Practice English Speaking&Listening with: READ ALONG with MICHELLE & BARACK OBAMA! | Giraffe Problems / The Bear Ate Your Sandwich | PBS KIDS

(upbeat music)

- Hi, I'm Michelle Obama.

Welcome to "Mondays with Me",

a series of stories with PBS KIDS and Penguin Random House.

I'm excited to share today's book

"Giraffe Problems" by Jory John

and illustrated by Lane Smith.

This is a fun story about a giraffe

who's unhappy with his long neck,

until he meets a friend who persuades him

that they're both fine just the way they are.

I love this book.

This is a new book for me.

Here we go.

I feel bad about my neck, I do.

I can't help it.

It's too long, too bendy, too narrow, too dopey,

too patterned, too stretchy, too high, too lofty, too necky.

Yes, my neck is too necky.

Everybody stares.

This guy, that guy, him, her, them,

whatever that is, her again.

Yep, I feel bad about my neck.

I've tried dressing it up.

I've added a scarf.

Two scarves.

A bundle of scarves.

A mountain of scarves.

I've tried bow ties, and regular ties, and both.

(Michelle groans)

I've tried hiding it away.

I've used shrubs.

I've hung out in ditches.

I've stood behind trees.

I've spent time in the river.

Other animals have necks that just work.

Take a gander at the zebra's neck.

Stripes always look good.

So classic.

Quit staring at me.

Or gaze upon this elephant's neck.

Strong and powerful, yet graceful.

Stop talking about me.

Or glimpse this lion, whose neck is adorned

with a glorious mane of flowing locks.

What a sight.

How inspiring.

Why can't I have a neck like that?

Are you always this loud?

My mom always said I should be proud of my neck.

She said other animals would love to have a neck like this.

Yeah, right.

No offense, Mom.

But nobody wants this neck.

It's a neck only a mother could love.

It all makes me wanna hide until the sun sets.

(Michelle groans)

Poor giraffe.

Sheesh.

Good evening.

(gasps) Who's that?

I've been admiring your neck from afar.

Oh, how I wish my neck looked like yours.

I'd get so much done in a day.

Goodness, I can only imagine all the reaching,

and grabbing, and looking around I'd do.

I'd accomplish many of my goals for sure.

Meanwhile, I'm saddled with this little excuse for a neck.

Here, here, watch me try to stretch it out.

Ugh.

See?

That's about as far as it goes.

Pathetic, right?

I'm basically neckless.

(Michelle sighs)

You feel bad about your neck, too?

Yup.

Huh.

I'm Cyrus, by the way.

I'm Edward.

It's lovely to meet you, Cyrus.

Hey, can you tell me something else, Edward?

Of course, Cyrus.

Ahem.

There is a hill in the distance which you can surely see

from your great vantage.

I've stood on that very hill for seven straight days now

staring skyward, watching as a single piece of fruit,

a lone banana, slowly changed

from green to yellow, ripening.

I've endured windy nights

and unseasonably brisk mornings,

with very little sleep, as I waited, and waited,

hoping against hope that the fruit would drop before me

so I could sample its sweetness

and nourish myself in the process.

Yet, day after day I've felt like such a fool

as I stretched my neck toward those greedy branches,

only to be limited by my own physical shortcomings.

You want a banana from a tree?

That's what I said, yes.

Watch this.

Pluck.

Here you go.

Whump.

(gasps) You did it.

You made it look so easy.

(Michelle chewing)

Delectable.

So that's what a banana tastes like, huh?

Oh, it was worth the wait.

(Michelle chuckles)

Edward, face it, your neck is impressive.

It allows you to do amazing things.

For instance, you just solved

my week-long banana dilemma in 10 seconds.

Well, thank you, Cyrus.

I think you have a swell neck, too.

It's elegant and dignified,

and it works well with your shell.

Oh, that means a great deal to me, Edward.

Say, do you like bow ties, Cyrus?

I'm not sure, Edward.

I've very little experience with them.

You look wonderful, Cyrus.

As do you, Edward.

(Michelle laughs)

I feel good about our necks, Edward.

Thank you, Cyrus.

For once, so do I.

Yes, for once, so do I.

The end.

Well, that's a great story

of wanting something that you don't have

and not appreciating that what you have is pretty cool.

I'm glad they became friends.

This is one of my new favorites.

I hope you enjoyed it.

(upbeat music)

Hi, I'm Michelle Obama.

- And I'm Barack.

We are excited to share today's book

"The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" by Julia Sarcone-Roach.

- This is a book about a bear

lost and hungry in the city

who happened upon a girl's sandwich and ate it.

Or did he?

- Hmm.

- Let's find out.

- By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich.

But you may not know how it happened.

So let me tell you.

It all started with the bear.

- The morning air was warm and bright

when the bear stepped out of his den.

He stretched and sniffed.

The scent of ripe berries drifted toward him

and led to a wonderful discovery.

- After a berry feast,

the bear curled up in the sunlight

and listened to the buzzing of the bees.

And before long, he was asleep.

- By the time bear opened his eyes,

the buzzing had become a rumbling.

He was being quickly swept along

like a leaf in a great river.

The forest disappeared in the distance

and high cliffs rose up around him.

- Once the rumbling stopped,

the bear found himself in a new forest.

It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

- This forest had many great climbing spots.

The trees were still itchy here.

There was good bark for scratching.

And the mud squished nicely under his feet.

- There were many interesting smells in the forest.

But some of the tastiest ones had already been found.

- Leafy green smells led the bear to new fun.

And that's when he saw it.

- There it was.

Your beautiful and delicious sandwich.

All alone.

He waited to make sure no one saw him.

- Shh.

- Not even the sandwich.

(Michelle laughs)

Before he made his move.

- It was such a great sandwich.

The bear loved it.

But just as he was almost finished,

he heard (slurps) behind him.

- He'd been seen.

(Michelle gasps)

The bear was so surprised, he ran out of the park

and down the street, until he spotted a very tall tree.

- From the top of the tree, the bear could see his forest.

It was time to go home.

The waves rocked the bear and he began to doze.

- When he opened his eyes,

he heard the breeze in familiar branches,

and the birds' and bugs' evening song.

Well, the bear made it home just fine.

- So, that's what happened to your sandwich.

The bear ate it.

- I saw it all.

I tried to save your sandwich.

I was able to save this little bit of lettuce here.

The bear dropped it as he ran off,

but I couldn't save the rest.

I'm sorry to have to tell you

about your sandwich this way, but now you know.

(Michelle gasps)

- Who is that?

(Barack barking)

(Michelle laughing)

The end.

- What do you think happened to the sandwich, really?

- I think the dog ate the sandwich.

- But. - It wasn't the bear.

- You know what?

If you can come up with that good a story, though,

you kinda earned your sandwich.

- Yeah, I think so. (laughs)

I hope you all enjoyed today's book.

That was fun.

- See you, guys.

Keep reading.

(upbeat music)