Now here’s something you can ask your mom and dad to get you for Christmas and I gare-ron-TEE they’ll move heaven and earth to get it for you. What’s that, you ask? A few good books.
Last month I raved about The Most Beautiful Place In The World by Ann Cameron. I hope you all got a chance to read That. This month, it’s all about the cat. And not just any cat. A big, red, fat cat named Ralph.
Meet Ralph, the often curmudgeonly, always incorrigible, mischievous cat who has been misbehaving his way through children’s hearts (and Hers) and eight picture books (plus four early readers) since he was created by author Jack Gantos in 1976.
Ralph lives with his long-suffering owner, Sarah, a young girl, wise beyond her years. Even when he’s been at his rottenest, Sarah loves him unconditionally. She may get exasperated with Ralph, but she always patiently helps him to see the error of his ways. She never gives up on Ralph and she’s always ready to forgive. Young Sarah is a good friend. That’s the kind of friend we should all try hard to be.
I know you’ll come to love Ralph as much as Sarah does. When you’re ready to read Rotten Ralph, I’m ready to lie down and listen. Collect all the books in the Rotten Ralph series. This can be a fun project the whole family will enjoy.
Goodwill Energies I directToward each and every one of youEach and every day!
“And there came to be evening and there came to be morning”
That's life today!
Vocabulary WORD:curmudgeonlyincorrigiblemischievousmisbehavingExasperatedlong-sufferingunconditional Find out more about Jack Gantos and the illustrator of the Rotten Ralph books, Nicole Rubel. Read the latest Rotten Ralph: Click on the book below and read Rotten Ralph now!
America, The Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates – 1913
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!
O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Goodwill Energies I direct
Toward each and every one of you
Each and every day
“and there came to be evening and there came to be morning” That’s life today.
The beginning… Fifty plus years ago in 1955 Sam Engel of 20th Century Fox asked Gumby’s creator, Art Clokey“Can you make little clay figures and animate them into children’s stories? I want to improve the quality of childrens TV.”
Art and his wife felt the same way about the need for better childrens programing. They were the parents of a one year old daughter. So Art told Sam yes, he could do that, and that’s how Gumby got his own TV show on NBC.
The Middle… In 1977, Gumby aired on the Disney Channel. The fan mail came pouring in, making Art and and his wife, Gloria, realize how important the show still was to children and their baby boomer parents who grew up watching the adventures of Gumby and all his pals on TV.
Just about that time, comedian Eddie Murphy performed a series of hilarious skits on Saturday Night Live spoofing Gumby. This increased demand for Gumby’s comeback. The early episodes were rerun on TV where a whole new generation of children became fans of the adventure series. Many college aged kids who’d grown up with Gumby in the 60’s got into it all over again.
By the middle of the 90’s Nickelodeon was using all of the Gumby Adventures from the 50’s, 60’s and 80’s for it’s anchor spots at 8:00 am and 2:00 pm. Gumby was on top of their ratings for over three years. Now wherever Art goes he is mobbed by early teens who grew up loving Gumby in the mid ’90s.
The end..?
Gumby would always begin his adventures by walking into a giant book. That’s one of the reasons whyShe still loves Gumby and as you can see, so do I.
Click here to see classic Gumby episodes on Youtube.
Goodwill Energies I directToward each and every one of youEach and every day!
“And there came to be evening and there came to be morning”
Now here’s something you can ask your mom and dad to get you for Christmas and I gare-ron-TEE they’ll move heaven and earth to get it for you. What’s that, you ask? A few good books.
the often curmudgeonly, always incorrigible, mischievous cat who has been misbehaving his way through children’s hearts (and Hers) and eight picture books (plus four early readers) since he was created by author Jack Gantos in 1976.
When you’re ready to read Rotten Ralph, I’m ready to lie down and listen. Collect all the books in the Rotten Ralph series. This can be a fun project the whole family will enjoy.
Click on the book below and read Rotten Ralph now!
In honor of Veteran’s Day…
The beginning… Fifty plus years ago in 1955 Sam Engel of 20th Century Fox asked Gumby’s creator, 
The end..?
