- 3 days ago
Season 13 (1998-1999)
Featured Book: Work Song
Reviewed Books: Work
I’m Going To Be A… Book Series
A Day’s Work
Original production funding provided by: Kellogg’s Cereal Company
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
National Science Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Featured Book: Work Song
Reviewed Books: Work
I’m Going To Be A… Book Series
A Day’s Work
Original production funding provided by: Kellogg’s Cereal Company
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS Viewers Like You
National Science Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00PBS Kids opens worlds of possibilities for all children, thanks to PBS stations and viewers like you.
00:30Friends to know, and ways to grow, Ridden Rainbow, I can be anything, take a look, it's in a book, Ridden Rainbow, Ridden Rainbow.
01:00Good morning. This is my local breakfast spot. I like to grab a bite here before going off to work.
01:21And so does everybody else.
01:23Everyone knows that we need to work in order to make money, to support ourselves, but there are other reasons, too.
01:32Work allows us to share our talents, gives us an opportunity to contribute something to the world.
01:39Here's a book that celebrates the talents of the hardworking people who dedicate themselves to their jobs every day.
01:46It's called Work Song.
01:53Work Song
01:54Written by Gary Paulson
01:58Illustrated by Ruth Wright Paulson
02:02Narrated by David Canary
02:07It is keening noise and jolting sights, and hammers flashing in the light, and houses up, and trees in sun, and trucks on one more nighttime ride.
02:37It is fresh new food to fill the plates, and flat, clean sidewalks to try to skate, and towering buildings that were not there, hanging suddenly in the air.
02:59It is offices filled with glowing screens, and workers making steel beams, and ice cream cones to lick, and wear, and all the pins that hold your hair.
03:24It's gentle arms that lift and hold, and all the soldiers brave and bold, and help to fit the brand new shoes, ooh, and hands to show you books to use.
03:48It is people here, and people there, making things for all to share, all the things there are to be, and merely all there is to see.
04:06And when the day is paid and done, and all the errands have been run, it's mother, father, in a chair, with tired eyes, and loosened hair,
04:26resting short, but loving long, resting, for the next day's song.
04:40No matter what kind of work we do, our jobs are like pieces of a puzzle that fit together to make up our world.
04:58We need each other to keep the wheels of the world turning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
05:05In fact, some people are working hard at jobs we can't live without.
05:16Firefighters face danger every day to keep your neighborhood safe.
05:23Burning cars are extremely dangerous.
05:27Tires, glass, and engine parts can explode with the heat and cause serious injury.
05:31Never get near one.
05:34That's a fireman's job.
05:48Firefighters call each other brothers.
05:50Their lives are in each other's hands, and that makes them pretty close friends with one another.
05:55It's more than a sense of being on a team.
05:58It's like being in a family.
06:01While some work to put out fires, others work to keep the heat on.
06:13I'm Sheila Haynes.
06:15I'm a heating plant technician.
06:17I work in the boiler room for the housing project.
06:19My job is to make sure that the boilers are in good working order, and that all the tenants get the heat that they're supposed to have, and also hot water.
06:29I love it when I take my little tweezers, and I take a little plug out, and I put it back together, because I know if I don't put this back exactly right, it's going to mess up the whole thing.
06:49It will not run right.
06:50I've got the plug out.
07:00Okay.
07:01You should get heat now.
07:02I like fixing things.
07:07I like working on pumps and motors.
07:09I like taking the burner apart.
07:11I like putting it back together.
07:13This is what I like.
07:19Come on, you guys.
07:20It's time to go to the doctor.
07:21After months of waiting, Kay Estes is ready to have her baby.
07:31You're doing great.
07:31How about yourself?
07:32Dr. Luciani specializes in delivering babies.
07:36He will make sure everything goes right and be there if anything goes wrong.
07:42Since Kay is in her eighth month, Dr. Luciani will examine her one last time before Jessica is born.
07:48Right now, we have the top of the uterus, which is the home of the baby, at 38 and a half centimeters.
07:55So that is perfect growth.
07:57Even though Jessica is still inside, the family can actually hear her heart beating.
08:03Let's get everybody together here.
08:05We're going to listen to the baby's heartbeat this morning.
08:08We're going to put a little bit of jelly on mom's belly, and this doesn't hurt mom, and it doesn't hurt the baby.
08:12It just makes listening to the heartbeat a lot easier.
08:16So we'll do that.
08:16And let me get the machine that we listen to the heartbeat with.
08:25Okay, so the baby's heartbeat is around 141, 143.
08:30That's a nice, normal, average heartbeat.
08:33Okay, so now we're going to do the ultrasound that we talked about.
08:37And once again, we'll put some jelly on mom's belly.
08:39During the ultrasound, a special machine forms a picture of the baby growing inside.
08:43Now we're going to see the body of the baby.
08:48This is the baby's body.
08:50And if you look real carefully, we can see the baby's heart beating right here.
08:54There it is.
08:56Isn't that nice?
08:57And it should work out very nicely.
08:59We'll have a nice, healthy, and happy baby.
09:01Thanks, Kim.
09:06You're welcome.
09:08When I was a kid, I wanted to do lots of different things when I grew up.
09:12At first, I wanted to join the army, like my father.
09:15And then after a while, I decided that I would become a minister, because I really wanted to help people.
09:23How about you?
09:23Is there something that you love to do now that might become a career later?
09:29I want to be a scientist, a violinist, a composer, and that's basically it.
09:36I want to be an astronaut.
09:38A lawyer.
09:39I want to be a policeman when I grew up.
09:42An artist.
09:43I want to be an author who writes funny stories.
09:46I'm very organized, so I can be an office manager.
09:50I want to act and sing.
09:51I believe like a flaw.
09:53I like babies.
09:54I like to play with my baby cousins.
09:57And I want to be a mother when I grow up.
09:59I want to be in the circus.
10:01I want to be on the trapeze.
10:03I really care about people, so when I grow up, I might like to run a homeless shelter.
10:10We all dream about the kinds of jobs we think we'll do.
10:13And sometimes that's where we end up.
10:15But there are so many to choose from.
10:18Here's an ad for engineers.
10:23Here's one for athletes.
10:27And another for stockbrokers.
10:28Some of these jobs are very familiar.
10:32We see people do them all the time.
10:34But others are a definite surprise.
10:45People sometimes do the most unusual things for a living.
10:49Like raising tiger cubs.
11:00Hi, my name is Mary Fleming, and these are my babies.
11:05And my job is to care for these babies from the day that they're born.
11:10This is Madras.
11:11He's a two-month-old white Bengal tiger cub.
11:13Right now he weighs about 15 pounds, and when he's full grown, he'll weigh about 500 pounds.
11:18Even though these cubs are small, and I treat them like babies, I always have to remember that they are tigers.
11:25The first thing the babies learn is the word no.
11:30No.
11:31No.
11:32No.
11:34Good boy.
11:35Good boy.
11:36Good boy.
11:37Good boy.
11:37See, you have to learn that, too.
11:39When they put their claws out, we just kind of pick up their paws and tell them no.
11:44And they automatically retract their claws, and eventually they learn what we're talking about.
11:48As soon as we say no, they'll retract their claws.
11:51Oh, good girl.
11:53For some people, it's not what they do for work, but where they do it.
12:15I'm Bill Riley.
12:16I'm a structural specialist on a George Washington Bridge.
12:20My job here is to check for cracks and heavy rust.
12:25I inspect from top to bottom, over, under, in between.
12:30Every place imaginable where people don't realize that you have to look and check, that's where we go.
12:39To check the bolts and the rivets, we use a lot of sophisticated equipment,
12:44like this electronic sound machine I'm using to check for any cracks in the bolts.
12:54George is getting old, and the older George gets, the more we have to watch George.
13:00There is tremendous joy in playing a musical instrument, and honor in making them.
13:09When I make a drum, I feel very connected to an ancient tradition, a tradition that goes back many, many centuries.
13:23And when I carve a drum, I feel like I've become a part of that tradition.
13:32When I make a drum, I put a lot of my own energy, spirit, and soul into it.
13:36So it's important to me that the person who plays the instrument understands that this drum is something that we both share.
13:44I feel like when you can take something out of a raw piece of wood and create an instrument out of it, then you're making magic.
14:00Adele is the cook here at the diner.
14:16Do you see how happy she is?
14:18You can tell she loves her job.
14:21Cooking for people makes her feel good.
14:23And she enjoys the creativity of inventing new recipes every day.
14:27Ah, mmm, and we enjoy it too.
14:34Great work, Adele.
14:37You see, when you love your work, and you put your heart into it, an amazing thing happens.
14:43You find that the more you put into your work, the more satisfying it can be.
14:52The most important thing when we're working with anything is to really find enjoyment in it.
14:57And to be able to express yourself.
15:05I love mural painting because I really love to paint with people all around and all of us working together.
15:11And there's something about that feeling that is like no other.
15:14I love dog walking.
15:21I like rolling around with them.
15:23I like squeezing them.
15:25I wouldn't try this job for anything in the world.
15:33This job is the best.
15:35It's the greatest.
15:35Dealing with people.
15:39Really, dealing with people is the best part of it.
15:41I love it.
15:42I love being an engineer.
15:59It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid.
16:01Every time I come to a crossing, I blow the whistle, just in case there might be something approaching.
16:14I love running the Coast Starlight, right along the ocean.
16:17It's a short run, but it's one that I enjoy the most.
16:20There are people who prefer a blank page to the open road.
16:34This is Curtis Wilkins.
16:40Curtis is an 11-year-old African-American youngster growing up in the inner city.
16:46Nice kid.
16:47Spunky, mischievous.
16:49Curtis is me when I was 11 years old.
16:54My name is Ray Billingsley, and I'm the creator of a comic strip called Curtis.
16:59When I first started drawing the strip, I thought it was important that Curtis' appearance, his features, really represent the average black American.
17:11He's got the broad nose.
17:13He's got big hands, big feet.
17:15He's got broad lips, all of which he's very proud to have.
17:22Curtis is my best friend.
17:24After I pencil in the characters and situations they're involved in, I like to go directly to inking.
17:31I like to use a calligraphy pen.
17:35Look how smooth that comes out.
17:37That's cool.
17:43Coloring.
17:45Giving dimension to your otherwise flat characters.
17:54There's no greater job in this world than being a cartoonist and getting a chance to have people share your dreams with you.
18:15For the Grucci family, working together makes their lives brighter.
18:21Learning how to make fireworks doesn't happen overnight.
18:23It takes years and years of experience.
18:26I'm Phil Grucci.
18:27I'm a fifth generation member of the Grucci family.
18:30And when we do large fireworks programs, we don't always do it on land.
18:34We bring them out on barges.
18:35The first job that we have to do when we get onto the barge is put our pipes in.
18:40Once we load our pipes into the boxes, we have to run a wire to each one of the pipes.
18:45That wire is going to be connected to a firework.
18:48This is one of the many fireworks that we're using on the barges.
18:51This firework is made with a cardboard hand-rolled casing.
18:55And the casing is filled with small balls that we call stars.
18:59The stars are the magic of the fireworks.
19:02The stars are chemically made to produce different colors and different patterns.
19:06One of the things that I love so much about this job is being able to work so closely with my family.
19:11Being that we are a family company, a family business.
19:14Donna, my aunt, is the vice president of fireworks by Grucci.
19:18Donna selects a lot of the music that you might hear when you see our fireworks displays.
19:21What makes this all so much fun is the teamwork that goes into it.
19:26It's just such a rewarding feeling to see all of us work together for so many hours and to be able to produce such beauty.
19:35It's a very warm, rewarding feeling.
19:38All over the world right now, people are hard at work making our lives healthier, easier, more meaningful.
20:01And here are three book critics who are also working hard to review books you might enjoy.
20:06But you don't have to take my word for it.
20:10Hi, everybody. I'm Eve.
20:12And if you've always wanted to know how people work all over the world, I've got the book for you.
20:18It's called Work by Ann Morris.
20:20What makes this book so special is that it's filled with interesting photographs instead of illustrations.
20:29Each picture is from a different country.
20:33This student works in China.
20:36And this mother works in India.
20:39In Mexico, this man washes the window.
20:43People all over the world work hard to get the job done.
20:47Here's someone working with his muscles.
20:51Work can make you very tired.
20:55But it makes you feel really good, too.
20:58When you read this book, you'll find out that working can be a lot of fun.
21:03And so can reading this book, work.
21:08Hi, I'm Demetrius.
21:09I just read a great series of books.
21:11My favorite was I'm Going to Be a Police Officer.
21:14These books tell about lots of jobs.
21:17Being a farmer looks like hard work.
21:20A vet takes care of animals.
21:23And what would we do without firefighters?
21:26When I grow up, I want to be a police officer, just like my aunt and my grandfather.
21:31This police officer is writing a ticket.
21:34This one finds a lost dog.
21:36This is a really cool job to have.
21:39Vet, vet, farmer, firefighter, police officer.
21:44What do you want to be when you grow up?
21:47Hi, I'm Sean DeLal, and I think it's really important to know what your job is before you take it.
21:53And that's Francisco's lesson in this book called A Day's Work.
21:57It's a well-written story about a boy named Francisco and his abuelo.
22:02That's Spanish for grandfather.
22:05They're looking for a day's work.
22:07They meet Ben, who needs help.
22:11Francisco says,
22:12Take us, Mr. Benjamin, take us.
22:15Off in the truck they go.
22:16When they get to the field, Ben explains that they need to pull all the weeds.
22:22They work very hard pulling and cleaning.
22:26When they're done, they sit by the side of the road and wait.
22:30Oh boy, the boss is not happy when he returns.
22:33Francisco and his grandfather have pulled out all the flowers and left the weeds.
22:40Don't worry, everything works out in the end.
22:43It won't take you a day to read a day's work,
22:46but if you do read it, you'll feel you've earned something special.
22:50I think you should go read it now.
22:52Ken, can I get my check?
22:54Sure, LeVar.
22:56One of the things I love about my job is that it's incredibly rewarding.
23:00On Reading Rainbow, I've learned to fly an airplane, scuba dive, dance the mambo.
23:05I've had amazing experiences.
23:08But the thing that I've treasured most are the wonderful people I've worked with over the years.
23:19Whether you're a fan in a big stadium.
23:21Hey, thank you.
23:24Thanks.
23:25There you are.
23:26How to fall town.
23:27This is a leopard show.
23:28Woo!
23:29Woo!
23:30This is my friend Suzanne Dennis, and she's going to be my cave guide today.
23:40This is Thane Maynard, and some of his best friends are insects.
23:44This is Lisa Satchel.
23:46She's a naturalist, and she knows this seashore inside and out.
23:50This is Najee, a full-grown Bengal tiger.
23:54Woo!
23:54Woo!
23:55Woo!
23:55Woo!
23:56Woo!
23:56Woo!
23:57Woo!
23:57Woo!
23:58Woo!
23:58Woo!
23:59Woo!
23:59Woo!
24:00Woo!
24:00Woo!
24:00Woo!
24:00Woo!
24:01Woo!
24:02Woo!
24:04I've never seen anything.
24:06It's fun.
24:11So Curtis, being a chef is really like being a scientist, isn't it?
24:15Oh, thank you.
24:16I think so.
24:17You've got to know how food reacts to eating or to cold, so it is like being a scientist.
24:21Woo!
24:22Woo!
24:22Woo!
24:22Woo!
24:23Woo!
24:23Woo!
24:23Woo!
24:23Woo!
24:24Woo!
24:24Woo!
24:25Woo!
24:25Woo!
24:25Woo!
24:25Woo!
24:26Woo!
24:26Woo!
24:27Woo!
24:27Woo!
24:28Woo!
24:28Woo!
24:28Woo!
24:29Woo!
24:29Woo!
24:29Woo!
24:30Woo!
24:30of this i'm gonna have to make a couple of adjustments like about two inches worth how
24:34are you gonna do that oh no i can't watch all right all right out of the way just how dangerous
24:43are these guys it just all depends on the situation out in the wild they're not as dangerous as
24:47everybody thinks they are but in a captive situation say in the zoo or a farm like this
24:52or at the pet they can be very dangerous i really need to get back to work lavar you
24:57think you could take care of him for a minute for me oh well sure bye-bye bye
25:15happy because i'm learning so much sign language
25:27well i'm off to work to do what i do best and contribute my share to the world
25:53and i'm proud to join the ranks of people everywhere who do their jobs with talent
26:00dignity and an extraordinary amount of dedication i'll see you next time
26:15i can go anywhere
26:29today's reading rainbow books are work song by gary paulson illustrated by ruth wright paulson
26:53published by harcourt brace and company work by ann morris published by lothrop lee and shepherd books
27:01a division of william morrow and company i'm going to be a firefighter i'm going to be a police officer
27:08by edith cunard published by cartwheel books an imprint of scholastic press
27:17a day's work by eve bunting illustrated by ronald hemler published by clarion books an imprint of the
27:24houghton mifflin company