Talking Books Apple Tree House

# Way-oh, way-oh

# Way-oh, way-oh

# No matter if you're young or old

# To leave your home is never cool

# We all get sad, if truth be told

# Nothing's going to beat your first day at school

# First days, new days are the very best days

# New things to discover, new people to meet

# Don't stress, breathe deep, take it in your stride

# Life is for the living down at Apple Tree House. #

TALKING LEAKS FROM HEADPHONES

Zainab, what song are you listening to?

TALKING LEAKS FROM HEADPHONES

Zainab?

Zainab?

Zainab!

-Did you say something?

-Yes, what song are you listening to you?

Oh, it's not a song, it's a story.

It's what people nowadays call a talking book.

A talking book?

Yes.

Books don't talk.

Well, no, not really, no.

But people can record themselves reading books.

BOOK MUTTERS

And then I listen to them.

There's so many interesting things that get spoken into my ears.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

Sometimes, I hear stories from all around the world.

Sometimes, I learn about people I've never met.

Once, I even learned how to cook a risotto!

MAN SHOUTS

Talking books help me use my own imagination.

My mum listens to podcasts all the time.

Is that the same thing?

Yes, but I prefer listening to my old portable cassette player.

Huh?

Whoa.

Funny.

-Why?

-Because I've got loads of cassettes.

Aren't those really old?

SHE CHUCKLES

Which cassette is your favourite?

That would be a wonderful old made-up story

that Mali's grandad recorded for me a very long, long time ago.

Can we hear it?

Of course.

I keep all my cassettes in this cupboard.

CRASHING

Whoops.

Whoops. I might need a hand, kids.

Hmm. Look, you could use them as glasses.

How does this work?

Ah, here it is, my favourite tape.

How I've missed listening to this.

SQUEAKING AND SCRATCHING

Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good.

And then let me get you some lunch.

SHE SIGHS

Hiya, Mum. What's the matter?

It's not your special one, is it, Mum?

Oh, no.

Mali, do you think your gran's OK?

I think she's upset about her broken cassette.

Maybe we should try and fix it.

But we know nothing about tapes.

They're like ancient history.

How hard could it be?

All we need is careful attention and a bit of science.

TAPE SOBS

I could be like a doctor and use a stethoscope thing to find

the problem.

Then I could untangle the tape and find where it's broken,

and then one little bandage and a bit of magic.

And we're fixed. Simple.

Dr Mali to the rescue!

I don't think that's going to work.

You'll have to think of something else.

I have an idea!

Meera, do you know the story that was on the cassette?

Well, yeah, of course I do, it's a family favourite.

Sam, Mali, I have the perfect plan,

but first we have to know what the story was that Zainab was

listening to. OK?

Er, OK.

Take it away, Meera!

Well, it's a story that's very dear to Grandma Zainab because it was

Mali's grandad's favourite tale.

It's the tale of the realistic painter.

I love it already!

Once upon a time, there was an extremely talented painter...

..and everyone in the village was amazed by how detailed his art was.

But his paintings were so realistic that one night,

they started coming to life!

GROWLING

When he went to sleep, the mice he'd painted jumped out of the canvas and

roamed the village, eating all the crops.

CRUNCHING

Next night, a dragon leapt off the picture

and breathed fire all around the houses.

Next, a picture of the ocean leaked off the canvas and created great big

lakes of water.

HE GASPS

The villagers became very angry with the painter because they had lost

their crops and their village was no longer a happy place.

They ran away from him.

THEY SHOUT

The painter had no idea what was going on or why no-one liked his

paintings any more. He decided that if his paintings were making people

unhappy, he would have to stop painting.

That night, he was so devastated that he couldn't get to sleep,

which meant that he saw everything.

He saw the mice, the dragon and the ocean start to leak off its canvas.

He realised what was happening, so he decided to, er...

-Go on.

-Yeah.

-Go on.

-I can't remember.

Oh, no. That ruins the plan.

-BOTH:

-What was your plan?

I wanted to hear the story so that we could tell it to Zainab

-and cheer her up.

-Oh, well, that's a lovely idea.

Does this mean I can't act as a doctor?

SHE GASPS

Act, that's it! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Yes! Let's get that stethoscope thing.

No, we can act the story for your gran.

That's better than my doctor idea.

-But we still don't have an ending.

-Maybe we can make up an ending?

Oh, I'm not sure about that.

Why not? It could be a special Apple Tree House version.

Oh, OK. As long as it feels and looks just right.

All right, so, what would your gran say?

-ALL:

-Let's get solving!

-Dad! Dad!

-Hi, baby.

-We need your help.

Have you done any acting before?

Have I done any acting before?

HE CHUCKLES

Of course! You're looking at the lead actor of my school play.

"To be or not to be."

Perfect. Oh, can we borrow this?

Yeah, sure.

Oh, and Bella, don't forget the ending.

-Don't you want me?

-And we need an invite.

-Why?

-For your grandma.

-OK.

Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

Romeo...

Come on, Bella.

BELLA HUMS

We need an ending for Grandma!

Yeah.

And then we need to find somewhere to do the acting.

-Hiya, Flo.

-Hello.

-Um, got a bit of a favour to ask.

Do you think we could use your cafe for a very special

-performance tonight?

-Performance?

That sounds very exciting.

-Do you hear that, Frank?

-Huh?

-A performance at our place.

Yeah!

-That's a yes from both of us.

-Oh, great, thank you.

-I'll see you later.

-Bye.

Mali, can you pass me that tape, please?

-What are you up to?

-Nothing.

-Where are Sam and Bella?

-Nowhere.

I haven't seen them all afternoon.

-What have they been doing?

-Nothing, absolutely nothing.

-Oh, really?

-And they're definitely not planning a surprise for you.

Come on, Bella.

GIGGLING

Dear Miss Zainab, you're cord...?

-Cordially.

-Cordially invited to a special performance by the

-Apple Tree House story crew.

-Happening now.

Right away.

-This instant.

-At Flo's Cafe.

Come on, Grandma, let's go.

SHE CHUCKLES

Yeah, let's go!

Ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls and pets,

we present to you the Apple Tree House story crew performing the

story of the realistic painter!

CHEERING

Once, there was a painter who painted really realistic paintings.

LAUGHTER

He painted animals...

LAUGHTER

..and dragons.

-AUDIENCE:

-Oooooo!

-Oh!

-And he painted an ocean.

But his paintings were so realistic that one night,

they started to coming to life.

AUDIENCE GASP

Oh!

THEY GROWL

The next morning, the villagers were very angry.

-AUDIENCE:

-Ooooooh!

Mr Painter! I am very angry because all of our crops have been eaten

and there are lakes of water everywhere and there is a-a

dragon, rahh, breathing fire all over the village,

um, and it is all your fault.

Huh? But what did I do?

This worried the painter.

HE SIGHS

He had trouble getting to sleep.

HE SHIVERS

But in the middle of the night...

GROWLING

Squeak, squeak.

Whoa! My paintings, they are coming to life!

That is why all the people in the village are so angry!

Now, I would like to invite a special guest to the stage.

Zainab, please, tell us what happens to the painter!

CHEERING

Well, Bella, the painter then decided to paint the tastiest

crops and the nicest houses, so that he could give them to the villagers

as a way of apologising. Better still,

he put his power to good by painting big clouds and a bright yellow sun

so that he could create the perfect conditions for the crops to grow

all year round.

That's perfect.

Just right, the end.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

That was incredible!

Bella, thank you so much.

Well, I couldn't have done it without my Apple Tree House crew.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

And to guarantee you never forget it, we've recorded the whole

performance for you and installed it onto an MP3 player.

I don't know what to say.

I can show you how it works.

No need, I know all about these things!

LAUGHTER

GIGGLING

THEY LAUGH

Bella's idea was pretty amazing.

Totally, and we did a good job working as a team.

I'm glad Grandma's books are talking to her again.

THEY GIGGLE

-You're a good friend, Mali.

-And you're a great friend, Sam.