Fun at Big Pita

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's a wee little thing. I look after Chance. He's my 'dopted baby brother. Is he ever a handful! He climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Chance makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to climb up and get him. James says, "Charles to the rescue!"

Know what? We're at Big Pita. It's a restaurant on Sandwich Street right by our house. I l-o-v-e to eat there. The food is taste-o-liscious. They got shawarma and French fries, too. I always put ketchup on my French fries. Ketchup comes from Heinz in Leamington. That's out in the county. Ketchup is our friend.

I'm going to order some food for us to eat. Know what? The bestest food at Big Pita is baklava. Did you ever eat baklava?

Look at Chance. He climbed right up on top of the baklava! He's not supposed to be up there. "Chance! Come down from there this instant!" He wants baklava but he doesn't know he's sitting on the lid. He can't have any if he's on top of the lid!  Chance is a real handful. He doesn't have any teeth 'cuz he's a newborn cubby. He just licks the honey off the baklava. Chance licks everything.

Baklava is a dessert. It's yummy, sweet and sticky. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know. Baklava is full of honey and nuts.

James says baklava comes from the Middle East. I don't know exactly where that is but it's far away from our house. I can't go there on my blue bike. I don't think it's in Quebec. That's where the Eastern Townships are. I went to Cub Camp there last summer. Good thing baklava can come here!

Baklava is a special dessert for holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day and Ramadan. Know what? I would eat baklava every day if James would let me.

James says I don't need to eat baklava every day. He says I'm sweet enough. Chance must think so. Last night he licked my ear. That tickles, you know.

 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. Oh. He might have to wash our faces and paws. We're pretty sticky 'cuz we got baklava all over ourselves.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do kind deeds for your neighbours and friends. Then you can eat baklava and drink root beer.

Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Big Pita together and eat lots and lots of baklava! Okay! Over and out!"

Family Day

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's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Today is Family Day. Family Day is a holiday for everybody who lives in Ontario. That includes Chance and me. We live in Ontario. I know where Ontario is. Ontario is in O Canada, our home and native land. Know what? Chance and me are Princes of Ontario. James always reminds us when he wakes us up every morning. He says we're sons of Windsor, too.

I know what a family is. Families live together in a home. Families love each other. I love Chance and I love James, too. They're my family. They love me. We look after each other and help. That's what families do. Know what James tells us? Home is where they have to let you in. He thinks that's funny but it's true, you know. I'm sure glad we have a home. James says, "Houses are made of brick and stone but homes are made of love alone." He's pretty smart, you know.

Love is lots and lots of things. James always says he loves us 44 litres. That's a bushel and a peck. I know how much that is. It's baskets and baskets of love. Know what? That's a lot of love!

Love is when we cook peanut butter and licorice sandwiches together  in the kitchen. Love is when we help make chocolate pudding and get to lick the spoon. Oh! Wait! Love is bath time when we splash and make bubbles with our purple bubble bath soap and drive our fire trucks in the tub, too! Love is bendy straws for our Canada Dry when we're sick. Love is  bedtime stories, and bedtime prayers and hugs and kisses and Smarties and good-night dreams. Best of all, love is surprises. As long as there are surprises there will always be love.

Love is even when I have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what I did. I hate the Time Out Chair. I hate to think. Thinking hurts. I don't go there very often but when I do, I know James wants me to be a better cub.

Love is when we all curl up together in the comfy green chair and sing silly songs and say silly poems. Love is when we watch Caillou on Radio-Canada. Oh! Wait! Love is playing Hide and Seek and riding our bicycles up and down Sparkle Road. Love is cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows in it. Love is laughing when we're happy and great big hugs when we're sad and our hearts hurt real bad. 

Know what? We're really lucky. We got more family. We got Uncle D and Auntie A and Lulu and Lily. They're all part of our family even though they live far away. We take VIA Rail to visit them.

They live way past Toronto. That's really far. Their house is farther away than the moon. I can see the moon when I look out the window at night but I can't look out the window and see Toronto.


Good thing we can love near AND far! We love them all a lot. Love is hugs and tea parties, you know. It's when we paint pictures together and make tattoos with Smarties. Love is when we ice skate together on the lake.  I'm glad I got a family to love. I'd be a really lonely bear cub if I didn't have a family. Then I'd be sad.

 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. Love your family. Share your Smarties and your root beer.  Okay! Over and out!"

We Visit Dr. Greg and Miss Lana on St. Valentine's Day

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. I think the angels left him there. He came wrapped up in a little green blankie and he had a bottle and a note that read, "Please look after me."  He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me are at the dentist's office.We go there every six months. Miss Lana is a dental high genius. She checks our teeth. Miss Lana is very pretty and very nice. I think she might be a princess, you know. I could be a dental high genius when I grow up. I would say, "Sit up straight, my son. Open wider, my son." Then I would clean some teeth.

I have strong, healthy teeth. That's 'cuz I brush and frost after I eat. I hate cavities. Cavities hurt. Bear cubs who don't brush and frost get cavities. Cavities are holes. They're not nice at all. Cavities are not our friends.

Chance is too little to have teeth. That's 'cuz he's a newborn cubby. When Miss Lana brought out the little mirror to look in Chance's mouth, he tried to eat it. We don't eat mirrors, you know. Miss Lana says Chance has healthy gums. One day he will have healthy teeth and he can eat Smarties. I'll share my Smarties with Chance. Smarties are taste-O-liscious.

This is how to brush your teeth.

Back and forth like a choo-choo train
And up and down like an aeroplane!

That is how the toothbrush goes. I have a Ninja toothbrush and Spiderman toothpaste.

Oh! Dr. Greg is nice. He's the bestest dentist every. He gave me and Chance a St. Valentine's toy because we were so good. I got a Cecil the Sea Serpent toothbrush. It folds up really small so I can carry it in my suitcase when we go on VIA Rail/. Chance got a coin purse with a BIG smile on it. He can keep loonies and toonies in there. Thank you, Dr. Greg! Thank you, Miss Lana!"

 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. Brush and frost your teeth every day. Be true to your teeth or they will be false to you! Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can brush and frost together! Okay! Happy St. Valentine's Day. Over and out!"

Making Cards for St. Valentine's Day

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's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! He climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to help him. He's so little he doesn't even have any teeth. Chance drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. I have teeth. I can eat Smarties but I always brush and frost my teeth when I'm done eating them 'cuz I don't want to get any cavities. Cavities aren't nice.

Know what we're doing? We're making St. Valentine's Day cards. They have hearts on them 'cuz St. Valentine is the boss of love. He has a helper, too. St. Valentine's helper is Cupid. They have a really big job to do and they're very busy 'cuz there's not enough love to go around, you know. That's why we're helping them by making these special cards. We're singing a song about love. It's pretty. Miss Jackie taught it to us at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. She's a good singer. Know what? I think she might be a princess.

What the world needs now
Is love, sweet love
No not just for some
But for everyone
Lord we don't need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheatfields
Enough to grow
And there are sunbeams and moonbeams
Enough to shine
So listen, Lord
If you want to know

What the world needs now
Is love, sweet love
It's the only thing
That there's just too little of

This is how you make a heart. Fold your construction paper in half and cut it like this. When you unfold it, there's a heart in the centre! It's almost like magic! Then you glue the hearts to some more construction paper. Chance glued a heart on top of his head and he glued one on my head, too. He thinks he's helping but he's really not. I hope he doesn't try to eat the glue. It will stick to his tongue, you know. We can make lots and lots of hearts. We can make them in different colours, too.

Next we have to write a message in the card. Good thing I know all the letters in the alphabet. Then it will be all done and we can take it to Canada Post. We'll put stamps on the letters and put the cards in the mail. You'll tell me when you get yours, won't you?

Know why we put stamps on the cards? That's so they can get to your house. Stamps are little motors. Stamps make the letters move. I bet if f we put a lot of stamps the letter will go faster! Yeah! We'll put lots and lots of stamps on the letters!



This is what I wrote-
Roses r red
Violets r purple
I love you
Like maple surple.
THE END

I always write THE END, so you know I'm done.

Now we got the stamps on the letter. Chance and me can put the letter in the mail box.

Oh! Wait! We got to put something else on the letter. We have to put a dress on it, so the nice Postie knows which house to take it to. James will help us put a dress on the letter. I know what a dress is. It's where we live! We live at 22 Sparkle Road. Know what? two-two (toutou) is French for teddy bear. Good thing we live at 22 Sparkle Road, you know!

Look at Chance. Chance has climbed way up on top and wants to go inside the mail box. He wants to come to your house. He's silly. He doesn't even have any stamps on him. Chance will just be stuck in the box and get cold and hungry. Then he'll make little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I'll rescue him. "My son! Come down from that mail box this instant!"

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. Make St. Valentine's Day cards and send love to all your friends and buddies. Then you can sing songs and eat Smarties and drink hot chocolate with newborn baby marshmallows on top. Oh!

Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can make St. Valentine's Day cards together! Okay! Over and out!"

St. Valentine is Coming!

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. He's so old he remembers the first sunrise. That's really old!





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. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? St. Valentine is coming. I know who St. Valentine is. He's the boss of love. He has a helper. His name is Cupid. Being the boss of love is a really big job, you know. Chance and me are getting ready for St. Valentine. He has his own day. It's on February 14. That's three days from now.

This is how we get ready for St. Valentine's Day. We eat chocolates shaped like hearts. They're yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Then we make Valentine's Day cards to send to our friends and buddies. We make them at my desk 'cuz we need a flat place to work. Chance thinks he's helping but gluing hearts to his feet isn't really helping but it's funny. Chance makes me laugh.

Here's the recipe for making Valentine's Day cards.

First, we get construction paper. It comes in different colours. I like the pink and red papers. They're pretty. Chance tries to lick them. We don't eat paper but Chance doesn't know that 'cuz he's just a wee little thing. Then we get scissors to cut the paper. We are careful with scissors. They're sharp and can hurt. We have glue and sparkly glitter for our cards.

Oh! We have to fold the paper in half. That's how we start. Then we cut out the little hearts. We cut out lots of little hearts so we can glue them to the paper. Look! I'm good with scissors. Miss Jackie at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre taught me how to use scissors safely. Don't ever run with scissors.

See! I cut out a really big heart! Oh! Look at Chance! He's playing Peek-a-Boo with the St. Valentine's Day card! That's one of his favouritest games. Know what else? When Chance closes his eyes he thinks he's invisible. That's silly but that's what newborn baby cubbies think.

 I will tell  you more about making St. Valentine's Day cards the next time, okay? We gotta go now.
 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. Make St. Valentine's Day cards for the ones you love. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can make St. Valentine's Day cards together! Okay! Over and out!"

Tea Party with Lulu, Lily and their Friends

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. James says he remembers the first rainbow. He must be really old!

 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. I'm pretty sure that angels left him in front of our door.

Now I have a little brother 'cuz we adopted Chance. He's so little he doesn't have any teeth. He drinks condensed owls' milk out of a bottle. He doesn't even have a tail! I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? Chance and me got invited to a tea party at Lulu and Lily's house. They had some other friends come, too.

Tea parties are fun. We're on our best behaviour, you know. We sit at the table and drink green tea.  Green tea is good for us. It comes from China. I know where China is. It's far away. It's on the other side of Earth. If we want to go there we have to fly on Air Canada or dig a hole really deep. I like to dig holes. Digging holes is fun. I could dig a hole all the way to China, you know.

At tea parties we eat yummy food. We eat carrot sticks, celery sticks and pretzels. Pretzels are really yummy. We eat hummus on pretzels. It's a dip. We cook hummus in the food processor. Hummus comes from chick peas, you know. James helps us. We grind them up with tahini and lemon juice and spices. That's how we cook hummus.

We eat raisins and cashew nuts and chocolate chip cookies, too. Oh, I almost forgot! We eat Smarties at tea parties. Smarties are my favouritest chocolate. We always eat the red Smarties last. It's a rule.






Chance doesn't eat food. That's 'cuz he doesn't have any teeth. He doesn't know how to chew. He'll learn to chew when he's older. Chance just drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle. Chance always falls asleep after he finishes his bottle. That's 'cuz he's a wee little thing. Newborn baby cubbies need a lot of sleep.


 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 friends and neighbours. Be on your best behaviour. Then you can get invited to tea parties and eat Smarties and drink green tea. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can have a tea party together together! Okay! Over and out!"

Playing in the Snow

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. He's so old he remembers the first snowfall. That's really old!

 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. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? It's winter. I l-o-v-e winter. That's when we get to go outside and play in the newborn baby snow. Snow is fun to play in. Snow is our friend. Chance tries to eat snow. We don't eat snow. It's not in Canada's Food Guide. Besides, we don't eat our friends. It's not nice.

We're sliding in front of Canada Post. That's where we take letters so they can come to your house! There's lots of snow and we slide down the mountain of snow. I hang on tight to Chance and I shout "Wheeeee!" when we slide. We can slide really fast! Chance makes little squeaky noises 'cuz he's so happy.



We always wave at the bus drivers when they pass by on Sandwich Street. I know what bus it is, too.  It's the Crosstown Bus. It goes from our house to downtown. The bus drivers are nice. They always wave at us, too. Bus drivers are our friends. I could be a bus driver for Transit Windsor when I grow up. I would be a very good bus driver. I'd say, "Welcome aboard, good citizen. Watch your step!" I'd drive very carefully. I'd only honk the horn if someone was in the way. I'd say, "Look out, good citizen, Crosstown Bus coming through!"

Know what the best part of playing in the snow is? I will tell you. When we go inside, James rubs us down with Terry Towel and then we get to drink hot cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows in it. I l-o-v-e hot cocoa. It's yummy, and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. I get to drink cocoa out of my mug but Chance is really little. He drinks cocoa out of his bottle. I don't need a bottle. I'm five.

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Who wants cocoa? 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. Go outside and play in the newborn baby snow. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can slide down the snow mountain together! James will make hot cocoa for you, too! Okay! Over and out!"

Bears in Chairs at the Windsor Public Library

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's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. Is he ever a handful! He takes off his diaper and climbs way up high on things. Then he can't get down. He's afraid and then he makes little squawky noises. I say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Then I have to help him.

Know what? Chance and me are at the Windsor Public Library. They got new chairs. Chairs for bears. The chairs and comfy. They're a whole bunch of different colours, too. We like to sit on the comfy new  chairs. We can sit up. We can sit down. We can sit back. We can sit tight. We can sit quiet. There are lots of ways to sit, you know. I'll be glad when I'm old and I can just sit around!

I read to Chance. I'm five. I can read. Miss Jackie taught me. She's my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. I like to read books. My favouritest book at the library is Alligator Pie. It's a book by Dennis Lee. He writes poems. Dennis wrote Alligator Pie. It's a fun book and a fun poem, too. When I read it, it makes Chance happy. He makes little squeaky noises when he's happy.

 Alligator pie, alligator pie,

If I don't get some I think I'm gonna die.

Give away the green grass, give away the sky,

But don't give away my alligator pie.

Alligator stew, alligator stew,

If I don't get some I don't know what I'll do.

Give away my furry hat, give away my shoe,

But don't give away my alligator stew.

Alligator soup, alligator soup,

If I don't get some I think I'm gonna droop.

Give away my hockey stick, give away my hoop,

But don't give away my alligator soup. THE END. 

I always say 'the end' so Chance knows I'm finished reading. Then he really makes lots of little squeaky noises 'cuz he wants me to start over and read it again. I can make squeaky noises, you know. James says when I was a wee little newborn cubby I made lots of squeaky noises. We make squeaky noises at each other and wiggle our noses until we laugh right out loud.

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. Come to the Windsor Public Library and sit on the comfy new chairs with us. I can read Alligator Pie to you and we can all make happy, squeaky noises together! Okay! Over and out!"