JJ, want to hear a story?
Yes, I do.
Can I please help tell it too?
Yes, listen close.
Let's imagine and rhyme.
It's Cocoa Melon Storytime!
Wow!
You ran around the whole playground, JJ.
I'm practicing.
There's a race at school tomorrow and I really want to win.
Oh, well...
Whether you win or not, the race will still be fun because you'll be with all your friends.
It's like the story I know inspired by a Chinese folk tale.
Wanna hear it?
Yes, please!
It's called The Great River Race.
A long time ago, a lot of animals ran a race to see what order they would go in on the Chinese zodiac.
What's the Chinese zodiac?
It's kind of like a calendar.
A rat ox tiger rabbit dragon snake horse goat monkey rooster, dog and pig lined up at the edge of the forest.
They had to go all the way to the Jade Emperor's castle.
On your mark, get set, go!
With a great big blow of a yak horn, the great river race began.
And everyone was off.
They ran through the forest as they could till they heard, whoosh, a rushing river.
The only way to reach the Jade Emperor's castle was to cross this river.
They can't go near the water without a grown-up, Mommy.
You're right, JJ.
That's why the Jade Emperor was right there on the shore, making sure they stayed safe.
The first animal to reach the river was the ox.
He was so big and strong.
He knew he could stomp right across it.
Here I go.
And before the ox got too far from shore, the rat scurried after him and jumped onto ox's back.
Wow, that was a good idea, rat.
Yes, the rat was quick and clever.
He got a ride all the way across the river thanks to the ox.
Splish, splash.
Next came Graceful Rabbit.
She heard leaves rustling on a branch floating by and hopped onto it.
Tiger saw this and thought, Roar!
That's something I can do.
I can be graceful too.
So Tiger found a log on the shore and pushed it into the river.
He leapt on it and sailed across.
Go, go, go!
Which racers got to the river next?
It was Monwin the Monkey, The Wind the Rooster and Chiffon the Sheep.
But when they reached the river, they came to a stop.
They looked really sad and sat down with a plop.
Why were they sad, Mommy?
They couldn't swim or leap onto a branch or push a log into the water.
Bah!
Looks like we're all in the same boat, said Chiffon the Sheep.
They're in a boat?
No.
That's just an expression.
They're all in the same boat means they all have the same problem.
But Sifan had given Suwin the rooster an idea.
If we all have the same problem, we're all in the same boat.
Why don't we build one, and then we can float?
Us?
Build a boat?
If we work together, we can make it across the river.
So they collected bamboo reeds and tied them together.
And soon their boat was ready to float.
The rushing river went whoosh!
And off they went with one big push.
Go!
Go!
Go!
In China, they say the cheer, Jiayou!
Jiayou!
Jiayou!
They used bamboo reeds as paddles and made the boat sway, but they couldn't get the boat to move the right way.
Why not?
Well, the monkey paddled fast and the sheep paddled slow.
As the rooster flapped his feathers, they had to do it at the same time.
They had to... Work together!
Exactly!
So Chiffon the sheep and Monwin the monkey dipped their bamboo reeds in the water and paddled to the rhythm of to win the rooster's cheer.
Here we go.
The river is rough.
We have to take care.
But if we work together, we'll make it there.
They were almost across the river.
They could even see the Jade Emperor's castle.
But suddenly, a big wave rose before their boat.
Khan and Manwen rode faster.
They didn't want to fail.
And Suwen spread his wings to use as a sail.
They sailed over the wave.
It was a wild ride.
Then they finally made it to the other side.
Yay!
The three friends celebrated shouting with glee.
Were they happy because they won?
No, they were happy because together they had so much fun.
The rat, ox, tiger and rabbit were already inside the castle.
So was the dragon, snake and horse.
And then the sheep, monkey and rooster?
Yep.
The last racers to reach the castle were the dog and pig.
How did they get across the river?
Once everybody was there Sheef on the Sheep and Monwin the Monkey turned their bamboo reed paddles into bamboo reed flutes.
They danced around and played their flutes as Tsuwin clapped his feathers.
The Zodiac animals all joined in to celebrate together.
It didn't matter who had lost or won.
Nope.
The great river race was so much fun.
The end.
We heard a story.
Yes, it's true.
And I helped tell it, too.
We listened, imagined, and made some rhymes for Cocomelon Storytime.
A Spotify original podcast produced by Moonbug Entertainment.
