65. Beauty: William the Frog and a Fun Field Trip Day

Before today's story, a quick message for the grownups. Lamplighter Kids Stories is becoming an animated children's series on YouTube, and our Kickstarter campaign is officially live. If your family would like to help bring these stories to life, you can support the Kickstarter project by visiting lamplighterkids.com/kidsclub. As a special thank you for supporting this project, we're offering a lot of fun rewards including personalized audio messages and even personalized videos from Momo and Self. Alright, now on to today's story. Hi, and welcome to Lamplighter Kids Stories. My name is Rebecca, and this is my squirrel friend Momo. Hello kids! We have an exciting story for you today. In each of our stories, we are going to learn about one virtue. A virtue is anything that is good and right and true. Virtues are like little lights that shine bright and beautiful in a story. Can I tell them about letters from Momo? Go ahead! If you'd like to learn more about my fun forest adventures, you can check out my letters from Momo Digital Bundles on our website, Lamplighterkids.com. Each letter from Momo Bundle, you'll find fun stories, short biographies, and great activity pages. I may talk a little bit about eight coins in there as well. If you'd like to order a letters from Momo Digital Bundle, just ask your adult to visit lamplighterkids.com. You can also find Lamplighter Kids merchandise and our first Seas of Character book there called Jerome's Journey. So are you ready? Come and listen while we light the way to your imagination. Hello and welcome back! Momo and I have some very exciting news for everyone today. Something we've been waiting to share for a long time now. Hey Momo, would you like to share our news? Sure, let me just keep getting these knots out of my tail. Oh, I just don't know. Do you think my tail looks okay? Fluffy enough? Smooth enough? Long enough? Momo, your tail looks great to me, as always, but why are you so concerned with your tail all of the sudden? It's because soon our listeners are going to be able to see me on video, you know, and I just don't want them thinking my tail isn't fluffy enough. Do you think our listeners will judge my tail when they see it on video? Oh wait, our listeners don't even know what we're talking about because I haven't made the announcement yet. I do think they might be a little confused right now. Sorry, okay. Here's our exciting announcement. We are bringing Lamplighter Kids Stories to life as a beautiful animated series on YouTube. So your family can enjoy the same stories you love in a whole new way. That's right. We've been working behind the scenes to create a calm, storybook style show that kids can watch, not just listen to. Momo and I will be on the show too, of course, which is why Momo is suddenly so concerned about how his tail looks. I'm also very excited. I'm going to love being on video to share our stories. Need to, Momo. If this sounds like something your family would love, you can ask your adult to visit our pre-launch Kickstarter page to learn more about the project and how they can help us bring these stories to life. And what if they don't think my tail's fluffy enough? I'm sure our listeners will love your tail when they see it. Your tail is very beautiful, Momo. Speaking of beauty, our story today is all about it. Maybe it'll help you with some of your own fears, Momo. Our story today begins in a lovely pond where William the Frog was just waking up. William took a deep slow breath, enjoying the familiar sense of his pond. The sun was rising over the hills, casting its light along the muddy banks, the still water, and the flowering lily pads. William jumped from his own lily pad up onto his favorite rock to prepare for a long morning of sunbathing. His green, shiny limbs were feeling cold and slow after a night without heat. He was happy to find that his rock was already covered in the sun's light. Every day the sun comes and the sun goes. What a wonderful gift. He thought to himself, "Hey, oh William, another beautiful day in the pond, no?" William looked over the edge of his rock and saw the bright eyes of his good friend, Oscar the Otter. A beautiful day and also a very, very exciting day. Oscar swam around William's rock as he spoke. William smiled. Oscar was always excited about something and had a hard time sitting still because of it. Good day my friend, it is indeed a beautiful morning. William stretched one webbed foot a little farther out to catch the sun. "Don't you want to ask me what I'm so excited about?" Oscar stopped for a second and looked eagerly up at William. William smiled again. He knew that his Otter friend could never keep his thoughts to himself, whether or not he was asked about them. But nonetheless he politely said, "Of course, my dear Oscar. What indeed are you so very excited about on this fine morning?" "Oh, I thought you'd never ask. Well, let me tell you." Oscar dove down and then popped up out of the water and plopped next to William on his rock, flipping onto his back as he spoke. "So, I heard a rumor that there's a field trip group of children coming to visit our pond today. It's been so long since children have visited us. I don't think they come very often in the winter, but now that it's spring they're starting to come again. I'm so excited." William furrowed his eyes in confusion. "I've never heard of such a thing. Does it involve tasty flies or piles of warm mud?" "For you know, there's some of my favorite things." Oscar, who couldn't sit still for very long, laughed and twisted backwards into the water with a small splash, popping his head out quickly again. "I forget that this is your first season at the pond, so of course he wouldn't know." He laughed. "A field trip group is when a bunch of children come to look at us and talk about how great and beautiful our pond is and draw pictures of everything and eat food on blankets. They always love me so much. I think every year I've had some of them draw pictures of me. It's so exciting." William couldn't quite see why any of this was as exciting as Oscar described, but it did sound interesting. Ever since he could remember, which, granted, wasn't very far back, his pond had always been the same from sunrise to sunset. This sounded like something very different. He noticed the sun getting even warmer on his skin as it rose and closed his eyes to enjoy, feeling his energy slowly rise. "That sounds very interesting, friend. Apologies I'm not more excited like you. I think I just need a little sunshine first." "Oh, that's okay. Enjoy your warming. I'm going to go tell everyone else the news now. I know the birds will be very excited. They always enjoy the crumbs that are left behind from the pignics. Enjoy your sunshine. I'll be back when I'm done." With that, Oscar quickly swam away. William, eyes closed and delight shook his head. He would never understand his friend's energy. As he continued to warm up, preparing for a great day of fly hunting, he thought about these children and their field trip group. Would they like him? He was almost embarrassed to admit it, even to himself, but he hoped that someone would draw a picture of him just like Oscar had described. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a low buzzing nearby. His tummy grumbled at the thought of breakfast, and soon, mouthful of crunchy flies. He forgot about the field trip group, and instead, focused on filling his belly this fine morning. After a tasty breakfast and a bit more sunbathing, William decided to go for a mid-morning swim. He jumped deep into the cool water, saying hello to some fish friends, and enjoying the way the light danced along the pebbles below. As he swam around, a large clump of water reads, "He saw Oscar swimming excitedly towards him." Oscar was smiling and trying to talk to William, but since they were underwater, his words only came out as bubbles. William shook his head, looking confused. Oscar finally realized that his point wasn't getting across, so he pointed up words and swam towards the surface. William kicked his webbed feet and followed. When they reached the surface, they both jumped onto a nearby rock to talk. "There! Here!" William didn't even need Oscar to finish his sentence, because the minute they had surfaced, it was apparent that something different was happening at the pond. The sounds of running feet, laughter, and chattering filled the air around them. William looked over to see a dozen or so children, running along the path and towards them. The two friends watched as the kids ran over and began pointing at everything. The willows, the dragonflies, the lily pads, the sight of these little strangers enjoying his favorite pond made Williams heart very happy. He felt proud that the beauty of his home brought so much joy to others. Oscar suddenly shot off the rock and into the pond. Williams could see a stream of bubbles on the surface, making its way towards the shore, closer to the group of children. Then, at the end of the stream, Oscar popped up, surprising a few of the kids who were closer to the edge of the pond. Williams smiled as the kids laughed at the sight of his friend there. They began shouting for others to come see the funny otter. Soon all the children were looking over each other's shoulders and watching as Oscar twisted and dove and shot up out of the water, showing off all his favorite moves. William was impressed and very interested. He began to wonder if these kids would enjoy him the way they were enjoying Oscar. As he was thinking about this, he saw the adults call the kids over to come eat on the blankets that they had spread out. Wasn't that amazing? Williams jumped at the sound of Oscar's voice coming from behind him. "Wasn't it? Kids always loved to watch me like that. It's so fun!" Oscar plopped down on the rock next to William, looking happily exhausted. "Hi, should get my rest. They'll be coming back to draw pictures of us after they eat. That's what they always do." William watched as his friend closed his eyes, a soft smile remaining on his face. He looked back at the children. They all seemed like they were having a great time, eating and talking and enjoying the sun. After a while, he saw some of them digging in their bags and pulling out large sketchbooks and pencils. As they finished eating, they began to leave their group and search for things to draw. William felt his heart jump with hope. "I wonder what one of those children will draw me in that sketchbook." He wondered to himself. The thought of this made him very happy. He realized that if someone wanted to sketch him, he should get closer to the shore so that they could notice him. He turned to say goodbye to Oscar, but saw that his friend had already left and was entertaining a bunch of kids across the way. William softly jumped into the water and swam towards a lily pad, right by one of the shores, hoping that someone would notice him there. William watched as the children ran around, looking at the wonderful things that he had always loved about his home. He smiled as they noticed all the details. The colorful flowers that surrounded the edges, the trails of ants that were always marching around, and the peeling bark on the trees that overhung the water. It seemed that no detail went unnoticed, and many kids were already sitting and drawing their favorite things. A few minutes passed, and William began to wonder why nobody had noticed him yet. He moved a little closer to the edge of his lily pad, hoping that it would make him more visible. He watched as Oscar delighted another group of children across the way. Several kids had already settled in to sketch his autofriend. "Oh look, it's a little green frog. Should we do a sketch of him?" William looked behind and saw two girls pointing right at him. His heart began to swim with excitement. He tried to look casual. "A frog? No, that's not interesting. I did see a squirrel come up this way a little though. Come on, he was so cute." William watched sadly as the two girls ran off. Not that interesting? He looked down at his green webbed toes and the bumps along his arm. He had never thought about himself before, whether he was interesting or not. He saw the way his skin glistened in the sun and wondered for the first time in his very short life. Was there something about him that just wasn't as beautiful as everything else in the pond? Compared to the colorful birds or his funny autofriend, perhaps kids just didn't like frogs as much. As he was thinking these sad thoughts, he heard a small voice nearby. "Oh wow, this is exactly what I was looking for." William turned his wide eyes over and saw a little girl looking directly at him, smiling. She held a book in one hand and her sketch pad in the other. There was a large frog on the cover of the book. William also saw that the girl's shirt had a large picture of a frog on the front. The girl bent towards William as far as she could go. Her face right next to his. "I thought you were a toad at first, but now I can see that you're a little frog. Probably a northern Pacific tree frog if my frog guide is correct." She pushed her glasses up onto her nose to make sure she was seeing clearly. "I was so hoping I would find a frog today. This is just perfect." She sat down on the pebbles by the shore and grabbed her sketchbook, looking at William for a long time. "Okay, perfect. Yes, now. Don't move, please little guy. I'm going to draw the best sketch of you in the whole world. You'll see. I even brought all my coloring pencils in my backpack. I'd love your green colored, so bright and clean." She began moving her pencil quickly across the page, looking up at him every so often and talking as she drew. "I have two pet frogs at home, so I've gotten a lot of practice drawing frogs. They're not green though. They're black and brown. My name is Aida, by the way." William felt his spirit lifting as Aida continued to talk to him while drawing. She was so excited to have found him, it made him feel very special indeed. He even caught a fly while she was drawing him, which made her laugh in delight. "Oh, that was amazing! I'm definitely adding that to my drawing," she had said. William looked around and saw many of the kids were already done with their sketches. Now they were running around the pond and playing. A couple of them came over to Aida to see what she had found. "It's a frog," she'd say proudly. "One of the most versatile creatures in the pond. Just look at his skin. He actually breathes through it. And he can jump like 20 times his body length. Frogs are kind of like the superheroes of the pond in my mind. Everyone listened as Aida spoke about tadpoles and how they go through a process called metamorphosis to turn to frogs. They all seemed very impressed and looked over at William with wonder in their eyes. The more Aida spoke, the more William forgot about feeling uninteresting. He was just enjoying the moment. The two girls who had walked by him earlier stopped for a minute on their way back from sketching the squirrel. "Oh, that's a really good sketch, Aida!" one of the girls said. "I almost stopped to draw this frog, but we decided to draw squirrel instead. I definitely couldn't have drawn this guy as well as you're doing." "Thanks," Aida said. "I have a lot of practice since I love frogs. I'm almost done here." "What makes you like frogs so much, Aida?" asked a girl. Aida stopped and looked up at the kids around her. "Around, oh, beauty can be found, oh, all around." When her song was finished, Aida stood up and dusted her pants off. "Okay, are you ready to see your sketch?" she asked William. William croaked his yes, which made a few of the kids gasp and laugh. Aida flipped her sketchbook around so William could see. "There, what do you think?" she smiled proudly. William, for the first time in his froggy life, saw himself clearly in the reflection of Aida's drawings. Before this, of course, he had seen his reflection in the pond a bit, but he'd never imagined what he looked like from someone else's perspective. Aida had drawn several pictures of him in different positions, sitting on a lily pad, catching a fly, jumping, and each one seemed just as delightful as the next to William. "William croaked again." Aida laughed. "I'm glad you like it. I thought you might." Just then, a loud whistle rang over the pond. "Oh, that's my teacher. That means we have to start packing up." Aida shut her sketch pad and stuffed it into her backpack. "But don't worry, my dad and I love going on walks together and I'm going to tell him about this pond. I'll be back soon. I want to show you to my dad next time. He loves amphibians, just like me." William watched Aida as she ran back towards her group. Everyone began to walk off. Their shouts and laughter growing more and more distant as they walked away. Soon, William was left, surrounded by the familiar sounds of his pond once again. So what did you think? Did you like it? Oscar asked. He and William were laying on another rock, enjoying the sun's rays at the hottest part of the day. "I did enjoy it. Very much." William said, "I was a bit nervous at first." though. "Nervous?" Oscar sat up on one elbow. "Nervous about what?" I was nervous that nobody would think I was worth sketching. After all, the pond is so full of wonderful things and most of the children were finding so many beautiful and interesting things to draw, including you, my friend. But nobody seemed to notice me. "I guess I see now," kind of like Aida said, "that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Even a little frog like me can bring a lot of joy to somebody. I'm very excited to see Aida again whenever she comes to visit." Oscar flopped under his back and looked up at the clouds. "William, that's pretty deep stuff you're thinking. Perhaps a little too deep for me, but I like the way you think. And I do agree. You can find beauty wherever you look. I mean, just look at these clouds. They're so fluffy and fine today." William smiled and looked up, "Mmm, I agree. Very fluffy and fine indeed." The two friends enjoyed the rest of their afternoon talking of field trips and children and sketches and clouds. They swam and ate and said hello to friends. They're early enjoying the beauty of their wonderful home. "Well, well, well, I do like those two girls in the story today. You know the ones that drew the squirrel." "I figured you might like that part, Momo. Squirrels are very fun to watch in nature. They have their own natural beauty." "Yes, we do, don't we? Do you think the squirrel they drew had a very wonderful and fluffy tail?" "I don't know, Momo. Are you still feeling concerned about your tail?" "It always looks very wonderful to me. And again, I'm sure our listeners won't even think about it when they see you on video for the first time. They just like you because you're you." "Really?" "I'm sure of it. Your tail is very beautiful, no matter how it looks. Which, of course, is the virtue in our story today." "Beauty!" A lot of people think that beauty is just about how someone looks on the outside, but beauty is a lot more than that. You can find beauty wherever you look, in nature, friendship, love, play, or work. In the changing of the seasons, the fun of a party, the laughter of your favorite people, you can find beauty in your special toys or the way your bed feels when you get all cozy inside it. If you look for it, you are sure to find beautiful things all around you. "Just like Ida in our story today!" "Exactly. I like how each of the children in the story found something different to sketch, finding beauty in so many of the things around the pond. And Ida just happened to love frogs the best, which was great for little William. Okay, it's Question Time. Question 1. What is something that you find beautiful in your very own house? Question 2. Is there something you find beautiful out in nature? Alright, Momo, I think it's time for you and me to continue working on our fun project, making our lamplighter kids stories into a wonderful show for our listeners. We still have a lot of work before bringing our video series to you, but we're so excited to share it with you when we're finished. "And I'm not as nervous about my day all anymore. Thanks. I'm ready for our hard work." Alright, thanks for listening today everyone, and we can't wait to share another lamplighter kid story again with you very soon. Thanks for listening to Lamplighter Kids Stories today! If you liked our story, please feel free to share it with your loved ones and leave a review! It really helps other listeners find these stories. If you're interested in purchasing our letters for Momo Digital Bundles or Momo Seeds of Character Book, just visit our website at lamplighterkids.com. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]