Extensive Listening: Little Brother

Warmer

Did you play with dolls or other action figures when you were a child?

What kinds of things did you do with them?

Why are dolls such popular toys?

What do you think the dolls of the future might look like?

We're going to read and listen to an authentic short story in today's class.

Before we get into it, let's tackle some potentially tricky vocab.

Match

in a row (adv)

to be wrapped up (adj)

to pat smth (v)

limp (adj)

lap (n)

to totter (v)

to tear smth (v)

to keep up (with smb) (v)

to be stacked up (adj)

to swat smth (v)

to howl (v)

to wad smth into balls (v)

to walk in an unstable way because you are a baby or drunk

to change the form of smth into a ball

to 'break' paper into different parts

to touch smb in a friendly way

the top part of your legs

to cry wildly

one on top of the other

soft, not moving, not alive

to be covered in smth, usually paper

consecutively, one after the other

to hit smth (esp. an insect) with your hand

to do smth as fast as smb else

Correct answers

in a row (adv)

to be wrapped up (adj)

to pat smth (v)

limp (adj)

lap (n)

to totter (v)

to tear smth (v)

to keep up (with smb) (v)

to be stacked up (adj)

to swat smth (v)

to howl (v)

to wad smth into balls (v)

consecutively, one after the other

to be covered in smth, usually paper

to touch smb in a friendly way

soft, not moving, not alive

the top part of your legs

to walk in an unstable way because you are a baby or drunk

to 'break' paper into different parts

to do smth as fast as smb else

one on top of the other

to hit smth (esp. an insect) with your hand

to cry wildly

to change the form of smth into a ball

Let's get into it!

Listen to and read the first part.

Little Brother™

by Bruce Holland Rodgers

Peter had wanted a Little Brother™ for three Christmases in a row. His favorite TV commercials were the ones that showed just how much fun he would have teaching Little Brother™ to do all the things that he could already do himself. But every year, Mommy had said that Peter wasn't ready for a Little Brother™. Until this year.

This year when Peter ran into the living room, there sat Little Brother™ among all the wrapped presents, babbling baby talk, smiling his happy smile, and patting one of the packages with his fat little hand. Peter was so excited that he ran up and gave Little Brother™ a big hug around the neck. That was how he found out about the button. Peter's hand pushed against something cold on Little Brother™'s neck, and suddenly Little Brother™ wasn't babbling any more, or even sitting up. Suddenly, Little Brother™ was limp on the floor, as lifeless as any ordinary doll.

What kind of toy is Little Brother™? What does ™ mean?

What do you think BABBLING means?

What happened when Peter hugged Little Brother™?

"Peter!" Mommy said.

"I didn't mean to!"

Mommy picked up Little Brother™, sat him in her lap, and pressed the black button at the back of his neck. Little Brother™'s face came alive, and it wrinkled up as if he were about to cry, but Mommy bounced him on her knee and told him what a good boy he was. He didn't cry after all.

"Little Brother™ isn't like your other toys, Peter," Mommy said. "You have to be extra careful with him, as if he were a real baby."

She put Little Brother™ down on the floor, and he took tottering baby steps toward Peter. "Why don't you let him help open your other presents?"

So that's what Peter did. He showed Little Brother™ how to tear the paper and open the boxes. The other toys were a fire engine, some talking books, a wagon, and lots and lots of wooden blocks. The fire engine was the second-best present. It had lights, a siren, and hoses just like the real thing. There weren't as many presents as last year, Mommy explained, because Little Brother™ was expensive. That was okay. Little Brother™ was the best present ever! Well, that's what Peter thought at first.

How did Peter's mother stop Little Brother™ from crying?

What do you think 'wrinkled up' means?

What does the last line make you think?

At first, everything that Little Brother™ did was funny and wonderful. Peter put all the torn wrapping paper in the wagon, and Little Brother™ took it out again and threw it on the floor. Peter started to read a talking book, and Little Brother™ came and turned the pages too fast for the book to keep up.

But then, while Mommy went to the kitchen to cook breakfast, Peter tried to show Little Brother™ how to build a very tall tower out of blocks. Little Brother™ wasn't interested in seeing a really tall tower. Every time Peter had a few blocks stacked up, Little Brother™ swatted the tower with his hand and laughed. Peter laughed, too, for the first time, and the second. But then he said, "Now watch this time. I'm going to make it really big."

But Little Brother™ didn't watch. The tower was only a few blocks tall when he knocked it down.

"No!" Peter said. He grabbed hold of Little Brother™'s arm. "Don't!"

Little Brother™'s face wrinkled. He was getting ready to cry.

Peter looked toward the kitchen and let go. "Don't cry," he said. "Look, I'm building another one! Watch me build it!"

Little Brother™ watched. Then he knocked the tower down.

Peter had an idea.

What funny things did Little Brother™ do at first?

What do you think 'grabbed hold of' means?

What do you think Peter's idea was?

When Mommy came into the living room again, Peter had built a tower that was taller than he was, the best tower he had ever made. "Look!" he said.

But Mommy didn't even look at the tower. "Peter!" She picked up Little Brother™, put him on her lap, and pressed the button to turn him back on. As soon as he was on, Little Brother™ started to scream. His face turned red.

"I didn't mean to!"

"Peter, I told you! He's not like your other toys. When you turn him off, he can't move but he can still see and hear. He can still feel. And it scares him."

"He was knocking down my blocks."

"Babies do things like that," Mommy said. "That's what it's like to have a baby brother."

Little Brother™ howled.

"He's mine," Peter said too quietly for Mommy to hear. But when Little Brother™ had calmed down, Mommy put him back on the floor and Peter let him toddle over and knock down the tower.

Mommy told Peter to clean up the wrapping paper, and she went back into the kitchen. Peter had already picked up the wrapping paper once, and she hadn't said thank you. She hadn't even noticed.

Peter wadded the paper into angry balls and threw them one at a time into the wagon until it was almost full. That's when Little Brother™ broke the fire engine. Peter turned just in time to see him lift the engine up over his head and let it drop.

Why didn't Peter's mother even look at the tower?

What makes Little Brother™ a different kind of toy?

Why did Peter feel annoyed with his mother?

What do you think is going to happen next?

For the ending - we're going to listen only.

What did Peter do to little brother?

How did his mother react?

What did Peter threaten to do?

How did Peter's mother punish him for his behaviour?

Reflection

In general, did you like the story? Why (not)?

How effective was the twist at the end? Did you see it coming?

What did you think of the narrator's performance?

Did reading along help with the comprehension of the text, or did you find it distracting to listen and read at the same time?

Do you think reading and listening together (book + audiobook) in your free time can be a good way to develop both skills at the same time?

Tapescript for the final part

"No!" Peter shouted. The windshield cracked and popped out as the fire engine hit the floor. Broken. Peter hadn't even played with it once, and his best Christmas present was broken.

Later, when Mommy came into the living room, she didn't thank Peter for picking up all the wrapping paper. Instead, she scooped up Little Brother™ and turned him on again. He trembled and screeched louder than ever.

"My God! How long has he been off?" Mommy demanded.

"I don't like him!"

"Peter, it scares him! Listen to him!"

"I hate him! Take him back!"

"You are not to turn him off again. Ever!"

"He's mine!" Peter shouted. "He's mine and I can do what I want with him! He broke my fire engine!"

"He's a baby!"

"He's stupid! I hate him! Take him back!"

"You are going to learn to be nice with him."

"I'll turn him off if you don't take him back. I'll turn him off and hide him someplace where you can't find him!"

"Peter!" Mommy said, and she was angry. She was angrier than he'd ever seen her before. She put Little Brother™ down and took a step toward Peter. She would punish him. Peter didn't care. He was angry, too.

"I'll do it!" he yelled. "I'll turn him off and hide him someplace dark!"

"You'll do no such thing!" Mommy said. She grabbed his arm and spun him around. The spanking would come next.

But it didn't. Instead he felt her fingers searching for something at the back of his neck.

But it didn't. Instead he felt her fingers searching for something at the back of his neck.