Did you know that May is both National Share a Story Month and Jewish American Heritage Month?
It's no secret that we love telling stories and sharing Jewish culture, history, and values.
So please enjoy a playlist featuring Kiddo and Mimi sharing special stories with each other.
Like what you hear?
Please leave us a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
It really helps.
We may even read your comment on a future episode.
Snuggle up and let me read you a little something.
Grab a seat, a bite to eat and settle right in.
Hugs, snuggles, stories and more.
And so many sweet things in store.
Welcome to Afternoons with Mimi.
Bye, Ema.
Bye, Baba.
See you later.
Well, hello, my heart.
What's on the agenda for today?
And whoa, hold on a sec.
Those are some fancy, fancy new shoes.
Yeah.
Do you like them?
They light up.
See?
And that's not all.
They have wheels on the bottom, too.
Watch!
Oh, honestly, now I've seen it all.
Do they also cook your dinner?
No, shoes can't do that.
They're pretty awesome, aren't they?
Yes, those are some quite incredible and fancy shoes.
Now, since no one has invented shoes that can cook for us yet, come into the kitchen and I'll get your snack.
Mimi, what's for snack?
Well, let's just slide you over here so we can snuggle up and share a little something.
Ooh!
Excited?
Bobca!
Chocolate Bobca!
A special treat for a special kid.
Now, aside from your shoes, what else is new?
Well, I have some new friends.
They live in my neighborhood.
They're bigger than me.
I always see them riding bikes.
Oh, yes.
I think I've seen those kids, too.
What are their names?
Josh, Ryder, and Tali.
Josh has a huge backyard with a pool and a Ninja Warrior obstacle course.
Wow, did you get to play on it?
Yeah, and his mom's invited us to the neighborhood party next week.
That sounds like a wonderful time.
Only, only.
What's on your mind?
I met these cool big kids because they saw my new shoes.
And Tolly wears shoes like mine, too.
And then they invited me to ride bikes.
Hmm.
Well, what's wrong there?
Well, I was supposed to ride bikes with Eli and Blue.
But I went with the big kids instead.
Tali also said something about no training wheels on the rides.
But Eli and Blue still have them.
And I kind of haven't gone bike riding with Eli and Blue in a few days now.
And how do you feel about that?
A little bad.
Like I have these awesome shoes and I can ride them without training wheels, so I get to hang out with the big kids.
But I want Eli and Blue to be there, too.
Have you talked to the other kids about that yet?
No, not really.
But I just...
I don't.
I'm not sure how to.
Part of me thinks I should just go to the neighborhood party and then give my goodie bag to Eli and Blue when I see them later.
Well, that's one thing you could do.
I mean, it is okay to have different groups of friends, but it's also nice when all of your friends know each other too.
Yeah.
This feels like a huge problem, Mimi.
This reminds me of a very, very old story.
Would you like to hear it?
Sure.
Okay.
Snuggle up and enjoy your babka while I tell you a little something.
A long, long, long time ago, there was a kingdom.
And in that kingdom lived a man named... Frederick!
Oh, that's his name.
Yeah.
Okay.
In that kingdom lived a man named Frederick.
Now, Frederick was a hard worker, and he loved animals.
And even though he wasn't rich and didn't have a big fancy house or light-up wheelie shoes, he did happen to be good friends with the Emperor.
Well, I was going to say king, but sure, emperor.
One day, this emperor asks his friend Frederick to come over for a big fancy dinner party.
Frederick thinks to himself, oh, wonderful.
And even though he doesn't have a lot of fancy things at home, Frederick puts on a nice clean shirt and trousers.
Once he wears just for special occasions?
Yes, just for special occasions.
The other friends on his street say Wow Frederick, you are so lucky to be friends with the emperor, and I wish we could go eat a fancy feast for a night.
Frederick says goodbye to everyone and starts to walk to the palace.
It's up a big, big hill, and while he's on the way, he hears a sound, a little...
Oh, what animal is that?
A goat.
They yell.
Oh, honestly.
So he hears that very loud noise and investigates.
He finds a little black goat stuck in a little ditch.
It's panicking and having trouble.
Frederick rolls up his sleeves, hops down from the road, and calms the little goat.
With a one, two, three, push, he gets it right out of the ditch.
The little goat is safe.
But now Frederick is all dirty.
Yup.
When he arrives at the palace, his friend the emperor says, Don't worry about a thing.
I have many clothes to loan you.
And he gives Frederick a beautiful fancy coat to wear and some... Sparkly pants?
Sparkly pants.
And the emperor lets him keep them?
Yes.
He says, I have so many clothes and these look great on you.
Keep them.
Everyone at dinner compliments Frederick's outfit.
All of the other guests think he must be very important because of his outfit and because he is sitting near the emperor.
Many of them don't even touch the beautiful food on the table or take their goodie bags.
But the coat has many pockets, so Frederick stuffs them full.
Later on, when he's home, he has a beautiful bounty of goodie bags and treats to share with all of the people in his neighborhood.
The end?
The end.
You know, as you're learning with your sneakers and I guess your bike too, what we wear or have can affect how others see us.
But here's a question we have to ask ourselves.
Do those things change the way we see ourselves too?
What do you mean?
Are you a different kid now that you have fancy shoes and can ride a bike with no training wheels?
Not really.
I still like the same things and I still like my friends.
And are you still the same brave kiddo who walks by Mothra the big German shepherd on the way to school?
Yeah.
I think...
I think that Josh and everybody noticed me because of my shoes.
Maybe because I look more like a big kid now.
But I think they like me for me.
We have a lot of fun playing on the ninja course together.
So do you think you'll go to the birthday party still?
Mimi, can you help me make a phone call?
Sure.
Okay.
Here's Josh's phone number.
Hi, hello?
Can I talk to Josh, please?
Oh, hi, Josh.
Yeah, it's me.
I'm at my Mimi's.
Until dinner time.
I can ride bikes after.
Hey, Josh, can my friends Eli and Blue come too?
I think you'll like them.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Oh, that would be great.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay, bye.
So, what happened?
Mimi, he said Eli and Blue can come bike riding.
And he didn't know their names to invite them to his next neighborhood party.
But now he does.
So everyone will be together.
Oh, kiddo, you are a great friend and a wonderful little minch.
And there's Ima and Baba to pick you up.
I love you, Mimi.
Thanks for the great story.
And the babka.
And for helping me.
Have fun on the bike ride.
See you soon, Nishamashuli.
What's up, my love?
I'm bored.
Oh, really?
Do you want to play cards?
Did it.
How about some coloring?
We colored at school.
Oh, so coloring is over for the day.
Yeah.
And what about blocks?
Cards?
Puzzles?
Bored, bored, boring.
Do you have any new toys I can play with?
Hmm, I have this.
A paper towel roll?
Mimi, you're joking.
That's just for the recycling.
I am not.
This is a cure for all boredom.
Hmm, I don't know about that.
Don't believe me?
Fine.
Now, I'm going to grab a snack and prepare for a magical adventure.
Wait, wait, wait.
I want a snack.
And what are you talking about?
Well, here's some fruit for you and a little chocolate.
Now, enjoy your snack and snuggle up and let me tell you a little something.
Are you going to tell me a story about when you were little?
Is that what you would like?
Yeah.
All right.
Well, then that's the plan.
Okay.
How do we start?
Once upon a time, a long time ago... Oh, you're too much.
Not that long ago.
But yes, a long time ago.
I was a little bit older than you when my parents and my Tante, Judith and I all moved to a new apartment.
It was so, so far away from the place where I had been born.
The building we moved into had five floors.
I think it had been a beautiful house maybe at some point before it was turned into apartments.
So my family moved into a space on the third floor.
My father had to stay behind to wrap up some things with work in our old neighborhood.
So at first it was just me, my mother, and Tante Judith in this big empty space.
We had traveled on the train and only had one suitcase each with us.
But what about your toys?
Well, I didn't have many back then, but the few I did have were packed up in boxes with the furniture from my room.
All I had with me were my clothes and a little doll I liked to sleep with at night.
You didn't even have furniture in your new house?
Mm-mm, not in the beginning, no.
We had one big mattress that Mama and I snuggled in.
Tante Judith worked at night.
So you were in a new place with no toys.
Were you bored?
A little, and also excited and nervous.
During the day, Tante Judith would be sleeping and my mother was hard at work setting up the house cleaning, getting curtains together, so I was on my own.
One day, maybe the second day we were there, I decided to explore the building.
I wanted to see who else might live there.
On the top floor, I met two kids, a brother and a sister, the Fishers.
I remember the sister was Maggie, and I think the brother was Franklin?
Anyway, they introduced me to the other kids in the building, and soon we had a nice big group.
There was a big alley next to the building, and do you know what we found out there?
Um, garbage?
Yeah, well, it was an alley, but next to the trash, one day, we found such a find.
A giant refrigerator box.
Several giant boxes, actually.
The deli next door had just replaced their fixtures and there were so many huge boxes piled out there.
Do you know what we did with them?
Mmm... Not sure.
We built a fort.
No, a castle.
We played king of the castle and princess warriors.
Then we turned our boxes into race cars and pushed each other up and down the alley.
It started to rain, so we all dragged one of the biggest boxes inside together down into the basement of the building.
And we set up a puppet theater...
Maggie and I drew smiley faces on our socks and put on shows for the littler kids while it rained outside.
We kept that box down there until the superintendent threw it away.
It was a spaceship, a time machine, an office for our pretend company.
Some of my best memories from living over on Heather Street are of playing with that big old box.
And because we had to use our imaginations, we were never bored, Neshama.
Wow.
So you and your neighbors really had a whole adventure with just some, uh, garbage?
Yes, using just our creativity and those empty boxes.
Grab your paper towel roll and let's head outside.
You mean my pirate sword?
Indeed.
Ahoy, mateys!
To the backyard!
To the backyard!
Uh-oh.
I don't like the looks of this.
What's got you down, kiddo?
Nothing.
Well, I'm not really sad.
Just thinking.
A lot.
Oh.
Do you want to talk about it?
Can we eat snack first?
Sure.
I have fresh baked bread hot out of the oven, with some of the delicious blueberry jam you helped me make last summer.
Better?
Much.
Do you feel ready to talk?
So, Ema and Baba are getting me a new bed.
A big kid one.
Like what I sleep in when I'm over here.
Oh, that sounds exciting.
It was.
At first.
But I really like my pirate ship bed.
I've had it since I was super, super little.
But kiddo, you've grown so much your toes hang off the edge of that bed.
I think you deserve a nice big kid bed now.
One that will last a long time.
One that lets you keep growing.
I know.
Do you think I'll be tall, Mimi?
Oh, yes.
You'll be taller than me by next year, I think.
And there's a special reason for why you're upgrading from your old bed, too.
Yeah, because Zia's moving from a crib to the little pirate bed.
That's exciting.
I know, but still.
I have an idea.
Why don't we decorate your new bed with a pirate flag quilt?
I like that.
Do you know what else I think you'll like?
What?
This afternoon's story.
It's also about a family dealing with some big changes.
Sounds good to me.
Okay, now snuggle up and let me read you a little something.
Until the Blueberries Grow.
Written by Jennifer Wolf-Kamm.
Illustrated by Sally Walker.
Published by PJ Publishing.
Ben's great-grandpa Zadie was moving away.
Ben, Zadie said, this house doesn't fit me anymore.
I need a smaller space.
Ben took Zadie's hand.
Zadie, stay until the blueberries grow.
Zadie squeezed Ben's hand.
I can stay in this big house a little longer, he said, until the blueberries grow.
The summer grass tickled Ben and Zadie's feet.
They plucked fat blueberries from the bushes and squished them between their fingers.
They popped the blueberries into their mouths and the juice dribbled down their chins.
It's hot as horseradish out here, said Zadie.
Ben poured Zadie a glass of water.
Zadie, stay until the grapes are ripe.
Zadie drank the water.
The autumn winds will cool things down.
I'll stay until the grapes are ripe.
Ben and Zadie draped bunches of grapes around the sukkah.
Others they boiled in pots until the kitchen smelled of sweet jelly.
Zadie made Ben a jelly sandwich.
Then they stomped through crisp autumn leaves.
So many leaves, said Zadie.
What will we do with them all?
Ben gathered an armful.
Zadie, stay until the snow falls.
Hmm.
There's no yard work in the winter, Zadie said.
I'll stay until the snow falls.
A downy blanket of snow covered Zadie's yard.
Ben and Zadie tasted tingly snowflakes, and Ben rolled down the hill until he was dizzy.
Zadie wrapped Ben in a quilt and made him a mug of hot chocolate.
They lit the hanukkiah and munched latkes and jelly donuts.
This is fun, said Zadie, but winter in this big house is hard on these old bones.
Ben placed a sweater on Zadie's shoulders and they sat together beside the glowing candles.
Sadie, stay until the flowers bloom.
The spring sun will warm things up, said Sadie.
I'll stay until the flowers bloom.
Ben and Sadie picked tulips and placed them on the Seder table.
Ben found the afikomen in the lilac bushes.
After the Seder, Ben and Zadie curled up under the magnolia tree and the gentle spring breeze rocked them to sleep.
That night, Zadie held on to the railing.
This staircase is very tall.
Ben took Zadie's hand.
Stay.
Stay.
Zadie squeezed Ben's hand.
It's time for me to move to my new home, Ben.
But when we're not together, think of plucking blueberries from the bushes and the juice dribbling down our chins.
Pots of boiling grapes and jelly sandwiches in the sukkah.
A warm quilt with hot chocolate and the light of the Hanukkiah.
Tulips and the afikomen and a nap under the magnolia tree.
And Zadie wrapped his arms around Ben.
Visit me in my new home.
When Zadie moved, Ben visited.
Such a fancy new home, Ben, said Zadie.
It's like a hotel.
Ben placed a basket on Zadie's lap.
For you.
Oh, blueberries.
Thank you.
Sadie popped a blueberry into his mouth.
Then another.
Ben did the same.
Stay until we eat all of the blueberries, said Sadie.
Yes, Sadie, said Ben.
I'll stay.
The end.
What did you think?
I liked it.
It reminded me of us.
We love to be together.
And you were my big helper when I moved into this house.
You were very little, so you might not remember.
I do, I do.
I carried a little box and helped you put away spoons.
Right.
And Ben helped his Zadie with moving in this story.
Did you notice something else?
Like?
Take a look at Ben and the baby.
What do you see as we flip the pages?
Hey, they're getting bigger.
Just like me and Z. Now, should we get started on some pirate flag decorations for your new bed?
Yes.
I can't wait.
Come along then, Neshamashali.
Hey, it's Allie from PJ Library.
Did you know that our friends from Kids Listen have also put together a special playlist of stories for Jewish American Heritage Month?
You can visit kidslistenorg to explore episodes from all sorts of award-winning shows for kids, like dork tales, girl tales, stupid stories and so many more.
Tonight, I'd like to transport you to Night Falls, a mystical place where a luminescent waterfall glimmers in a starlit clearing amongst ancient pines.
You can join me here every Sunday and Tuesday with a podcast of bedtime stories, created to help you fall asleep easily.
There's truly nothing more relaxing than a story told by firelight.
So search Nightfall's Bedtime Stories on your favorite podcast player and gather around the fire for a soothing tale tonight.
