Showing results by narrator "Maria Pendolino" in All Categories

A girl named Raia in Africa gets a new pet from her father – a poky little hedgehog! Raia names her new prickly friend Huffy. She learns more about Huffy’s spines, what he likes to eat, why he curls into a ball, and much more!

Have you ever wondered what movie makers do when they want to know what a black hole looks like? Or how high people could jump on mars? In this interview, Mika McKinnon, movie science adviser, shares what it’s like to do research for movies and television.

Have you ever wondered why it gets dark at night? Listen to learn about how the Earth’s spinning changes day into night and why some days are longer than others.

It’s Lydia’s birthday and her Uncle Joe won’t give any hints about his present, except that it’s bigger than he is! On Lydia’s birthday, Uncle Joe drives her to the zoo and shows her the big surprise – a baby giraffe named Dusty!

When Mr. Mosop’s prize chicken is killed by a hyena, two sisters have ideas about naming his new chick. Should she be called Food, or Cloud, or Love? This Kenyan folktale tells a story of inclusion and generosity among siblings.

One night, Molly meets an unhappy gorilla named Griff who was caught in a blizzard on his way to Florida. Like Molly, Griff’s friends have moved away. Will Molly be able to help Griff on his way to Florida without waking her family?

When it’s your birthday, you add one Earth year to your age. Have you ever wondered how old you would be in Saturn years? What about Mars? Read on to learn about the planets of our solar system and how long it takes for them to complete one whole orbit.

Despite the Great Depression leaving many students poverty-stricken, Delores’s elementary school class participates in a Secret Santa gift exchange at Christmastime. She is disappointed to find out the poorest girl in class drew her name and learns a lesson in humility when the day of the exchange finally comes.

In this story, Resolved White remembers his mother Susanna White, one of the first European “founding mothers” to sail from England to America in 1620. Resolved remembers their journey to America and the new community that they built in Plymouth.

Have you ever flown on a plane and heard the pilot speaking in some kind of code? Now you can understand what he is saying! The alphabet is different for airplane pilots. Instead of ABC, pilots say Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. Learn this new way of communicating with Click and Jane as they use the phonetic alphabet and pretend to be airplane pilots!

Christy Dooley is on a famine ship headed to America from Ireland. Just before the St. John reaches Massachusetts, though, it wrecks. He wants to make sure his mother knows what happened to him, so he puts a message and his St. Christopher medal in a bottle and tosses it overboard.

Before the Internet, there was only one place where you could always find the exact time—the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, where people calculated the time by studying astronomy. This was a long distance away from London, though, so someone had to go there and collect the time for the shopkeepers who sold clocks. Learn about Maria Bellville, the woman who sold time!

Ju-Lin is a young Chinese girl living in poverty with her family. When her family must sell her to make ends meet, a traditional Chinese matchmaker buys her to serve as her apprentice. In a time when customs like foot-binding and keeping girls uneducated are prevalent, what will Ju-Lin’s future hold?

Dana is going to the dog park! Meet all of the dogs that are at the park and what makes them special. Do you know the different breeds that are at the park? Help Dana find them!

When Gramp takes his granddaughter to her first horse auction, she learns all about workhorses and ponies and their value on farms. She also learns about the less fortunate horses who aren’t fit to work and gets a lesson in compassion with Gramp decides to buy an old roan—a horse with white hairs mixed into the normal color of its coat—instead of letting it be taken to slaughter.

Have you ever walked through a garden and wondered which part of a fruit or vegetable you’re supposed to eat? It could be the pod, the leaves, the seeds, the root, or even the flower! Follow along with this poem to learn about fresh, tasty veggies!

Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? They’re a lot of fun, but a lot of physics is involved in making those rides work. The momentum built up by energy and speed keep those trains on their tracks and riders in their seats, even when they’re upside-down!

In this heartwarming story of acceptance, a young blind girl named Annie has a difficult decision to make. Should she adopt a cuddly baby kitten, as most people want to do? Or should she adopt the older cat who adopts her first?

While men fought in the army during the American Revolution, women supported the fight for independence in other ways. They wrote about politics in newspapers, boycotted British goods, and made their own wares like fabric and tea. The Daughters of Liberty said no to British-made goods!

One of the most well-known constellations in the night sky, the Big Dipper, traces its origins to a Native American legend. Many animals attempted to break through Sky in order to spread light and warmth onto the Earth. Only one of them, a Great Bear—also known as Ursa Major—succeeds. How does Great Spirit reward him?