02x41 - Pebble Trouble

[bunniefuu]

WOMAN: ♪ Hey, now... ♪

♪ Hey, wow... ♪

♪ Here's how ♪

♪ Come and read ♪

♪ Between the lions ♪

CHORUS: ♪ Come on ♪

♪ Come in ♪

♪ Begin ♪

♪ The world awaits ♪

WOMAN: ♪ Between the lions ♪

♪ Between the covers of a book ♪

♪ It's time to look between the lions ♪

♪ Behold the tales beyond the tails ♪

CHORUS: ♪ Behind the door ♪

♪ Become, explore ♪

♪ Come in between the lions ♪

♪ Begin between the lions ♪

♪ Be here between the lions! ♪

LIONEL: Leona, what's wrong?

Are you going to come out, honey?

How long has she been in there, Dad?

Almost an hour, Lionel.

Wow, Theo, she must be extremely upset

agitated, perturbed, distressed, blue.

Yeah, I guess so, Heath.

Hey, Leona, are you extremely upset

or agitated, perturbed, distressed, blue?

Oh, what's this?

Uh... "Yes."

How long are you going to stay under there, Leona?

A whole hour?

The whole day?

Forever?

Oh.

"Yes."

What?

Hey, you can't stay under there forever!

Oh, Dad, we have to find a way to get her out.

Hmm.

I've got it!

( laughs )

Wait right here.

Oh.

Don't you at least want to talk about it, honey?

Huh?

What?

"On."

What on earth could that mean?

Oh!

( laughs )

It says "no."

I had it upside down.

( laughing )

Pardon my intrusion, Theo

but I have an idea.

Why don't you lure, tempt, entice her out

with, say, this lamb chop?

Hmm, a lamb chop, eh?

Yeah, that might just work, Heath.

It would certainly work on me.

( laughs )

Oh, excuse me, sir.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow this here lamb chop

for important library business.

Oh, Leona, my pet, Daddy has a treat for you

and it's looking quite yummy.

It's something delicious, savory

delectable, scrumptious and tasty!

Yeah, come on, Leona, just have one little bite.

( wind blowing )

Huh?

WALTER: Wing Leader One, I have the suspect in sight, uh...

Over?

Yeah, over!

Roger, Wing Leader Two!

Operation Cub Lift is, uh, uh...

A go?

Yeah, a go!

Throw the doll out first

and come out with your hands up!

Aah! No, no.

Lionel, we don't want to scare her out!

What?

Aah!

I said, "We don't want to scare her out!"

Okay, Dad, I'll scare her out!

Yes!

Hold this.

Huh? No, not scare her!

Son, the thing is...

( moans eerily )

I think we need to try a gentler approach, son!

Oh!

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, Dad!

Situation under control, Wing Leader One.

Back to, uh, uh...

Headquarters?

Yeah, headquarters!

Oh!

Silverstein, Spinelli...

Ah! Here it is!

Hmm, that should do nicely.

ALL ( chanting ): Eat the chop! Eat the chop! Eat the chop! Eat the chop!

( Cleo roars loudly )

Oh!

Oh, gee... huh!

How did those get there?

I guess I got a little carried away.

( laughs nervously ): Hi, Mom!

I think that maybe it's time

we tried something else.

Something else?

Mm-hmm.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

by William Steig.

Hmm-- now, if I recall, that book is about a...

Oh!

( laughs )

Cleo, my dear, you amaze me!

Now, wait a minute.

If the chop wouldn't work, then how come...

You'll see, son, you'll see.

Go ahead, Cleo dear.

Thank you.

Leona...

I know you don't want to talk right now

but you might want to listen.

Get your ears ready.

CLEO ( reading ): Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

"Sylvester Duncan lived with his mother and father

at Acorn Road in Oatsdale."

"'I wish it would stop raining,' he said."

"'It's magic!' said Sylvester."

I wish it would rain again.

"'I wish it would rain again,' he said again."

( Sylvester gasps )

"'What a lucky day this is,' thought Sylvester.

'From now on, I can have anything I want.'"

Uh, uh, Mom?

Hmm?

Mom, excuse me.

Excuse me, but, uh, did you say

that lion was "mean"?

Yes, that's what it says here:

"a mean, hungry lion."

Yeah, however

the author could have said

"base," "vile," "uncivilized," "wicked"...

Okay, okay, I get the picture.

You can go on.

Thank you.

"If he hadn't been so frightened

he could have made the lion disappear."

"'I wish I were a rock,' he said."

"'I saw that little donkey as clear as day'

growled the lion."

Maybe I'm going crazy.

Oh! So... so, let me get this straight.

A mean, hungry lion is what made that poor donkey

turn himself into a rock?

That's right.

Oh, Mom!

I don't think this is a good story for Leona.

It's a negative portrayal of lions!

Oh, I think Leona knows

that not all lions are like that.

After all, she has very nice brother.

That's true.

( laughs )

Wait a minute!

Nice!

Nobody move till I get back!

Uh, yeah, but...

Hey! And next, Martha Reader and the Vowelles sing

the zesty short "e"-- "eh"-- sound in the word "web"!

( singing short "e" to rhythm and blues tune )

MONKEYS: "Web"!

( song ends )

( monkeys whooping quietly )

( regal music playing )

MAN: ♪ Sir Fester, a knight on a quest ♪

♪ Bet that he'd win the big jousting test ♪

♪ Then he just took the "t" and replaced it with "b" ♪

♪ Thereby proving that he was the best! ♪

( crowd cheering )

GAWAIN: Excellent!

Gawain here once again at Blending Fields

where two brave knights in armor

will charge together at high speed and make a word.

Competing today, we have Sir Dr...

( cheering )

and Sir Ess!

( cheering )

Blend on, dudes!

BOTH: Dress!

( cheering )

Does this make me look fat?

( mutters )

You're right.

"Dress" -- excellent!

That's Gawain's word for today!

And this is Gawain saying

don't stress, because I guess

I'll see you next time on...

( hip hop music playing )

ANNOUNCER: And now some names

with the short "e"-- "eh"-- sound in them.

You'll love it, I bet!

♪ Meet Letty, Bret, Yvette and Ed ♪

♪ Betty, Betty's setter, Red ♪

♪ Terry, Kerry, Brent, Raquel ♪

♪ And Terry's ferrets, Trent and Mel ♪

♪ Here's Deb and Kevin, Lex and Kenji ♪

♪ Zeb and Devon, Rex and Benjie ♪

♪ Rennie, Kenny, Jen, Annette ♪

♪ And Benny and his sister, Bette! ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, what's your name? ♪

♪ What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? ♪

♪ Enjoy your little moment of fame! ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ Here's Brendan, Denny, Nell and Ned ♪

♪ Glendon, Chen, Miguel and Fred ♪

♪ In all these names you'll find short "e" ♪

♪ You know it sounds like "eh." ♪

See you! "Eh"!

( song ends )

( scatting like drums playing )

( scatting like tuba playing )

( sounding out word ): El... e... phant.

Elephant.

( imitates elephant trumpeting )

Elephant.

( imitates trumpeting )

( imitates heavy footsteps pounding )

( sighs )

( Lionel yelps, then object thumps )

( sighs )

Okay, you can move now.

Oh!

Oh, whew!

I was getting stiff!

And I was getting inflexible, petrified

and rigid!

Rigid, huh?

Leona, these are my Cliff Hanger books-- all of them--

and I'm going to give them to you

if you come out from under the table.

That's very nice, Lionel.

Why, you may ask, am I willing to make such a sacrifice?

Because you are my sister, and I am your brother

and there is nothing I would not do for you!

Lionel...

Hmm?

Leona doesn't like Cliff Hanger books.

Oh, yeah.

Well, I thought it would work.

I really did!

Yeah, I know, I know you did, son.

But, uh, look on the bright side.

At least you get to keep your Cliff Hanger books.

Hey, that's true.

( tapping on floor )

Huh?

( Leona clears throat )

Oh, um...

Let's get back to the story.

Exactly.

"And there was Sylvester..."

"'Sylvester has never come home after dinnertime'

"said Mrs. Duncan.

'Where could he be?' said Mr. Duncan."

( rooster crowing )

"They went to the police."

Please, has anyone seen our son yet, Sergeant?

Alert! Alert!

I believe you will have to stop reading.

OTHERS: Why?

CLICK: After calculating Leona's body mass

and factoring in the two seven- ounce glasses of orange juice

she had at 7:00 this morning

I have determined that Leona will need an intake of food

and have go to the bathroom right about...

now!

Whoa, hey, she's coming out!

Hooray!

Huzzah, glad tidings and felicitations!

Applause for mouse!

( applause )

Yeah!

( both gasp )

( gasps )

She has a napkin on her head.

( music begins playing )

MAN: ♪ If you can read E-N, "en" ♪

♪ Then you can read "ten" and "pen" ♪

♪ And you can read "hen" and "Zen" ♪

♪ And you can read "men" ♪

CHORUS: ♪ Yeah, come on and read it again ♪

♪ All you need is a little E-N ♪

♪ If you can read E-N, "en" ♪

♪ Then you can read "end" and "mend" ♪

♪ And you can read "send" and "spend" ♪

♪ And you can read "lend" ♪

♪ Yeah, I bet you're getting to know ♪

♪ Every "en" that I'm tending to show ♪

♪ If you can read E-N, "en" ♪

♪ Then you can read "when" and "then" ♪

♪ And you can read "den" ♪

♪ And you can read "ten" ♪

♪ If you can read "en." ♪

( song ends )

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us

back at the National Word Cup Finals.

Tiger Words is stepping up to the T.

He's been writing sensationally all day

but this will be his final and most important word, "tent."

It starts with the "t" sound

followed by the vowel sound "eh," the "n" and the final "t."

That's "t"... "e"... "n"... "t"-- "tent."

If he makes it, he will win ten tents!

He's selecting a writing implement.

It appears to be an erasable pen

a good choice for this word.

Tiger approaches the T and begins his stroke.

And, oh!

He's written a perfect N, which makes the sound "n."

Wonder what he's planning to do next.

Oh, this is the kind of writing that put Tiger where he is!

He's made a perfect T, which makes the sound "t"!

That's the final sound in the word "tent."

Tiger is writing the heck out of this word!

Let's see what he'll do now.

It's got to be a vowel to make the "e" sound in the middle.

He raises his pen and writes an "I"!

Ooh, too bad!

That "I" makes the sound "i."

That makes the word "tint," not "tent"!

But this kid never lets a mistake throw him off his game.

He's using that pen eraser with typical Tiger skill

erasing the "I" and writing an E

which makes the sound "eh," and makes the word "tent"!

Nice work, Tiger!

He's won the championship and ten tents!

( cheering and applause )

A fiery horse, a cloud of eraser dust

and a hearty "Hi-yo, Hiho, away!

with his trusty sidekick Russell Upsome-Grub...

Where is it?

Give it to me!

Oh, Lone, do you think

something is wrong here?

I'll ask.

What are you folks doing?

Following orders.

Our boss left us these instructions.

And that's what we're a-doing.

Give me your chicken!

Where is your chicken?!

Oh, they're following orders, Russell.

Nothing wrong here.

Uh, Lone, don't you think perhaps that note could use

a bit of rearranging?

Hmm... Hiho, shine some light on this.

( whip cracks )

BOTH: Oh!

Mmm...!

Well, that there's a whole lot neater!

Well, thank y...

Who was that banana-nosed masked stranger?

We didn't even get a chance to thank him, or make him a omelet.

Why must you always yell in that poor horsey's ears?

( group singing a cappella )

The following was recorded earlier

for broadcast at this time!

( imitates elephant trumpeting )

( imitates heavy footsteps pounding )

( imitates trumpeting )

I love my job!

( toilet flushes )

Well, she will still need an intake of food.

Oh, gee...

Wha... hey!

What are you...

( Leona chewing loudly )

( Leona sighs contentedly )

( groans )

This is terrible!

What if she really never comes out?

I'll be known at school

as "the cub with a little sister under the table"!

No, no it's not over yet, son.

Now, look, this is a very powerful story.

Let's let your mother finish.

Okay.

( clears throat )

"Sylvester felt he would be a rock forever

and he tried to get used to it."

"'Let's cheer up,' he said."

"'What a fantastic pebble!' he exclaimed."

Sylvester would have loved it for his collection.

"'You know, Father,' Mrs. Duncan said suddenly

"'I have the strangest feeling

that our dear Sylvester is still alive and not far away.'"

"'Oh, how I wish he were here with us,' said Mrs. Duncan."

"'I wish I were myself again.

I wish I were my real self again,' thought Sylvester."

The end.

Well, uh...

( whispering ): I hope it works.

Yeah, I guess we'll have to see.

Oh, wait a minute.

CLICK: Gasp!

She's out-- without a napkin on her head!

HEATH: She's utterly lacking in headgear!

( laughs )

That was a great story, Mama!

She talked!

Mom, you're a genius!

Thank you, Lionel.

So, Leona, you really liked the story, huh?

Oh, yeah!

It was the best story I ever heard!

You know, when Sylvester was a rock

I thought he'd be a rock forever

but then his daddy put the pebble on his back

and they all hugged.

And, oh, I was so happy I almost cried!

Hey, hey, hey, why don't we continue this conversation

over some lamb chops, huh?

Great idea, Theo!

Yeah, because I'm starved!

Because, well, oh, uh...

well, Lovey ate the one I took from you, Dad.

Oh, she did, did she?

Doesn't anyone care

why Leona was under the table in the first place?

It doesn't matter anymore, does it, Lovey?

Well, but, but, but...

No, it doesn't matter.

But maybe we can talk about it later, Leona?

Oh... maybe.

No maybes about lamb chops!

Come on!

Lamb chops, Mom!

Lamb chops!

But... but... but...

but I want to know what happened now!

Well, Lionel, not every story has an ending--

you know, closure, completion, a denouement.

Hmm!

Wait for me!

Hey!

Where's my lamb chop?

Oh! Thank you for your patience, sir!

And now, compliments

of the Barnaby B. Busterfield III Memorial Public Library

here you go!

Oh, boy!

Going to need a bigger napkin!

Hey, Clay, look!

It's, um... a, uh...

Peanut?

Yeah, and I'm going to eat it!

Stop! No!

Hmm?

Ah...!

You fools!

Huh?

That wasn't a peanut!

That was a magic pebble!

Read the sign! Oh!

Oh, uh, well, uh...

"Magic," um, uh...

"Pebble"?

Yeah... and it was delicious!

I wish I had a hundred more of those, um, uh...

Pebbles?

Yeah.

( both laughing )

Get ready for a sight gag at my expense.

( sighs )

( groans )

Ready, sweetie?

Yeah.

Okay.

Read to a child every day

and watch her get wild about reading.

THEO: Be a designated reader.

"Once upon a time, there was a..."

( growling )

( gasps )

♪ ♪ ♪

CHORUS: ♪ Between the lions... ♪

♪ Between the lions... ♪

WOMAN: ♪ Come in between the lions ♪

♪ Begin between the lions ♪

♪ Be here between the lions! ♪