adult to help you. First, you wash the apples.
You tie strings around the apples, hang strings around the celling,

(22:24):
a doorframe, tree branches, or even a clothesline. Make sure
the apples hang low enough for you and your guests
to reach them. You want a game to be really hard,
tie a blind folt around each person, put your hands
behind your back, have an adult shout go, and everyone
tries to take a bite of the apple or donut
without using their hands. The first person take a bite

(22:45):
of the apple or donut wins. The Day of the Dead.
In many parts of the world, people observe another holiday
that falls in your Halloween, the Day of the Dead.
This holiday is celebrated on November first and second, and
is also All So's Day, which is observed by Catholics
and other Christians. In Mexico, the Day of the Dead

(23:08):
is very important. Is a daytallnor people have died both
wrote recently in Long Ago. People in other Latin American
countries celebrate this special day too, so do people in
the United States, especially in places where there are many
people of Mexican heritage. On the Day of the Dead,
people visit the graves of their dead loved ones. They

(23:28):
decorate the gravesite with beautiful flowers, especially merrygoats, and floor
arrangements made for this day. Some people also make delicious
food and put it around the grave site. Is believed
that the dead eat the spirit of the food, but
then the living enjoy the delicious food that is left.
Some people also make an altar in their homes or

(23:49):
in churches with offerings to the dead. This is called
an o Friend Day or offering. They place flowers, candles, incense,
holy cards, crucifixes, skulls, other icons, and some food on
the altar. Some people believe that the offerings will draw

(24:09):
the dead back to life so they can enjoy their
family and the pleasures of being alive. After a prayer,
people dance, feast and party all over Mexico. People selling
by toy skeletons who are dancing or playing guitar are
riding horseback with beautiful young women. Children get candles in

(24:29):
the shape of skulls. The day of the day is
both a serious religious holiday and a fun non religious one.
Most of all, this time when people say that death
is part of life, we will not be scared of death.
Our next book is called Minerva Luise on Halloween and

(24:50):
it was published by Dutton Children's Books, a division of
Penguin Young Reader's Group. It has a copyright year of
two thousand and nine and it was written by Janet
Morgan Stoke their Nova Luise loved it. In the fall,
when the Pumpkins came for a visit, she sit with

(25:10):
them and watched the farmers who never stop working even
for a minute. It was one of her favorite things
to do, but she wasn't sure if the pumpkins enjoyed
it as much as she did. This will be fun,
she said. The farmers are plant in a garden, a
rock garden. Everyone is helping. These two are bringing over
a hoe and a rake. Here's a farmer with a shovel,

(25:31):
but he looks too skinny to dig. And this one
has some flowers to plant and a watering can. They've
all been working so hard. Look they're drinking to the
bottom of their water bucket. Oh hello, did you put
up the new curtains. I just love the blackbirds on them.
Oh my, what happened here? What's gotten you guys so

(25:52):
fired up? Oh that don't worry, that's just the laundry,
although laundry usually stays on the clothesline, doesn't it. Wait,
it's not laundry, it's farmers and they're bringing feeding bucks
to the door. Look they're getting corn. I love corn.
Where's my feed buck bucket? Now? If I can just aha,

(26:14):
I got it? Ding dong trigg or treat wow corn.
This is great and it's the sweetest corn ever. Try some.
Did you hear that, lady farmer? She said, I had
such a clever costume, but I'm not even wearing one.
This concludes the children's story iur for today. Please join
us next time as we will read more stories, fables

(26:36):
and fairy tales. Thank you for listening, and please stay
tuned for the Lexting Herald Leader on RADIOI