Poetree and The Panda Problem

Where books bring us together? Today we're going to read poetry. Bye, Shonawa for Reynolds. They're stated by Shonawa. They're in the Panda problem.

Bye, Jambo, Underwood. They're stated by Hannah Mikes. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here.

“I'm Julie Andrews, and this is my library.”

We have two wonderful books to share with you today.

And as always, my daughter Emma Walton Hamilton is here.

Emma? Oh, yes. Hello. Just give me one second here. I'm just scheduling a meeting for next week.

Now what would the date be next Wednesday? 30 days, have September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31. Oh, yes. Okay, all set.

I use that rhyme all the time. Me too. It helps me remember how many days are in each month. I always forget.

“On rhymes helpful, it must be their rhythm and flow that remind you what you need to”

know. Oh, that rhymes mom. Oh, yes. Rimes can be lovely and poetry, too. And in lyrics to songs, isn't that true?

There are so many different kinds of poems. One of my favorites is the high cool. It's very short and a delight to write.

It has just three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second,

and five in the last. And they don't usually rhyme, but sometimes they do. That's true. We asked our listeners to write a rhyme and to keep it short. Let's hear what they wrote.

I have a dime, I know the time I like to rhyme. I'm hot, I'm not a roba. I have a draft. His name is Nose, from his head to his toes he smells like a rose. A girl named Mabel plays with maples and bubbles.

She wobble in top of and stats at sea and double. The fish don't air swim well and free. They're home they call it the sea. I like things, lots of things. Things are fun and I think fun.

Well, you're all very clever. There's a marvelous rhymes. Now let's head to the reading note.

So we can share today's first book.

Yeah, I can't stop rhyming. You've got the rhyming bug today. Yes, I'm afraid it won't go away. Ah! Come on.

Curling up in our reading note with a good book is my favorite thing to do. With cozy pillows all around. At lowing lamp shines its light on the pages. There's a squishy rug under our feet and stacks of well-loved books next to the reading chair, waiting to be put back on the shelves they call home.

Well, you read this first one, Mom. I'd love to. And it's got some rhyming in it. Uh-oh. I mean, yay.

All right, let's begin. Poetry by Shona Lavoy Reynolds. The snow had melted. The butter cups were blooming and Sylvia celebrated winter's end by writing a poem about spring.

She walked with her dog shell to the park at the top of the hill and read it to a squirrel. Spring is here at last. I hope it doesn't end too fast. Like a B.L. Sniff each flower and I'll enjoy each springy hour so much.

The squirrel seemed grateful. Sylvia tied her poem to a birch tree and headed home, hoping that it didn't count as littering if it made the world more splendid. The next morning Sylvia passed the birch on her way to school. From a distance, she saw her poem fluttering in the breeze.

But when she got closer, she realized that it wasn't her poem at all.

“I think spring is the best of the seasons for plenty of excellent reasons, like birdie”

parents building nests, where all the baby birds can rest and play.

I never imagined the tree might write back.

“In class, Sylvia daydreamed about her new leafy friend.”

Sylvia, please pay attention, said Miss Oliver. "Yes, Sylvia, whispered what, the boy sitting behind her, their classmates gild and Sylvia sank in her seat." After lunch, Miss Oliver taught the class about high coup. Sylvia struggled to contain her excitement in 17 syllables.

White birch on the hill speaks out loud through rustling leaves, great green poet tree.

Miss Oliver gave Sylvia a gold star.

When the bell rang, Sylvia ran straight to the poetry. She folded her high coup into a paper boat and pushed it halfway into a knot hole. "So, what's your name?" Sylvia asked the tree. "But the tree stood in silence.

Are you shy, like me?" The tree nodded in the breeze, Sylvia understood. That night, Sylvia dreamed of rhymes falling like autumn leaves. She dreamed of cheerful songbirds greeting her in perfect rhythm. On Saturday morning, Sylvia rushed to the park with a heart full of hope.

The knot hole was empty and she saw no notes on the branches, but the whisper of the wind and the leaves above her was like a poem. Sylvia looked up and saw fragments of sky peeking through the tree top. She spoke the words as they blossomed into her mind. Sky, so blue, grass, so green, trees, so tall in between, favorite friend in morning light

and under moon glow, later night. Sylvia selected a twig from the ground and gripped it like a pencil. By Sylvia, she wrote in the air, but that didn't seem right, love Sylvia. She waved her stick with a flourish, accidentally hitting a branch. A tightly folded ninja star fell to her feet.

Sylvia couldn't unfold it fast enough.

“I've wandered a while, can a tree and child be friends?”

Your words give me hope. Sylvia felt a spark in her heart, good thing she brought sidewalk chalk. She scrolled in big, blocky letters, so the birch could see.

I never thought I would see such lovely poems from a tree.

I wish that I could climb and live among the words you love to give. But if I lived up in a tree, I sure would miss my family, especially Shell. Sylvia thought it was the greatest thing she had written in all her years. She wrapped her arms around the pear tree. It was stronger, wiser, and kinder than the children at school.

She knew she would always have a friend at the park. She didn't open her eyes until Shell barked. Walt was there staring at the ninja star high coup sticking out of Sylvia's pocket. That's not for you, that's for my tree. Sylvia blinked. It was from the tree, just for me.

Walt shook his head. Sylvia didn't understand.

“Had the tree she loved so much, not given her a thing?”

Sylvia didn't want to cry, not at the park.

I'm sorry I was mean at school. He said, Sylvia smiled, "A friend of the tree is okay with me.

She could never resist a good rhyme."

Walt read Sylvia's chalk poem out loud. "You're a wonderful poet," he said. "You deserved that gold star, but who is Shell?" Sylvia pointed at her dog. "My best friend's name is Shell.

I think he likes the way you smell. I can tell," added Walt, the two poets giggled. "Can I borrow your chalk?" Walt composed a new poem next to Sylvia's.

“"If you want to share a poem with me, give it to the tall birch tree."”

Or if you need a friend for writing, playing with or sit besideing, I'll be here for you joyfully right beneath the poetry. The new friends sat a while, side by side, backs against the birch. Sunlight and shadows dance through the leaves above them as they silently searched for the most marvellous words to describe it all.

The End. What a beautiful story. I love that Sylvia and Walt became friends in the end and wrote poetry together. "Yes, I adore the end of the book when they're searching for the most marvellous words. It's like we do with our wonderful words each week.

And you know what else?

I really thought the birch tree was writing poems for Sylvia at first."

Wouldn't that be exciting if your favorite tree wrote to a poem? I would love that. Or imagine if our dog button wrote us a poem. "Dear Emma and Julie, I love going on walks with you, chewing on bones and sometimes a shoe."

Yes, button does love shoes. "Yes, unfortunately." "Hi, Mom. Hi, Granny." "Oh, hi, home."

"Hello, Hopi."

“"Do you have time to read another book with me?”

I know one that's really funny." "Oh, absolutely." "Awesome." "I'll go get it."

"Listeners will dive into Hope's book right after this short break."

And while you wait, try being a poet like Sylvia and Walt. Think up some wonderful words to describe the world around you and then send them to us by visiting julislibraryshow.org. We'd love to hear what you dream up. Well, come back to the reading book, where we're all cozy and ready to dive into our next

book. Over, Mom. "Right. You don't write. Let me just fluff this pillow."

"Perfect." Now, we're all settled in. "Let's open the book and let Hope begin." "Still rhyming, I see." "Oh, what is me?"

"Well, right, all right. Let's all read this one together." "Wonderful." "The Panda Problem" by Deborah Underwood. Once upon a time, there was a panda who lived in a beautiful bamboo grove, but the panda

had a big problem. "Nope. Excuse me?" "Why don't have any problems?" "Lovely view, lots of bamboo to eat, sunny day.

What could be better?" "This is a story, I'm the narrator, and you are the main character." "The main character? That sounds important." "It is, but you need a problem."

"Why?"

“"So, you can solve the problem, that's how stories work."”

"So, what's your problem? Do you want to go somewhere?" "Nope." "Are you afraid of spiders?" "Nope."

"Do you need a friend?" "Uh, no." "Do you wish you could fly?" "Nope." "Do you wish you were green?"

"Nope." "Is your poor sore?"

"Nope."

“"How am I supposed to tell a story if you don't have a problem?"”

"I don't know. It looks like you're the one with the problem, buddy."

"Hey, maybe you or the main character and I am your problem." "What?" "Of ridiculous." "You're right." "How could a sweet little panda like me be a problem?"

" Unless I started playing a banjo?" "Really badly?" "Oh, hey, where did you get that?" "And what if I hung upside down and sang the bamboo burps on?" "Bamboo. Bamboo. Bamboo."

"You are definitely starting to feel like a problem." "Great."

"And what if it started raining jelly beans?"

"And there's a problem for you. How will you explain that?"

“"Next time, I am going to narrate a book about rocks. Nice, quiet rocks."”

"And what if a bunch of aliens landed? How could you possibly tell a story about a burping panda and jelly bean rain and aliens?" "A aliens? Well, there's no such thing as any." "Hello, hello." "Hi, aliens." "And what if we built a boat and sailed to Antarctica?"

"But the setting for this story is a bamboo grove that are no penguins in bamboo groves." "Okay, we've got a main character, you, and a problem, me." "So what happens next?" "Well, sometimes the problem gets worse, but that won't happen now because things can't get any worse." "Oh, can't they?"

"What if suddenly there were two pandas?"

"Oh, no, the boat." "It's sinking." "A aliens, other pandas. See those penguins over there?" "Swim to the ice flow." "Hello, we are penguins. Welcome to our ice flow."

"Wow, I'm tired." "And hungry." "Very hungry." "I think we have a problem." "Finally."

"What is it?" "We are very hungry, and there's no bamboo in Antarctica." "Well, well, that is a problem. How will you solve it?" "I don't know, I'm too hungry to think straight." "Hey, great idea, Alien."

"Okay, narrator. If you get us home, we will stop making problems and help you tell your panda story." "No pandas story." "No banjos, no burping, no penguins." "Really?" "Well, alright."

"To gather the pandas and aliens came up with a great plan." "The pandas and aliens spelled out help with jelly beans." "The aliens ship scooped everyone up in its tractor beam." "WOW!" "I find that hard to believe."

"This is fiction. Anything can happen." "And dropped them safely back in the bamboo grove where everyone settled down to a bamboo and jelly bean feast." "What a satisfying ending." "I'm really sleepy." "Way top. We need to help the narrator tell a story. We promised."

"That's okay. Let's try again tomorrow." "I'm sleepy too." "Hey, why don't you tell me a bedtime story?" "Sure. We're story experts now." "Once upon a time there was a narrator."

"But the narrator had a big problem." "No." "The end." "What fun to read a story about writing a story?" "And I adore those pandas."

"And those aliens." "Glippity, glorke." "There's some funny words." "I know. That book is so funny." "It makes me want to write my own story."

“"You should. And now you know what you need to start one."”

"A main character." "And a big old problem." "Grenny, if you had to write a story right now, who would your main character be?" "And what problem would they have?" "My main character would be a tap dancing mouse."

"What about you, Emma?"

“"Oh, mine would be about a robot named Snork."”

"Snork?" "Yes." "Snork." "He wants to be a chef, but no one will hire him because he isn't human." "What about you, Hope?"

" Mine would be about a little bird trying out his wings for the first time."

"But he doesn't know how to use them yet, so he keeps pumping into things." "Oh, poor little bird." "I hope there's a nice worm waiting for him when he figures it out." "Me too." "I guess I better write that into my story."

"Oh, we know what that sound means." "Let's see who our message is from." "Hello. This is Deborah Underwood. I'm the author of the Panda Problem." "When I go into schools to visit kids, I will ask how many of them like to write stories and a lot of them raise their hands."

"And then I'll ask them how many of them sometimes get stuck when they're trying to write a story."

"And a lot of them tell me that they get stuck."

"And I tell them that I get stuck too. I get stuck a lot."

“"But one thing that helps me get unstuck is sometimes if I think of a character that I want to write about a person or an animal or something else."”

"And then I think of a problem for that character to have." "If you wrote a story with a character who didn't have any problems at all, it would be nice for the character." "Just like it's nice for us in real life when we don't have any problems." "But it would actually not make for a very interesting story."

"But if you have a character who wakes up and looks outside and sees that it's an incredibly rainy day and the water is about to rush into their house." "That's pretty exciting and that would make a more interesting story." "I hope reading the panda problem might encourage people to go out and try to write their own stories." "Goodbye, Julie and Emma and hope." "What an inspiring message."

"And it's a great reminder that even though we don't like problems,

they're an essential part of every good story."

"Have you ever tried to tell a story without a problem? It's kind of funny." "Like, once upon a time I was doodling, I drew a picture of some aliens." "The end." "See? Not a story." "Not at all."

"But throw a problem in there and what do you get?" "Once upon a time while I was doodling, I drew a picture of some aliens." "And?" "And they came to life and invited me on their spaceship." "So now I'm on Mars. How will I ever get home?"

"You see, now that is a wonderful beginning to a story." "Thank you." "And speaking of wonderful." "Wonderful, wonderful words." "Words are wonderful for so many reasons. Sometimes they have an important meaning.

Other times they're just really fun to say." "And there are so many wonderful words in the panda problem. The word narrator. A narrator is someone who explains all the action or events in a story. One way you can tell if someone is the narrator is that they often start with words like "Once upon a time."

“"A word I think is wonderful is summer salt."”

"It's a move where you tumble head over heels. It's something you can do with your body. But in poetry it was Sylvia's heart that did a summer salt." "And my wonderful word from the panda problem is glippy." "It's like yippee." "Only it starts with a g."

"Glippy." "Now let's hear some of our listeners. Wonderful words too." "My wonderful words are waltz and Harriet because waltz is fun to say. And Harriet is my cat's name." "If your word is friends, what be is I like stuff that makes us happy."

"Okay, because I love listening to podcasts." "My wonderful word is love because I want to love people." "Marveless, we love hearing your wonderful words. Please keep sharing your favorites with us." "Visit Julie's library show.org to submit your favorites and we'll play some of them on the show." "And we'll be back next week with more books we've picked out just for you."

"Happy reading. Bye. Bye." Julie's library is hosted and produced by Julie Andrews and me, Emma Walton Hamilton. The featured books in this episode were the Panda Problem, written by Deborah Underwood,

Both of today's books were published by Dial Books for Young Readers.

“Thanks to the team at Penguin Random House.”

We always recommend picking up these books for yourself.

You can find the Panda Problem and Poetry at your local library or bookstore. You'll want to see all of the delightfully playful illustrations.

“For more book recommendations, head to Julie's library show.org.”

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Julie's library is produced by Molly Bloom, Ilissa Dudley, Rosie DuPont, Tracy Mumford, Mark Sanchez and Sandon Totten. Our executive producer is Lauren D.

“Digital production is by Christina Lopez, and original music is from Alison Layton Brown.”

Engineering is by Sam Hamilton and Sound Mixing is by Corey Shreple and Herod Romani. Special thanks to Lily Kim and Associate Professor Sarah Park Dollen of St. Catherine University for consulting with our team.

We always love hearing from our listeners.

Today, you heard the voices of Jasper and Madeline from Salt Lake City, Utah, Sarah Fina from Vernon, Connecticut, Lily from Ashland, North Carolina, Gemma from Singapore, Sydney from Massachusetts, Lauren from Brooklyn, Ontario, Michelle and Ruby from Chicago, Illinois, Imogen and Cecil. Julie's library is a production of American Public Media.