Ryers Readers - Mother Bruce

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

Bruce is a grumpy bear. Bruce is a grumpy bear who enjoys eating eggs. Bruce is a grumpy bear who gets a big surprise while trying to eat some eggs!

Let's do this! Thank you so much for tuning into today's story. Don't forget to rate and follow so you never miss out on all the Ryer's Reader's fun. And if you're looking for even more fun, come join me on the Ryer's Reader's Patreon page, where you can find ad-free episodes, bonus content, and even become a Ryer's Reader's celebrity. Before we get into the story, do you want to know a fun fact? Did you know that geese and other birds fly south for the winter? Birds move or migrate to warmer areas to escape cold temperatures and to find food more easily. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, story time. Today, we are going to read Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins. Bruce was a bear who lived all by himself. He was a grump. He did not like sunny days. He did not like rain. He did not like cute little animals. Bruce only liked one thing.

Eggs! He collected them from all over the forest. But Bruce didn't eat eggs raw like other bears. Instead, he cooked. them into fancy recipes that he found on the internet. One day, Bruce came across a recipe for hard-boiled goose eggs drizzled in honey salmon sauce. So he went out to get the ingredients. First, he caught a few salmon.

Then he collected honey from a local beehive. He liked to support local business, you see. Last, he went to Mrs. Goose's nest to pay her events. visit. Are these eggs free range organic? At home, Bruce prepared the eggs for hard boiling. But the fire in his stove fizzled, so he went out to get more wood. When Bruce came back, he was met with an unwelcome surprise. Mama! Bruce became the victim of mistaken identity. Bruce wanted hard-boiled eggs, not. goslings he supposed he could settle for buttered goslings on toast but for some

reason he lost his appetite Bruce scooped up the little geese and stomped back to their nest only to find Mrs. Goose had flown south early Bruce left the goslings there anyway and went back home mama mama but he was followed mama Bruce was very stern and said things like, Go away. And I'm not your mother. And also, I liked you better when you were eggs. Bruce could take it no longer and became extra grumpy with them.

It didn't work. Goslings always father their mother, even if she is a he, and And he is a bear. Mama, Bruce was stuck with them. He tried to make the best of it. It was hard work. As the seasons passed, Bruce watched the pesky goslings grow older.

Annoying baby geese, stubborn teenage geese, boring adult geese. Then, one fall afternoon, he saw other goose families flying south. Finally he'd be rid of those geese and he could take a long winter nap. Bruce explained migration, but they didn't listen. Bruce needed these geese to leave, so he got creative. Nothing worked. The geese would not leave Bruce. So Bruce decided to pack some bags and take the geese into town. a bus and migrated to Miami. Now every winter Bruce and his geese head south together. They lays about on the beach in tacky shirts, sipping ice-cold lemonade while Bruce dreams of new recipes.

Recipes that don't hatch. The end. Don't forget to stick around to see if you can answer today's paying attention. question. Before you go, do you think you can answer today's paying attention question? What type of transportation did Bruce and the geese take to get to Miami? If your answer was a bus, you did it. Great job. You sure were paying attention. I hope you enjoyed that story. I wonder what we're going to read next.