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Nancy’s Book Corner – Episode 5 – “Lia-Ria Meets the Angels”

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[00:00:00.01] Text, Nancy's Book Corner. Image, An open book with a heart that comes out of it.

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[00:00:00.21] NARRATOR: Nancy's Book Corner, a read aloud of children's books that introduce disabilities and celebrate differences.

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[00:00:08.46] Nancy Trush sits in a living room with a bookcase and a set of stuffed animals on a small table behind her. She holds a book.

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[00:00:09.42] NANCY TRUSH: Hi. Welcome back to Nancy's Book Corner. I'm Nancy Trush, co-founder of Daniel's Music Foundation and Daniel's mom. As an early childhood educator, one of my favorite things to do is to share special books about differences with my students.

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[00:00:29.00] Book. Title, Lia Ria Meets the Angels. Drawing, Three children hold hands.

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[00:00:29.37] The title of today's book is, Lia-Ria Meets the Angels, written and illustrated by Jody J. Fiore.

[00:00:39.51] Lia-Ria Meets the Angels is a beautiful book that teaches us about Angelman syndrome, a condition that greatly affects the ability to speak, but not one's capacity to live, laugh, love, and become very good friends. Let's get started.

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[00:01:00.84] She opens the book. Drawing, Lia sits up in bed and stretches her arms out. A bird and a sun in the window. Thought bubble, A swing set slide and seesaw in the park.

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[00:01:03.03] Lia-Ria woke up from the beautiful sun shining through her curtains. Lia-Ria remembered that today was Saturday. She hoped she would see her friends Nick, Daniel, and Addie in the park so they could play soccer. She bounded right out of bed and downstairs to breakfast.

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[00:01:25.48] Image, Lia Ria's mom smiles and puts a hand on her back as they sit at the breakfast table. Turns page.

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[00:01:27.18] "Good morning sunshine," her mommy said while kissing her on the forehead. Lia-Ria smiled and sat down to eat her bowl of fluffy puff cereal. "What are we doing today mom? Can I go play soccer with my friends in the park?"

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[00:01:44.88] Thought bubble, Two girls in uniform play soccer in the park.

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[00:01:45.61] "Yes, we will see them at the park. But we are also going to see my friend Miss Julie and her two children Jackson and Darcy."

[00:01:56.19] "OK." Lia-Ria smiled and then asked, "who is Miss Julie?" "Well, just like you play soccer with your friends, I used to play soccer with my friend Julie." Lia-Ria started to giggle. She thought that her mother probably looked pretty silly when she played soccer. Lia-Ria's mommy's face suddenly looked serious.

[00:02:23.53] "Lia-Ria, I have to talk to you about Jackson and Darcy. They are two very special children and not like any other children that you have ever met before they have something called Angelman syndrome.

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[00:02:42.04] Turns page. Image, Lia Ria holds out at her hand. Thought bubble, An angel with a halo floats in the sky.

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[00:02:43.50] "Angel what?" Leary asked. "What is that? Do they have angel wings?" "No, they do not have wings. They are amazing children and I think you will like both of them very much. They are only a little older than you, I know you will all have great fun together. Miss Julie tells me they love going to the playground."

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[00:03:13.06] Turns page. Image, Lia Ria and her three friends in the park.

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[00:03:15.97] Lia-Ria was very excited to tell her friends about Jackson and Darcy. As soon as she saw them at the park, she ran over to tell them the great news. "Guess what? We are going to meet my new friends, Jackson and Darcy. They are coming here to the park with their mom." Nick asked, "do you think they will want to play soccer with us Lia-Ria?" "I just got a really cool pink soccer ball," Added Addie. "Guess what?" Lia-Ria eyes got bigger. "Jackson and Darcy are angels."

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[00:03:55.49] Turns page. Image, Thought bubbles from the three friends, Angels float in the sky, A question mark, An exclamation mark.

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[00:03:58.72] "Angels?" The friends all set at the same time. "Do they have wings?" Daniel asked. "Can they fly?" Nick and Addie asked. Lia-Ria shook her head. "My mom said they are not like any other children I know, but she said they do not have wings." "Maybe they can do magic tricks?" Daniel asked excitedly. Lia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Daniel. Maybe we can teach them how to play soccer. Let's play until they get here."

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[00:04:38.63] Turns page. Image, Lia-Ria points out at her mom and her friend with her kids.

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[00:04:41.38] After a few minutes Lia looked up and saw her mom hugging another woman who had two children standing next to her. Lia-Ria called to her friends, "Come on. I think Jackson and Darcy are here. The kids took off running to see their new friends. Lia-Ria mom was talking to Miss Julie. Jackson and Dorothy stood by waving to them. Miss Julie greeted Lia-Ria and her friends, "Hi, kids. I am Miss Julie. It is so nice to see all of you. I want to introduce you to Jackson and Darcy. As you can see, they are very excited to meet you."

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[00:05:31.38] Turns page. Image, Three children in the park.

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[00:05:34.45] Jackson walked over to Nick. He walked a little differently with very stiff legs. He was smiling and laughing and got very close to Nick. Nick started to take a step backwards but Jackson reached forward and gave Nick a huge hug.

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[00:05:55.36] Turns page. Image, Three children in the park.

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[00:05:58.96] Dorothy then came up to Addie. She gave Addie a big smile, and then playfully smacked the soccer ball out of Addie's hand. Next, Dorothy picked up the ball and handed it back to Addie. She smiled and said something to Addie, but Addie and the other children could not understand her. Miss Julie smiled, "Dorothy wants to have a catch with you. Would you like to have a catch with her?"

[00:06:32.08] Addie gently threw the ball to Darcy. Even though she missed it, Darcy clapped her hands and laughed. She ran after the ball and brought it right back to Addie.

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[00:06:44.91] Turns page. Image, Miss Julie and her two kids. A question mark above Daniel's head.

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[00:06:47.66] "Does Darcy know how to talk?" Daniel asked Miss Julie. Miss Julie smiled and shook her head, "No Darcy and Jackson are not able to speak like you and me, but they are able to communicate.

[00:07:04.37] "Why can't they talk?" asked Lee Ria.

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[00:07:07.97] Turns page. Image, Lia Ria holds the book. Title, Jackson and Darcie's book.

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[00:07:10.97] "Jackson and Darcy have something called Angelman syndrome. They are not able to speak like you and me, but they can talk to us in other ways. See this book?" Miss Julie held up what looked like a photo album "It has lots of pictures in it. Jackson and Darcy can point to the picture to show me what they want." Miss Julie handed the book to Lia-Ria and Daniel so they could see. As they flipped through the pages, they saw pictures of a bed, fruit, milk, and chocolate candies.

[00:07:53.51] "Oops! Please do not let Darcy see this page." Miss Julie said, as she quickly flipped the chocolate candy page. "Darcy loves chocolate candy. If she sees that page she will want to eat it right now."

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[00:08:10.73] Turns page. Image, Thought bubble, Jackson on a horse, Jackson stands with his eyes closed, Jackson swims.

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[00:08:14.00] All of a sudden, Jackson began to flap his arms and point at Nick's shoes. The children could tell Jackson was trying to tell them something. He was making movements with his hands. Miss Julie told him what was going on.

[00:08:30.74] "Jackson is showing you another way he communicates. He is using sign language. Have you ever heard of sign language? It is for people who cannot hear or who are deaf. Jackson and Dorothy can hear just fine, but since they cannot speak, they use sign language to talk to us." Nick then asked, "why is Jackson pointing to my shoes? Oh, no. Did I step in dog poop again?" Miss Julie laughed.

[00:09:06.41] "No Nick you are fine. Jackson is trying to tell you, he thinks your sneakers are pretty cool. He has a pair just like them at home. Jackson loves sneakers. As you can see, because of the Angelman syndrome, he has some trouble walking, but he is a very hard worker. And he has learned to walk by taking horseback riding lessons and swimming lessons."

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[00:09:38.26] Turns page. Image, Thought bubble, A doctor without hair on the top of his head. A medical bag is beside him.

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[00:09:41.00] "Miss Julie, how did they get angels?" Addie asked. "Excellent question, Addie. Jackson and Dorothy did not catch Angelman syndrome, they were born with it. Just like you were born with dark hair and Daniel has blond hair, Jackson and Dorothy were born this way." "What is it called again? Angelman drum?" Daniel asked.

[00:10:10.43] "It is called Angelman syndrome. Dr. Harry Angelman was the first doctor to diagnose or find out what was wrong with kids like Jackson and Darcy. People with Angelman syndrome are often known as 'Angels,' because they always act young and happy."

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[00:10:34.06] Turns page. Image, Miss Julie and her two kids. Ice cream cones and balloons in the background.

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[00:10:36.85] "Now I have some questions for you children." said Miss Julie. "Do you like swimming, amusement parks, ice cream, and other fun things?" The children all nodded. "Well, Jackson and Dorothy liked the same things that you do. And as you can see, they get excited about things they like.

[00:11:02.74] "Miss Julie, will they ever learn to talk?" Lia-Ria wanted to know. "No Lia-Ria. They will not, but the good thing is they can talk to us in the ways I just showed you. As you can all see Jackson and Darcy are very happy. They are this way all the time and never ever have a sad day. They enjoy all of the things in life that you do like going to the movies, and eating ice cream, going to school, and playing in the park with friends. Jackson and Darcy are very special children who have big hearts and try to love every person they meet. They always brighten my day with their smiles and laughter. Jackson and Dorothy need wonderful friends like all of you to help them along through life."

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[00:12:03.49] Turns page. Image, The kids in the park raise their hands in the air and smile.

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[00:12:06.65] Miss Julie put her arms around Jackson and Dorothy. She bent down and got close to their ears. "Jackson and Darcy do you think you would like to be friends with Lia-Ria, Nick, Addie, and Daniel?" Darcy smiled and clapped her hands, Jackson jumped up towards Daniel and put his hand high in the air. He began to laugh at Daniel and Miss Julie laughed too.

[00:12:36.80] "Daniel, Jackson definitely wants to be your friend. He is trying to give you a high five." Daniel gave Jackson a high 5 and soon, all of the friends, both new friends and old ones were giving each other high fives. "Let's go play soccer." Addie yelled. All of the friends ran off to play and had a wonderful time in the park for the rest of the day.

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[00:13:05.36] Turns page. Image, Lia Ria in bed beside her mom. Thought bubble, A hand with all the fingers up in the air except for the ring and middle finger, which are curled downwards.

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[00:13:07.76] Later that night, as her mom tucked her in bed, she asked, "Lia-Ria, what did you think about your day with Jackson and Darcy?" Lia-Ria smiled and told her mom, "it was a great day, I liked that Jackson and Dorothy are always happy. They showed us that everything can be OK, even if you are a little different. I hope we can see them again soon."

[00:13:36.91] Lia-Ria then made a sign with her hand in the air towards her mom. "Look mom, I learned this today from Jackson and Darcy. It's sign language." "Oh, that is neat. What are you saying Lia-Ria?" "I am telling you I love you mom." "I love you too Lia-Ria." Her mom smiled and hugged her tightly.

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[00:14:03.09] Closes book.

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[00:14:05.79] I hope you enjoyed Lia-Ria Meets the Angels, a book about friendship, kindness, and understanding. Remember, it's OK to be different, and it's OK to ask questions. I look forward to sharing another story with you real soon. Goodbye.

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[00:14:27.60] Nancy waves.

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[00:14:31.74] Text, Nancy's Book Corner.

[00:14:35.48] Thanks for watching! To learn more visit Daniels music.org. YouTube icon. A cursor clicks on Subscribe and the bell. Text, And Subscribe to Daniel's Music Foundation on YouTube.