Nate, Rake, Great
by
Matt Zurbo
Hi, this is Nate.
Nate wants to build
something really great!
I might even help,
because Nate is my mate!
(Happy kid waving hello.)
My mate Nate and I,
me and my mate, Nate!
We’ll build something really great
with hammer, nails and rake.
Good one Nate!
How about a tower, Nate?
Now that would be super great!
(Second kid, arm stretched to sky. Nate hand on chin, tools under other arm, watching.)
First build a big steel gate,
with your hammer and your rake.
Above a lake,
with marble statue that is fake.
(As described. Fish poking head out from lake to watch, passing bird watching, too.)
Oh, for Heaven’s sake!
Don’t stop now, Nate!
(Nate sitting on one of gate’s really big pillars eating a sandwich.)
Build, build, that tower that’s great!
(The two of them, one high, one low, using a pulley to lift bricks.)
Next, why don’t we try the zoo?
That is what, Nate, we should do!
(Narrator dragging Nat to Zoo.)
Push, push, push! Oh man, phew!
Watch out the lion is prone to chew!
(Nate pushing wheelbarrow full of zoo animals, narrator pulling. Both puffing.)
Get an elephant, giraffe, monkeys, too!
Even a fat cook, brewing a stew!
(Bricks/tower top rim, about ten feet off ground, in a crooked line, with zoo animals standing on top, some on top of each other. In middle is a fat cook with a big pot. Elephant has snout in pot.)
Next, I suggest add lots of bamboo!
Windows, doors, slides, Nate, please, would you?
(Include panda eating bamboo. Nate is building, Narrator is in hot air balloon, barking orders into megaphone.)
Then, as your tower got higher,
I’d put in a potbelly, and light a fire.
Little chimneys with cogs and gears,
steam power no longer a thing to fear.
Get those cranes into here,
then throw in a wooden pier.
(Brick, animals, bamboo, tall gate all standing on/built around each other, forming a wonky wall, now has old wooden pier coming out from it, with Nate building, and narrator fishing off its end.)
Next, hey Nate, are you still with us?
How about you invite the circus?
(Nate, up high, beckoning gypsy jalopy overflowing with circus performers.)
Watch them clamber, up all we build,
with a strong man, who will not yield.
(Nate climbing wall of balancing animals, brick and bamboo with circus performers and workers. Strong man already in position, straining, holding up a few trapeze artists. )
Straining, sweating, trying so bad,
to make sure your tower is rad.
(Nate, on a plank, looking up, impressed, as strong man strains to hold up everybody else, even a cage or two. The people/performers he is supporting are building planks and walkways, and ladders, etc…)
Nate, Nate, your tower is looking great!
Wobbly and awkward, I’m glad we’re mates!
(Nate high to left, narrator low to right watching Nate adding bicycles to tower.)
Together we’ll use any old thing,
we can fit up there, using a sling.
(Nate on ground, hammering in giant wooden peg for big wooden sling/catapult. Narrator wheelbarrowing in a huge amount to household furniture.)
A knight’s armour, pot plants, wheels, a didgeridoo,
a fish tank or two, with water so blue,
then let’s add a cow that moos!
Nate, wow, how high up are we?
I can barely see the top of that tree!
This tower is starting to get quite a lean,
for it to fall now, would be quite mean.
(Tower on lean, Nate struggling to maintain balance. Narrator dangling from ledge.)
Next, I think, houses and walls,
by Dr Seuss, they never fall!
Twisted, weird, fun and quite bent,
a tower with Seuss is Heaven sent!
Okay, Nate, I’m getting dizzy so high,
Your great tower will soon reach the sky!
(Narrator low, Nate still building high, clouds between them. Tower now has drooping lean at top.)
Look at those planes as they pass by,
time to hitch a ride, then wave bye-bye!
(Narrator in weird plane piloted by furry sub-human. Nate above them, tower now on full 90degree lean. Nate dangling, hanging onto some plumbing and a kitchen sink. Rake hanging off his foot.)
Don’t get me wrong, Nate, I’m glad we share,
even as our tower falls through the air.
(Nate falling, landing in plane as animals and building materials, donkey and ladders and bath with octopus, fall around them. Even a whale.)
Next, I think, for a new trick,
we should build a highway,
and do it quick…!
(Animals and circus performers, etc, all on soft ground, dumbfounded, as Nate and narrator fly off into sunset.)
The End
365 kids books in 365 days 