Read Aloud

Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet Bruce is a big mean bear who loves nothing more than wreaking havoc on the forest tossing boulders down hills smashing trees to smithereens and making the small woodland creatures go running and flapping for their lives. This makes him laugh and laugh! But then he tosses a boulder just a little too close to a witch out picking blueberries. She stomps up the hill to yell at him but he just laughs and saunters off. So she goes home to her cottage to make a pie for him, a magic spell pie with a magic potion inside. She sneaks back to the hill and sets it out for Bruce who smells it and comes and gobbles up the whole thing. She warns him but he ignores her and goes off to take a nap. During his nap he shrinks to the size of a chipmunk! He wakes to a terrible nightmare where every animal he used to torment is now big enough to chase and hurt him. So he runs and runs and finally ends up almost drowning in a small creek. Then nighttime brings owls and other scary beasts into his life. That’s when the witch finds him again and takes him home. But instead of making him disappear or hurting him, she keeps him as a wonderful little bear pet and he soon forgets being a big bear and enjoys his life at her house being her pet sleeping with the cat under the warm stove and tossing pebbles in the garden to scare the bugs and crickets like he used to do to the squirrels and rabbits and quail in the forest. This is a fun little story that I hope makes your kids smile. Bill Peet was an artist for Walt Disney during the golden age of 2d animation. His books are richly written and beautifully illustrated in a distinctively Bill Peet style. His books are a great source for children who want to learn to draw. This is a fun little Halloween story about animals and magic and all the unexpected things that could happen in the forest.

This is the last part, side 5. Part 1: https://youtu.be/vwFtvcU_pCs Part 2: https://youtu.be/g7Le8BEU1PU Part 3: https://youtu.be/F_kcXVGlrzI Part 4: https://youtu.be/gtCYfFqAOps Part 5: https://youtu.be/O1IUw2aJ0cw This part contains Calvin's some dreams and imagination. Calvin has Hobbes tie him to a chair so he can practice being an escape artist, but he can’t get out so he’s stuck there till his parents find him. Calvin pretends he’s a T-rex in the library and gets kicked out. There’s some trouble with sneezing. He has to wear a tie and imagines he’s being executed in days of yore. Then there’s his adventure getting a Christmas tree with his mom and Dad tells him they aren’t decorating it this year. They’ll keep it out in the garage. The joke doesn’t play so well. Then there’s the excitement of Christmas and Santa and presents and sure enough, Christmas comes and Santa too. The snow comes as well. There’s the book Calvin writes for his dad to read to him before bed about a fictional boy named Barney whose dad was bad and so he had to lock him away in a dungeon. There’s the time he knocked Susie's eye out with a snowball. She told him that anyway to get him to go look for it so she could give him a swift kick in the behind. There’s some Monopoly mayhem. Susie and Calvin get assigned to a group project that has Susie pulling her hair out over it because Calvin won’t take it seriously. It doesn’t go well. Then there’s the invention of the new Transmogrification Ray handheld converter remote. Calvin asks Hobbes to point it at him and turn him into a pterodactyl. But instead, Hobbes makes him a chicken. Then he fixes it and makes him a pterodactyl, but a little one the size of a chicken. Well, a war begins and both of them end up as other creatures. They finally call a truce and Calvin turns Hobbes back into a tiger again, but the Transmogrifier won’t work anymore after that. Calvin is stuck as an owl. Afraid that he’ll have to eat mice from now on he feels terrible, till he realizes being an owl means he doesn’t have to go to school anymore. But the next morning, he’s not an owl anymore! He’s himself! Just in time for school… Well, you can’t have everything. The story ends with Calvin trying to go out and play in the snow, but after all that layering and putting on his boots and gloves, he has to go to the bathroom, so he goes back inside and repeats the whole process in reverse to go use the bathroom. Like and Subscribe to be notified when part 5 is posted! Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic I grew up reading it every day in the newspaper funnies. I loved the style of the illustrations and the characters. I didn't spend much time trying to figure out if Hobbes turned back and forth into a toy tiger or if he was in Calvin's imagination. That didn't really matter. I just loved the humor and the irony of pointing out Calvin's blind spots. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll tune in for my reading of the rest of the collection. If you have reluctant readers, comics can be a way to break through that. The combination of pictures and short form narratives can help incentive kids who don't love reading yet to find some motivation to keep trying. It's a lower barrier to entry, but I believe that Bill Watterson's writing doesn't lower the bar on intellectual and cultural value. This book includes several stories that span more than a single daily strip and can help children continue on farther than they might if you've given them a certain amount of time or page goal. I hope this book makes Calvin and Hobbes fans of your kids. The strip was in syndication for many years, so there are lots of books that can be found at the library or picked up and used online, for not too much money. It's a comic that affected me deeply as I grew up. I hope you'll be motivated to share more of it with your kids.

This is Part 4. Part 3: https://youtu.be/F_kcXVGlrzI Part 2: https://youtu.be/g7Le8BEU1PU Part 1: https://youtu.be/vwFtvcU_pCs This part contains Calvin's adventure being fighting Dad's leaf pile, an adventurous night of running from Rosalyn the babysitter, and Some experiences cheating and not paying attention in school with Mrs. Wormwood. Moe the playground Bully faces off with Hobbes, Calvin tortures Suzie in the school cafeteria with all kinds of disgusting comments and in late fall, Calvin really hopes for snow. There are all kinds of little boy misbehavings like fighting giant bed bugs, daydreaming, acting like a monster, acting like a whale in the bathtub and flooding everything, and making counterfeit money. It really is a taste of Autumn and School and Calvin just trying to get through it all with his good friend and confidant Hobbes. Like and Subscribe to be notified when part 5 is posted! Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic I grew up reading it every day in the newspaper funnies. I loved the style of the illustrations and the characters. I didn't spend much time trying to figure out if Hobbes turned back and forth into a toy tiger or if he was in Calvin's imagination. That didn't really matter. I just loved the humor and the irony of pointing out Calvin's blind spots. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll tune in for my reading of the rest of the collection. If you have reluctant readers, comics can be a way to break through that. The combination of pictures and short form narratives can help incentive kids who don't love reading yet to find some motivation to keep trying. It's a lower barrier to entry, but I believe that Bill Watterson's writing doesn't lower the bar on intellectual and cultural value. This book includes several stories that span more than a single daily strip and can help children continue on farther than they might if you've given them a certain amount of time or page goal. I hope this book makes Calvin and Hobbes fans of your kids. The strip was in syndication for many years, so there are lots of books that can be found at the library or picked up and used online, for not too much money. It's a comic that affected me deeply as I grew up. I hope you'll be motivated to share more of it with your kids.

This is the story of an aging circus elephant that must retire and go live at a zoo where she's bored with the mundane zoo life. But eventually she meets a young lady who comes to the zoo to draw the animals. Eleanor is amazed at this new activity and let's her curiosity get the best of her. She tries drawing and finds that she loves it! The zoo director in charge is not about to be fooled. He doesn't believe an elephant can draw or paint. Elephants are simply dumb animals. Well Eleanor isn't having that! She reaches out with her trunk and draws a lion she knows from her former life in the circus! This drawing gets the director's attention so they change her exhibit at the zoo into an art show where thousands of school children come every day and watch her draw picture after picture! And so by the end of the story Eleanor has gone from being in constant danger walking on stilts at the zoo, to a happy fulfilling life around children painting and drawing new things every day! To see real elephants painting pictures like Eleanor does in this book visit these links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foahTqz7On4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uypIj_BYzAw

Calvin and Hobbes - Yukon Ho! By Bill Watterson This is Part 3. Part 2:https://youtu.be/g7Le8BEU1PU Part 1: https://youtu.be/vwFtvcU_pCs This part contains Calvin's accidental time machine trip to the Early Cretaceous period, his secession from the family and trip into the woods to get to the Yukon, losing Hobbes, and then his Dad finding him, as well as a few other adventures. Like and Subscribe to be notified when part 4 is posted! Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic I grew up reading it every day in the newspaper funnies. I loved the style of the illustrations and the characters. I didn't spend much time trying to figure out if Hobbes turned back and forth into a toy tiger or if he was in Calvin's imagination. That didn't really matter. I just loved the humor and the irony of pointing out Calvin's blind spots. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll tune in for my reading of the rest of the collection. If you have reluctant readers, comics can be a way to break through that. The combination of pictures and short form narratives can help incentive kids who don't love reading yet to find some motivation to keep trying. It's a lower barrier to entry, but I believe that Bill Watterson's writing doesn't lower the bar on intellectual and cultural value. This book includes several stories that span more than a single daily strip and can help children continue on farther than they might if you've given them a certain amount of time or page goal. I hope this book makes Calvin and Hobbes fans of your kids. The strip was in syndication for many years, so there are lots of books that can be found at the library or picked up and used online, for not too much money. It's a comic that affected me deeply as I grew up. I hope you'll be motivated to share more of it with your kids.

Calvin and Hobbes - Yukon Ho! By Bill Watterson This is part 2. Part 1: https://youtu.be/vwFtvcU_pCs Part 3: https://youtu.be/F_kcXVGlrzI Like and Subscribe to be notified when part 3 is posted later this week! In this section of the book, Calvin gets sick in the middle of his summer break and has to visit the doctor which he hates. He imagines that the doctor is a terrible monstrous alien trying to get information from him. He also has a water fight with Susie from next door but Hobbes betrays him and gives her his water balloon so Calvin ends up soaked. There are cookouts and barbecues and moments with his dad to ask important questions like what clouds are made of. At the end of this section, Dad takes the whole family out on canoeing, fishing, and camping trip. It rains the whole time. Calvin tries to go swimming in the rain. His dad goes fishing in the rain. And his mom hates it. It's a fun memory from the strip that I still remember well. I hope you enjoy it! Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic I grew up reading every day in the newspaper funnies. I loved the style of the illustrations and the characters. I didn't spend much time trying to figure out if Hobbes turned back and forth into a toy tiger or if he was in Calvin's imagination. That didn't really matter. I just loved the humor and the irony of pointing out Calvin's blind spots. The anticipation versus reward and complete irony in this particular Sunday strip is an all-time favorite of mine. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll tune in for my reading of the rest of the collection. If you have reluctant readers, comics can be a way to break through that. The combination of pictures and short form narratives can help incentivize kids who don't love reading yet to find some motivation to keep trying. It's a lower barrier to entry, but I believe that Bill Watterson's writing doesn't lower the bar on intellectual and cultural value. This book includes several stories that span more than a single daily strip and can help children continue on farther than they might if you've given them a certain amount of time or page goal. I hope this book makes Calvin and Hobbes fans of your kids. The strip was in syndication for many years, so there are lots of books that can be found at the library or picked up and used online, for not too much money. It's a comic that affected me deeply as I grew up. I hope you'll be motivated to share more of it with your kids.

Calvin and Hobbes - Yukon Ho! By Bill Watterson This is part 1. Part 2: https://youtu.be/g7Le8BEU1PU Part 3: https://youtu.be/F_kcXVGlrzI Like and Subscribe! Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic I grew up reading every day in the newspaper funnies. I loved the style of the illustrations and the characters. I didn't spend much time trying to figure out if Hobbes turned back and forth into a toy tiger or if he was in Calvin's imagination. That didn't really matter. I just loved the humor and the irony of pointing out Calvin's blind spots. The anticipation versus reward and complete irony in this particular Sunday strip is an all-time favorite of mine. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll tune in for my reading of the rest of the collection. If you have reluctant readers, comics can be a way to break through that. The combination of pictures and short form narratives can help incentivize kids who don't love reading yet to find some motivation to keep trying. It's a lower barrier to entry, but I believe that Bill Watterson's writing doesn't lower the bar on intellectual and cultural value. This book includes several stories that span more than a single daily strip and can help children continue on farther than they might if you've given them a certain amount of time or page goal. I hope this book makes Calvin and Hobbes fans of your kids. The strip was in syndication for many years, so there are lots of books that can be found at the library or picked up and used online, for not too much money. It's a comic that affected me deeply as I grew up. I hope you'll be motivated to share more of it with your kids.

Check out Part 1 at this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEDviFIS4L8 Comics can be a great way to get kids interested in reading. The Far Side is a single panel comic, so it's even more appealing to children who might find length intimidating. It's hard for some children to feel confident reading something when they see a small squeezed together typeface with line upon line of details before they can unravel the point of the thing they're reading. When every page of the book is filled with single panel, self-contained stories, it becomes much more of a game for children. Instead of having to remember everything from pages before, all the child has to do is sound out the words in this one square. They're free to stop whenever they like. Every page is filled with more puzzles as the picture and the words reveal a new situation to laugh at. There are even some cartoons that have no words, kind of a freebie, if you like. I learned to love reading as a child when I realized that each letter represented a sound and that all people did to read was make each sound to create whole words. I was interested because each word was a puzzle. Soon whole sentences were the puzzle. Meanwhile, my older brother struggled with learning to read because he was being forced to learn by word recognition. The teacher would hold up flashcards with the shapes of common words outlined on them. He thought that this process would continue until he had memorized the entire dictionary. I'm vehemently opposed to word recognition styles of learning. Children need to be encouraged in their struggle to learn reading. It takes practice to master sounding out each letter and blending them into whole words. Many English words require extra practice and familiarity. Without reading them, these words become impossible obstacles for your child to master. To say words like "Fundamentally" or "Ostentatious" doesn't it help to have read them first, to have a picture in your mind of how the letters are ordered so that the word comes out correctly? A big part of learning to read is keeping it interesting. If you have a son or daughter who is struggling with their reading skills, my recommendation is to branch out and see if there are other kinds of publications that will spark an interest in your child. Sometimes it means setting a timer and just committing to practice each day for a certain amount of time reading. It can be difficult but with perseverance and encouragement and spending time with your children unlocking reading to them by your own example, your children can get better at this important skill. Words help us think. If you can teach your children to read, you unlock the world to them. It is a fundamental skill that will help them succeed in our world. Gary Larson created these cartoons for years of my childhood and they were always a favorite of mine as I'd run out in the morning to get the paper and then flip through to the Soundlife section of The News Tribune to find the funnies. Reading through this collection I realized that many of these cartoons just won't make sense to younger children because of the references to scientific terms and famous characters and pop culture, but I've attempted here to choose just a few of my favorite cartoons from this collection that hopefully young children can enjoy and laugh at. The Far Side is a wonderful tool for helping children expand their vocabulary. Single-cell comics are also a great way of building interest for reading in children who don't want to spend the time following a whole storyline through a whole book. Some kids just aren't wired to enjoy that. That's okay. They should still learn that reading is a desirable skill since it can open the pages of comic collections like these. So if you have a child you can't get interested in reading, I'd suggest trying some Far Side or other short single page story comics. Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this book, you might also like these other videos I've done: How I Became a Pirate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0FlX4NdPH4 A Bad Case of Stripes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrP3oj1wx8 Duck on a Bike - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vduWqDVNTHw&t=50s Duck on a Tractor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFl_rdbgTc&t=20s It's Christmas David! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u34MZdQDFmw&t=27s Clarinda the Cow Takes Flight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaqdQzd6tcs&t=274s

To watch part II click this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6-GVIC-LaY&t=30s Night of the Crash-test Dummies - Read Aloud Gary Larson created these cartoons for years of my childhood and they were always a favorite of mine as I'd run out in the morning to get the paper and then flip through to the Soundlife section of The News Tribune to find the funnies. Reading through this collection I realized that many of these cartoons just won't make sense to younger children because of the references to scientific terms and famous characters and pop culture, but I've attempted here to choose just a few of my favorite cartoons from this collection that hopefully young children can enjoy and laugh at. The Far Side is a wonderful tool for helping children expand their vocabulary. Single-cell comics are also a great way of building interest for reading in children who don't want to spend the time following a whole storyline through a whole book. Some kids just aren't wired to enjoy that. That's okay. They should still learn that reading is a desirable skill since it can open the pages of comic collections like these. So if you have a child you can't get interested in reading, I'd suggest trying some Far Side or other short single page story comics. Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this book, you might also like these other videos I've done: How I Became a Pirate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0FlX4NdPH4 A Bad Case of Stripes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrP3oj1wx8 Duck on a Bike - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vduWqDVNTHw&t=50s Duck on a Tractor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFl_rdbgTc&t=20s It's Christmas David! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u34MZdQDFmw&t=27s Clarinda the Cow Takes Flight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaqdQzd6tcs&t=274s Hensel and Gretel, Ninja Chicks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVdNrbYODx8&t=28s