As a full-time Library Media Specialist, I see 27 classes a week. One of my ongoing projects is to prepare stories to share with children, stories which will instill in them a love of books and reading and set them on a joyful road to lifetime learning. Before I began using the concept of a “Host” puppet, students often complained about the story I had chosen or occasionally grumbled that they “already knew that story.” Once I began using a Host Puppet to introduce the stories, I no longer received any complaints. Children would tell the puppet directly “You picked a good story” or “l like that story too!” Sometimes regarding a story they already knew they’d say “It’s great to hear a favorite story again!” Out in the stacks, helping children find books, I often get a whispered, “Tell Barry (or Brian) I loved what he picked.” “Okay, I sure will,” I say with a smile.
Barry and Brian are brother bears who visit Fall and Spring to introduce stories they love and wish to share with children. They usually have with them the character or characters from the story, who then get passed around while the story is read (either by me or a tape. I use some taped material at each school each week. If I talk or read for all 27 classes, I lose my voice.) Barry’s home school is Homecroft while Brian’s is Linwood A+, although each visits the other occasionally to see kids at the “other” school. Each bear is the style in which the puppeteers arms fit inside the bear’s arms so he can pick up a book or root around inside the bag in which he travels. (Students get to know this bag and can predict who might be visiting.) Bears hibernate during the winter, and so do Brian and Barry. They talk to friends who will serve as hosts during Brian and Barry’s winter sleep, and children hug them on the last day they visit school. Sometimes there are a few tears, but when spring comes kids start reminding me that soon Barry and Brian will be back to see them, and there is wild cheering on the day of the return.
One of the most popular of the Host Puppets who introduce books in Brian and Barry’s absence is Chatterton, a noisy, talkative parrot. Brian and Barry do not speak out loud; they only whisper to me or to the children individually. Chatterton talks non-stop and takes books out of the bag with his mouth, attempting to talk with his mouth full. Children love him and ask repeatedly for his return. Other Host Puppets include a hand and rod puppet cat named Shelby, Mother Goose (“Here’s a little wing wave, Dears”), a silly monster named Hoke (“You wanna see me do a trick with my tongue?”), Wrinkles the dog, Molly Mouse, and a score of others who are a delight for both the children and myself. I’m never sure what’s going to happen next either!
Share the magic...
Vicky Kline