(bright upbeat piano music)
♪ You are the best you the world will see ♪
♪ Come along now and share you with me ♪
♪ Let's learn something new and share feelings too ♪
♪ 'Cause these are the things to do to be the best you ♪
(bright upbeat music)
(magical chime) - Hello, friends.
Hello, Possum.
- Hello, Auntie Lena.
How are you today?
- To tell the truth, I'm a little worried.
- Oh, worried about what?
- My friend Nicole is visiting from out of town,
and I haven't seen her in a long time.
- Why are you worried about seeing your friend?
- Well, she invited me on a hike.
- Oh.
And you don't like hiking, do you, Auntie Lena?
Is that why you're worried?
- That's part of it, Possum. - Uh-hmm.
- I do like hiking, but I'm afraid of heights,
and she likes to hike where you walk way up high,
right on the edge of a cliff.
- Well, doesn't she know you're afraid to go up high?
- We've talked about it before,
but it's been a long time ago,
and I think she forgot.
- You'll have to remind her.
- I can, but there's something else too.
My friend also walks really fast, and I like to go slowly.
So if I have to walk up high near a cliff,
I'm gonna be extra slow.
- Yeah, I kind of see why you're worried.
- I wanna go,
but I'm having a tough time feeling good
about how we like to hike in different ways.
- Hmm.
Oh, wait, Auntie Lena.
Mama Possum and I just read a book at the library
that might help you feel better.
- Really, Possum? - Uh-hmm.
It's called "Dragon and Unicorn."
It's about two friends that are very different.
- Yeah, that does sound just like me and Nicole.
Can we read the book together with our friends?
- Oh, yes, please.
I like sharing new stories with you and our friends.
- Great.
Let's join Miss T'wina and our friends
at the Fifth Avenue Theatre
and listen to "Dragon and Unicorn."
- Oh, it's by Edna Valenzuela.
- Oh, thank you, Possum. - Uh-hmm.
- And the book is by Edna Valenzuela.
(magical chime)
- [Both] Hi, friends.
- I'm Miss T'wina, and I am here with...
- Naeema.
- And we are at the Fifth Avenue Theatre.
And today, we're gonna read a special book.
Naima, which book are we reading today?
- "Dragon and Unicorn."
- "Dragon and Unicorn,"
and it is written by Edna Valenzuela
and illustrated by Melissa Matzir.
And we are so excited to talk about
a really beautiful friendship
between a dragon and a unicorn.
Two marvelous creatures live in the enchanted forest.
Dragon is big and green.
Naeema, what's your favorite color?
- It's all the rainbow colors.
- All the rainbow colors.
Well, that's perfect because guess what?
Unicorn has a rainbow mane and a golden horn.
So we have all the rainbow colors.
Dragon likes to eat onions and turnips.
Unicorn likes to eat cotton candy and caramel apples.
Okay, which would you choose?
Onions and turnips or cotton candy and caramel apples?
- Definitely that one.
But I don't wanna get another cavity
'cause I've had one before.
- You and me both.
I don't want to get a cavity either,
but I would love to have caramel apples.
But I have braces so I can't have them for a while.
Well, Dragon likes to roll in the mud of the swamp.
Unicorn likes her mane to be braided by fairies
and to be perfumed in the meadows of lavender and lilies.
Dragon and Unicorn are very different,
but that does not matter because when they are together,
they are happy playing hide and seek.
Dragon forms figures in the sky for Unicorn.
And Unicorn with its magic horn
makes a rainbow for Dragon to slide on.
They have fun blowing dandelions.
Dragon takes care of Unicorn when there is a lightning
because she gets scared.
And Unicorn shows the animals of the forest
how fun Dragon is so that none of them will fear him.
That's such a nice thing for a friend to do,
to make sure that the other friends
also really care about you.
Dragon helps Unicorn repair her cabin.
Then Unicorn notices that Dragon is not well,
and with her magic heals Dragon's sore tooth.
We were just talking about teeth and cavities.
Do you think Dragon has a cavity?
- Maybe.
Dragon is very strong.
Unicorn is too.
Best friends are fun, loving, and caring.
Now go play and be...
- [Both] A marvelous friend.
- Naeema, do you think we can be marvelous friends?
- Yes.
- You know, I really love that they would help each other
with fun things like going down a slide
or take care of a sore tooth,
because that can be really painful.
And do you think there are things
that we can learn from this book
so that we can be good friends?
- Yes.
- I agree.
Well, thank you for reading this book
with me today, Naeema.
Will you help me to tell our friends goodbye?
- Yes. - All right.
- [Both] Bye, friends.
(magical chime)
- See, Auntie Lena, Dragon took care of Unicorn
when she was scared.
And well, I think your friend will take care of you
if you go on that hike.
And you know what?
- What Possum?
- You can do hard things.
- Oh, I think you are right, Possum.
I'm gonna get outta my comfort zone
and go hiking with my friend.
- Getting out of your comfort zone?
What's that mean?
- It means trying something different and new,
even if it might make you feel nervous or a little antsy.
- Like when I was nervous about singing in front of people,
because I'd never done it before?
- Right, even though it can be hard,
getting out of your comfort zone can feel great.
Like shaking things up.
- Oh yeah, I like shaking things up.
- Hey, maybe I'll ask Nicole to do an activity I like.
Maybe we can harvest vegetables from my garden.
I usually garden alone,
but it would be fun to have a friend to help me.
- Oh, good idea.
But what are you gonna do with those vegetables?
- Well, do you have something in mind, Possum?
Well, I think you should make a snack
and then you can invite me over to meet Miss Nicole
and we can munch together.
- That's a lovely idea, Possum.
- Lovely and yummy. (laughs)
- Good, my veggies are ready for picking
and we can make a yogurt dip to go with them.
- Uh-hmm, let's do it.
- Alrighty then, let's join Miss Susan in the kitchen
with our friends and learn how to pull it all together.
(magical music)
- [Both] Hi, friends.
- I'm Miss Susan.
- And I'm Sydney.
- And today we're making...
- Veggie yogurt dip.
- Have you ever made this before?
- No. - Well,
let me tell you all about it.
What we're gonna be doing is we're going to be mixing up
yogurt and vinegar as our base.
We're putting up a whole bunch of different spices inside,
mixing it up, and then dipping our vegetables
to see what it tastes like.
- Really? - Yeah.
Have you ever done that before?
- No. - Well, let's try it, okay?
- Okay. - All right.
The first thing is, we are gonna use our measuring cup
and we need one cup of yogurt.
Have you ever eaten yogurt outside of breakfast time?
Like more for like a savory snack?
- Yeah. - Really?
- Yeah. - How do you eat yogurt?
- I like put, um, crunchy stuff in there.
- Like what? - The granola.
- [Miss Susan] Oh, yeah, that's awesome.
Yogurt's really good for you.
- Mmm-hmm. - Yeah.
This is gonna be cool because we're gonna be eating it
with vegetables, so it's - we call that savory.
- Really? - Yeah.
Because when you say you eat it with granola,
maybe that's breakfast, like with honey or blueberries,
that's sweet, and so we're gonna try it
in a new way and savory.
What we're gonna do now is you're gonna take this
and you're gonna spoon it into this bowl.
Sometimes it's kind of hard to eyeball different amounts,
and that's why we use tools like measuring cups
and measuring spoons so we can get something more exact.
Beautiful job.
Great.
All right, the next thing is one tablespoon of rice vinegar.
Now you can use any vinegar at home,
but that one is our rice vinegar.
This is one tablespoon.
So can you
pour it really carefully into here?
One tablespoon.
Amazing, beautiful.
And we're just gonna plop that right in.
Okay, will you do the honors and do the first mixing?
Do you smell that? - Mm-hmm, it's really strong.
- It's really strong, and we're gonna put a whole bunch
of different strong flavors in there,
and it's gonna change the way you might eat yogurt at home.
Okay, beautiful.
[Sydney] It's like whipped cream.
[Miss Susan] It's like whipped cream.
[Sydney] Or like frosting.
- Yeah, all right, and now it's our spices time.
So we've got all these different ones.
This one's dill, and we need two teaspoons of that.
Have you ever looked at the measuring spoons
and see what they all say?
This one says one tablespoon.
Let's look for the teaspoon.
I got 1/8 teaspoon, 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2.
Here's one teaspoon.
All right, so we are going to
do two teaspoons of dried dill.
All right, so that's one teaspoon.
- Do I pour it in? - Yep.
And then do one more.
Amazing, perfect.
Okay, go for it, nice.
Let's close that, and then- - It looks like grass.
- It looks like grass?
[Miss Susan] Have you ever seen fresh dill?
- Um, yeah. - Yeah?
Oh, actually, we're gonna need another teaspoon,
so keep that...
Can you find the teaspoon again?
- This one? - Yeah.
One teaspoon, and then let's do one teaspoon
of the garlic powder.
- [Sydney] Don't give this to a vampire.
- Good idea. (chuckles)
Good idea, all right, that's good.
And then one teaspoon of the onion powder.
Okay, there you go, nice.
All right, what's the next thing that we need?
Half a teaspoon of thyme.
Can you find the half teaspoon?
Which one's half?
- This one? - Yeah, okay, let me read.
One half, you got it.
All right, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.
Smell good? - Uh-hmm.
- Does it smell like another tea?
Okay.
And then this next one is a 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Can you find the 1/4 teaspoon?
- This one?
- [Miss Susan] Which one, it says one, four.
One. - 1/4.
- Yeah, there you go.
Okay, and we'll stick that in there.
- [Sydney] I thought this was sugar.
- Wonderful, and then it says 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.
Is there a 1/8 there?
Is there something smaller than that?
- This one. - Yeah, great.
Let's get it there.
There you are, nice job.
Now, mix it all together.
[Miss Susan] Where did our spoon go?
There it is.
- Whoa. - Whoa, do you see
how it's starting to change color?
- [Sydney] Yeah.
- Can I support a little bit?
- Uh-hmm.
- [Miss Susan] I like to scoop the sides a little bit.
And remember we put all that salt in there, right?
- [Sydney] Mm-hmm. - So we wanna make sure
it gets blended all the way through
so that when we dip a vegetable,
we really get a nice bite of all the flavors mixed together.
Well, let's see, I know you've only eaten yogurt
in a sweet way.
Let's try it in a savory way, okay?
We've got some vegetables here.
What kind of vegetables are these?
- [Sydney] Tomatoes,
radishes,
green beans.
- Sweet, which one do you wanna try
with the dip? - Radishes.
- All right, take the radish.
And can you pluck off the top leaf?
Put that in the compost bin, okay.
And I am going to try it with a tomato.
There you go, all right, you wanna try a dip?
Wow, that was a big surprise.
I've never had yogurt like that before.
What was it like for you?
Yeah?
Did it surprise you in any way?
- Yes. - How did it surprise you?
- I didn't expect to turn out like that.
- So I'm curious, does this yogurt veggie dip
taste like ranch dressing?
- Kind of. - Yeah?
Did we just make almost like a ranch dressing at home?
- Yeah. - We had these things
that we all knew, like yogurt, vinegar,
different spices, like salt and pepper.
But when they came together,
it created something new and magical
to eat with our vegetables. - Yeah.
- Sydney, thanks for spending time with me
to make this cool creation
and a new way to enjoy vegetables.
- You're welcome.
Thank you, Miss Susan. - You're so welcome.
Time to say goodbye to our friends.
- [Both] Bye, friends.
Cheers.
(magical chime)
- That dip looked good.
I can't wait to try it with the veggies from your garden.
- I can't wait to make that dip.
Making food is in my comfort zone.
- Well, but Auntie Lena, I thought you wanted
to get out of your comfort zone
and now you're glad to be in it?
- Yes, Possum.
To be a lifelong learner, we need both.
We need to know what we can do and what we're familiar with.
That's the comfort zone.
But sometimes we also need to shake things up
and get out of our comfort zone,
even if it makes us a little nervous.
Try new treats, travel to new places,
or even try something silly. (Possum laughs)
- Something silly? - Yes.
Like walking in the rain.
Think about it.
If you never walked in the rain,
you'd never have the joy of jumping in a puddle.
- Oh, yeah, and splashing around in puddles is fun.
- Right, you know, you can't look, listen, and learn
if you're always doing the same old thing
over and over again.
- Well, I wanna try to make a rainbow for us to slide on,
just like the one in the story.
- Mm.
Well, I don't think I can teach you that one, Possum.
- Ugh. - But I can take us
to visit our friend, Miss Sara, who can teach us
a different art activity. - Uh-hmm.
- It's called a yin yang picture.
- Well, what does that mean, Auntie Lena?
- Well, you know what opposites are, right?
- Yeah, opposites are like day and night or hot and cold.
- Very good, Possum, but what if there were no night?
- Oh, well, it'd be day all the time, I guess.
- Correct.
Opposites need each other to make a whole,
like how you need hot and cool to get the water
just the right temperature to wash your hands.
Opposites are the yin and yang of life.
Let's go to the Fifth Avenue Theatre,
and Miss Sara can show us how to make a yin yang picture.
(magical chime)
Hi, friends, this is Miss Sara.
I'm gonna be showing you today how to make
a really fun yin and yang puzzle.
There are lots of ways to do this,
but I'm gonna show you the simple way first.
Okay, what you're gonna want is whatever decorative
sort of art supplies you have at home.
Maybe you have crayons,
maybe you have markers like I do here.
Maybe you have colored pencils.
That's what I had at my home.
So this is the one that I made.
This is inspired by the book "Dragon and Unicorn,"
by my friend Edna Valenzuela.
Let's start with just a simple one, okay?
The theme of the yin and yang symbol is all about balance.
Was there a time that you
had different interests than your friends?
Was it fun?
Is it weird?
I know I'm not the best at everything, and so, (laughs)
so sometimes when there's something
that I'm not very good at, I try to find a friend
who's really good at that thing
and knows how to enjoy that thing.
For example, my bestie, Priscilla, loves math.
I had a bit of trouble with math,
and I love drawing, and I still do it to this day,
but she's not that into drawing.
But when we hang out together and I need to do math
and she needs to do drawing, it's like perfection.
We're like, we're like this.
So (laughs) you might have a friend like that too.
Let's talk about this specifically, the yin and yang.
You are gonna want...
What I did just then, did you see it?
I used a plate to make a circle on my paper, okay?
What I'm gonna do now is get my scissors.
Make sure you get parental approval
or your grownups approval
before I get in a big one like this.
Or if you have some safety scissors, you can use those.
I'm just gonna cut a big circle,
as big a circle you want, all around.
First step, did you get it?
And of course, put this aside
in your recycling. La reciclaje.
Okay, and now remember my name, Miss Sara, or Sarita,
Um, that's an S, right?
Do you know how to write an S?
Like this.
We're gonna do this one backwards.
Are you ready, okay. (laughs)
There's the center.
I'm gonna do one loop and two, backwards S.
I like to envision this as two fishes.
So one fish has a big head here and a thin tail here.
And the other fish has a big head here
and a thin tail there.
Let's give the fish an eyeball.
So we're gonna put it right in the center of
the fish's head.
There's one and there's another.
Easy-peasy.
Okay?
So now, it's all about balance.
So this part is going to be whatever color you want.
If I were to do this with just a pencil,
if I just had pencil and paper, I would just shade
one side to be the dark side.
Yeah.
So we're gonna leave the dark fish...
The dark fish has the dark body and a white eye.
The light side has a dark eye
and we'll leave the body light.
You can do this with pencil.
You can do this with marker.
You can do this with whatever you have at home.
At home, I have a Sharpie, so I just used one black marker
to create this same design.
I also have colored pencils.
You might have colored pencils or crayons at home.
So I did this one.
And in this one, I just did a bunch of designs
to kind of look more like sparkly fish.
And do you remember what we talked about in, uh,
"Dragon and Unicorn"?
So
in the book, these two are sisters.
They're sisters.
I have a sister too.
And we have a lot of things that are really similar
and a lot of things that are really different about us.
And you probably have some friends
and family that you feel the same way.
When me and my sister get to hang out together,
we might seem so different,
but when we're together, it's so much fun.
I really resonated with this book.
I really love this book.
So I made a fan art about it.
I had a really good time here,
and I hope you had fun at home.
So if you made one of these, if you did it in any
of these styles or your own style,
maybe you had stickers or stamps, we would love to see it.
We'll see you next time.
Bye, friends. (magical chime)
- Look, Auntie Lena.
- Oh, Possum.
That is a beautiful yin yang picture.
- Oh, thank you.
And can I see yours?
- Oh, yeah.
- Oh.
Oh, wow.
- Do you see what I mean about opposites
or two halves need each other to make a whole?
- Yeah, I do.
And it's awesome.
And it reminds me of Unicorn and Dragon.
- Exactly, Possum.
They made a whole lot of fun together.
- Uh-hmm.
But doing different things scares me sometimes.
- I understand Possum.
Me too.
But when we feel afraid or nervous
to try something different,
it's good time to ask ourselves,
is this a comfort zone I wanna burst through?
Or do I wanna stay safe and cozy?
- Well, I like both, Auntie Lena.
How do you decide?
- Well, sometimes when things are feeling a little too easy
and we find ourself getting bored doing the same old thing,
it means it is time to try something different.
So that's why I'm gonna go hiking with my friend.
- Oh, well, I'm glad you decided to go on a hike
with your friend, Auntie Lena.
- Me too, Possum.
It'll be good for me to get outta my comfort zone
and spend some time with her.
After all, I really like Nicole.
- Oh, I can't wait to meet Miss Nicole, Auntie Lena.
And well, I hope you're feeling less worried.
- I do feel less worried.
Thank you, Possum, for being a good friend
and listening. - Oh.
- And friends, thank you for taking the time
to look, listen, and learn with us today.
Remember, you are the best you that the world will ever see.
- Bye for now. - Bye.
- [Narrator] Now, for Auntie Lena's parent tip.
- When you take a close look at the yin yang symbol,
there's a really, really, really fine line
between seeing two halves that are equal
or simply seeing how different each side is.
We meet up at the same really, really, really fine line
when it comes to teaching our early learners
about bursting out or relaxing in their comfort zones.
Self-awareness and social awareness helps them understand
and relate to others' feelings and experiences.
This is the line for when we as caring adults
invite our early learners to take pride in themselves
and celebrate their unique qualities,
and also teach them to appreciate others
who have different qualities.
These are the teachable moments when we invite our kiddos
to play with other kiddos who they genuinely like
and are attracted to,
no matter what differences they may have.
And by differences, we mean different abilities,
different hobbies, maybe it's different cultures, genders,
or even different skin colors.
Life invites us to look at, listen to,
and learn from people and situations that are different
as well as people and situations
that make us feel cozy and comfy.
Bob Marley says that some people feel the rain
and others just get wet.
To look, listen, and learn means we invite our little ones
to feel the rain and splash in the puddles.
In doing so, we invite all of the dragons
and unicorns in our lives to build up on their experiences
of seeing how opposites depend on each other
to make a greater whole, to be the best that they can be.
(gentle music)
- [Narrator] "Look, Listen + Learn" is brought to you
in part by Thistle Theatre.
Thistle Theatre is a local professional
puppet theater for families.
We feature an ancient Japanese style
of puppetry called Tabletop Bunraku.
Learn more at thistletheatre.org.