THE NEIGHBORHOOD ARCHIVE - All Things Mister Rogers
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Neighborhood Sounds (Tape 10)

Artist: Fred Rogers
Date: 1979
Format: Cassette
Label: Hubbard
Series: I Am, I Can, I Will
Catalog: 000-8704

Running Time: Approximately 06:03
Copyright © 1975 Family Communications, Inc.


Transcription

I would like you to pretend to take a walk with me today. We can go over to the supermarket and buy a few things for supper. It’s not very far.

[Door opens, outdoor sounds]

Our street isn’t a very noisy street, but there still are a lot of sounds. Aren’t there? The automobiles seem to make the loudest sound. And different cars make different sounds. Do you ever listen to the sound of your favorite car?

[Tires screech]

That car sounds as if its driver is really in a hurry. Here’s a dog barking.

[Dog barks]

When we hear a dog barking like that, sometimes it’s hard to know if it’s tied up or running loose. When you’re not sure about something like that, it’s good to have someone’s hand to hold on to.

When it’s quiet, you can hear special sounds.

[Birds chirping]

The birds are often there but sometimes we can’t hear them because of all the other noises. Let’s pretend we’re turning a corner on to a very busy street.

[Traffic sounds]

On a street like this, everything sounds all jumbled up and it’s hard to know what we’re hearing, isn’t it?

[Engine starts]

Now this big roaring, rumbling sound – do you know what that is? A truck. A very big truck. The kind with a cab in the front where the driver sits up high and drives. And a long trailer in the back – maybe filled with boxes and barrels of all sorts of things.

[Motor runs]

Do you know what that sound is? It’s a motorcycle. Can you make a sound like that? Vroom! Vroom!

Let’s cross the street now to get over to the supermarket. We’ll wait until the policeman signals us with his hand and with his whistle before we cross.

[Sirens approach]

Wait a minute. Something’s coming.

It was a police car and it’s passed.

[Whistle sounds]

There’s the policeman saying we can cross the street now. Here we are at the market. Let’s go inside.

[Door opens]

That’s a lot of new sounds. See if you can guess what they are.

[Shopping carts moving]

Shopping carts.

[Bottles rattle]

Bottles.

[Plastic rustling]

Plastic wrapping.

[Quiet hammering sound]

Someone stamping prices on cans…

[Cans rattle]

…and stacking them on the shelf.

[Cash register sounds]

And that’s the cashier and the cash register. What shall we pretend we bought? Bread. Jelly. Peanut butter. Make up some other thing while the cashier rings up the total. Some of your favorite things from the supermarket.

And that’s the grand total. We can pretend how much we have to pay for everything we bought. We’ll put our groceries right here in a big brown paper bag and start home again. We’d probably hear most of the same sounds that we heard coming to the store as we go back home. Do you remember what they were?

[Various sounds including an airplane]

There’s a new one – an airplane way up high. If it were closer it would be much, much louder.

[Door opens]

Here we are back again after our pretend walk. People pretend about lots of things. Things they like to do and things they don’t like to do. Pretending is one good way to understand about many things. It’s a way of playing. And playing is one of the best things a growing person can do.

I think I’ll just clap my hands before I say goodbye to you.

[Hands clapping]

You’re a fine player. Goodbye, my friend.


Appearing On This Tape

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