Louis

**Philip** (0:00)
Okay, our friends, so today we are reading a story for you called Louis.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:07)
Louis, or maybe Louis?
How do you pronounce that? L-O-U-I-S. It could be Louis, it could be Louis.

**Philip** (0:17)
It's like this. Louis.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:20)
Oh, I like that.

**Philip** (0:22)
Louis. Okay, so this story-

**Lisa Bueno** (0:24)
No, no, I'll say it for you. Okay, go ahead.

**Philip** (0:26)
Tell me when you want me to say it.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:27)
I'm ready.

**Philip** (0:28)
No, tell me when I read, like-

**Lisa Bueno** (0:30)
Oh, when- I'll point to you and you'll say it?

**Philip** (0:32)
Okay.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:33)
So this story was written by Tom Leichtenheld, and it's illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zach, and it's read today by Mommy and- Philip. And it is for anyone out there who likes bears, specifically teddy bears, and other wonderful comforts in this world.
Are you ready?

**Philip** (1:04)
Okay.

**Lisa Bueno** (1:06)
From day one, things have gone downhill.
I've been a pillow, a hanky, and lunch for a prehistoric beast. And in the picture, we can see that this is being said to us by a teddy bear. A boy has picked him up out of a box, and he has slid him down the banister, laid his head on him, wiped his nose with him, and fed him to his pet dinosaur stuffy. Good heavens. I've been buried alive, thrown into a hurricane, and hung out to dry. Can you guess where he was thrown into a hurricane?

**Philip** (2:02)
A washing machine? Yup, yeah.

**Lisa Bueno** (2:04)
He was alive in the sandbox, and hung to dry on the clothesline outside. That's funny. I've been left to the mercy of wild animals, poked by needles, and made an accessory to a crime. So in the picture, yep, the dog is looking on him, then the mom has had to stitch up a tear in him, and he jumped out from under his sister's bed, and with a flashlight scared her while she screamed for help.
I've been x-rayed, milk sprayed, and mislaid. And sure enough, when you take your stuffies to the airport, they do get scanned through an x-ray machine, right? You sometimes spill milk on them while you're making breakfast, and sometimes you can even leave them behind places when you go somewhere. And you're like, oh, I forgot him, and go back and get him. Hopefully, yeah. I can bear it no longer. The next time this kid squeezes me, I'm out of here. Oh, he does not seem happy.
And so we see the boy pick him up and squeeze him. However, in the picture, they're under an umbrella, and Louis says, well, no sense running away in the rain. But soon as little sister wraps up this party, I'm packing my bags, because now we can see he's in the middle of a tea party with the little boy's sister.
Meanwhile, I need to build up my strength for the getaway, he says, as he eats a cupcake from the tea party. I don't think he's miserable at all, do you?
Seriously, right after we do our show and tell routine, I'm history, he says, because we can see the boy is explaining that he is a brave bear, right? That when he got off of the bus, when the boy got off the bus, he had accidentally left his bear behind. And in the picture we see, oh, he was crying about it and very sad, but there was the bear, brave and stoic. I know, I know, we're awesome, says the teddy bear. Okay, this is perfect. The minute that light goes out, I'm off like a dirty shirt, making like a tree and leafing. Get it? Trees, leaf.

**Philip** (5:00)
Get it? Get it?

**Lisa Bueno** (5:01)
It's a joke.

**Philip** (5:02)
How do trees leaf?

**Lisa Bueno** (5:04)
Well, they have leaves on them.

**Philip** (5:07)
See, it's a joke.

**Lisa Bueno** (5:09)
Well, the boy is getting into his pajamas, and the bear is frustrated about this, and he looks out the window. He's giving the eye to the window thinking, I can just bounce the minute this boy looks away. And so, the little boy has turned off the light, and says, okay, now. So the boy suddenly jolts awake and realizes his bear is not with him in bed, and says, come on, Louis, you silly bear.
And so, the bear is now snuggled up nice and warm and safe with his boy in the bed and says, on second thought, a bear could do worse.
Couldn't a bear do worse? Yes, they could. Think about the worst places the bear could be. I don't know, lots of weird places. But I do think that this boy and his bear are best together. Don't you? Yeah, me too. And that, my dear friends, is?