- 2 days ago
Season 14 (2000-2002)
Original production funding provided by: Barnes & Noble
National Science Foundation
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
Original production funding provided by: Barnes & Noble
National Science Foundation
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00Reading Rainbow
00:04Butterfly in the sky
00:07I can go twice as high
00:10Take a look, it's in a book
00:14Reading Rainbow
00:17I can go anywhere
00:23Brands to know and ways to grow
00:27Reading Rainbow
00:29I can be anything
00:36Take a look, it's in a book
00:39Reading Rainbow
00:42Reading Rainbow
00:48Hi, we're going on a journey through one of the coolest places I know
01:01It's an amazing part of the world full of incredible sights, sounds and people
01:18Can you guess where we are?
01:21That's right, the United States of America
01:25One thing's for sure about the United States, it's gigantic
01:42It's about ten times the size of Egypt
01:4825 times the size of Japan
01:52And almost 75 times the size of Greece
01:57Because the United States is so huge, it can look and feel completely different from one place to the next
02:14For instance, within our 50 states we have deserts and rainforests, buttes and bayous, prairies and snowy tundra
02:26But what a lot of folks don't realize is that we even have volcanoes
02:30The most famous of which are found in the islands of Hawaii
02:34Mauna Loa by Tom Robert Shields
02:44Read by Leia Salonga
02:51While Pacific Ocean's white surf gleams
02:56Rolling seas glide, shifting dreams
03:00Sudden thunders, a tumbled tomb
03:04Breaking lazy beauty of calm, quiet noon
03:09Birds of paradise scatter, as all birds do
03:14Mauna Loa gulps
03:16Fire
03:18Long overdue
03:28That poem was from this book, My America
03:31A collection of poetry that celebrates this great and grand country of ours
03:35Even though our country is huge, for the most part, it's pretty easy to get from place to place
03:40In fact, that's one of the things I love most about being the host of Reading Rainbow
03:45Over the years, we've traveled thousands of miles criss-crossing the country from Nebraska to New Mexico
03:52From Maryland to Massachusetts
03:56Okay, time for a pop quiz
04:00Can you name all 50 states?
04:03Alabama
04:05Alaska
04:06Arizona
04:07Arkansas
04:08California
04:09Colorado
04:10Connecticut
04:11Delaware
04:12Florida
04:13Georgia
04:14Hawaii
04:15Idaho
04:16Illinois
04:17Indiana
04:18Iowa
04:19Kansas
04:20Kentucky
04:21Louisiana
04:23Maine
04:24Maryland
04:25Massachusetts
04:26Michigan
04:27Minnesota
04:28Mississippi
04:29Missouri
04:30Montana
04:31Montana
04:32Nebraska
04:33Nevada
04:34New Hampshire
04:35New Jersey
04:36New Mexico
04:37New York
04:38North Carolina
04:39North Dakota
04:41Ohio
04:42Oklahoma
04:43Oregon
04:44Pennsylvania
04:45Rhode Island
04:47South Carolina
04:49South Dakota
04:50Tennessee
04:51Texas
04:52Utah
04:53Vermont
04:54Virginia
04:55Washington
04:57West Virginia
04:58Wisconsin
04:59Wyoming
05:00Wyoming
05:01That was well stated
05:04America
05:06America
05:07In all of this land, you and I are only a few of the 300 million people who live here. And when you stretch us all out from Maui to Maine, it makes for pretty big differences in the kinds of homes we live in, the foods we eat, even the words we use. Even though we all put it out from Maui to Maine, it makes for pretty big differences in the kinds of homes we live in, the foods we eat, even the words we use.
05:25Even though we all pretty much speak the same language, there are plenty of differences too. Here, I'll show you what I mean. You see this? I call it a paper bag. But then some of you might call it a poke. And then again, some of you even might call it a sack. Let's look at another one. What do you call this?
05:50What do you call this?
05:52This is what I call a hot dog. Where I come from, we call it a footlock. I call it a frame fitter. It's a wiener.
06:01Okay. And how about these?
06:05Looks like tennis shoes to me. I call them sneakers.
06:09They're called kicks.
06:11They're called kicks.
06:13I call them gym shoes.
06:15Hmm. And what do you call this?
06:18It's a grinder.
06:20I call it a submarine.
06:22Looks like a hoagie.
06:24That's what I call a hero.
06:26Isn't it amazing that we use so many different words for the same thing?
06:32And speaking of words, here are a couple from the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
06:43Hi, I'm Michael.
06:44And I'm Daniel.
06:45We're twins who have just moved to the Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, right here in our new home state, Minnesota.
06:55If you like swimming, you'll love Minnesota. It's called the land of 10,000 lakes. Also great for fishing and canoeing.
07:06And if all that exercise makes you thirsty, help yourself to our state drink. It's milk.
07:13We even have a state muffin, the blueberry. What's yours?
07:20Minnesota is the home of the amazing Mall of America. It's so big. It has an indoor roller coaster, Ferris wheel and aquarium.
07:31And my favorite, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has the country's biggest sculpture garden.
07:38So come on up to Minnesota. You'll have twice as much fun.
07:43The United States of America is so big, we have six different time zones.
07:53That means that at any given moment, it could be a completely different time in another part of the country.
07:59For instance, let's imagine it's three o'clock in the afternoon, Hawaiian Aleutian time.
08:05School's out. Time for me to go home.
08:13At the exact same moment, it's four o'clock, Alaska time.
08:19Time for soccer practice.
08:24Meanwhile, it just turned five o'clock, Pacific time.
08:28I have lots of homework to do.
08:32Which means it's six o'clock, mountain time.
08:37It's dinner time.
08:41Which is the same as seven o'clock, Central time.
08:46I'm surfing the net.
08:49Which is exactly eight o'clock, Eastern time.
08:54It's time for bed.
09:01Isn't that something?
09:02When it's three o'clock in the afternoon way out west, in Hawaii, it's eight o'clock at night all the way east.
09:10And in certain parts of the northeastern coast, nighttime brings its own special sights and sounds.
09:19New England Lighthouse.
09:24By Rebecca K. Dotlitch.
09:27Narrated by Tom and Ray Maliaz.
09:31It's a tower of stone, a refuge of white, with a code all its own, flashing constant and bright.
09:38It's a house made of iron, a home of concrete, a vigilant beacon for sailors at sea.
09:47It's a turret of lanterns, a castle of lights, a compass for ships as they pass through the nights.
09:57If you live in a big city, like Chicago, you can probably run down to the corner store for a carton of milk.
10:06But if you live in a rural area, say, in the southwest, you might have to drive miles and miles to get to the nearest supermarket.
10:17Where we live really does shape how we grow up, down to the smallest details.
10:25This is Helmville, Montana, home to mountains, valleys, ranches, and Erica Mannix.
10:34I love living on a ranch because it's a rural area and there's lots of animals.
10:42Our ranch was homesteaded in 1882 and my brothers and I and my cousins are the fifth generation.
10:50On weekdays in the morning I usually get up and have breakfast.
10:54Got a big ball game coming up. You ready for your ball game?
10:57You got your uniform.
10:59And then I go up to the barn and I feed my colt.
11:03Come here, Jessie.
11:05Sometimes getting her out of the field is kind of difficult because she's stubborn sometimes, doesn't want to move.
11:12But she usually comes in okay.
11:17My favorite thing is probably being around horses, being with them.
11:22And, I don't know, they're just a favorite animal.
11:26I like being around them. They're fun to be with.
11:31The bus picks us up at 8.45 and he drops us off at school.
11:35Oh, hi, Anna.
11:38I've known Anna for basically my whole life and I love to hang out together and gab and talk and such.
11:47I know.
11:48In the morning we go down and sing. We sing the pledge and Grand Old Flag and Montana.
11:54Montana, Montana, glory of the west.
12:01From all the states, from coast to coast, you're easily the best.
12:07Our school is very small. There's about 39 kids including the kindergarteners.
12:13I am in the sixth grade and I have two classmates.
12:16Let's go over your reviews.
12:18I think going to school in a larger city would be a lot more difficult.
12:23You'd have to know more people and the kids in the country. We know everybody.
12:28I've probably been riding for about ten years since I was about two years old.
12:40Annalee and I love to ride together.
12:43It's really fun riding because you can be with the horse and it's more like being a partner.
12:48You have to control the horse but you're still being partners.
12:51They're doing the work and you're kind of thinking about doing work.
13:02One of the things I love to do is go sledding.
13:04And we often times get the whole family and go up to my great-grandfather's place and sled up there.
13:12There's not a movie theater so we usually don't go to the movies.
13:26And there's not really a restaurant so we'll get together and have dinner together.
13:33My family actually is fairly close.
13:38Often times it's nice to get at the dinner table and actually be able to talk to them about what is going on.
13:43But I don't care much.
13:51I also play the violin and I often times play it or try to play it with my grandma Darlene.
14:03My family and friends mean a lot to me and I like to be near them and be around them.
14:21And I love ranching and being around animals.
14:25This is the only place I've really ever known.
14:29Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in a place that seems as far from the mountains of Montana as the moon is a big city.
14:44New York.
14:49Stephan White lives with his family in Jackson Heights, Queens.
14:52That's a neighborhood in New York City.
14:56If I was describing New York to a friend, I'd describe it as very busy.
15:05What do you want for breakfast?
15:06Who wants bananas?
15:07Me.
15:08You want bananas?
15:09I get up around 6.45.
15:11Okay.
15:12My mom and dad driving to school but sometimes it's just my dad.
15:15It's just really fun being alone just with my dad.
15:20Driving to school on a Friday morning, Thursday morning.
15:25No, there's another guy.
15:26Who was the guy who was there yesterday?
15:28The aftercare.
15:29We usually talk about soccer, about school.
15:32That makes me feel really good because I know I have someone to talk to.
15:38I do not believe it.
15:39My school is located in downtown Manhattan on 23rd Street and First Avenue.
15:48To get there, we cross the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan.
15:53My school is the United Nations International School.
15:57It goes all the way up from kindergarten to 12th grade.
16:05Kids from all over the world go to it.
16:08My friend Irving, he comes from Spain.
16:11My friend Jordy, he's based in Africa.
16:13And my friend Chuan Trameau, they're based in Africa, Trinidad, and Tobago.
16:22My teacher, Madame Anuri, is very nice.
16:26You hardly ever get in trouble with her.
16:30I've learned a lot of French such as
16:32J'aime le pizza et David est un singe.
16:37It means I love pizza and David is a monkey.
16:41David is one of my best friends.
16:47Bowling is really a lot of fun.
16:50I'm good at it, but I'm getting better.
16:52Try again.
17:00And my brother is really very good.
17:03We all really like bowling a lot.
17:11I take French horn lessons in school and I feel really good about playing the French horn.
17:18It's really a lot of fun to play.
17:20All I have to do is put your lips together and blow.
17:24I read a lot.
17:30Two hours every day.
17:32I really, really get into the stories and it makes me think I'm going someplace.
17:37I close my eyes and sometimes I feel like I'm right there next to the character in the story.
17:42There's a Spanish restaurant called Nativas and it serves a lot of Spanish food that's really very good.
17:54It's a restaurant my family and I like to take out food from.
17:57Eating dinner with my family is really a nice experience because we get to talk about whatever happened that day.
18:09Gabriel, what was it that your cousin said to you the other day?
18:12I have the beat.
18:14You have the beat.
18:15That's why he wants to play drums.
18:16Now, Stefan, how are you doing with your horn?
18:18It's cool.
18:19I also like the drums.
18:21Well, maybe you and Gabriel can do the drum thing.
18:24I love walking around New York because there are so many signs to look at, so many good places to eat, so many lights, so many sounds.
18:36Almost nobody gets bored in New York.
18:42I was raised mostly in California, but we traveled around quite a bit and I actually found out that I had a lot in common with kids who lived in other parts of the country.
18:52And you know what? So do you.
18:55And now, a word from the state of Washington.
19:03Calling all nature lovers.
19:04Hi, I'm Ashley and I'm way up here in Washington, the evergreen state.
19:10This is the state for you.
19:13We have everything from sea lions to mountain lions.
19:17If you're a city slicker, you'll flip for Seattle.
19:20It's famous for its computers and the Space Needle.
19:26So come on up to Washington and enter our annual Spam Carbon contest.
19:31Check out this apple.
19:32Isn't it Spamtacular?
19:34Okay guys, it's time for another pop quiz.
19:45And this is a tough one.
19:47In the United States, where is the one place you can stand and be in four states at the same time?
19:55The Four Corners.
19:56That's where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona all meet together.
20:08Thanks, Anna. You're absolutely right.
20:10If you travel to the Four Corners, you'll find it's an incredibly stunning part of the country.
20:16But even if you never leave your hometown, a story or a poem can help you imagine not only what a place looks like, but what it sounds like and tastes like too.
20:27Knoxville, Tennessee by Nicky Giovanni, read by Nicky Giovanni.
20:35I always like summer best.
20:38You can eat fresh corn from daddy's garden.
20:41And okra and greens and cabbage and lots of barbecue and buttermilk and homemade ice cream at the church picnic.
20:50And listen to gospel music outside at the church homecoming.
20:54And go to the mountains with your grandmother.
20:57And go barefooted.
20:59And be warm all the time.
21:02Not only when you go to bed and sleep.
21:09If you're ever lucky enough to get down to Tennessee for a visit, you're in for a real treat.
21:15But even if you never get there, there are plenty of fascinating places to visit right in your own home state.
21:21And speaking of states, it's time for another word from one of our sponsors, the state of Florida.
21:33Hi, I'm Kathy.
21:34Looking for fun things to do?
21:36Well, come to my home, Florida.
21:38It's the Sunshine State and it has it all.
21:41We've got beaches and theme parks, forests, cities and swamplands.
21:48Our climate is subtropical, which means it's totally warm year-round.
21:54It's perfect for the alligators and manatees who live in the Everglades.
21:59And check out the amazing islands of the Florida Keys, where you can go coral reef diving and swim with dolphins.
22:06So come to Florida and have an ice-cold glass of orange juice to go.
22:12Thanks, Kathy.
22:13If the idea of exploring our country has given you the traveling bug, then here are three books that will map things out for you.
22:28But you don't have to take my word for it.
22:32Hi, I'm Maris.
22:34Did you ever wonder what might happen if the United States weren't so united?
22:39Find out in this book, The Scrambled States of America.
22:43It all begins with Kansas.
22:46He isn't happy with his place on the map.
22:49He convinces Nebraska, his next-door neighbor, to have a party.
22:54All 50 states are invited.
22:57This is where the fun begins.
22:59At the party, the states decide to switch places with each other.
23:04Florida switched places with Minnesota and was freezing.
23:08And Minnesota got a sunburn.
23:11Soon, every state wanted to get back home.
23:15But if you want to find out how these scrambled states unscramble, you'll have to read this book, The Scrambled States of America.
23:25Hi, my name is Adam.
23:28If you like to travel to places you've never been to, then I have a great book for you.
23:33It's called Tulip Sees America.
23:36The boy in the story lived with his parents in Ohio.
23:40When he grew up, he wanted to see America.
23:45So he bought a car, and he and his dog Tulip left Ohio and traveled west.
23:51They saw beautiful open skies.
23:54They saw so many amazing sights.
23:58When I read this book, I felt like I was on a big adventure.
24:02If you love adventures, then you'll love Tulip Sees America.
24:06Hi, I'm Ryan.
24:08Do you want to find out some cool facts about the United States?
24:12Well, you can in this book called Celebrate the 50 States.
24:17Every state is in this book from Alabama to Wyoming.
24:21There's information galore.
24:24Mystic Connecticut is famous for its seaport.
24:28Kentucky is famous for its horse racing.
24:32New York has the Statue of Liberty.
24:35This is the kind of book you can browse through any time.
24:39It's a lot of fun.
24:41So check out Celebrate the 50 States.
24:44The United States of America is a great country because of what it is.
24:50A gigantic group of amazingly different people and places bound together by a common identity.
24:57From the snow-capped mountains of Washington to the white sandy beaches of the Florida coast.
25:04It's no wonder we call it America the Beautiful.
25:10I'll see you next time.
25:11I'll see you next time.
25:12Mmm, oh beautiful for spacious skies.
25:21For amber waves of gray.
25:28For purple mountains of majesty above the fruited plain.
25:43America, America, America, God shed His grace on thee.
25:57And crowned my heart with brotherhood.
26:00And crowned my heart with brotherhood.
26:04From sea to shining sea.
26:10Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
26:14America, America, America.
26:15Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
26:16Oh, oh, oh, oh.
26:17America, America, America, God shed His grace on thee.
26:31Yeah.
26:32Today's Reading Rainbow books are My America, a poetry atlas of the United States,
27:00selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, published by Simon & Schuster.
27:07Celebrate the 50 States, by Lorene Leedy, published by Holiday House.
27:13The Scrambled States of America, by Lori Keller, published by Henry Holt & Company.
27:20Tulip Sees America, by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Lisa DeSimony, published by Blue Sky Scholastic.