- Hi, everybody.

My name is Maria.

- And I'm Mia.

- And Mia is 16 years old.

She's actually a junior in high school.

And I'm so glad that she is here to read our story with us today.

And you wanna introduce this little guy?

- And this is our dog, Hopper.

And he's gonna be four in February.

- Yeah.

And Hopper likes to, I think he likes to sit with us and listen to stories.

[Mia laughs] I think he's about to fall asleep.

- Hey, sweetheart.

- I think this is a nice, little warm place for him to sit with us.

- He's the sweetest.

- He's the sweetest.

So today, we're going to read a book to you.

And the name of the book is "Havoc in the Hammock!"

written by Kelly Russell Jaques.

And it's illustrated by Liz and Kate Pope.

So if you look at the cover, what do you see on the cover?

What do we see?

- It looks like, well, havoc, I know, means like a lot of, like a mess of a lot of things.

So it looks like there's like a lot of animals, like a turtle, and a hedgehog, and a bunny, and some mice, and a bird.

[Maria laughs] There's just everything in the hammock.

- Everything in the hammock.

And you know, I was talking to Mia earlier, and I was thinking, "Mia, how will I explain the word, hammock?"

And Mia was like, "Well, a hammock is like a hanging chair."

Yeah, so a hammock is like a hanging bed made out of cloth.

We actually have a hammock on our porch.

And Mia, what happens when you lay in the hammock?

- You fall asleep very fast.

- Yeah.

- Hammocks are very comfortable.

- Yeah, when Mia gets to the hammock, she goes into the best nap ever.

- Yeah.

- Hammocks are the best 'cause you can just sink right into it and get into a cozy sleep.

So let's start reading this lovely, cute little book, [lighthearted music] "Havoc in the Hammock!"

Okay.

"One tired tortoise tries to find a space to rest.

She climbs into a hammock, sighing-" - [Mia] "Ah, this is the best."

- The best.

- That's like me.

- [laughs] It is like you.

"Two scheming spiders crawl atop her sleepy head.

Tortoise cries and shuts her eyes and feels a sense of dread."

- [Mia] "'It's havoc in the hammock,' she utters with a groan."

- [Maria] "The only thing I wanted was some quiet time a..." - [Mia] "Alone."

- "Alone."

Poor Miss Tortoise.

Okay, so, "Three crazy crickets climb.

For them, it's time to play.

They hop around, bounce up and down, to Tortoise's dismay."

- So it looks like they're interrupting the tortoise's sleep.

- Yes.

Tortoise is not happy.

"Four mischievous mice line up atop of one steep side.

- [Mia] "They all slide down the hammock and enjoy their fun new ride."

- [Maria] No, Tortoise is not a ride.

[Mia chuckles] "It's..." - [Mia] "Havoc in the hammock."

- [Maria] "You all are much too loud.

The last thing I expected was to host this noisy..." - [Mia] "Crowd."

- This sounds like a party.

And I don't think she wanted to party.

"Five green grasshoppers show their special ninja tricks with cartwheels, handstands, flying high, and fancy spinning kicks.

[Mia and Maria laughing] Six limber lizards leap atop her hard brown shell."

- [Mia] "Tortoise starts to shake and sputter, letting out a..." - [Maria] "Yell.

'It's havoc in the hammock.'"

- "Hammock."

- "I really need a nap.

If I don't get to go to sleep, I think that I might snap."

And what does it mean to snap, Mia?

- Just you're done.

- Yeah, you just lose it.

- Mm-hmm.

- [Maria] "Seven prickly porcupines jostle for some space, poking all their pointy quills in Tortoise's poor face."

- Oh, poor tortoise.

- [laughs] Poor tortoise.

Imagine if that happened to you when you were in the hammock.

- I would not be happy.

- You'd have left.

- Yup.

- [Maria] "Eight cheerful chipmunks then perform a juggling show, dropping acorns."

- [Mia] "Plunk, plunk, plunk, on Tortoise down below."

- [Maria] "It's havoc in the hammock.

I need to stop this riot.

What's a lady got to do to get some peace and..." - [Mia] "Quiet?"

- I don't know.

Maybe leave the hammock.

- Yeah, maybe.

[Maria laughs] - [Maria] "Nine rowdy rabbits hop into the lively fray.

A quiet nap seems out of sight for a tortoise here today."

Hmm, I can't even see her face.

- She just wanted to get some sleep.

- Yes.

"10 busy bluebirds land and spread their feathered wings, forward, backward, up then down, see how their hammock swings.

'It's havoc in the hammock.'"

- [Mia] "It looks like it's about to rip.

It's swinging and it's swaying now.

This hammock's going to..." - [Maria] "It's going to...

It's going to flip."

- [Mia] Oh, no!

- [Maria] And what happened?

- [Mia] Everybody fell out.

- Everyone came tumbling out.

This is not a good nap.

- Mm-mm.

- [Maria] "The animals all hang their heads and slowly trudge on home.

Tortoise feels terrific, though.

She's finally on her own.

And better yet, she stumbles on a brand-new prime location to lay and rest, and feel her best, and get some relaxation."

- What the tortoise deserves after all this.

- I hope she gets... Do you think she's gonna get some relaxation, Mia?

- Maybe not.

- I don't know.

"This sweet new space that I have found is peaceful and serene.

It's calm, and still, and silent on this giant..." What is it, Mia?

- [Mia] "Trampoline."

- [Maria] "Trampoline."

- Oh, it's starting all over again.

- It's that expression, going from the frying pan into the fire.

It means going from one situation that's bad into worse.

- Oh, no.

- Because why is the trampoline worse, Mia?

- Because it has more space and it's bouncy.

- And it's bouncy, so more, and they're going to be jumping up and down.

- Mm-hmm.

- What a funny, cute book.

I love it.

Okay, so when we were reading the book, I noticed that there were a lot of adjectives in the book, okay?

So when they would describe something, I'm going to see if I can find an example.

They could've just said, one tortoise, but what did they say?

- They said a, "tired tortoise."

- So if they said a "tired tortoise," what does that mean?

- It means she's sleepy.

She wants to take some rest.

- So using an adjective helps you understand better what's going on.

So an adjective is a describing word.

And all over this book, there are adjectives.

What's this adjective here?

- [Mia] Scheming.

- Scheming.

So they could've said, two spiders, but they said, "Two scheming spiders."

And it helps us understand that these spiders are mischievous, which is another adjective.

And that's the lovely thing about the English language, that if you want to say a word, you can add an adjective to describe it even better.

So we said that an adjective describes how something... - Looks.

- How something... - Tastes.

- How something... - Feels.

- How something... - Smells.

- And sounds.

- Sounds.

- So adjectives tell us all those things, okay?

So I'm going to pick up a few items and we are going to find some adjectives to describe them.

Hmm.

Okay.

Mia, we have a... - An octopus.

- An octopus.

How would you... What word would you use to describe this octopus?

- I would say that it's blue.

- Blue or green.

- Blueish, greenish.

- Yeah.

So it tells us how it looks, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- A jade, a greenish octopus.

- Yeah.

- So that's a color to describe it.

Okay.

Oh, let's do feels.

We have a Popsicle here.

How does the Popsicle feel?

- It feels cold.

- A cold Popsicle.

That's another adjective.

- Hopper wants it.

- [laughs] No, not for you.

Okay, what about this vase or vase?

People say the word in two different ways.

How does it look?

- I would say it looks like a tannish color.

- And it feels rough, right?

There's another adjective.

And it feels... - Quite heavy, yeah.

- It's heavy, heavy, right?

Oh, okay.

And another one.

This dragon, okay?

So how would you describe?

What adjective would you use to describe this dragon?

Their mouth is open.

So what does that mean?

- It means it might be roaring.

- Oh, a fierce.

- Fierce, yeah.

- A fierce or ferocious.

It looks ferocious, right?

It's describing the dragon and what the dragon is doing.

So adjectives are so much fun because they help us understand what a character is doing, or how something feels, or how someone is doing a certain activity, right?

So adjectives are so much fun.

And next time you read a story, think about different adjectives that you could use in the story.

So thank you for listening to us.

Have a lovely day.

And I hope to see you soon.

Goodbye from me.

Goodbye from Mia.

- Bye.

- And goodbye from sweet Hopper.

Oh, what adjectives can we use for Hopper?

- I would say very sweet and very obedient.

- Obedient and tired Hopper.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Those are good adjectives for you.

Oh, isn't that?

- He's like, "Let me sleep."

He's like the turtle in the hammock.

- He's like the tortoise, right, in the hammock.

Okay, well, thank you all.

Have a great day.

Bye.