Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He was wrapped in a green blankie. There was a note that said, "Please look after me." I think the angels brought him 'cuz I prayed for a baby brother. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? We're at Double Take. It's a store in Toronto. It's a very nice store. We're here with our buddy Kathy Webster. She's a big boss, you know. Kathy has a big job. She's in charge of the store. Double Take is a special place to buy things. It's a second-hand store. People give nice things to Kathy and her friends instead of throwing them away. Good citizens give things to Double Take. Good citizens have a job to do. Good citizens help people who need help. James says that makes us good Canadians.

 James says second-hand  means the things we buy are 'gently used.' Good citizens buy things at Double Take. When we buy toys and games and books and clothes at Double Take the money helps feed all the hungry people who come to the Yonge Street Mission and gives the homeless people someplace warm to sleep at night.

Wee little Chance was hungry and homeless before he came to live with us. He was cold and sick, too. Now he sleeps in a nice warm bed with Thomas the Tank Engine sheets. Chance has all the chocolate owls' milk he can drink. When he gets teeth I'll share my Smarties with him. Oh! I'll share my gummy worms and my Kinder Eggs and I'll share my porridge with him, too!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Give nice things to Kathy and her friends at Double Take. It's at 310 Gerrard Street. Oh! Wait! Don't forget to bring your money and buy nice things, too. Good citizens make the neighbourhood a better place to live. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can ride our bikes and go to Double Take together! Okay! Over and out!"

Today is Leap Day 2012

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I look after him, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk. I  look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Today is February 29. It's a special day. It's Leap Day. Leap Day only comes once every four years. That's why it's called Leap Year. We get an extra day to play and have fun. Only once every four years is a long time to wait. I'm five, you know. Even Merry Christmas comes every year.

We get to do special things on Leap Day. We play Leap Frog! That's a fun game. I leap over Chance and then he tries to leap over me. He's so newborn he can only leap a little. I help him and we holler, "Wheee! Oh! We get to cook green spaghetti and sing silly songs. James tells us stories about the Olden Days. The Olden Days were a long, long time ago. I think they started in 2006, you know.

Know what else we do? After I eat all my vegetables, then I can eat a Kinder Egg for dessert. Every one of the chocolate eggs has a surprise toy inside. I l-o-v-e Kinder Eggs, don't you? They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Kinder Eggs are a special treat. Chance just licks his Kinder Egg 'cuz he doesn't have any teeth. I have to help him eat his Kinder Egg.

We got matching race cars in our Kinder Eggs. Oh! We can race them at bedtime, under the covers after our bedtime story and after we say our prayers and James kisses our noses and turns out the light for the night. I have a flashlight, you know. My flashlight looks like a green mouse. It has a bright nose.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to your friends and neighbours.  Then you can eat Kinder Eggs and drink root beer on Leap Day. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play Leap Frog and eat lots of Kinder Eggs, too! Okay! I'm gonna go to sleep and dream about Kinder Eggs! Good night! Over and out!"

Dim Sum is Yum, Yum, Yummy!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me are in Chinatown today. That's in Toronto the Good. We go to Toronto on VIA Rail. When we are in Toronto the Good we get to eat Dim Sum. Dim Sum is really fun. James says that Dim Sum means 'little bites of heaven.'  The ladies bring food on carts. We choose what we want to eat. I l-o-v-e the chiu-chao dumplings and the pot stickers and the sticky buns and the tofu and everything! Good thing I'm as hungry as a bear!

Chance tried to climb into the hot and sour soup. I had to pull him off the table. The soup is hot and he might get hurt!

By the time we're all done eating, I'm really stuffed! Then we go to shop in Chinatown. It's fun to go to the stores and see what they have. In Chinatown, they have everything!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to Chinatown and shop with us! We can eat Dim Sum together! Okay! Over and out!"