Hello everyone, I'm Gigi. Welcome to "Gigi's Magic Mailbox."

[musical notes]

Did you hear that? That means something's just arrived in our magic mailbox. Let's see what it is.

(Describer) Gigi opens the magic mailbox. Red and gold fireworks burst.

"Me and My Dragon, Scared of Halloween." This poor little Dragon, he likes lots of things, but he doesn't really like Halloween and his friend is trying to teach him that it's okay. So let's see if he can convince him that Halloween isn't anything that he needs to be afraid of. If you have your own copy, go grab it and we'll read it together. All right, let's get started.

(Describer) In an animation, a magic mirror reflects Gigi, a red-lipped woman in bejeweled, cat-eye glasses.

[upbeat music]

(children) "Gigi's Magic Mailbox."

(Gigi) "Me and My Dragon, Scared of Halloween,"

(Describer) The book cover shows a boy and a big red dragon.

written and illustrated by David Biedrzycki. Me and my Dragon like all the same things. We love birthday parties. We're crazy about parades. Fireworks dazzle us.

[musical notes]

There's our favorite sound. Let's see what's in the magic mailbox.

(Describer) Gigi opens the magic mailbox. Red and gold fireworks sparkle.

A lighter. Oh, you know what? You're not gonna even be able to see that, so it's gonna look like a magic lighter, and some little bitty candles. I like how in the story the Dragon said, "Fireworks dazzle us," didn't he? Let's see if we can light these candles. I didn't want to set off a firework in my house. But, if you look really close, these kind of spark like fireworks. Can you see that? Let's see if we let 'em burn for a minute you'll be able to see. These are cool birthday candles, aren't they? Spark off of each other. Oh, did you see that big spark? They're not quite as impressive as the fireworks in the book, are they? But, they're still pretty cool. Can you hear 'em crackle a little bit? This would be fun to have on your birthday cake, wouldn't it? Let's see. Oh, did you see that? They kind of spark even more when you blow 'em. I guess they're done now. Oh, there it goes a little bit. Well, let's see what else happens in the story with Dragon. We enjoy the same stuff, except for trick or treating. I love Halloween.

(Describer) The boy and Dragon look in Eddie's Costume Shop's window.

Dragon, not so much.

(Describer) Dragon hides in the street gutter.

He's scared of werewolves. Zombies give him the creeps and he hides whenever he sees a mummy. Where'd he go? Poor Dragon. I explained to him that mummies, zombies, and werewolves aren't real, but he was still scared.

(Describer) They look through books.

I thought that if I made Dragon a costume he would understand what Halloween is all about.

[tuba music]

(Describer) The boy covers Dragon in a toilet paper mummy costume.

Dad did not like the mummy idea. Robo Dragon almost had a major malfunction.

(Describer) Dragon breathes fire toward a pet parrot.

[musical notes]

There's that magical sound again. Let's see what's in the magic mailbox.

(Describer) Gigi opens the mailbox. Red and gold fireworks spray.

A robot. Poor Dragon, his costume ideas are not working out, are they? He almost fried that little bird with all of the smokin' fire comin' out of him as a robot. This little guy's a little scary too, isn't he? Well, let's see what else happens with Dragon in the story.

(Describer) The boy covers his ears.

The werewolf costume looked fantastic, but Dragon couldn't howl.

[howling]

The zombie costume almost scared Dragon to death. Yikes.

(Describer) Dragon jumps on the boy.

The tutu was cute. Too bad it was flammable. Yeohhh.

(Describer) Wearing a flaming tutu, Dragon breaks through the door.

I had my costume all ready. I was going to go as Elvis. But then Dragon stole the show. No way was that going to work. Everyone knows there's only one Elvis.

[crowd clapping]

(Elvis voice) Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much.

[musical notes]

You know what that means. Let's see what's in the magic mailbox.

(Describer) Gigi opens the mailbox. She reaches inside.

Some funky glasses like Gigi wears and a guitar. I think that one of my favorite costumes for Dragon was when he was Elvis and he goes, thank you, thank you very much. That's so funny. Well, this guitar doesn't sound quite as good as Elvis's guitar, but it'll do. And then the glasses. They don't look much different than mine. But, he wore some funky glasses and he sure could sing. So, if you ever get a chance to hear some old songs of Elvis, you should listen to them. Well, let's get back to the story and see what else happens with Dragon. Dragon was sad because he didn't have a costume. I tried to make him feel better by reading him our favorite book.

(Describer) Book title: "Knight Boy, Dragon Trainer."

That gave Dragon an idea.

(Describer) The boy wears a knight costume.

We were ready just in time. We flew off and went from house to house. Everyone loved Dragon's costume. So real.

(Describer) A man puts his head in Dragon's mouth.

I let Dragon collect the candy. He took forever. Come on already. Haven't you ever been trick or treating before? Hey, he stole my idea.

(Describer) Dragon holds up a line of trick-or-treaters.

We came home with a pile of candy and started counting it all. I put Dragon in charge of guarding it. Now we both love Halloween. The end. Thank you for joining me today to read, "Me and My Dragon, Scared of Halloween." Make sure you watch til the end because Gigi got to visit Ms. Jessica and Ms. Marvella's class in Alabama, and it was so much fun. And so, you'll get to see some video of all my new little friends that I met. And also, a shoutout to Rose, my new little friend that I also met in Alabama. Well, I loved how the Dragon finally found a way to not be afraid of Halloween, didn't he? He found that just being himself was the best costume of all and he had a lotta fun in the end getting all that candy. If you watch til the end like I mentioned before, you'll get to hear what kinda candy Ms. Jessica and Ms. Marvella's class likes to eat. Well, thank you for spending time with me and I'll see you soon.

(Describer) Videos show Gigi and kids in a classroom.

What's your favorite candy? If you want to tell me, what's your favorite candy, raise your hand and I'll call on you. All right, how 'bout you back there? What's your favorite candy? Chocolate. Chocolate, oh, I like chocolate, too. Me too. What about Lincoln, right? Lollipops. Lollipops, that's good. Okay, what about you? Candy. Candy, just any kinda candy, right. All right. And I like chocolate. What about you? Candy. Candy, what kind of candy. Do you know? Chocolate. Chocolate. What do you like? Lollipops. All right, what about you? You're sitting so nice and I like your crown, too? What is your favorite candy? Lollies. Lollies, you like lollies. Okay, what about you? Chocolate lollipops. Chocolate lollipops. All right, Ryder, do you want to tell him yours? Chocolate. Chocolate. Well, we got a lotta chocolate fans. All right, what about you? Sour Patch Kids. There you go, Sour Patch Kids. I have a daughter who loves Sour Patch Kids, too. They're very yummy, aren't they? They're really sour. They're sour and sweet. They're the best of both worlds. All right, what about you? You're sitting so nice with your hand up. Sour Patch Kids. Sour Patch Kids, all right. What about you? Jolly Ranchers. Jolly Ranchers. I like those, too. What's your favorite Jolly Rancher? What color? The purple. The purple, I like the green, green apple, but purple's good, too. All right, a few more. How 'bout you in the way back? Starburst. Starburst, good. And you too, right beside him. Sour Patch Kids. Sour Patch Kids, and the little girl right there. Strawberry. Strawberry, yum, they're like candy, aren't they? They're so sweet and yummy. All right, so who hasn't told me yet? You haven't, what about you? Gummy Bears. Gummy Bears, chocolate. You haven't, okay, what is your favorite candy? Chocolate. Chocolate, all right, have we missed anybody? What is yours? Gummy Worms. Gummy worms, those are yummy. I like Gummy Worms. Did you all see the Gigi's Magic Mailbox where I talked about Gummy Worms? Yeah, I had those in the mailbox one time. Oh, I never watched 'em. Here are some other clips from my visit with the class. And if you haven't already, make sure to check out "Hatty's Harmony: Worry Detective," which is the book I read to the class. Go on in.

(Describer) Students file into a classroom.

Hi, everyone. Hi.

(Describer) They sit on a rug.

My name's Lincoln. Hi, Lincoln. L-I-N-C-O-L-N. You know how to spell your name, that's amazing. As soon as you can say, now remember we're gonna say, worry, worry, go away.

(kids) Worry, worry, go away. Good job, there's no time for you today. There's no time for you today. That's good. Don't worry, said Hatty, we'll find your books, just as soon as you can say...

(kids) Worry, worry, go away. There's no time for you today. Then Hatty saw fear in her own eyes, but then she smiled and said to herself, I'm scared, but I can do it. Do you think she can? Let's find out. Uh oh. You ready for your lines?

(kids) Worry, worry, go away. There's no time for you today. Good job. And she went whoosh, right down that slide, didn't she? Now, you try, Hattie said to Duncan. Duncan breathed in, one, two, three. Then he breathed out, one, two, three, four. How can we do the magic when you're not here?

[all talking at the same time]

Good job. Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

(Describer) Text: "Thanks for watching! Gigi's Magic Mailbox." Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.