I’m imagining this drawn with the same kinds of colors you find in the book “Bear Wants More”  by Karma Wilson.  I’m basing the vocabulary in the story more on what my 2 and 3 year olds like to have read to them, and not something on the earliest of reading levels.  For audio, I would read the story out-loud on each slide, and if it were workable, have the words highlighted as they are read (so that it’s more of a read-along, than a read-aloud  ).  It would be neat for the parents to re-record the story using their own child’s name instead of “Rachael.”  I may try to make some pictures and upload it’s category file (if I can make something that actually resembles the story (I’m awful at drawing even stick figures!  )  Enjoy!

A Walk in the Woods
by Rebekah McNary

Slide 1:     One morning, Rachael went for a walk in the woods.
Image:      A little blonde girl is skipping away from a house towards an opening in
                the nearby woods.

Slide 2:     She could smell the wet earth that was still damp with dew.
Image:      The brown, packed-earth trail is winding through the tall trees.  Shorter bushes,
                plants, flowers, etc are close to the trail.  There’s a beautiful spider’s web at eye level
                on one side (a bigger, colorful banana spider maybe?).  Dew drops are shining all
                over the plants, and are especially pretty on the spider’s web.  The little girl is
                studying the web.

Slide 3:     She looked up at the tall, tall trees.
Image:      A picture taken from the ground looking up her face showing the tops of the trees
                reaching towards the bright blue sky with big fluffy white clouds.

Slide 4:     It was sunny, but the trees shaded her and kept her cool.
Image:      The girl is leaning into a gentle breeze that’s blowing back her hair and dress (just a
                little bit) with her eyes closed tight, a big grin on her face, and her arms flung back a
                bit.  Notice the rays of light making small bright patches on the brown path.

Slide 5:     Rachael listened to the birds singing while they bathed in a little stream.
Image:      The girl’s head is cocked to one side as she watches the birds with a half-smile on
                her face.  She’s holding something by now, a rock, a flower, a large fallen leaf, etc. 
                Some are in a clear, pebbly, shallow stream.  Some are drying and preening
                themselves just above on some tree branches that hang over the stream.

Slide 6:     She watched a rabbit munching on some grass.
Image:      The girl is squatting a stone’s-throw from the brown/gray rabbit.  She’s looking at
                the bunny, but her hand is reaching for a clover flower by her shoe (Mary-Janes  )

Slide 7:     She noticed some bees lazily buzzing around the clover flowers.
Image:      The girl is now sitting on the ground in a big patch of clover.  Her legs are both to
                one side, and she’s leaning on her hand on the other side.  Her free hand holds the
                clover flower up to her nose (for her to smell) while her focus is on the bees.

Slide 8:     Then she heard a rustling noise in the bushes!
Image:      Her head whips around to see the bushes (showing some shaking motion) with eyes
                as big as saucers and an “O” mouth.

Slide 9:     What WAS that?!  A cat?  A dog?  NO!
Image:      The girl is squatting/starting to stand, still staring at the bush.  The bush has two
                BIG eyes looking out at her, and a large undefined body still mostly hidden in the
                shadow of the bush

Slide 10:     A GIANT raccoon scurried across the brown path…
Image:        The girl is standing straight with her arms slightly out to the side.  She’s dropping
                  her flower and taking a step backwards (away from the raccoon).  The raccoon is
                  running quickly on his toes straight across the path.  He’s unusually big (like a
                  medium-sized dog) fluffy, friendly-looking (and a bit scared himself) looking
                  straight ahead to the other side of the path.

Slide 11:     slipped quickly into the long grass…
Image:        He’s reached the other side of the path.  He’s nosing into a patch of grass that’s
                  quite tall enough to hide him.

Slide 12:     and was gone…
Image:        swishy grass covers his trail and you can’t see him anymore.

Slide 13:     Rachael was so excited!
Image:        She’s grinning again, and her eyes are squished shut a bit.  Maybe hands clasped
                  together under her chin?


Slide 14:     She wanted to tell Daddy about everything she saw.
Image:        She stoops to pick up her fallen flower.

Slide 15:     Rachael skipped back up the path…
Image:        Skipping with hair and dress blowing back, passing the things she just saw.

Slide 16:     and all the way home.
Image:        girl’s back skipping back up the path from the woods heading to front door.

Slide 17:     THE END
Image:        THE END

We LOVE using Little Reader 1.05 to learn American Sign Language & reading skills at the same time.  We also need our liscense extended!!

I've downloaded Beta 1.03 on 2 computers:
- using Windows XP Professional 2002, Intel Pentium 4 Mobile CPU 1.70 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL.
- using Windows Vista Enterprise 2006, AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ 2.00 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL.
I was unable to install the program on either computer.

I've downloaded and installed Beta 1.04 on the XP computer and everything went VERY smoothly!!!

RafikiPaka  :-)

Love the program so far :-)  Just wondering if we could have the option to upload our own avitars for the forum! :-)  Thanks!

Rebekah McNary

I've downloaded and installed on 2 computers: using Windows XP Professional 2002, Intel Pentium 4 Mobile CPU 1.70 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL
                                                               and Windows Vista Enterprise 2006, AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ 2.00 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL.

The XP Beta 1.01 download was done on the first day available and it was HORRIBLY slow (website issues).  Then dl for Beta 1.02 was much better.  Then the Vista dl and install 1.02 was VERY smooth.  No problems with any of the 3 installations.

Hope this helps!!
Rebekah McNary

I'm using Windows XP Professional 2002, Intel Pentium 4 Mobile CPU 1.70 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL.  I had no trouble installing the .Net Framework.  While installing Beta, I was told it was necessary to have the .net framework installed.  I BELIEVE, I was led to a link to download it, so I did, it automatically began installing, and when it was through, I was able to click on "retry" or "continue" on the Beta install without even having to start it over!

I've also just run an install on an Vista machine:  Windows Vista Enterprise 2006, AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ 2.00 GHz, Internet Explorer, and DSL.  I didn't need to install the .net framework on that machine (it may have been done earlier for other applications).

Hope this helps!!
Rebekah McNary