Hey there! We’re Ron and Craig, and today we’re going to have some fun with a story called “Anansi and the Talking Melon.” This story is written by Erica Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens. Let’s dive into the adventure!
Once upon a time, there was a clever spider named Anansi. One sunny morning, Anansi was sitting in a thorn tree, looking down at Elephant’s garden. Elephant was busy working in his melon patch, and the juicy melons looked so delicious!
Anansi loved melons, but he was too lazy to grow them himself. So, he waited patiently until Elephant went inside his house to take a nap. This was Anansi’s chance!
Anansi used a sharp thorn to make a hole in the biggest melon. He crawled inside and started eating. He ate so much that he became round and full. But when he tried to leave, he realized he was stuck! The hole was too small for his big, round belly.
“Oh no! I’m stuck!” Anansi cried. He decided to wait until he got thin again. While waiting, he got bored and came up with a mischievous idea.
When Elephant returned to the garden, Anansi spoke from inside the melon, pretending to be the melon itself. “Hello!” Anansi said, surprising Elephant.
Elephant was amazed. “A talking melon? I must show this to the king!” he exclaimed. Elephant picked up the melon and hurried to the king’s palace.
On the way, Elephant met Hippo, Warthog, Ostrich, Rhino, and Turtle. Each animal was curious about the talking melon and decided to join Elephant on his journey to see the king.
When they reached the king, Elephant proudly presented the melon. “This melon can talk!” he declared. But when the king asked the melon to speak, it stayed silent.
The king grew impatient and called the melon “stupid.” Suddenly, Anansi spoke up, “Stupid am I? I’m not the one talking to a melon!”
The king was furious and threw the melon far away. It crashed into a tree and burst open, freeing Anansi.
Anansi quickly climbed a banana tree and started munching on bananas. He laughed and said, “Talking melons are nothing but trouble!”
This story teaches us that being sneaky and telling lies can lead to trouble. It’s always better to be honest and work hard for what you want. Plus, it’s important to think before you act, just like Anansi learned!
We hope you enjoyed the story of “Anansi and the Talking Melon.” Remember, honesty is the best policy, and it’s always good to share and be kind!
Melon Math: Let’s pretend we’re Anansi and explore the world of melons! With the help of an adult, gather a few different fruits like melons, apples, and oranges. Weigh each fruit and compare their sizes. Which one is the heaviest? Which one is the lightest? Try to guess how many slices you can make from each fruit before cutting them. This activity helps you understand sizes and weights, just like Anansi had to think about the size of the melon he was in!
Honesty Role Play: With a friend or family member, act out a short play where one person is Anansi and the other is Elephant. Create a scene where Anansi has to decide whether to tell the truth or make up a story. Discuss what might happen if Anansi chooses honesty over trickery. This will help you understand the importance of being truthful and the consequences of being sneaky.
Melon Garden Observation: Visit a local garden or a grocery store with an adult and observe different types of melons and other fruits. Notice their colors, shapes, and sizes. Talk about how they grow and what they need to become big and juicy. This will help you appreciate the hard work that goes into growing fruits, just like Elephant’s effort in his garden!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey, I’m Ron, and I’m Craig. Welcome to Story Time with Ron and Craig! In crypto, remember for photos, videos, and shout-outs, go to our Instagram or visit our website. You can watch all of our read-alouds there or send us a message. You can say anything!
I have something to say, Brian. I want to give a huge shout-out to Suzanne Cora and all 619 students that visit the media center at Veteran’s Elementary in Brick, New Jersey. Thanks for sending us today’s book! We can’t wait to read it because today’s book is “Anansi and the Talking Melon,” written by Erica Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens. Let’s get started!
It’s “Anansi and the Talking Melon,” written by Erica Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens. One fine morning, Anansi the spider sat high up in a thorn tree, looking down into Elephant’s garden. Elephant was hoeing his melon patch. The ripe melons seemed to call out to Anansi, “Look out, juicy and sweet! We are here to eat!”
Anansi loved to eat melons, but he was much too lazy to grow them himself. So he sat up in the thorn tree, watching and waiting while the sun rose high in the sky and the day grew warm. By noon, it was too hot to work, and Elephant put down his hoe and went inside his house to take a nap.
Here was the moment Anansi had been waiting for! He broke off a thorn and dropped down into the melon patch. He used the thorn to bore a hole in the biggest, ripest melon.
“What are you doing here?” asked a voice. “Steal a melon?”
“Exactly! But if you’re going to steal a melon, don’t go for the biggest one. That’s the one everyone will be looking at. Go for the one in the back because it still tastes good!”
Anansi squeezed inside and started eating. He ate and ate until he was as round as a berry. “I’m full!” he announced. “Elephant will be coming back soon. It is time to go!” But when he tried to squeeze through the hole, Anansi had a surprise. He didn’t fit! The hole was big enough for a thin spider, but much too small for a fat one.
“I’m stuck!” Anansi cried. “I can’t get out! I will have to wait until I’m thin again.” So, Anansi sat down on a pile of melon seeds and waited to get thin. Time passed slowly.
“I’m bored!” he announced. “I wish I had something to do.”
Oh, that’s why you don’t steal melons! But if you are going to be a thief, you have to think ahead because being a thief can get you into some tricky situations. So always bring a game with you in case you get stuck for a while and have to wait it out.
Just then, he heard Elephant returning to the garden, and Anansi had an idea. “When Elephant gets closer, I will say something. Elephant will think the melon is talking!”
Elephant walked over to the melon patch. “Look at this fine melon! How big and ripe it is!” he said, picking it up.
“Ouch!” cried Anansi.
Elephant jumped. “Who said that?”
“I did, the melon!” Anansi said.
“I didn’t know melons could talk,” said Elephant.
“Of course we do! We talk all the time. The trouble is, you never listen!”
“I can’t believe my ears!” Elephant exclaimed. “A talking melon? Who could believe it? I must show this to the king!”
Elephant ran down the road carrying the melon with Anansi inside. Along the way, he ran into Hippo. “Where are you going with that melon?” Hippo asked.
“I’m taking it to the king,” Elephant told him.
“What for? The king has hundreds of melons!”
“He doesn’t have one like this,” Elephant said. “This is a talking melon!”
Hippo didn’t believe Elephant. “A talking melon? What an idea! That’s as ridiculous as waterskiing on a trombone!”
All of your examples seemed pretty normal, though.
“Ridiculousness is subjective,” Craig said.
Hippo got so angry his face turned red. “Oh, did you say that, Elephant?”
“It wasn’t me! It was the melon!” Elephant said.
“I told you it talks! Do you believe me now?”
“I do!” exclaimed Hippo. “I want to go with you! I want to hear what the king says when you show him this talking melon!”
“Come along then,” said Elephant.
So Elephant and Hippo went down the road together, carrying the melon. By and by, they ran into Warthog. “Where are you taking that melon?” Warthog asked.
“We’re taking it to the king,” Elephant and Hippo told him.
“What for? The king has hundreds of melons!” Warthog said.
“He doesn’t have one like this,” Hippo replied. “This melon talks! I heard it!”
Warthog started to laugh. “A talking melon? That’s as ridiculous as a handsome warthog!”
Warthog got so angry he shook all over. “Who said that? Did you say that, Elephant? Did you say that, Hippo?”
“Of course not!”
Elephant and Hippo told him. “Come! The melon talks! Do you believe us now?”
“I do!” cried Warthog. “Let me go with you! I want to see what the king does when you show him this talking melon!”
So Warthog, Elephant, and Hippo went down the road together, carrying the melon. Along the way, they met Ostrich, Rhino, and Turtle. They didn’t believe the melon could talk either until they heard it for themselves. Then they wanted to come along too!
Oh yeah, this is why you don’t steal a melon! Because then you have to lie, and then the lie just gets bigger and bigger!
Exactly! And if you’re going to lie, do a very simple lie that people really can’t find out is untrue.
But don’t lie!
Yes, but if you are going to lie, don’t make it so outlandish like a talking melon that doesn’t exist.
But what’s easier is to not lie and not steal!
Right! I don’t lie and I don’t steal!
Then the animals came before the king. Elephant bowed low as he placed the melon at the king’s feet. The king looked down. “Why did you bring me a melon?” he asked.
“I have hundreds of melons growing in my garden!”
“You don’t have one like this,” Elephant said. “This melon talks!”
“Then let me hear it!” the king commanded.
The melon said nothing.
The king said in a slightly louder voice, “There is no reason to be shy! Say whatever you like! I only want to hear you talk!”
The melon still said nothing.
The king grew impatient. “If you can talk, I want you to say something now!”
The melon did not make a sound.
The king gave up. “Oh, this is a stupid melon!” he said.
Just then, the melon spoke. “Stupid am I? Why do you say that? I’m not the one who talks to melons!”
The animals had never seen the king so angry. “How dare this melon insult me!” he shouted.
The king picked up the melon and hurled it as far as he could. The melon bounced and rolled all the way to Elephant’s house. Kabam! It smacked into the thorn tree and burst into pieces.
Anansi picked himself up from among the bits of melon rinds. All the excitement had made him thin, and now that he was thin again, he was hungry. Anansi climbed the banana tree, settled himself in the middle of a big bunch of bananas, and started eating.
“Melons got me in trouble with the king!” Elephant said. “From now on, you can talk all you like, but I’m not going to listen to a word you say!”
“Good for you, Elephant!” Anansi called from the bananas. “Wait! Bananas should have warned you! Talking melons are nothing but trouble!”
Wow, okay! Not what I expected!
No, me neither! So I guess if you get inside of a melon that you’re stealing, which you should not do, and you lie pretending you’re a talking melon, which you also should not do, you’ll kind of get away with it!
You’re definitely getting away with it! There are no repercussions, no consequences! You stole that melon and you’re scot-free!
Yeah, that’s a lesson in itself!
I like melons; they’re very sweet, but not too sweet. There’s not a melon in the world big enough for me to fit in, and that’s what I’m upset about!
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“Anansi and the Talking Melon,” written by Erica Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens.
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