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This episode is called The First Day of School in Animal Town.

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Hey friend, my name is Tom.

I am so glad you're here for story time.

I'll be reading this lovely tale in which we'll return to Animal Town for the first day of school.

If you've heard our other Animal Town stories before, you'll be quite familiar with a lot of the characters by now.

But don't worry if you have, and you'll still be able to enjoy this one all on its own.

You might have experienced the feeling of the first day of school, or perhaps it's something that's still to come for you.

It's really natural to feel nervous about it, so don't worry if you did or you do when the time comes.

I still remember how it felt when I was little.

You definitely won't be the only one who's nervous, but you'll soon realize that really there isn't anything to worry about, so make sure you're nice and relaxed and resting in a spot that feels comfortable enough to drift off to sleep if you so wish.

And now we're ready to travel to a land full of leafy trees, green grass, and sunshine.

Animal Town awaits inside our imaginations, so let's begin.

It had been a warm and wonderful summer in Animal Town.

All the children had spent long days swimming in the blue river, playing in the green meadow, and picking berries from the berry patch.

Animal Town is a lovely place.

A beautiful river flows along one side of the town.

On the other side is a green meadow where flowers and berries grow in the sun.

There's no pavement or concrete anywhere in the town.

Everything is made from nature, from dirt, stone, leaves, branches, grasses, and flowers.

All around the town there are quiet, earthy streets with tall leafy trees growing along them.

All the little woodland animals live in Animal Town with their families, some of them living cozy tree homes in those leafy trees.

Others live in snug dens dug into the ground under or next to the trees.

Yes, it had been a wonderful summer, and now the summer was winding to a close, and autumn was on its way.

The air was cool at night now, and the apples were just beginning to ripen in the trees by the river, and all that meant it was almost time for school to begin.

The next day would be the first day of school.

Many of the animal children were very excited about that, and men any of the animal children were nervous about it too.

In fact, many of the children were both nervous and excited.

Have you ever noticed how that can be?

You can have more than one feeling about the same thing.

The six bunny children, three sister bunnies and three brother bunnies, were for the most part looking forward to the first day of school, although the youngest sister Bunny was feeling a bit scared to be starting school for the first time, but her older sisters and brothers promised her that it would be okay.

The youngest squirrel sister was also starting school for the first time.

She was looking forward to being a big kid and learning to read, and she was excited to be in a classroom with lots of new friends.

But the older squirrel children, the big sister Squirrel and the middle brother Squirrel, had been having a lovely time playing all summer, and they weren't so sure about starting back at school.

The big sister was looking forward to seeing her friends and learning new things, but she also wanted to spend more time working on a project that she'd started that summer, and the middle brother, Squirrel, had been having so much fun boating on the river that he never wanted summer time to end, although he did miss the games and activities at school.

But of all the animal children who felt excited and hesitant about the first day of school, there was one who felt the most nervous of all of them.

That was the young Giraffe.

His family had recently moved to town from a far away place, and he was to be the first of the giraffe family to go to school in Animal Town.

The young Giraffe was the most nervous of all the animal children for one reason.

If you've ever seen a giraffe or a picture of one, you will know that giraffes have very, very long necks.

This makes them much taller than the other animals.

And the giraffe had seen the little schoolhouse in Animal Town.

It was a pretty building with blue walls and flowers growing around the outside.

It had windows that looked at the river and trees that grew along one side, providing pleasant shade to part of the playground.

It had been built just a few years before.

It looked like an nice place to go to school, the young giraffe thought.

But there was one problem.

The classrooms were not tall enough for him and his long, long neck.

The giraffe was very worried about this, but no one else seemed to notice.

His parents kept telling him what a good time he would have when he went to school and began learning all kinds of things.

The other children talked excitedly about school when they all played together in the green meadow, and not one of them seemed to notice the problem, And so the giraffe worried and worried all on his own.

He didn't think to tell his parents or friends that he was worried.

If he had, he might have felt better, because sharing a problem with someone who cares about you nearly always makes you feel better.

But as I said, he didn't, and so he just kept worrying.

And then came the first day of school.

The morning was clear and bright, The air was cool, but the sun shone in the bright blue sky.

The young giraffe had breakfast with his parents and then got dressed into clean, fresh clothes.

He was still worried, but he knew he had to go to school, so he kissed his parents goodbye and went outside to join the other neighborhood children walking to school.

In animal town, there are no cars, and the town itself is rather small, so even the very young animal children can walk to school, and since so many animal children do walk to school each day, the young ones can stroll alongside the older ones from the same street.

When the young giraffe walked out into the street in his clean, fresh school clothes, he saw the other children all ready to go.

The six bunny children and the three squirrel children were all dressed in nice, fresh clothes too.

They were chattering excitedly, especially the older ones.

When they saw the young giraffe, they called him over to them, and they all set off down the street towards the river bank where the schoolhouse was.

When they got to the pretty school building, the sun was beginning to warm up the cool morning.

It glinted off the windows, which shone like gold in the sunlight.

The teachers stood at the door welcoming the students for the first day of school.

The teacher for the youngest children smiled at the giraffe brother, the youngest bunny children, and the littlest squirrel sister.

Welcome to the Animal Town School, she said to them, We're so happy you're here.

Come inside and i'll show you our classroom.

In scurried the squirrel sister and the bunny brother, followed by the bunny sister and the young giraffe.

Even though he was feeling so nervous, the giraffe noticed that the little bunny girl looked a bit scared, so he gave her an encouraging smile.

She smiled back at him.

They walked into the entry hall, which was nice and tall.

The giraffe was fine in there, even with his very long neck.

But as they passed the classrooms, the giraffe saw with sorrow that he had been right.

The rooms were too short for him.

He hung his head sadly he would have to go home.

It was too bad for the school seemed like a very nice place to be.

But just then the teacher turned to him, my tall young friend, she said gently, it seems to me that we will need to think creatively to make sure you're comfortable in our classroom.

Do you know what creatively means?

The giraffe looked up at her.

Someone had noticed his problem.

He shook his head shyly.

He didn't know what creatively meant.

Thinking creatively means thinking of new ideas.

The teacher explained, we can't just do what everyone else does.

We need to think of different ways to handle our own situation.

The giraffe nodded he understood, but what way could there be for him to fit inside the class Now, children, let's think about this, said the teacher, turning to all the young animals gathered around her.

Our classroom is upstairs and it is a very nice room, but our giraffe friend needs a little help to fit into it.

Then the squirrel sister spoke up.

Her idea was that the giraffe could sit on a tall stool outside and look in through the window of the classroom.

That would be just the right height for him.

The teacher agreed that that was one idea to consider, but she wondered if maybe the giraffe would get cold outside when winter came.

Then the bunny brother had an idea.

What if the giraffe could sit in the stairway, and they could keep the door open so he could be part of their lessons.

The teacher thought that this was one idea to consider too, but she wondered if maybe it would be nicer if the giraffe could be inside the room with the rest of them.

Another one of the young animal children joined in with another idea.

Maybe they could make a hole in the ceiling of the classroom so that the giraffe's head could poke up through it.

The teacher was just thinking about that idea when the little bunny sister raised her hand shyly.

Yes, the teacher kindly asked.

The bunny sister felt shy, but she wanted to help her friend, the young giraffe.

She wanted everyone to feel comfortable and like they belonged at school.

That was the kind of class she wanted to be in.

So she gathered her courage and spoke up in a soft voice.

And this was her idea.

What if they made a hole in the floor of the classroom instead of the ceiling.

The classroom was on the second floor, so the giraffe could sit on the first floor with his head sticking through the hole into their class.

That way, he could really be part of things.

She explained.

The teacher and the young giraffe smiled at her idea, and then the giraffe had one of his own.

Hearing all these friends come up with ideas to help him had made him realize that he didn't have to be so worried.

They could work together and think creatively to find a solution, and now he thought he had one, all thanks to their help.

He explained to the group that it was very comfortable for him to have his neck leaning forward a bit, so he could sit in the stairs going up to the second floor where the class room was, and if they could just make a little window through the wall of the room, he could put his head through it so that he could be part of the class.

That way, they wouldn't need a hole in the floor or the ceiling, but instead there would be a nice window to the stairs and the entrance hall.

And when other giraffe came to school one day, they could use it too, so all little giraffes would feel comfortable at the animal Town school with all their friends.

Well, the teacher said that it was a wonderful idea, and all the children agreed, so that was just what they did.

The giraffe got to stay at school after all, and he loved it.

He loved to play with the other children, he loved to help the teacher.

He loved to learn new things, and he learned so many new things at school.

But he always thought that the best lesson of all was that you can always solve a problem if you think creatively and work together with other people who care about you.

Lam Sa