(bright music) - Starting with Sounds.

- Hey, y'all, my name is Jake Hoot, and today I am reading "Bloom" by Anne Booth and Robyn Wilson-Owen, and reading is one of my favorite things to do, especially as a dad.

I love reading with my little girl.

It's just a good bonding time with us, and so reading is very important to me.

But let's go ahead and get into this book.

"Bloom" by Anne Booth and Robyn Wilson-Owen.

There was once a beautiful flower, which grew under the window of a big house, and a little girl who loved it.

Every morning on her way to school with her brother, the little girl would visit the flower.

She would look at its beautiful petals, drink in its sweet smell, and wonder at the smoothness of its leaves and at the color and shape.

"Good morning, beautiful flower," she would say.

"I think you're wonderful.

"Thank you for being here for us.

"I love you."

And she would go to school happy.

One morning, the man living in the big house woke up early and heard someone talking to his flower.

He looked out of his window and saw the little girl.

"How dare you talk to my flower!"

he shouted.

"Go away and never come near my flower again!"

The little girl and her brother didn't like being shouted at, so they went to school another way.

The next day, the sun rose and the flower did not open, and every day after that, it stayed tight shut.

The man was furious, and he sent for his gardener.

"What is the matter with my flower?"

he demanded.

"Is it getting enough water?"

"Yes," said the gardener.

"I water it every morning and evening."

"Well, you're obviously not doing it properly," said the man crossly.

"I can see I am just going to have to do it myself."

And so every morning, he got up and watered the flower, and every evening before he went to bed, he watered the flower, but it still refused to open.

"Maybe it needs more shade," said the man.

"The sun is very hot in the middle of the day."

"I have made sure it has plenty of shade," said the gardener.

But the man said, "Well, you're obviously not doing it properly.

"I can see that I'm just going to have to do it myself."

So every day, when the sun was at its highest, he took his umbrella and shaded the flower from the heat.

But it still didn't open.

He watered the flower in the morning, and shaded it from the midday sun, and watered it again just before he went to bed.

The man began to talk to it.

He told it how wonderful he was, how lucky it was to be his flower, and how important his job was.

But it still didn't open.

He told it all about his problems, how busy he was, and the fact that nobody liked him.

He complained about how his gardener was useless, how if he didn't do everything, nothing got done properly, and how lonely he felt.

He ordered it to bloom for it to cheer him up.

The unhappy man called the gardener to him again.

"Before you say anything," said the gardener, "I don't know what the matter is, "all I know is that the flower hasn't opened "since you sent away the little schoolgirl "who passed by it every morning."

"What did she do that I don't do?"

said the man crossly.

"Well, she used to talk to it every day," said the gardener.

"That can't be it," said the man.

"I talk to it every morning at midday "and before I go to bed, "and what I can say must be much better "than anything a little girl could say."

The man thought and thought.

"I can see I am just going to have to ask that child "to come back.

"Maybe she has some magic words "which make the flower bloom."

So he went to the school gate and waited for the little girl and her brother to arrive.

"My flower stopped blooming after you left," the man said to the little girl.

"Poor flower," said the little girl.

"I've watered it, and sheltered it, "and talked to it every day, but it still won't open."

And a tear rolled down his cheek.

That's so sad.

"What do you say to it?"

said the little girl, and her brother passed the man a tissue.

"Well," said the man, blowing his nose, "I tell it how important I am "and how lucky it is to be in my garden.

"I tell it how miserable I am, "I tell it how horrible everybody else is, "and I order it to bloom to cheer me up, "but it doesn't work."

"Well," said the little girl, "Why don't you tell it how wonderful it is, "thank it for being there, "and how much you love it?

"That's what I always did."

So the man ran home to his flower and said, "You are wonderful."

And as he said the words, he realized for the first time how truly wonderful the flower was.

"I'm so lucky you grow in my garden," he said.

And as he said it, he realized how truly lucky he was, and how he hadn't ever really looked at his flower properly, and how much he longed to see it and smell its perfume again.

"I love you so much," said the man.

At last, and as he said it, his own heart filled with love, and the flower bloomed.

The end.

Hey, y'all, thank you so much for spending some time with me.

Before I go, I'm gonna play one of my songs called "Best Job I Ever Had," and it's about being a dad.

So here we go.

(warm music) ♪ Don't need no references ♪ ♪ Don't need no resume ♪ ♪ No experience necessary ♪ ♪ Just learn along the way ♪ ♪ No formal interview ♪ ♪ No answer to an ad ♪ ♪ The hardest job I ever did ♪ ♪ Was the best job I ever had ♪ ♪ No job description ♪ ♪ No training of any kind ♪ ♪ You work nights and weekends ♪ ♪ And you don't make overtime ♪ ♪ No paid holidays ♪ ♪ If you get sick, it's just too bad ♪ ♪ The hardest job I ever did ♪ ♪ Was the best job I ever had ♪ ♪ Best job I ever had ♪ ♪ Is just to be your dad ♪ ♪ And giving everything I have to you ♪ ♪ When I looked into your eyes ♪ ♪ Suddenly I realized ♪ ♪ I knew what I was meant to do ♪ ♪ That's the truth ♪ ♪ I told the nurse at the hospital ♪ ♪ I wasn't qualified ♪ ♪ How could I be responsible ♪ ♪ For somebody else's life ♪ ♪ Then when you finally came ♪ ♪ It all changed just like that ♪ ♪ The hardest job I ever did ♪ ♪ Was the best job I ever had ♪ ♪ The best job I ever had ♪ ♪ Is just to be your dad ♪ ♪ And giving everything I have to you ♪ ♪ When I looked into your eyes ♪ ♪ Suddenly I realized ♪ ♪ I knew what I was meant to do ♪ ♪ That's the truth ♪ (Jake whistling) (warm music continues) ♪ The hardest job I ever did ♪ ♪ Was the best job I ever had ♪ ♪ The hardest job I ever did ♪ ♪ Was the best job I ever had ♪ ♪ La, da-da, da-da, da-da, ♪ ♪ Da-da, da ♪