Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain’s Classic Literature | Leo & Layla | PragerU Kids

[Music] oh no mom and dad don't give me enough time you know we've had this new system for three weeks and you've run out of weekly screen time hmm all three times i wish i could sell you some of my time i know you haven't gone over once guess someone's gonna have to pick up a dreaded book you know i don't mind reading but after going over on screen time the last two weeks i need something new to read i'll let you borrow something of mine thanks but i'm not in the mood for your non-fiction stuff i need a good story you should read something from dad's mark twain collection who's mark twain just the father of american literature i can't wait to read his two classic novels the adventures of tom sawyer and huckleberry finn once i'm old enough have i heard of those books probably they're super famous and wants the sequel of the other two adventure tales set along the mississippi river in the american south during the time before the civil war you're a good reader why aren't you old enough now dad says different books are good for different ages and that i need to be more like your age to get the themes and apparently some of the language is pretty shocking hmm interesting but those books are old so i doubt i'd get much out of them i bet tom and huck can persuade you to read their books what do you mean i'll use some of my screen time with the history app hand me your phone their stories were written a long time ago and are about an even older time in america even though they're fiction let's see if we can find tom and huck okay [Music] can you steer her over to the left i need to see that big island that might have some treasure why again do we need more treasure we're already rich as egyptian pharaoh because we're pirates huck how many holy moly hi are you tom swayer and huckleberry finn well i'll be uh yes i'm i'm hugging that dars tom sawyer captain of this here pirate ship and who are the likes of you sneaking up on us with magic and sorcery pirate ship huh i'm layla and this is my little brother leo we have a time machine app on our phone and we've come from the future to talk to you two goodness i've always dreamed of time traveling how about y'all take us back to see knights of the round table where genghis khan and the mighty mongols tom they said they're here to talk to us reckon they need some information not travel company thank you huckleberry yeah the books about you guys are really old and we want to know why so many people in our time still read them and why people like our dad love them no offense but what's the big deal what's the big deal mind hug books are action-packed adventures where we take down bad guys save innocent men navigate the mighty mississippi river and find real-life treasure not to mention i play some hilarious pranks and even get engaged a few times he's been engaged yes i'm two different girls at that say you're awful purty wanna be number three no was worth a shot don't tell becky i asked her hook i won't okay so your books are full of crazy adventures and well i suppose you're both charming even you tom but why aren't your books appropriate for my brother to read yeah i love adventure books and read them all the time but our dad doesn't want me to read the books about you two until i'm layla's age well huh i don't know me and huck are great role models i'm the best fighter in all st petersburg and hulk knows how to live on his own and he can even smoke a pop no tom i reckon i understand our pappy wanting leo to be a bit older you do yes some even though you sure do a lot of funny hijinks and our wild adventures are entertaining there's a lot of serious stuff in our books too mr twain wrote our stories to be much more than entertaining he wrote him to teach lessons too that's mark twain right the father of american literature you're so knowledgeable layla mark twain and you see me and tom are based on mr twain's life growing up during the 1840s on the big river in small town missouri we're like a mixture of him and his childhood friends and through our books he shows readers what it was really like to live during that time in america what lessons was mark twain trying to teach well you see mr twain grew up in the time of slavery but he always hated it thought it was evil and stupid in my book before old tom shows up to kind of save the day but also really get us into a bunch of trouble i go on a crazy adventure with my other best friend jim he's escaped slave and on our journey mr twain shows through the books characters and dialogue how bad and dumb it is to thank lesser your fellow man leo told me the language in your books is pretty shocking for people in our time maybe mark twain should have used safer language no way listen people were just as shocked when mr twain wrote the books in the 1880s as they are in your time unlike most writers from his day mr twain didn't fancy up his words none he chose to write just the same way folks actually talk during his childhood nice words and nasty ones alike readers can feel like they're really living in our time and they can get a realistic picture of american history the good and the bad for my book he even made me the narrator so you get to even know my thoughts and get exposure into the mind battles i have with difficult decisions mind battles like what well you know when and where tom and me are from most people think slavery is just fine and the right way to do things even people we really like and the people who raised us up really yep so i thought slavery was just the normal way of living because that's all i'd ever known but then i really get to know jim and see what a wonderful person he is and see how even though he's got less education than even me he's much smarter than most racist folk that's really cool so we get to follow along with your thoughts about slavery and racism yes some and some other issues from our time like tough family situations and violence things that aren't nice for the ears of youngins but that are a real part of our history as characters and a country you guys don't have easy childhoods nope tom is an orphan i'm usually homeless we've dealt with some criminals and the american south during our books is a downright racist society that forces kids like us into deciding on things we've been taught was right but we just knew deep down was wrong huck's right thanks how mr twain wrote our books readers get to see an honest and accurate picture of our time and place and they can compare it to theirs i guess our books are more than just good adventures someday when leo reads our books he'll be able to see how life as a boy was probably really different in our time but probably kind of the same too and i think any american can read them and do some comparing and contrasting to when they live especially relating to racism and freedom you ought to read them too layla you can learn a lot maybe even then you'll want to time travel back and reconsider that engagement offer um i doubt that but i do really want to read your books now guys i want to find out about all your tricks tom and i want to know your perspective on more serious things huckleberry you're lucky i have to wait a few years but i do understand why now thanks for talking to us guys yeah thanks it was really nice meeting you both bye y'all nice meeting you too safe travels back to the treasure hunt fellow pirate [Music] oh no first time layla i'm out of screen time i wish i could sell you some of mine i've been reading so much i have tons of hours left did you finish the first mark twain book tom sawyer yeah it was really funny and a little scary tom was right it's a great adventure story now i'm on huck finn and just met the escaped slave jim i hate thinking about how there really were people like him in our country who were treated so badly does it make you not want to read it no it's not fun to read about bad things but it helps me understand history better especially reading about how another kid experienced it i heard you reading some with dad yeah and we talk whenever i finish a chapter these books are so good but they're pretty intense so i'm glad i get to talk about them with dad do the books ever make you wish you lived back then with tom and huck no way those guys have really exciting lives and tons of fun but i like living in america today our country has come a long way and i'm happy to live in it nowadays if you want to time travel with leo and layla again go on and get to prageru.com kids and watch more of their adventures thank you for watching this video to keep prageru videos free please consider making a tax deductible donation