Duck on a Tractor - By David Shannon - Read Aloud - Bedtime Story

Have you seen the Duck on a Bike Video? It's essentially the prequel to this book in the series. Not that it's a series... Unless he releases a new one about Edison, the little boy in the diner, inventing a special helmet to put on the animals so that what they think comes out as regular English words for everyone to hear. That might be a funny book. Anyway, if you'd like to watch Duck on a Tractor, this link will take you there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vduWqDVNTHw&t=3s

Now my short summary in case you have no idea why you're here:
Following up on the thrilling story of Duck on a Bike, this time Duck decides he wants powered locomotion and jumps on a tractor. Convincing all his friends in the barnyard to join in, they all go for a ride through the middle of town where everyone in the diner gets a good look at what a tractor loaded down with farm animals looks like. This is a fun-filled adventure with lots of sounds and reactions for children to enjoy!

To see more of my animal books take a look at this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLurvPBb18JQX7Qj2wEzW4rPcaTm7OqZBd

Ya know, reading is an incredibly important skill for people to learn no matter at what age they discover it. It's good to try and learn to read because it will aid you so much in your life, but it can be particularly difficult for some people, like my older brother. He really struggled to learn to read. He thought he would have to memorize the entire dictionary before he'd be able to do it. It was in third grade that he finally had a teacher who took the time to help him love reading and writing.

I feel like many people go through the same struggle learning to read. That's why I do these videos. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just teach people to enjoy stories and have some good experiences with books.

So I hope this video helps you or your children, or maybe even an adult that you know, have a little less anxiety about books and reading. It doesn't have to be a terrible taxing ordeal. It takes a great deal of repetition and practice to hone reading skills, but if the material is engaging, it certainly helps.

I have a great time creating these videos. I choose books that I like, books that I think will be the most interesting for kids to encounter. I think stories are an essential part of our development. A famous script doctor named Robert McKee says, "Stories are equipment for life." I believe that. So much of our lives are made up of hearing and watching and reading stories. It's the news. It's hearing about someone's day. It's reading a book. It's watching a show or following a complex TV drama or a movie. Human beings consume stories. Sometimes we demonize it if anyone gets their life out of balance consuming one type or genre. But what do stories teach us to do? Why is this a skill we constantly polish? Why do we seek out stories?

I guess I'm not certain the total answer to that, but how often do we use story knowledge to deal with life around us? How often do we make decisions about what to eat or where to go shopping for something based on a story we've been told? Advertising is storytelling.

But then there's also the skill itself of not just hearing stories but listening, deeply. Isn't that how we relate to other people? Isn't the foundation of a relationship built on our ability to listen to and understand another person's story? Their feelings and thoughts and experiences? Their perspective?
Empathy I guess is what I'm getting at.

Stories can build the skills we need to feel empathy for other people. So learning to read has so much more to do with someone's success in life than just the skill of putting words together on a page and possibly writing a few things down. It's so much more than that. It opens a whole world to us.

These are just some thoughts I've had about stories and about reading and about the importance of spending time with kids helping them have good experiences with books. There's a lot out there. Maybe I'm the only kid that was ever like this, but there were plenty of books that didn't do much for me. So to try and give back a little, I'm trying to make these videos to open some kid's eyes like mine were opened, when I found books that I liked. I'm just trying to share some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them and that the people you share these videos with enjoy them as well. Because if they do, they'll be more inclined to try reading more, and if they do that, well, the snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger as it rolls down the hill. I think good books help make good people, and good people help make a better world. So, Thank you for watching the video. Thank you for loving good books.

The End.
Because End begins with E.