We started by remembering the story of Coyote's Whiskers from last week, with the help of the drawings each of the kids made. It was such a joy to hear those who knew the story take over the role of storyteller as they related the tale to those who hadn't heard it.
Then came the new story of the week, a tale from Africa, made popular in this country by Pete Seeger and his banjo:
ABIYOYO
Now, as you can see, there is a book for this story, unlike Coyote's Whiskers. As you will see, though, this did not hinder the children's image-making once they set to their drawing.
But first, the telling! It is a wonderful story-song, in that the teller can fade in between singing and telling pretty easily, and the music provides a lovely backdrop anytime in the story. I'm working on a recording of the story, complete with illustrations by the kids, which I'll share here soon, but the gist of the story is as follows: a village throws out a magician and his ukulele-playing son for making too much magic in the town, only to be saved by them when a large giant threatens to eat up everyone and their animals. The little boy placates the giant with a pleasant little song about him: "Abiyoyo ... Abiyoyo ... Abiyoyo ..." The giant begins to dance faster and faster until he falls to the ground and the boy's father makes him disappear.
Now, as you can see, there is a book for this story, unlike Coyote's Whiskers. As you will see, though, this did not hinder the children's image-making once they set to their drawing.
But first, the telling! It is a wonderful story-song, in that the teller can fade in between singing and telling pretty easily, and the music provides a lovely backdrop anytime in the story. I'm working on a recording of the story, complete with illustrations by the kids, which I'll share here soon, but the gist of the story is as follows: a village throws out a magician and his ukulele-playing son for making too much magic in the town, only to be saved by them when a large giant threatens to eat up everyone and their animals. The little boy placates the giant with a pleasant little song about him: "Abiyoyo ... Abiyoyo ... Abiyoyo ..." The giant begins to dance faster and faster until he falls to the ground and the boy's father makes him disappear.
My favorite part of the day was when the story was over, and I started asking questions that the story didn't answer: What do you think Abiyoyo looked like? What kind of village do you see in your mind? What were the father and his son wearing? A flurry of voices answered all of my questions and more before everyone took their images to paper, along with a few I shared in the story.
And now, the rest of the gallery:
Stay tuned for a "story video", in which I lay a slide show of this and more children's art over an audio recording of the story of Abiyoyo.
Mercer Island, WA 98040