- [Announcer] The Children's Place is proud to support "Reading Rainbow."

(gentle music) A place to grow.

The Children's Place.

- [Announcer] "Reading Rainbow" is also made possible by a Ready to Learn Television Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

- [Children] Hmm.

- [Announcer] And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music) ♪ Reading Rainbow ♪ ♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪ ♪ I can go twice as high ♪ ♪ Take a look ♪ ♪ It's in a book ♪ ♪ Reading Rainbow ♪ ♪ I can go anywhere ♪ ♪ Friends to know ♪ ♪ And ways to grow ♪ ♪ Reading Rainbow ♪ ♪ I can be anything ♪ ♪ Take a look ♪ ♪ It's a book ♪ ♪ Reading Rainbow ♪ ♪ Reading Rainbow ♪ ♪ Ooh, hoo ♪ (children chattering) - It's a beautiful morning in downtown New York City.

From the way things look, it's a typical day in a typical neighborhood.

But this neighborhood isn't typical at all, because right behind me is what they called Ground Zero.

It was here that on September 11th, 2001, a terrible tragedy happened.

Two planes crashed into the World Trade Towers that used to be right there.

But the buildings aren't there anymore because they collapsed and it was a very dangerous and a very frightening time for everybody.

(gentle music) The World Trade Center used to tower over this neighborhood, but after September 11th, all that was left was dust and debris.

(gentle music) So much was lost that day.

Rescue teams worked day and night to help people that were in trouble and get everyone back home.

It takes a long time to recover from something so terrible, but as you can see, people are working hard to put their neighborhood and lives back together.

They're focusing on the future, and they're determined to fill that future with hope.

Here's a book that's all about the message of hope.

It's about a man who lives in a dark and gloomy place, which is how this neighborhood seemed right after the tragedy.

But he has hope in his heart and he discovers that that hope changes his world.

His story is found in "The Tin Forest."

(gentle whimsical music) - [Jeff] "The Tin Forest," written by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne and read by me, Jeff Bridges.

(gentle music) (rain trickling) There was once a wide, windswept place near nowhere and close to forgotten that was filled with all the things that no one wanted.

Right in the middle was a small house with small windows that looked out on other people's garbage and bad weather.

In the house lived an old man.

Every day, he tried to clear away the garbage, sifting and sorting, burning and burying.

(gentle music) And every night, the old man dreamed.

(birds chirping) (tiger roaring) He dreamed he lived in a forest full of wild animals.

There were colorful birds, tropical trees, exotic flowers, toucans, tree frogs, and tigers.

(tiger roars) But when he awoke, the world outside was still the same.

(wind whooshing) (rain splashing) One day, something caught the old man's eye, and an idea planted itself in his mind.

(whimsical music) The idea grew roots and sprouted.

(whimsical music) It grew leaves, it grew branches, it grew bigger and bigger.

(whimsical music) Under the old man's hand, a forest emerged.

A forest made of garbage, a forest made of tin.

It was not the forest of his dreams, but it was a forest, just the same.

(gentle mysterious music) Then one day, across the barren plain, the wind swept a small bird.

(bird cawing) The old man spilled crumbs from his sandwich onto the ground.

The bird ate the crumbs and perched to sing in the branches of a tin tree.

(birds chirping) (gentle music) But the next morning, the visitor was gone.

All day, the old man walked through the silence and his heart ached with emptiness.

(wind whooshing) That night, by moonlight, he made a wish.

In the morning, the old man woke to the sound of birdsong.

(birds chirping) The visitor had returned and his mate had come with him.

The birds carried seeds in their beaks.

They dropped them to the dry ground.

Green chutes broke through the earth.

(gentle twinkling music) Soon, the song of birds mingled with the buzzing of insects and the rustle of leaves.

(gentle music) Time passed.

Small creatures appeared, creeping among the forest of trees.

Wild animals slipped through the green shadows.

(gentle music) (birds chirping) (birds cawing) (light music) There was once a forest near nowhere and close to forgotten that was filled with all the things that everyone wanted.

Right in the middle was a small house with small windows, and in the house lived an old man who never stopped dreaming.

(light, hopeful music) - With hope and a dream, the man in "The Tin Forest" turned a great wasteland into a beautiful forest.

And just as he brought life into a place that was empty, so, too, have the people in this neighborhood done after September 11th.

Another place that's thriving is this elementary school, PS 234.

The kids were just a few days into a new school year on that morning, and just like everyone else in this neighborhood, they had to leave quickly and stay away till it was safe to return.

(tense music) Soon after they had arrived for school that day, the kids at PS 234 had to rush from their classrooms and go to safety.

They left their school and neighborhood and didn't return until months later.

During that time, they went to another school, in a building far away from the danger.

This school, St. Bernard's, hadn't been used for years and didn't have many desks or chairs.

(gentle music) It was uncomfortable, but the students were determined to be brave and make the best of the situation.

(gentle music) But now, after many months, the kids of PS 234 are finally back home.

Come on.

(gentle music) Hey, you guys.

- [Children] Hi!

- How you doing?

- Good.

- If it's all right with you, I wanted to talk a little bit about what happened on September 11th.

Is that all right with you guys?

- [Children] Yes.

- Yeah?

Because for me, I mean, I live in California.

Which is 3,000 miles away, and it was incredibly scary for me watching it on television, but I can't even imagine what it would've been like being this close.

I mean, right out the window there, you could see the towers.

What was it like for you guys on that day?

- My friend's dad all of a sudden, came running, saying, oh my God, there's something happened really scary and there was this plane that crashed into the Twin Towers.

- It was just scary, 'cause I saw like, lots of debris coming out, and I saw the fire.

- I kept saying to my stepdad, it's going to fall down, it's going to fall down, and he kept saying, no, it's not, and then, like a few seconds later, it just fell right down and I was stuck in a whole crowd of people.

- I was also worried about my mom and like, I just like was really stressed.

- I want to talk for a second about some of the things that are on the table here.

I find it extraordinary that you guys received thousands of gifts from people all over the world.

- My favorite gift that I got was a little stuffed animal.

(gentle music) - [Child] We got so many things.

We didn't just get cards and stuff.

We also got books, toys, and people also put on shows for us.

- [Child] It really makes me feel good that all the people around the world really care about us.

(gentle music) - What is it that you guys would like to say to the world?

- Thank you, because they're really being nice to us, sending us everything and making us tear up and stuff.

- Even if you people out there, if you speak Chinese or Australian, if you don't know what I'm saying, I still want to say thank you so much for giving us support and helping us feel better.

- So tell me about what it's like being back here now.

- It feels like good to be back in our school.

- We're here a lot, like six hours on weekdays, and so, this is like half of our house.

- When I was at St. Bernard's, I really thought about how much I loved PS 234, and it made me realize how much I took for granted for all the good things that we had in PS 234.

- And because of just so many people trying to help us, we're okay, and now we're even better than we were before.

- I think that even though September 11th was a bad day, it also sort of was a good day, 'cause it brought us together.

- So tell me about what you guys have decided to do in order to say thanks.

- We've decided to make a music video of a song that says thank you.

- And I think it's not just like, when somebody makes up a song, they're just making up a song to earn money.

I think we're really making it to tell people- - To tell them what?

- Thank you, and we're back where we belong.

- (laughs) Kind of exactly what the song says, huh?

Yes?

You know, I think this music video project is going to be incredible.

The kids are writing a song, they're taking pictures, creating artwork, even choreographing steps.

Everyone's contributing in order to make sure that this is a project that comes directly from their hearts.

(gentle music) - Hey, come on in.

It's time to go.

- [LeVar] The kids are recording the song with Steve, the music composer.

All of the ideas for the lyrics came from the children themselves.

- You made us feel like we were at home, because we were at all those places, and then, if we were coming back here, and all the things that people gave us made us feel like we were here the whole time.

♪ When we were feeling low ♪ ♪ Suddenly ♪ - Now we know that we're safe, or like, you've made us feel we're safe.

- It's kind of made us more of a family.

♪ Da da dee da da ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ We are really thankful ♪ - We could say we're okay.

- We never really knew we were this strong, to pull through it.

- We're really happy we're back where we belong.

♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ From our hearts we sing out ♪ ♪ And like a bell that rings out ♪ - You helped us be brave, what we were going through.

- Mm-hmm.

- The end of it, it sounds like we could say, for all the things that you've done.

♪ Be now ♪ ♪ Our hearts are feeling free now ♪ ♪ And with our smiles, we show ♪ ♪ Back where we belong ♪ - [LeVar] When the song is finished, it will really be a powerful part of their music video.

(bright music) - A little more.

- This America?

- Yeah.

- Europe should be kind of here, right?

- [LeVar] The kids are creating a mural that will be the title for the music video.

The mural will be eight feet wide, and show the countries from where all the gifts and good wishes were sent.

Of course, I had to stop by and help.

- [Teacher] Is that it?

- Hey, guys.

- Hi.

- How we doing?

- Fine.

- [LeVar] Your part of the project is just the tracing and the cutting, right?

- Yeah.

- So we just start anywhere?

- Yeah.

- There's a lot of- (upbeat music) - Mine looks- - Thin blue paper is pasted down to make the ocean background.

- It's kind of like glue, but it just sticks on this kind.

(upbeat music) - How's that?

Good?

- Good.

- Okay.

♪ Doo doo doo doo doo ♪ - [LeVar] Each group traces out a continent on a foam board and then carefully cuts it out.

- Ta-da!

- Material is placed over the continents and cut to match the shape.

There's a different fabric for each continent.

And what we do is cut.

(upbeat music) Since the mural will be the title for the video, letters are created to spell out, "We're back where we belong."

- There we go.

We've got our H. (upbeat music) - Nice!

So Sam and Chris are the official gluers, right?

And then, Carson and I will be the official pressers.

How's that?

Okay.

Meanwhile, the fabric is glued onto the foam board.

(upbeat music) Here we go.

Asia.

I think we did a pretty good job.

(upbeat music) Finally, all the pieces are hurried together.

(upbeat music) We're back where we belong.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) Hi, you guys.

- Hello.

- Hi.

This is a really interesting part of the project.

I want you to tell me all about it.

You guys actually went out into the neighborhood with cameras and then what did you do?

- We took pictures all around the neighborhood.

- And what did you take pictures of?

- Different places that helped us, and like, that we're really thankful and supported us.

- Mm-hmm.

And so, who did you end up coming back with pictures of?

Who are these guys?

This is Fire Company what?

- Ladder 8.

- Ladder 8.

- They're on Church Street.

- On Church Street.

(sirens blaring) - [Child] They filmed "Ghostbusters" in the building and it's really famous.

They all came to the rescue.

I wanted to take photos of them and thank them.

- How are you?

- What's up, buddy?

- How you doing?

- There's a lot of nice firefighters there.

- Hey, how are you?

Doing all right?

- Say cheese.

- [Firefighters] Cheese.

(camera snapping) - [LeVar] Wow.

So they're going to be a part of the project.

These are friends of yours, Jack?

- These are the people from Tribeca Grand, and they helped everyone when they, when September 11th happened, and they did.

- Uh-huh, and Tribeca Grand is a?

- Hotel.

- It's a hotel.

- Ah, there's Tribeca Grand.

- It was important to me to get the photo for the Tribeca Grand, because my family stayed there while we were displaced.

I think that it could've been a lot worse, a lot of more buildings could've fell down, so I think I'm lucky.

- Who else did you come back with a photograph of?

Who is that?

- [Child] That's the owner of a shop called Kaffe's, and they stayed open during September 11th.

- [Child] They let firemen and policemen stay there and eat there and... Hi.

- Hi, how are you?

- Be there every time that they needed to be.

I do think it was better to share this time with other people than to go through it alone, because if I went through it alone, it'd be pretty hard because I could be thinking- - Smile.

- Maybe I'm the only person who's feeling like this.

I wonder if they're feeling like this.

- Wave now?

(camera snaps) - And where are we here, Jack?

- This is a grocery store on the inside, and they helped by staying open.

- So they stayed open so that people could get the things that they needed to keep going.

Very important, a great way to help.

- A lot of my friends tried to comfort me, and I tried to comfort them, so we felt better.

I...

I changed a little bit.

Now, when people are like sad or something happens, I try to help them even more than I did before.

I feel proud of that.

- Can we have a picture?

- Oh, sure.

No problem.

Okay, go ahead.

- Hi, you ready?

Smile.

- Smile.

(camera snaps) - Cool.

Tell me what it was like going to another school for awhile.

Did you ever really get completely comfortable there, do you think?

- Mm, not really.

- No?

- Mm-mm.

- I think we always really missed when we were there, I think we always really missed PS 234.

- Did you ever think you'd hear yourself say that?

That you really missed your school?

- No.

(LeVar laughs) (gentle music) - As we've seen, the kids are making a tremendous effort to says thanks to everyone who's helped them.

They have learned what a huge difference it makes when people reach out and let you know that you're not alone.

These 10,000 paper cranes were made by school children in Japan by hand.

They symbolize hope and the possibility of fulfilling all of your dreams.

This gift and all these others were sent from around the world as messages of love.

They lifted the kids' spirits and were an important part of their process of healing.

If you are ever going through a rough time, the students at PS 234 would like to help you out by suggesting some books that will make you feel better.

But you don't have to take my word for it.

(gentle music) - Hi, I'm Austin.

Have you ever felt sad when something bad happened?

If you have, then I recommend reading this book.

It's called "On That Day."

This book made me feel better after September 11th.

It explains what happened on that day.

I really liked the illustrations.

They look like colored tissue paper, and jump off the page.

My favorite picture is when they show two friends playing together.

It's nice to read a book that makes you feel good.

This book helped me a lot, and that's why I recommend it.

(gentle music) - Have you ever done something good and thought that no one noticed?

Well, that's what happened to Mole, in this book, "Mole Music."

It's a wonderful story of a mole who plays his violin underground in his mole hole.

He only plays at night and thinks that no one hears him.

But his music floats up through a tree, and his mole music touches many people.

Mole is so talented.

My favorite part is the end, because it's a happy one.

I'm Molly, and if you're looking for a little inspiration, then "Mole Music" is the book for you.

You'll love it.

(gentle music) - Hi, I'm Meghan.

Did you know that good and wonderful things happen every day?

Well, that's the title of this book, "The Wonderful Happens."

If you think about it, special things happen every day.

Things like bread baking, birds flying, and roses growing.

We sometimes take these things for granted and don't notice them, but they happen every day.

Just look at these beautiful pictures.

They really make you appreciate all the stuff around you.

If you want to feel safe and comfortable, you should really read this book.

It will definitely help.

I'm glad I looked for this book in my library, because I found that the wonderful happens every day.

(gentle music) - And now, here are the students of PS 234 to say thanks to the people of the neighborhood and all over the world who were there when they needed you most.

Because of you, they're back where they belong.

(students cheering) (gentle music) ♪ You gave us hope when we felt hopeless ♪ ♪ Held our hands when we were scared ♪ ♪ You gave us strength when we were feeling low ♪ ♪ Suddenly, our lives are changed ♪ ♪ It was a day we can't forget ♪ ♪ You opened up your hearts to us ♪ ♪ And we want you to know ♪ ♪ We are really thankful ♪ ♪ To be back where we belong ♪ ♪ We're feeling so much better ♪ ♪ Day by day ♪ ♪ We are really thankful ♪ ♪ To be happy, feeling strong ♪ ♪ And we thank everyone ♪ ♪ For showing us the way ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ From our hearts, we sing out ♪ ♪ And like a bell that rings out ♪ ♪ We want everyone to know ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ It's where we want to be now ♪ ♪ Our hearts are feeling free now ♪ ♪ And with our smiles, we show ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ You helped us through the rough times ♪ ♪ With friendship and a prayer ♪ ♪ You opened up your hearts to us ♪ ♪ And we'll always know you're there ♪ ♪ You care ♪ ♪ You care ♪ (bright electric guitar solo) ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ From our hearts, we sing out ♪ ♪ And like the love that rings out ♪ ♪ We want everyone to know ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ It's where we want to be now ♪ ♪ Our hearts are feeling free now ♪ ♪ And with our smiles, we show ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ We're back where we belong ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be back where we belong ♪ ♪ Back where we belong ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be back where we belong ♪ ♪ Back where we belong ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be back where we belong ♪ (children cheering) (gentle music) - I knew that everybody was afraid, confused and all that, and, but we all knew that it can't last that way forever.

- Everybody had to be nice to each other, and try to help people.

(gentle music) - It was a terrible day, but I think we can come back together.

(gentle music) - We all wish we lived in a perfect world, and if we could make it that way, we would, but the world is not perfect.

Sometimes, bad things do happen, and occasionally, the world can be a scary place to be.

But when we have each other, kindness, generosity of the human spirit and love will always triumph and then, we can get through even the toughest of times.

Right, guys?

- Right.

- We'll see you next time.

(gentle music) (bright music) (children cheering) Today's "Reading Rainbow" books are "The Tin Forest," written by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne Anderson, published in the United States by Dutton Children's Books.

"Mole Music," written and illustrated by David M. McPhail, published by Henry Holt & Company.

"The Wonderful Happens," written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Coco Dowley, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

"On That Day," written and illustrated by Andrea Patel, published by Tricycle Press.

Hi, I'm LeVar Burton.

In uncertain times, there's no more effective way to make your kids feel good and safe than to spend time with them.

We at "Reading Rainbow" suggest sharing a book with your family.

Read for fun, read for family, read for our future.

- [Announcer] The Children's Place is proud to support "Reading Rainbow."

(gentle music) A place to grow.

The Children's Place.

- [Announcer] "Reading Rainbow" is also made possible by a Ready to Learn Television Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

- [Children] Hmm.

- [Announcer] And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright music) - [Children] PBS Kids!