Hi, everyone.
I'm Monica Arnaldo, and I'm an author and an illustrator.
And I wrote this book, Are You a Cheeseburger?
And then I made a big version of the characters from the book.
Here's Grub, a raccoon, and that's Seed, a little seed.
They're gonna hang out with us while I read to you from the book.
So let's do it.
Are You a Cheeseburger?, by Monica Arnaldo.
[MUSIC]
This is Grub.
Grub is a raccoon, and he is all by himself, see?
And here is Seed.
Seed is a seed, of course, and he is stuck in the trash.
This particular seed and this particular raccoon had very little in common,
except at that moment they were both in the same garbage can.
Hello, said Seed.
Grub continued rooting around.
You are busy.
That is all right, I am busy too.
Grub stopped, you are?
I'm looking for someone to plant me in the ground so I can start growing.
Grub eyed the seed hungrily.
Will you grow food?
I am not sure, Seed admitted.
Could you grow cheeseburgers?
What is a cheeseburger?
Grub considered this something very good and very special.
Hmm, maybe?, We will have to wait and see.
Grub had never seen a cheeseburger plant before.
[MUSIC]
But he liked the sound of it, so he planted Seed right away.
Now what?, Grub asked.
Seed's voice called up faintly from underground.
Now we wait.
Hmm, Grub's stomach growled.
How long?
I am not sure.
We will have to see.
The two spent every evening together, from moonrise to moonset.
Grub tried to be patient, but Seed began to wonder.
What if he wasn't a cheeseburger plant?
What if he was something else entirely?
There's poor worried Seed, and
I think Grub is singing a song about all sorts of fantastical food?
To help pass the time, they told stories.
Grub told Seed about the top three cheeseburgers he had ever eaten.
Number 1, half a cheeseburger, barely moldy.
Number 2,
a piece of cheeseburger bun with some mustard on it wrestled away from seagulls.
Number 3,
a greasy paper wrapper Grub could tell had once contained a cheeseburger.
[LAUGH] Poor Grub,
I don't think he has much experience with real cheeseburgers, does he?
Seed told Grub about all the interesting things he saw down in the earth.
Number 1, a long worm tunneling.
Number 2, a slightly shorter worm tunneling.
Number 3, two average size worms tunneling, one right after the other, so
that at first, they seem like one extremely long worm.
What is happening down there?, Grub asked.
Seed looked around.
It is dark.
What is happening up there?
It is dark, too.
Later though, the sun will rise.
What is that like?, Seed asked.
I'm not sure, Grub confessed.
I am always asleep then.
But I have heard that it is like a cheeseburger, very good and very special.
Both alone in the dark, Grub and Seed tried to picture the sunrise.
Looks like they might be starting to have very different ideas about what very good
and very special look like?
Slowly, slowly things began to change.
Hello again, said Seed.
Seed, you are out of the ground!
Yes, said Seed proudly.
I am growing.
That evening, Grub and Seed celebrated.
Grub had a greasy piece of cardboard he was almost certain had once been
the bottom of a pizza box.
Seed had water.
To the future!
Sure and steady, Seed kept growing and growing.
The cheeseburgers were nearly at hand.
Finally, one morning just before sunrise, Seed bloomed.
What do we think Seed grew into?
I'm not sure that's a cheeseburger plant, let's see.
Said Seed.
Are the cheeseburgers ready?, asked Grub.
Grub, Seed started, I do not think I am a cheeseburger plant.
I think I am just a flower.
A flower?
Yes.
Not a cheeseburger plant?
No.
So no cheeseburgers, then?
No cheeseburgers.
Grub was quiet for a long time.
That's a very serious face.
This is my favorite page from the book.
What is he thinking about?
What is it?, Seed asked.
I am thinking, Grub said.
About cheeseburgers?
No, about flowers.
What are you thinking about flowers?
I am thinking that flowers are good and special too,
maybe even more special than cheeseburgers.
More special than cheeseburgers?, Seed gasped.
Well, the same.
This is Seed.
Seed is a flower, see?
And this is Grub.
Grub is a gardener.
They don't have any cheeseburgers, but they do have each other, and
that is something very good and very special.
The end!
And there's little Seed and some previews of him as a flower.
And here is the back cover, I have to show this to you.
Just in case you were wondering, that's Seed from the front and
that's Seed from the back.
He does have a bum, don't worry.
Everybody's got a bum.
Thanks so much for hanging out with me, and
I hope that you liked Are You a Cheeseburger?
Bye!
[MUSIC]