​

MOONBEAM

Moo. Moo. [A very real dairy cow by name of Moonbeam welcomes the merry group of travelers. Her big cow eyes look up at Keiko]. 

 

SIR RUBEN RAINBOW

Keiko, Moonbeam wants to help you learn to read. She’s giving you a big clue to learning letter sounds. When animals speak, they don’t say their names. They make their own special sounds. Moonbeam isn’t saying cow-cow. Moonbeam is mooing, moo-moo. Piglets don’t squeal, pig-pig. Piglets squeal, oink-oink.

 

[He spreads his arms wide and recites a poem.]

 

Mousey squeaks; Miss Kitty purrs; a pup barks bow wow. Letters are like animals and I will teach you  how. A pig oinks; a cow goes moo; boys and girls cry, boo-hoo. Animals don’t say their names; Alphabet letters are much the same. Reading depends on the letter sounds you choose. WATCH OUT! Alphabet names, letters don’t always use.

[Rubén ends his poems and talks seriously.]

 

Seriously, Keiko. Letters are like animals. Letters don’t say their alphabet names. Letters make their own special reading sounds.

 

MALEEKA

Isn’t it wonderful, Keiko. In Rainbowland you will learn ALL the sounds letters make. And when you do, YOU will know how to read.

 

EXTERIOR: The travelers set off again, each with their own thoughts. Up ahead, a calico kitten licks  its paws.

 

KEIKO

[Scrunches up her face, thinking about how animals and letters are alike. She stops to pet the kitten].

 

MISS KITTY

Meow. Meow.

 

MOUSEY

The kitten is like a letter, Keiko. The kitten doesn’t say its name. The kitten makes its own special sound. I wonder if your lost voice will come back to make the kitten’s sound?

KEIKO

Meow. Meow. [The kitten-sound spirals out of Keiko’s voice box, up her throat and into the air. It is caught by a gentle breeze. The gentle breeze carries the sound, meow, to every ear]. 

 

MISS KITTY

Meow [Miss Kitty meows back].

 

 

"NO!" shouted the Wild Wld Wind. "I will never allow Keiko to learn to read."