Read an Excerpt
Grandma Honey's Story Hour
Takes Your Child on the Creative Adventures of Nutt Nutt the Squirrel in Problem-Solving, Morals and Arouses Their Imagination in Jabari's World of Imagination as They Learn About Community Helpers
By Patricia Steele-Trueblood AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2015 Dr. Patricia Steele-Trueblood
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-1613-4
CHAPTER 1
I Wish I Was Big.
Nutt Nutt, is a squirrel who lives in a tree behind George Miller's house, the cab driver on Orchard Street. Nutt Nutt is smaller than his brothers Clay, Elton, and his sister Lois. One thing Nutt Nutt loves more than anything in the world is nuts. That is how he got the name Nutt Nutt.
Nutt Nutt did not like it when his sister Lois and his brothers, Elton and Clay tells him what to do. Lois would always say, "sit up Nutt Nutt in your chair, I will get the nuts from the shelf. You are too small to get the nuts. You might fall down and spill the nuts all over the floor for me to clean up!" My brothers Clay and Elton would never let me play with them because they thought I was too small and might get hurt. I wish I was big! I would show them, I would show them what I could do.
During Nutt Nutt's nap time, he dreamed he was big, bigger than his brothers Clay, Elton and his sister Lois. In his dream he outran his brothers, Clay and Elton down the path to the apple trees and back to their nut tree. Nutt Nutt caught a football and ran a touchdown before anyone could catch him. He even climbed their nut tree faster than his brothers.
Nutt Nutt could reach the nut jar on the shelf before Lois could say anything. Boy, was Nutt Nutt happy to be big! Before Nutt Nutt could enjoy being big, he was awaken by cries outside of his bedroom window. He got out of his bed and went to his window. He saw Elton, Clay and Lois being carried away in a large cage by Mr. Lyles, a hunter who likes to eat squirrels. He could not call for his mother or his father, since they had gone to pick carrots for dinner in Mrs. Neely's garden. Mrs. Neely is a good neighbor who lets Nutt Nutt's family eat out of her garden. "What am I going to do?" Nutt Nutt thought and thought, but before Nutt Nutt knew it, he was out the door on his way to save his brothers and his sister. He arrived at a barn in the back of Mr. Lyle's house. Nutt Nutt looked to see if anyone was still in the barn. There was no one in the barn but his brothers and his sister. Nutt Nutt went up to the cage. "No! No!, you are too small; you might get caught along with us," said Lois. Nutt Nutt did not listen to Lois this time. He wanted to set them free before Mr. Lyles comes back.
Nutt Nutt climbed up a rope, which went through a small hole in the barn around a pole. The rope had a knot in it and it was tied to the cage. Nutt Nutt loosed the knot, which was tied to the pole. He lowered the cage to the ground, but the cage door had a stick blocking the opening of the cage. Elton, Clay and Lois could not get out of the large cage. Nutt Nut removed the stick from the cage door so Elton, Clay and Lois could escape.
Elton, Clay and Lois were so proud of their brother Nutt Nutt that they told their parents, school friends and everyone in the neighborhood what their big brother Nutt Nutt did. "You are a big brother" said Lois, Elton and Clay. Nutt Nutt was so proud of himself that he gave the biggest grin ever.
"I might be small but I can do big things." said Nutt Nutt. Everyone celebrated by giving Nutt Nutt a party with his favorite food ... Nuts!
Where Do You Live?
By Dr. Patricia Steele-Trueblood
One evening, mother squirrel asked Nutt Nutt, "do you know where you live?" Nutt Nutt said yes, in our squirrel tree house. Mother squirrel said "yes we do live in a squirrel tree house, but do you know the address of your tree house? It is important you know where you live. You might get lost and need to tell someone like the policeman, where you live if they were to bring you home." "How am I going to get lost when you are with me all the time mom," asked Nutt Nutt. "You may not be with me all the time and so you need to know where you live, in order for the policeman to take you home or call me to get you," said mom. "Everyone knows my name and they know where I live," said Nutt Nutt. Mom smiled and said, "Only our neighbors and friends know where you live, but if you were to go into town and some how got lost, what would you do? Think about it," said mom.
Nutt Nutt thought and thought about it. That night he had a dream that he was lost in the mall and he did not know his address. He went to the mall security guard and told her he was lost. "Where do you live? asked the security guard. Nutt Nutt could not tell her where he lived. Nutt Nutt begins to cry. "Do not cry; I am here to help you. What is your name?" asked the security guard. "Nutt Nutt Bushytail, and I do not know where I live," said Nutt Nutt. About that time mama Bushytail came up to the security guard and told her she was Nutt Nutt's mother. Nutt Nutt was happy to see her. The security guard told Nutt Nutt to learn where he lived so the next time he get lost in the mall, she can help him find his mother by their address. "I will, I am so glad my mom was here with me in the mall. I will learn my address and be ready the next time I get lost. I see how important it is to know where you live." Jabari said thank you to the security guard for being nice to him and he and his mom went home.
Nutt Nutt woke up the next morning and went to his mom and asked her to help him learn his address. "Ok," said mom. "You live at 255 Orchard Lane, Lillysville, North Carolina, 44444." "What is North Carolina?" asked Nutt Nutt. "Well, let's take it from the start. 225 is your street number and Orchard Lane is the name of the street you live on. Lillysville is the city you live in and North Carolina is the state you live in, and the number 44444 is called your zip code. You will only need to say where you live, 225 Orchard Lane, Lillysville. The police or security guard will know what you are talking about," said mom.
"Wow! I have to get busy, it sounds like I need a lot of practice on learning my address, but I will get it. I do not want to get lost again. That is a scary feeling," said Nutt Nutt. Nutt Nutt practiced and practiced until he learned his home address and even his phone number. His mom taught him also that if he ever needed help and could not find anyone; if he is ever alone or some family member gets hurt to dial 911 on their telephone. The police will come or the ambulance will come to help him or whoever needs the help. They are called "community helpers," said mom. Nutt Nutt felt so important for knowing his address and how to get help if he or someone gets hurt while at home. "I am going to tell all my friends to learn their phone numbers and addresses; it is so important," said Nutt Nutt
Feelings: Sometimes I feel happy, sad, and sometimes mad.
By: Dr. Patricia Steele-Trueblood
One evening Nutt Nutt was having a talk with his friend Jasper the worm. It was a very important talk. Jasper said "Nutt Nutt, I am sad today because I feel so crowded in my burrow. All I do is crawl around on the ground and dig holes in the ground. I love my family, but it is so crowded in my burrow. I get so mad when my brothers and sisters do not move over to give me room to move around." Nutt Nutt did not say a word. He just listened to Jasper talk. Sometimes it is best to listen to a friend as they tell you how they feel. It makes them feel good to know they have a friend who is there for them when they feel sad or mad. Nutt Nutt is a good friend. He listened to Jasper talk about himself, he was thinking what to say to Jasper when he finished telling him about how he felt.
Jasper talked and talked about how sad he was. He told Nutt Nutt that he cannot be in the sun very long because the sun will cause him to become paralyzed. "I love the sunshine in the morning hours, but when it gets up around noon the sun becomes very hot. When it does that I cannot move. That is why I come back inside my burrow, to get out of the sun," said Jasper. Nutt Nutt continued to listen to Jasper talk about how sad and mad he gets when his sister, brothers, aunts, uncles, mother and father squeezes him against the burrow in the ground or end up tied in a knot with each other.
Nutt Nutt was through listening to Jasper complaining about being sad or mad about his life. Nutt Nutt says "have you ever thought about the good things in having a family or going out into the sun for a little while using sunscreen to keep from being burned. Only stay out a little while in the sun and go back into your burrow. Families are great to have; brothers and sisters get on your nerves at times but they can be fun. Uncles, cousins, mothers and fathers do nice things for us like: feed us, take us on trips, and protect us from harm." This time Jasper listened to Nutt Nutt as he continued to tell him about all the good things about family.
Nutt Nutt said, "Jasper, have you thought about the way you help flowers grow when you dig up rich soil out of the ground? People love to put worms in their gardens and flowers because they know worms are good at helping their gardens and flowers grow. Mrs. Thompson won the rose garden prize this year. She told everyone the secret was putting worms in her garden. So you see, that is a good thing to be proud of, Ok."
"I did not think of that, in that way. I think that is a good thing, I am happy to know that. Wow! That makes me happy to know that I can do good things for people. When I think of my family, they do great things for me. My uncles, aunts, brothers, sister, father and mother enjoys being a family and doing things with me. Thank you for helping me to see the happy things that go on in my life." "Sometimes we look at the bad things that happen in our family and may miss seeing the good things our families do for us," said Nutt Nutt.
"Oh well, I better be going now, I want to enjoy my family on this fine day. Thank you again Nutt Nutt for helping me see how good I have it with my family. I am a happy worm, and that is how it is going to be from now on with my family," said Jasper.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Grandma Honey's Story Hour by Patricia Steele-Trueblood. Copyright © 2015 Dr. Patricia Steele-Trueblood. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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