This is the story of a little bunny who loved to nibble on cabbage and munch on carrots. True, most bunnies love to eat their veggies. But this little bunny’s very, very favorite treat happened to be berries. And her very, very favorite berries were plump, juicy blueberries. When in season, she ate blueberries with every meal!
She ate blueberry pancakes for breakfast.
She put blueberries in her salad for lunch.
She ate fresh blueberries for an afternoon snack.
For dinner, she made a blueberry sauce and put it over her asparagus.
And on very, very special occasions, including her birthday, she celebrated with blueberry pie a la mode! Of course, the ice cream was blueberry!
Now, don’t you know that blueberries stain? You might think that blueberries would color things blue. But blueberries are only blue on the outside. Squeeze them and they ooze a purplish red! So blueberries stain things a berry-red!
Redness and Rudeness
As you can imagine our little bunny often had red fur all around her mouth and on her paws. About this, rude rabbits often teased her.
“Hey, there goes little red riding hood!” one called after her.
“Can’t you put your lipstick on straight?” mocked another.
The little bunny explained, “I’ve just been eating blueberries. I can’t help it if they stain my fur.”
“If you had been eating blueberries, why aren’t you blue?” taunted a rude rabbit.
“You’re making me very blue!” pouted the little bunny. “Inside my heart is blue.”
“Silly bunny, your heart is red!” shouted the rudest rabbit.
“I mean I’m blue, as in sad,” the little bunny explained.
“Aw. The red bunny is blue. So sad,” teased the rude rabbit.
So the blue berry-red bunny sulked off to be alone. But she was only sad for a short while. Soon she was nibbling more blueberries and she forgot all her blues.
Serendipity Strikes!
One day the little bunny, while out hippity-hopping through a farm, serendipitously stumbled on a big, big bushel filled to the brim with plump, juicy blueberries. Excitedly, she leaped in with all four of her tiny paws into the big bushel! She was in berry heaven! She ate and ate until her little belly was filled to the brim! She hopped home, one very happy hare.
But the little bunny was not only very, very happy – she was also very, very berry-red! Not only did she have a red mouth and a red tongue, but also red paws, a red tummy, and a red everything! Even her cottontail, which had once been white as snow, was very, very berry-red!
Those rude rabbits began to tease her again. Their rude remarks made this very, very red bunny feel very, very blue. With head hung low, she left the company of bunnies to be alone. She meandered her way back to the farm. In a snug little corner, she lay down to sleep.
Soon, along came the farmer and sat down beside her. “Why, it’s a little red bunny!”
The little bunny awoke. “Yep,” she yawned. “I’m all red! I jumped in your bushel of blueberries and it turned me red!”
“Well, blueberries will do that! But you also look blue. You know… the sad kind of blue? Are you that blue?
“Am I blue? Yes, I am blue,” whimpered the bunny.
“So that makes you red, white and blue! At least you’re patriotic!” joked the farmer.
The little bunny laughed. “So I am!”
“See, no need to stay sad,” advised the farmer.
“But those rabbits were teasing me!” insisted the bunny.
“So? Are you going to pay any mind to the taunts of a few rude rabbits?” asked the farmer. “You don’t have to be blue and you don’t have to be red. We’ll just give you a shampoo and wash that red right out of your hair! And besides, there’s always a silver lining to stormy clouds.”
“What does that mean?” asked the bunny.
“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.
So the farmer took the bunny and shampooed her until she was all snowy white again! Well, the little bunny was tickled pink! (That is to say, she was overjoyed. She was not, of course, pink in color having just been washed white.)
The little bunny was so, so happy that she began to hop all around. She hopped and hopped and hopped right back into the bushel of blueberries! And what do you think “hoppened”? She turned very, very berry-red again!
“Oh, no!” said the farmer. “You’re stained again!”
“Sure am!” the bunny smiled.
Singing a New Song
The little bunny shrugged her shoulders. “You know, Mr. Farmer, I did a lot of thinking while I was hopping. Yes, thinking… and I even wrote a song! From now on, I’ll be singing a new song!”
So what if I’m red from eating blueberries? I just refuse to be blue. So what if I’m red? Red can be merry! I choose not to be blue.
This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song. Let me give you the news: This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song and it’s not the blues
So what if I’m teased? Their words, they are truthless. I just refuse to be sad! So what if I’m mocked by those who are couthless? I choose to be really glad!
This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song. Let me give you the news: This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song and it’s not the blues
So what if they call me names that aren’t true? I just refuse to take heed So who cares what they think? I know what I’ll do… I choose my mood. Yes, indeed!
This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song. Let me give you the news: This berry-red bunny is no longer blue I’m singing a song and it’s not the blues “That a girl!” said the farmer. “Don’t let any rude remarks dampen your spirits! Personally, I think you’re cute with red fur. But you’re really, really cute when you’re smiling.”
So from that day forward, the little bunny decided not to be gloomy blue over thoughtless, rude remarks.
The Silver Lining
Do you remember the “silver lining” to which the farmer referred? The bunny did find out what he meant. A “silver lining” is the good that comes even from a bad situation. And much good did come about through this bunny’s experience!
You see, the farmer thought that the little bunny looked so cute with red blueberry stains around her mouth, that he photographed her for his berry promotion ads. In return, he offered her all the blueberries she could eat for the rest of her life! So the little bunny never lacked blueberries to eat. Even when they were out of season, the farmer had frozen berries and blueberry jam! She was one very happy hare!
It wasn’t long before she became known far and wide through the ad campaign as the Berry-Red Bunny. Her berry-stained face was everywhere!
Her song This Berry-Red Bunny Is No Longer Blue was being sung by bunnies all over the forests, the fields and the farms! There was not a blue bunny around!
Eating berries, which are very nutritious, became very popular. There were, consequently, many, many happy, healthy hares hopping around. Knowing that she had helped many bunnies become healthier made the Berry-Red Bunny even happier!
The farmer was happy, too, because, he was selling bushels and bushels of plump blueberries.
And the once-rude rabbits finally learned not to tease others and apologized to the little bunny. They all became “true blue” friends and snacked on healthful blueberries together. They all got berry-red mouths, but they all lived hoppily ever after.
The Hippity-Hoppity-Happity End
A la mode = (French) literally, “according to the fashion” but in relation to dessert = topped with ice cream
patriotic = faithful to one’s country
serendipitously = unexpectedly coming across something good
Discussion Board: (send a comment) Can you think of a bad situation you experienced that had a “silver lining”?
Challenge: (answers on page 2) How many expressions can you find that mean “happy”? How many expressions can you find that mean “sad”? Colorful Expressions blue = sad tickled pink = super happy true blue = faithful, dependable white as snow = pure, clean, bright white
Expressions for “sad” blue down and out gloomy dampen one’s spirits = to make one sad
Expressions for “happy” glad in heaven (“in berry heaven”) joyful joyous merry overjoyed tickled pink
Proverb Every cloud has a silver lining.
Granny-isms “Don’t be a rude rabbit!”
Note: There are some blueberries that are not red on the inside but a light, light almost clear color on the inside. But this bunny prefers the red insides even though they stain!
We read and write words using the alphabet. We read and write music using “notes”.
The different types of notes show musicians how long to make a sound.
Can you sing your ABC letter song just through “g” then stop? When you sing it, notice that you sing each letter for the same amount of time until you sing “g”. The sound “g” is longer, twice as long, as the letters “a-f” in your alphabet song.
In music, this would be written using quarter notes and a half note for “g”.
THE QUARTER NOTE
The quarter note looks like a big black foot on a skinny leg. Think of the quarter note as a “foot” note that marches to the beat!
Each quarter note takes one beat, just as each letter “a-f” takes one beat when you sing your ABCs.
QUARTER NOTE = ONE BEAT
HALF NOTE = TWO BEATS
THE HALF NOTE
The “g” in the ABC song is sung twice as long as any other letter and would be shown as a half note. Use your imagination and it looks a little like a raindrop. It gets two beats as when you say “rain-drop”. A raindrop falls and goes “ker-plunk!”
REMEMBER:
QUARTER NOTE = ONE BEAT
HALF NOTE = TWO BEATS
PS: There are other types of notes that we will learn about later.
ACTIVITY:
HALF NOTE ACTIVITY: Clap your hands while you say these words. But ONLY clap when you say “drip” or “ker”. NEVER clap on “drop” or “plunk”.
Drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop, ker-plunk!
Drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop, ker-plunk!
QUARTER NOTE:
Do you know how to march? Marching to the beat, each step is taken on a beat.
Where do music notes live? Why in a music house, of course! It’s officially called the GRAND STAFF.
The squiggly symbols in the “music house” below are called “clefs”. The word “clef” means “key”. Remember, all houses need a key to enter! So there is always one at the beginning of music, too.
The squiggly symbol on the top of the “music house” is the treble clef and it sits on the lines (staff) of the treble staff. The notes on the treble staff sound higher than the bass notes.
Memory Tip: Both “treble” and “top” start with “t” in their spelling. The treble’s on the top!
The backwards “c” symbol with the two dots is the bass clef and sits on the lines of the bass staff. The notes on the bass staff sound lower than the treble notes. Just as the basement of a house is lower, you can remember that the bass notes are lower and on the bottom. Also, “bass” in music is pronounced like “base” in “basement”.
Memory Tip: Both “bass” and “bottom” start with “b” in their spelling. The bass is on the bottom!
Together, the treble staff and the bass staff make a “big music house” called the GRAND STAFF. (“Grand” means “big”.)
ACTIVITY: You can recite the following in a sing-song manner to help you remember this lesson. When you say “the treble’s on the top” use a high voice. When you say “and the bass is on the bottom”, use a low voice.
The treble’s on the top and the bass is on the bottom
The treble’s on the top and the bass is on the bottom
For this little jazzy exercise, hit only thumbs and pinkies on every beat (each syllable = one beat).
Use chart below for example in “C” Position. Thumbs and pinkies start on yellow. Always keep three white keys between your thumbs and pinkies.
Use only the middle fingers whenever you say “UP DOWN”. Take the middle finger “UP” to the black Eb key (red on the chart below) and then slide it off to E (blugreen on the chart) on “DOWN”.
Play with one hand at a time, then see if you can play with both hands.
HOLD = 4 beats.
“Boogie Woogie”in Key of “C”
in “C” Position
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie with me.
Again in “C” Position
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie with me.
Move hands so left pinkie is on “F” and right thumb is on “F”
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie with me.
Move hands up one key so left pinkie is on “G” and right thumb is on “G”
Boo-gie UP DOWN
Boo-gie UP DOWN, HOLD!
Move hands back so left pinkie is on “F” and right thumb is on “F”
Granny Vee 
