This week at the Daniel Boone Regional Library

I'm home from three days in and around Columbia, MO. I always have a good time at the libraries in the Daniel Boone Regional Library system.
Sarah and Hilary hosted three of my shows at the Columbia Public Library. They're always a hoot to work with, and extremely hospitable.

Hilary took pictures of my first show at the main library.


I was performing in "the egg," the program room in the children's area. On the outside, it looks like a giant green egg. Inside it's green and orange-red. That sounds horrible, but is in fact quite pleasant. There are benches around the periphery, but as you can see in the picture, most kids and some adults sit on the floor.


Can you see the spider and fly in Kay's stomach? She's just beginning her feast (she's the old lady who swallowed a fly).


This picture was taken at the Ashland library, where the staff went wild with the bug theme. It was Miss Pam's birthday on Wednesday. She usually does storytime, but graciously introduced me and took pictures. Of course, we sang to her before the show. I did a show there on Tuesday night--a mother and son pair came to that show as well as to Wednesday morning.

In New Bloomfield, some of the school-aged kids remembered me from when I was there two years ago. They wanted me to tell The ghost with the one black eye, but I demurred. We paired my performance with a RIF book giveaway by the librarian--Jerilyn had a great selection picked out for the kids to take home.

In Harrisburg, I told stories at the preschool, where they also have big kids in the summer. For added excitement, one of these big kids pulled out TWO of his loose teeth during my show. Blood. Ick. The little kids didn't really notice him, thank goodness.

Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival, part II

Back to the festival. Did I mention that it's put on by the Missouri River Regional Library and the Daniel Boone Regional Library, with tons of other sponsors? This year was the 10th anniversary, and there were 13 storytellers.

I performed at two Catholic schools on Thursday, two public schools on Friday, and twice at the Columbia Public Library on Saturday. On Thursday, I had kindergarteners through eighth graders in one group, then kindergarteners through sixth graders a the other school. Though I can perform for such a wide range of ages (5 to 13), and everybody did have a good time, I find a smaller range of age to be more effective. Obviously, kindergarteners are developmentally different from adolescents, so what fits for the younger kids might feel too small for the older kids. I end up spending extra time reassuring the older kids that I respect them.

On Friday I had a smaller range, kindergarteners to third graders (age 5-8). This made more sense. I was reminded of how every performance is different: the morning show had 60 kids who listened with quiet enjoyment. The afternoon group was about 250, in a sweltering gym just as a storm was rolling in, and the kids came in already excited. I had a good time playing with the energy, watching how the students settled in to a quiet story and then got a little wild with a more active tale. I always try to bring them back down to a manageable place before I send them back to class.

On Saturday at the Columbia Public Library, in the shows I shared with Beth Horner, we had families. The morning show was full of active tinies, the afternoon listeners had that post-lunch quiet energy. The really tiny children must have been at home having their naps.