Audio Storytime

Hello friends, it's Miss Cathy from the Mary L. Cook Library. Won't you join me for a story? I'll read and you can use your imagination to see the pictures. Let's get started. Everywhere Wonder Written by Matthew Swanson Illustrated by Robbi Behr.

I have a story to share. It is a little gift from me to you. You might not know it, but you have a story too. You'll find it in the things you stop to notice. The world is full of people and places and things, all of them interesting, all of them beautiful. 

You never know what you might see or where your mind will take you, so keep your eyes wide open as you go. In Egypt, there are pyramids. In Arizona, there are canyons. In the jungles of Brazil are leaves so plentiful and green that light can barely reach the ground below. 

In the high hills of Japan are gardens full of wind-worn rocks and clean white sand, but not a single flower. In Kenya, there are hot, dry savannas filled with zebras and blue wildebeest. In Alaska, there are cold, wet waters filled with seals and sockeye salmon. 

In the middle of the Coral Sea, there is a roaring storm that no one will ever hear. On the near side of the moon, there is a quiet footprint that no rains will ever wash away. In Sheboygan, there is a tractor mechanic named Shirley who has 37 friends. 

On the North Pole, there is a cold and lonesome bear. Wishing for some company. You want to go see him, of course. To let him know he's not alone. But your bike won't get you there and back by bedtime. 

Still, you noticed him, didn't you? He walked off this page and into your head. Now he is part of your story. There are other wonders yet to find. Not so far from where you are right now. They too are interesting. 

They too are beautiful. Stop to really look and you will see them. In the highest part of the tree is an unexpected gift. A blue balloon that must have slipped from someone's fingers. In the deepest part of the pool is sunken treasure. 

A shiny dime that must have tumbled from someone's pocket. Will you save it or spend it or leave it there for someone else to find? In the grocery are aisles and shelves and stacks of cans. You have to look so carefully to find the one you want.

In your bowl of steaming soup is just one noodle that doesn't match the others. Where do you think it came from? On the playground is a sturdy line of bright black ants carrying their supper home. Under the bridge is a gently rolling river floating a blue glass bottle out to sea. 

Perhaps it holds a message. What does it say? Who could it be for? In the busy town are sidewalks full of swiftly moving people who somehow never seem to collide. In the quiet countryside are miles of open, empty roads that somehow never seem to end. 

Where do they go? Someday you may find out. In the hallway is a spotted dog that turns golden as the sun sets through the window. In the bedroom is a doorknob that makes rainbows when the reading lamp clicks on. 

Now the lamp is off and the moon is up. You close your eyes and see them again, the things you noticed today. All of these together are your story. Dream with them a while. When you wake up in the morning, open your eyes and open your window and let your story out into the world. It is a little gift from you to me. Now my story is complete, but yours is just beginning. 

 

Hello friends, it's Miss Cathy from the Mary L. Cook Library. Won't you join me for a story? I'll read and you can use your imagination to see the pictures. Let's get started. The Littlest Family's Big Day. Written and illustrated by Emily Winfield Martin. 

One morning, very early, a little family came to the woods. They found a place just big enough for all their little things. Then they set out on a wander to see what they would find. Were they alone? They were not. Not at all. They said, “Hello.” “Hello, hello.” And finally, “Goodbye.” Goodbye. As they continued on their wander, they felt a wisp of breeze. The little family chased the breeze until they found the wind. 

Beyond the wind, they came upon a river, deep and wild. And soon the family found a way to wander on the water. Up along the riverbank, they found a place to rest. But, oh no, they couldn't rest for long. 

Because they had to run. They ran and ran and the rain pelted down until they found somewhere warm and dry. When the rain stopped, the little family found that they were lost. But when you are lost, it is the best time to be found. 

When their wander was done, after hello and goodbye, and the breeze and the wind, and the river and the wild, and the rain and the warm, and after lost, they found they were home. Goodnight, Little Wanderers!

Hello friends, it's Miss Cathy from the Mary L. Cook Library. Won't you join me for a story? I'll read and you can use your imagination to see the pictures. Let's get started.

Nothing to Do by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin.

Once in a while, along comes a day when there is nothing, absolutely, positively nothing to do. And isn't that great? No school, no homework, no little league, no dance class, no play rehearsal, no soccer practice, no computer camp, no anything. Just a white empty space on the calendar. Of course, some people get a little worried about these spaces. These people are very nice and wear big shoes, but we'll think about them a little later.

But what do you do when there's nothing to do? Well, I have heard stories, wonderful stories, about taking off your shoes and walking through green grass or mud in your bare feet. Or making toy ships out of sticks and sailing them across a puddle that somehow seems as wide as an ocean. I've heard about lying on your back and watching clouds turn from dinosaurs into crocodiles, into dragons, into bears, into butterflies, into clouds. 

Or lying on your stomach watching an ant carry something three times bigger than he is. While you wonder, how can he do that? And what do ants eat for breakfast that makes them so strong? I've heard of making a paper airplane do loop-de-loops and barrel rolls in the soft summer air. Then land smooth as butter on bread. Or building a fort, a secret place where no one can see you because you can't see them. And surviving for hours on peanut butter sandwiches and lemonade.

I've heard about catching fireflies on a warm evening and putting them in a jar until you have two hands full of gold and then letting them all go. I've heard of swinging until your toes touch the clouds or hanging by your knees like a monkey just to find out how monkeys feel. I've heard of climbing a good tree that's been waiting all its long life just to be climbed by you or finding a quiet spot and reading your very favorite book and then reading it again just because it is your favorite.

I've heard stories about exploring places that really need to be explored. About making angels in the snow or igloos or caves or sledding or tasting icicles or throwing snowballs or building round fat men with orange noses and old hats who smile at everyone. Why I've heard of swimming and building sand castles and hopscotching and jump roping and running and throwing and bouncing and painting and drawing and playing with toys and puzzles and dolls and games and puppies and kittens and hamsters and gerbils and doing cartwheels and doing somersaults and doing well sometimes just doing nothing. And maybe one of the best ways to do nothing is to show someone else how to do it maybe even someone with big shoes just to remind them that sometimes doing nothing is the most important thing in the whole wide world to do.