03x13 - Jason Alexander

[bunniefuu]

what's the story amigos this is kino

with some cool stories for today's story

time

first jason alexander reads a story

about something

scary in the cellar loud thumping

and crunching sounds came from below

then it's a story about three little

mice who want to find out what's at the

top of the stairs

we want to see the dark at the top of

the stairs

or we'll climb up there on our own said

hazel

our last story is about a very dark

night in the barn

something pink on the metal roof

something

gave a spooky tap

then something made the scariest sound

of all

[Music]

story time is made possible by the grant

helen

and peter being so that families

everywhere can share the joy of bringing

with their children

[Music]

okay a little to the right kino you can

get it

i can't chill quite high enough

oh brother here let me try yeah okay

what are you reaching for oh we're just

trying to get that

book up there see it's the one about

camping

this one yeah yeah that's it oh

you're going camping yeah

kino really wants to he's never been

camping before

yep yep and we're practicing tonight in

my backyard

we got sleeping bags and everything wow

well won't you be scared scared

no way we're not scared of anything yeah

not even komodo dragons

they can be very scary

oh my goodness hi lucy hi john

hello mr alexander

what's a komodo dragon anyway well ken i

think you'll understand it a little

better if i just read this story okay

yeah sure

it's called turnip soup it's written by

lynn and christopher myers

with pictures by katie keller

and it goes like this

one afternoon in late summer george

stepped outside to pick up the evening

newspaper

the beaufort bugle he paused

to read the headline komodo dragon

escapes rupert's reptile house

treat dragon with caution rupert warns

oh my gosh george cried and raced inside

to tell his mother

mom watch out there's a dragon on the

loose

george shouted as he ran into the

kitchen

i'll keep my eyes peeled george's mom

promised

but now i have to make potato soup

please go down to the root cellar and

get me

six potatoes

george stood at the top of the root

cellar stairs

very large muddy tracks led down

into the murky shadows

[Music]

loud thumping and crunching sounds came

from below

[Music]

mom that dragon i mentioned is down in

our root cell

wasn't there a monster down there last

week

not like this one well you'll just have

to get rid of it george's mom said

and while you're at it don't forget

those potatoes for my potato soup

well said george if you say so

george took one step down the stairs to

the root cellar

a nod potato sailed past his head

shoe george yelled but nothing happened

mom i need a weapon and i think the

dragon has eaten

all the potatoes can we have carrot soup

instead

ah if you'd rather have carrot soup

that's fine with me

but you'll have to get me a dozen

carrots

what about the weapon here george's mom

said and she handed him

the egg beater thanks mom

george took five slow steps into the

root cellar

[Applause]

all right dragon i have an egg beater

don't make me use it he called

in a shaft of sunlight george saw an

enormous scaly tail scattering carrots

and half-eaten potatoes

across the cellar floor mom

the carrots are out how about zucchini

soup

oh fine fine just get me some vegetables

i need a shield the dragon's much bigger

than i thought

take this george's mom handed him the

lid

to the roasting pan he may be a fire

breather

george said take my oven mitt his mom

said

so you can hold the shield if it gets

too hot

yeah thanks mom

george crept 10 steps down the cellar

stairs

the dragon's head was buried in a bushel

of zucchini

[Music]

george exclaimed at the sight of the

dragon's huge

knobby body dragon froze

and ever so slowly it swung its head

around

bushel and all and took one heavy

step toward george

sorry mom the dragon got the zucchini

oh for pete's sake george aren't you

overdoing this i can't help it mom

this is one hungry dragon

okay okay get me some mushrooms

and i'll make mushroom soup

i'll need a helmet george said

take my mixing bowl she answered

george boldly descended to the very

bottom step the dragon was reaching for

the mushrooms on the top shelf

the shelf teetered rocked

and then fell with a tremendous crash

cucumbers bounced

tomatoes squashed beets

rolled jam splattered

flour flew everywhere

[Music]

mom the only food left in the cellar is

a bag of turnips

i guess we'll have to have turnip soup

but you don't even like turnip soup she

said

oh i am putting a stop to this nonsense

i'll go with you this time

you'll need armor george said

i'm dragon proof she replied

i'm not sure i am said george

here put these cookie sheets under your

shirt

and we'll go get some vegetables

george's mom gaped at the cellar

what a mess george what have you been

there she saw the komodo dragon

the big beast lay against a burlap bag

it clutched three turnips in one scaly

foot

and the dragon gnashed its jagged teeth

[Music]

as she grabbed george's hand and they

retreated

up the cellar stair she whispered let's

just call out for pizza

that was really cool there really was a

dragon in the cellar

yeah there sure was yeah his mom didn't

believe him

hmm well you know that komodo dragons

are real don't you

yeah yeah not like like the dragons and

fairy tales

they're very large lizards and they live

in indonesia which is far far away from

here

well i don't think any komodo dragons

are gonna bother us while we're camping

tonight

so it won't be scary at all and we'll

have my lantern for company

yeah i'm sure you guys will be just fine

oh yeah oh oh

i have another book here about something

a bit scary that happened to some mice

um should i read it yeah sure all right

i'll trade you that one this is called

the dark

at the top of the stairs

it's written by sam mcbratney and it's

illustrated by ivan

bates

[Music]

there was once a wise old mouse who

lived with his young mice in the corner

of a cellar

every day the old mouse liked to do

something interesting with his young

mice

what should we do tomorrow he said one

bedtime

for the young mice were getting ready to

sleep and he wanted them to look forward

to the morning

i would like to see the dark at the top

of the stairs

said a young mouse whose name was cobb

me too said a sister hazel snuggling

into the warmth

i want to see the dark at the top of the

stairs

and so do i said little berry berry the

youngest of the three

we've never been to the top of the big

dark stairs where the monster lives

well the old mouse thought for a while

it was true that

he had not taken his young mice up the

cellar stairs

then he said what about a walk to the

acorn tree

in the garden or a visit to your cousins

in the cornfield we could even have a

swing on the seed heads of the long

grass no sid cop

we want to see the dark at the top of

the stairs

or we'll climb up there on our own said

hazel

and see the monster by our shelves cried

little berry berry

the old mouse nodded as he made his

young mice comfortable in their beds

very well then we will go there in the

morning he said

he spoke as if he knew that sooner or

later all

young mice will try to see the dark

at the top of the stairs

in the morning as early sunshine lit up

the cobwebs in the corners of the cellar

windows

they set out on their journey

let's not talk about the monster

whispered cobb

on the third step up i won't mention it

if you don't mention it whispered hazel

i won't talk about the monster either

last little berry bird

who hadn't learned how to whisper yet

after seven steps they stopped once more

there was excitement in their eyes and

the young mice hardly dared to look up

for they were closer now than they had

ever been

to the dark at the top of the stairs

[Music]

i wonder if it's really really real

whispered gob you said you wouldn't talk

about it

whispered hazel i hope the monster knows

we're coming

on the tenth step up only two from the

top

they paused once more

hazel turned to the old mouse and

whispered

what is the monster like is it the most

terrible thing anyone has ever seen

well we don't have far to go now the old

mouse said

and climbed the last two steps

after him came hazel and cobb

and finally little berry berry who said

i don't see the monster at the top of

the stairs

then something happened

the young mice crept into a crack of

light

[Music]

they saw a monster shadow move toward

them

as smoothly as a cloud and something

breathed out softly one strange

word

[Music]

the young mice did not wait to say

goodbye

with wildly beating hearts they went

and slipped

[Music]

all the way to the bottom of the stairs

where they landed in a wriggle and a

heap before making a dash for warm

safe wonderful home

at the end of the day the old mouse came

to ask his young mice what they would

like to do tomorrow

i would like to go to the acorn tree

said cobb

i would like to visit our cousins in the

corn field

said hazel i would like to swing

backward and forward out of the log

grass

said little berry berry but none of them

mentioned the dark

at the top of the stairs

the end

[Laughter]

that cat wouldn't be a monster to us but

it was a monster to the mice

if i were a mouse i'd definitely be

afraid of cats

well there must be something that you're

afraid of kino isn't there anything

well yeah i guess so i'd be afraid if i

ran into a big scary animal or something

well being afraid of some things can

protect you from getting hurt because

then you're more careful

is there anything that scares you how

about you michael

tornadoes ooh yeah

yeah that's pretty scary michael how

about you rachel

the spiders are one of my they're pretty

scary too

and i used to be afraid of sleeping

outside in the dark

but i'm not now well me neither

hey kino it's getting late we'd better

set up the tent

oh yeah hey come on uh thanks a lot mr

alexander

thanks lucy see you michael see you

rachel good bye

bye good luck

[Music]

wow did you hear that yeah i think

it was probably just a squirrel or

something

probably yeah

uh-oh what was that i don't want to know

who's there

it's just me boys me who

me lucy i just thought i'd read you a

bedtime story

i i think this story will keep you from

being

scared out here even though i'm sure

you're not scared at all

nah we're not a bit scared

we're not scared at all of course not

but anyway i think you'll like this

story

oh okay let's scoot over all right

okay let's get coming here okay all

right here we go

now it's called night in the barn

and it was written by fay gibbons with

pictures by eric

ingram

it was darker than dark that cold

fall night the stars hid behind

windswept clouds and the moon was a here

again

gone again i bet you're afraid

said my big brother willie to me and our

city cousins julius and dan

bet you're afraid to spend the night in

the barn

not me said dan not me

said julius me neither

i said so

we gathered up sleeping bags snacks and

coats

and headed for the back door our dog

amos was waiting there his tail

pat patting a question no

willie told him grabbing the flashlight

you can't go

you'll eat our food and drool on our

sleeping bags

i gave amos a good night hug then walked

out to the porch and down the stairs

my breath was a fog in the frosty air

[Music]

moaned the wind through the orchard

trees

russell went something in the garden

hedge

just a possum mike willie said to me and

started to run

yeah i agreed but i hurried to catch up

with him

we all slid to a stop at the big barn

door

where the shadows were deep and the wind

was cold

wanna go back willie said not me

said dan not me said julius

moaned the wind

so you ready willie asked

i could feel him looking right at me

sure i said

the barn door creaked when willy lifted

the latch

it groaned when i pulled it back

it banged when the wind slammed it

against the wall

i leaned into the barn to show how brave

i was

it was darker than dark in there

though moonlight oozed through cracks

and gaps all around

i stepped inside and froze

in a far corner two glowing

eyes looked straight at me

[Music]

squalled a neighbor's cat as it shot

between my legs and out into the night

ghosts and monsters lurked on every side

ready to lunge and pounce

then willie clicked on the flashlight

in the dancing circle of light the

ghosts and monsters turned into boxes of

canning jars

stacks of lumber and pieces of furniture

we tiptoed through the barn inching

across the uneven floor

i swung around when something touched my

ear and

slapped at a dangling spider web

[Music]

we crept up the sloping steps to the

loft

counting every stair one

two three four

five six

[Applause]

moaned the wind through the hay in the

loft

sure is big up here said julius

sure is cold said dan

sure is dark i said

we spread our sleeping bag side by side

next to a bale of hay and crawled in

with all our clothes on

we told scary stories eight cheesy

crispies and made shadow figures on the

wall

until the flashlight began to dim

yes it's time for lights out willy said

clicking off the flashlight and laying

it on the floor

that's okay with me i said

but the barn turned dark again and night

sounds crept in close

came a call from the far side of the

pasture

julius turned on the flashlight shut

that

off said willie it's just an owl

then scurrying noises began

chittering through the hay and

skittering across the floor

dan fell over julius and me trying to

get at the flashlight

it's nothing to be afraid of

said willie taking the flashlight from

him and turning it off again

it's just mice

i know that said dan

but it was darker than dark

and the wind moaned

[Music]

through the barn something pinged on the

metal roof

something gave a spooky tip

then something made the scariest

sound of all a shivery

whiffling snort

we all dived for the flashlight somebody

got it and somebody dropped it

oh no i whispered as the flashlight

clunk clunk clunked down the steps and

hit the floor below

willy grabbed my arm mike did you leave

the barn door open

he whispered me i said

but there was no time to argue something

was shuffling across the floor below

something was snuffling up the steps

something was coming straight for us in

the loft

i saw a shadowy shape just

as it leaped at willy and dan and julius

and me

we all screamed together then

something dropped a flashlight on my

nose and said

amos i cried turning my

face away from our dog's wet tongue down

boy down amy squeezed in between willie

and me and sniffed at the bag of

cheesy crispies and i wasn't scared

said willie turning on the flashlight me

neither said dan and julius together

i emptied out the bag of cheesy crispies

for amos so

you ready to turn this dumb thing off

said willy

[Music]

sure i said curling up next to amos

in the darkness i heard willie

curl up to him too

the end that was a good one

there wasn't anything in that barn to be

afraid of at all was there

no there wasn't and there's nothing to

be afraid of out here either

but of course you know that right

right sure

well listen i brought a couple of good

bedtime stories for you to keep tonight

okay

the first one is called under the moon

and it's a story about a girl who

pitches a tent in her backyard for an

overnight and awakens in a beautiful and

magical place

wow just like us except she awakens in a

different place

she was dreaming right i guess you'll

just have to read it huh

and my other pick is called darkness and

the butterfly

and it's about a girl who's afraid of

the dark until a wise old woman

and a butterfly helper thanks lucy

these sound great okay well listen now

have a good night and remember

keep a story in your heart bye-bye

bye bye

what was that i don't know

i don't want to know oh man

are the real woods gonna be this noisy

i'll be right out boys

leave me some room out there okay oh

okay

dad we got your sleeping bag all set up

and everything

[Music]

next time on story time lucy takes kino

and his friends camping

for real

[Music]

today's story time books are turnip soup

by lynn bourne myers and christopher

myers

illustrated by katie keller

the dark at the top of the stairs by sam

mcbratney

illustrated by ivan bates

night in the barn by faye gibbons

illustrated by eric ingram

under the moon by diane sheldon

paintings by gary blythe

and darkness and the butterfly by ann

griffagoni

you can find these and other books at

your local library

story time is made possible by the brand

from helen and peter bing

so that families everywhere can share

the joy of reading with their children

[Music]

story time is production of kcet's los

[Music]

angeles