 Hello. Welcome back for another curious giraffe show. Oh, Dorothy, I miss your opening when you had the children with you. I miss it too, Jeanette. Do you think you and I could do it? You want to give it a try? Okay. Here we go. It's time. It's time. It's time. For what? For the curious giraffe show. Sit back and relax, though. We'll sing chat and laugh, though, on the curious giraffe show. Well, I sort of like it, but that was hard getting my mouth bumped or my cheek. I wondered about that. So I want us to learn our new opening song. Oh, yeah. We started already last time. Yes. So you want to teach the words? Oh, yes. Here we go. When we sing together, I feel so much better. It's easy and simple to do. When we sing together, the day just gets better. I love making music with you. Okay. So Jeanette is getting very good at our new song. And let's sing together. When we sing together, I feel so much better. It's easy and simple. When we sing together, the day just gets better. I love making music with you. Talk together. Talk together. I feel so much better. It's easy and simple to have sharing feelings with you. How about we read together? Because on our show, we're going to read a book each time. Here we go. When we read so much better, it's easy. Just like before, we have our curious giraffe song to introduce the story of the day. So I've written a new opening verse for the curious giraffe song. Here's our curious giraffe, George, the quiet type who watches and listens and looks all around. He learns a lot that way. Jeanette, and I like to ask questions I love to sing. And I just am curious about everything. And if I don't ask a question that you think of, you can talk at home and ask your own questions and share your own ideas. Okay, Dorothy. Giraffe looking over at Dorothy and said, I'm curious what book and song she'll share with us today. Dorothy said the greatness chair will lead the way underneath this one big sky. Oh, yeah. We'll share one big sky, share one big sky. A big high five. Yeah, we're different and we belong because we can all share and we can all care. We're different, but we all actually think the last line of that song is super important. We're different, but we all belong. So I wanted to take just a minute and let you look at the many different curious crew that we have here. I want to show you, we have a very colorful giraffe that came all the way from Florida. And my friend, Jerry, thought that this giraffe would be a wonderful addition, and I think so too. She also gave me these twin giraffes in the bag because she knows I have a twin sister. And I want to remind you about our little friend here who was so shy last time, and he asked his questions but in a very, very quiet voice. But everybody's voice is important. And that's what this show is for, is to help you find your voice to express what you're curious about, what you'd like to understand better and to help us find the ways to meet new people and make new friends. Okay, okay. Tiger says he just really would like to hear the story. So let's begin. Today's book is The Greatness Chair. And it was written by a friend of mine whose name is Kathleen Friend. Isn't that a wonderful name? I think she got lucky when it came to names. There's about a little boy that didn't feel very lucky. Not at first anyway. Can you see? There you go. Once upon a time, in a town just like yours, Avi was about to have an ordinary, not-so-good day. His alarm rang, but he was still tired. He rolled over and went back to sleep. The next thing he heard was Mom yelling, Get up, Avi! You're going to be late for school! Her voice startled him. His chest was tight. He didn't want to get up, but he tried to put a smile on his face and got out of bed. He rushed downstairs, grabbed his lunchbox and ran out the door. His sister, Angela, yelled out the bus window, Hurry up, Slowpoke! You're always late! Avi heard children laughing as he climbed the stairs. And he felt embarrassed. Even though his day was off to a rough start, he tried to have some fun. When the bus hit the bumps in the road, he bounced as high as he could without falling out of his seat. He liked being tossed up and down. He could feel his engines revving up for the day. Stop talking. Sit still. Where is your homework? Avi felt bad again, and he could not pretend to smile. With the biggest frown ever, he thought, I can't do anything right. And it's only eight o'clock. Recess was no better. Stop running. Slow down. You're going to knock someone over or get hurt. He slowed down. His body felt heavy, and his shoulders drooped. Time for lunch, finally! But there was nowhere to sit with his friends. Oh, no. I'm late again. Avi sat with some new kids, but nobody paid any attention to him. He picked at his lunch. Avi couldn't wait to get home. He hoped his sister would play a game with him, but then he remembered the last time. She only wanted to play her favorite game. So he gave in. Maybe this time would be different, and he could convince her to play his favorite game. Or maybe mom or dad would have a yummy snack waiting for him. Avi hurried home and ran into the kitchen. He was hungry and tired. Dad was waiting for him. Take your muddy shoes off. Can't you remember anything? Is your brain Swiss cheese? Avi threw his backpack on the floor, took off his shoes, and headed to his room without his snack. He was so mad. But he didn't yell back this time. Dad followed him and kept yelling, Your room is a mess. Clean it up. I told you a million times not to leave your dirty clothes on the floor. Now Avi was so mad, he broke down and yelled, Your mean, and I'm not cleaning my room. Dad was mad too. Go. Sit in the timeout chair for ten minutes and think about it. I'll be back. Under his breath, Avi muttered, I hate this chair. He flung himself into the chair and closed his eyes. Before he could think a single thought, he felt sound asleep. He found himself deep in the forest. The sun peeped through the clouds. Up ahead he could see a large, grand-looking chair, like a throne. It was the biggest, most beautiful chair he had ever seen. A figure in the distance was standing near the chair. She looked friendly and welcoming. Here you are, Avi, right on time. Welcome to the land of Divina. Have a seat in my greatness chair. I'm on time. Who are you? My name is Zoharet, which means to sparkle. But my friends call me Zoe for short. Avi understood why her name was Twinkle, which meant sparkle. I made a mistake. We all make mistakes. I'm going to reread that line. Avi understood why that was her name. He could see the twinkle in her eyes. But he was confused. What's a greatness chair? It's not about the chair at all. It's about the person sitting in the chair. Now that you are here, tell me about your greatness. My greatness, you must be kidding. I can't think of anything. I just had a very bad day and everything went wrong. Puzzled and unsure, but willing to try, he told Zoe about waking up late and running to the bus. Zoe thought for a moment and said, that shows the greatness of moving fast when you need to. Avi didn't think that was so great. He thought about school and how his teacher kept telling him to stop talking and sit still and how excited he was to talk to his friends and run around at recess. Avi, that shows you have the greatness of enthusiasm and energy. He thought about how he couldn't wake up on time because his alarm went off when he was still tired. That reveals the greatness of listening to your body. That is self-care. Avi was confused. Zoe turned everything he said upside down. Or maybe it was being turned right side up. Avi started to like this game and wanted to keep playing. He remembered when he agreed to play his sister's favorite game even though he thought it was boring. I think that shows my greatness of kindness and not being selfish and how bad he felt getting on the bus when the kids were laughing at him, but he turned it around and started bouncing in his seat. I have the greatness of having fun and even when he was mad at dad for yelling at him and he didn't yell back right away. Yes, that shows the greatness of self-control. Avi felt his greatness growing. Zoe handed Avi cards in a pencil. Write down the greatness you have discovered and put the cards in the basket for safekeeping so you can pull them out anytime you need a reminder. Avi wrote energy, enthusiasm, self-care, kindness, not selfish, fun and self-control. He placed the cards in the basket and smiled as he thought about all of his greatness. Zoe reminded him that he could come back to the greatness chair anytime to make new discoveries. It only takes a second to find greatness when you are looking for it. Think of me and the twinkle in my eyes and I will be with you. Avi woke up. He was still in the time-out chair. He looked down and saw the basket next to the chair. Then he remembered. Now I'm going to save some of this story for you to read at home with your family to see what happens when he remembers his dream and applies it in real life. But I want to show you that you can make a greatness chair anywhere that you are. I would suggest making a sign. This is the way you spell greatness. G-R-E-A-T Spells great. N-E-S-S Greatness Chair C-H-A-I-R And we're going to just do a little decorating and make this chair into the greatness chair for today. Just for now, your chair will look different. Look around your house and see if you have some things to add color. Because I sing and use scarves I have some colorful scarves that we already have blue on our chair. Let's add some new colors. Red, yellow, purple, all sorts of colors. And I even notice later in the book that at his house he decorates his chair with some balloons. So I found some balloons in my drawer. So you could do this or get somebody to help you make it special. Not to blow them up too big because I get nervous about a popped balloon. But I do think they're fun and make something look special. So I have some yarn. My idea is that I'm going to tie this balloon onto my chair. Let's see if that will work. Right on. I'll just tie it on the handle here and make my chair look even more special. Maybe I'll tie it with the balloon at the top. There. Something like that. Okay. So this is where to think about when we can turn around something that we've had a rough time with, but find something good about it. So I remember a song by Sarah Pertle about making mistakes but having the power to fix them. It's called Oops! by Sarah Pertle. Have you noticed the time you left someone out? Oops! Oops! Oops! Oops! Have you made a joke and when there's an oops an oops in your heart or that oops in your mind or someone else might remind you to be a little more careful. But if you stay with it you can still be a good, good try to slow down. Let's think of a good way to use all this energy. I see that my words bothered you. Can you explain to me why they bothered you? And I will pay close attention because I am good at listening and paying attention. I am great at listening and paying attention. That's how the greatness chair works. So, Kathleen Friend has a friend named Linda McCarthy who wrote a wonderful song to go with this book. There is a greatness chair a special place for you where you can turn your frown around and let your smile come through. Just think of all the little things you did or didn't do and how that chair is great because of you. Your best, it gives you time to keep the great and toss away the rest. Some people may know how that chair is great because of you but too, to bring a tambourine kazoo and a didgeridoo and we can celebrate. That was a wonderful song and when I read the book I did feel like singing. I happened to have a didgeridoo. I think you know what a tambourine is. You might have heard a kazoo but you might not have heard a didgeridoo. And I'm going to just try to make a sound. Sometimes I can, sometimes I cannot. I don't know if you could see how big this is. It's really, really, really big. My son brought it back from Australia because he knew I love different instruments and here it goes. I'll try. Doesn't that make a funny noise? Okay, but anyway so I'm great at trying new things. That would be the differences. Doesn't mean I've learned how to do everything, but I am very interested in trying. Okay, I know a man named Vincent Noons who is just the best songwriter and he wrote a song helping us each to remember how great we are. In fact this new shirt of mine says, I read and I know things. That's what I do. Can you see that? I read and I know things. So you can each say that as part of your greatness. Let's see. This song is called No One's Gonna Keep Me Down. So even if you have a bad day you can turn it around. It goes, I am smart and I am strong and no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I said no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I am smart and I am strong and I am brave and no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I said no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I am smart and I am strong and I am brave I tell the truth and no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I said no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I am smart and I am strong and I am brave I tell the truth and I am no one no one no one's gonna keep me down I said no one no one no one's gonna keep me down If you use the greatness chair you will remember you are smart and strong and brave and tell the truth and are kind it's a wonderful song so I just have one more song for today and I wrote it when I first started teaching and I was so so amazed at all the interesting children that I got to meet because of being a teacher and these children were young and I knew this song had a lot of words they might not understand them all but I hope they knew in their hearts what I was feeling in my heart and I hope you will too I know what you can be it's all right there inside you just waiting to come out oh dance right there deep down inside your heart I know you're someone special each one alone when I see you shine thank you for joining us today for the goodbye song I'm a friend that's quiet in the beginning really feels more comfortable after they've been together a while okay all of our friends in out there in your room we hope that you've enjoyed the greatness chair and that you might make your own for you and your family because we all all have times that we kind of need to think and concentrate and remember our greatness okay here we go it's our time to say keep singing keep looking up keep asking questions and never give up keep singing keep looking up keep asking questions and never give up keep singing keep looking up keep asking questions and never give up bye We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. When we sing together, I feel so much better. It's easy and simple. We sing together, the day just gets better. I love making music with you. Talk together.