Ryers Readers - The Bad Seed

Episode Date: April 29, 2022

What happens when a bad seed doesn’t want to be bad anymore? Can a bad seed change his baaaaaaad ways!?

Let's do this. Thank you so much for tuning into today's story. Don't forget to tell your grown-up to go check out the Ryers Readers' Instagram for more fun content. Before we get into the story, do you want to know a fun fact? Each sunflower can contain as many as 1,000 to 2,000 seeds. Sunflower seeds are used to grow the flowers, but they can also be used for food for birds and people. You can harvest and roast them for a healthy snack. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay. Story time. Today, we are going to read The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald. I'm a bad seed. A bad seed. Oh yeah, it's true. The other seeds, they look at me and they say, oh, that seed is so bad.

When they think I'm not listening, they mumble. There goes that bad seed. But I can hear them. I have good hearing for a seed. How bad am I? You really want to know? Well, I never put things back where they belong. I'm late to everything.

I tell long jokes with no punchlines. I never wash my hand. or my feet. I lie about pointless stuff. I cut in line every time. I stare at everybody. I glare at everybody. I finish everybody's sentences and I never listen. And I do lots of other bad things too. Know why? Because I'm a bad seed. A bad seed. I just can't. I can't help it. Sure, I wasn't always this bad. I was born a humble seed on a simple sunflower in an unremarkable field. I had a big family. Seeds were everywhere. We found things to do to have fun. We were close. But then, the petals dropped, and our flower drooped. It's kind of a blur.

I remember a bag And then everything went dark And then Then A giant I was a goner I thought I was done for I screamed and I hollered

I was spit out at the last possible second I flew through the air And I landed under the bleachers With a huge thud When I woke up, it was dark outside. A lot of gum had softened my fall. I felt okay, but something had changed in me.

I'd become a different seed entirely. I'd become a bad seed. A bad seed. That's right. I stopped smiling. I kept myself. I drifted. I was a friend to nobody.

bad to everybody. I was lost on purpose. I lived inside a soda can. I didn't care and it suited me. Until recently, I've made a big decision. I've decided I don't want to be a bad seed anymore. I'm ready to be happy. It's hard to be good when you're used to being so bad, but I'm trying. I'm taking it one day at a time. Sure, I'm... I'm... I'm... I still forget to listen, and I still show up late, and I still talk during movies, and I do all kinds of other bad stuff. But, but I also say thank you. And I say, please, and I smile, and I hold doors for people. Not always, but sometimes.

And even though I still feel bad, I also kind of feel good. It's sort of a mix. All I can do is keep trying and keep thinking, maybe I'm not such a bad seed after all. Hey look, there goes that bad seed. Actually, he's not all that bad anymore. I heard that. The end.

Make sure to stick around and see if you can answer today's paying attention question. Before you go, do you think you can answer today's paying attention question? And the bad seed was spit out and flew through the air and under the bleachers, what did he land on that softened his fall? If your answer was a wad of gum, 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.