I Can Hear You Loud and Clear!

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 we're doing? We're getting our hearing tested at the Health Centre. We're in the sound booth. I put on the headphones and I push a button when I can hear a sound. Chance is getting his ears tested, too.

Know what? We should never put Q-Tips in our ears. That can hurt them. Doctor El Breki says, "Never put anything smaller than your paw in your ear, Charles." He's right.  I don't wanna hurt my ears!

Chance can hear really good. He's got really little ears 'cuz he's a newborn cubby. Chance sat very still while he got his ears tested. Chance's ears work fine.

My ears are bigger. That's 'cuz I'm five. I'm a growing bear cub.  Know what? My ears need helpers.  I got fitted with hearing aids by Deena and Heather. One for each ear! I can hear! Loud and clear!  I didn't know the dryer makes a noise when it goes 'round and 'round. I didn't know Chance makes really loud snory noises when he naps. Water makes noise when it comes out of the tap, too! There are lots and lots and lots of noises I didn't know about! I like my new hearing aids. Know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna listen to everything and see what kind of noises there are! I l-o-v-e noises!

I will tell you a secret.  I think Deena and Heather are princesses.

 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.

Oh! Get your ears checked. You can hear a lot of things if your ears need helpers. I can hear Smarties crunch when I chew on them and I can hear root beer make fizzy noises in the can!

 Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We climb up high in the sugar maple and eat peanut butter and licorice sandwiches. I will show you my hearing aids! Okay! Over and out!"

Fun Things to Do on Civic Holiday

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 

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 Civic Holiday all across the province. It's a nice day to play and go on a picnic. Chance and me are having fun we look into the mirror and make faces. I know how to make the very scariest of faces. They make Chance squeak right out loud. Whoever laughs first is the loser. It's a fun game to play, you know.

Sometimes James says, "Boys! Go outside and see if you're there." We run outside to play in the back yard. There are lots of things to do in the back yard. We can dig holes. We can climb the sugar maple. We can take our space ray guns and hunt for lions, too. Oh. We can ride up and down the sidewalk on my blue bike with the Canada flag on it.

We get to eat lunch outside. I l-o-v-e eating outdoors. James says food tastes better when we eat it outside. We had Smarties and root beer. Oh, wait! We had peanut butter and licorice sandwiches, too. They're all yummy and yummy is one of the four good groups in the Canada Food Guide. 

After lunch we got to ride in the rocking chair and then we took our naps on the living room floor, right in front of the TV fire. Chance falls asleep real fast and makes little snory noises. He's so cute when he sleeps.

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 on Civic Holiday Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can pick play together! Okay! Over and out!"

Places We Don't Eat Peanut Butter

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! 

There are places where we do NOT eat peanut butter even if it is yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. We don't eat peanut butter in the bathroom. We don't eat peanut butter on the living room carpet. We certainly do not eat peanut butter in bed.

Bear cubs who eat peanut butter in the bathroom or the living room carpet or in bed might get everything sticky. That's another one of the food groups in the Canada Food Guide. Bear cubs who disobey would have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what they did.  I don't like the Time Out Chair. I don't like to think about what I did. Thinking is hard, you know.

I'd rather ride my blue bike up and down Sandwich Street and dig holes in the back yard and climb the sugar maple and eat Smarties. That's more fun that the Time Out Chair. Know what else? Chance is a copy cat. I don't know why he's called a copy cat. He's not a cat. He's a bear cub. I think he's a copy cub. Chance does everything I do but I'm the one who has to sit on the Time Out Chair. James says Chance is too little to understand. I have to set a good example for him.



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. Obey the rules so you don't have to sit on the Time Out Chair.  Good citizens eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can dig holes and play Space Invaders! Okay! Over and out!"

Father'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! 

Know what? Today is Father's Day. Today we get to do nice things for our fathers. Chance and me don't have a father. Well, not a father bear. We have James. See, fathers aren't just relatives.  Real fathers love us, no matter what. James loves us with all his heart. That makes James our father, even if he doesn't look anything like us.

I know what fathers do. Fathers hold us tight us in the middle of the night when we wake up from bad dreams. Fathers sit with us when we're sick with Austrian measles. Fathers put us in the Time Out Chair when we do something we shouldn't. Fathers laugh with us while we sit in the big 'ole sugar maple out in the back yard and share a box of Smarties. Fathers help us make forts in the living room on rainy days. Fathers give us our baths and read our nighty-night story to us and hear our bedtime prayers before tucking us into bed.  Best of all, fathers hug us when we come running and they tickle our ears and kiss our noses and tell us we're handsome bear cubs.

Chance and me have a surprise for James. We worked on it all morning. We hid under the bed so he wouldn't see us make the surprise. We made a Father's Day card for James. It's a special card. It's a  heart made out of peanut butter. It says, "We love u James". I spelled out all the words with Smarties. Red ones. We saved all the red Smarties for a long time, you know. We're supposed to eat the red ones last. That's what the Smarties song says. We saved all of our red Smarties for this card. James always says, "Save the best for last!" Now he will know how much we love him. We love him  so much we gave him all our red Smarties!

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 nice to your father, no matter what shape or size or colour he is. Share Smarties and root beer with your father. Don't forget to tell him you love him.   Okay! Happy Father's Day!  Over and out!"

Laundromat Fun

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? We're at the Laundromat. Chance and me are having fun. We're playing Hide and Seek. Our buddies Peter, Jay and James are hiding their eyes. They're counting to 100 like this--one elephant, two elephants, three elephants--all the way too 100 elephants. While they're counting, we hide. Chance isn't a good hider, so I help him. We're hiding in here, inside the dryer.

If I had a quarter to put in the slot we could ride around inside like astronauts. I could be Marc Garneau , you know. He is an astronaut. He was the first Canadian to go to outer space.  I could say, "Roger that, Houston." Astronauts get to go to outer space. I know where outer space is. It's in our back yard and way up high--higher than the sugar maple.

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 get back to Earth and find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. You can be astronauts like Chance and me. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer in outer space. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can be astronauts together! Okay! Roger that! Over and out!"

Spring is Everywhere!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He tells us he saw the first sunrise. He must be really old. I think he must be at least 20! 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? I know where spring is. It's everywhere! The sugar maple has red leaves on it. That's my favouritest tree. It's outside my bedroom window. I like to climb way up in the sugar maple and eat Smarties.  It's fun to watch everybody down below. We got two lips and daffy dills and dandy lions! Yesterday John mowed the lawn. That rhymes, you know. The sugar maple is a good place to hide.

Oh! Look at Chance. He thinks he's hiding from me in the grocery bag. He's not a very good hider. Chance thinks that when he closes his eyes he's invisible! Even if he was invisible I'd know where to find him 'cuz he makes little squeaky noises when he's happy. I can hear him right now, can't you?


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. Say 'hello' to spring. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play outside with us! We can climb the sugar maple and I'll share my Smarties with you! I know! We can sing the Smarties song real loud!

Nestlé Smarties Song

When you eat your Smarties,
Do you eat the red ones last?
Do you suck them very slowly,
Or crunch them very fast?
Eat that candy-coated chocolate,
But tell me when I ask,
When you eat your Smarties,
Do you eat the red ones last? Okay! Over and out!"

Robins are Here & Green Spaghetti

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's forgetful and really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I have to help him remember things. 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 really warm outside. It's warm enough to be subtropical, James says. That's silly. We don't have palm trees in Windsor. James says this is the Canadian Banana Belt. You can't fool me. You can't make belts out of bananas! Now you know why I have to look after him.

The temperature is 18C. The thermometer tells us how warm or cold it is. Robins are here. That means spring is in the air. I don't see any springs but I see robins. Robins in the air. They are building a nest in the sugar maple that's in our back yard. They will be our neighbours. Robins are pretty but it's hard to play with them 'cuz they fly. I don't know how to fly. Chance doesn't know either. Maybe the robins will teach us! I know! James will show us how to fly and then we can play with the robins!

Know who else is here? St. Patrick. Lots of people are wearing something green today 'cuz that's St. Patrick's favourite colour. We're not wearing green; we're gonna eat something green. We're gonna cook green spaghetti for dinner. I l-o-v-e spaghetti! Chance will have to drink condensed owls' milk from his bottle. He's a newborn and doesn't have any teeth, yet.


Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario?" That's us!  Charles and Chance! We're handsome bear cubs! We're Sons of Windsor! We're Princes of Ontario! We gotta go see James. He will tickle our ears and kiss our noses. Then we will go outside for a flying lesson. We can dig some really big holes. No. Wait! We can climb the sugar maple and watch the robins build their nest. This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Watch for spring. It's everywhere! Over and out!"