storytelling

Green Golly & Her Golden Flute Picture Book Review

October 11, 2013 by ajpassey

“It’s a good thing the girl had so much time to grow hair, because frankly it was the only way up to the tower.” Sound familiar? I thought you’d recognize Rapunzel!

In Keith Torgan and Barbara Siesel’s version, Green Golly is the name given to the baby girl traded to the witch for a plate of leafy greens. The witch is afraid of Green Golly’s beauty and the attention she began to receive from the fellas. And so Green Golly finds herself very, very bored in a tower. To alleviate her boredom, the witch introduces her to the flute and the great classical composers. The audio telling of the story weaves Barbara Siesel’s beautiful flute playing into the story introducing young listeners to Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Korsakov.

If you purchase the book through the publisher or from The Green Golly Project, the book comes with the CD. If you purchase through another retailer such as Amazon, the CD is sold separately. However, there is a Story Sticker QR code inside the book so that you can access the audio telling of the story through the app. That code is available in all copies of the book (including those where the CD is included.) The CD contains a dramatic telling of the Green Golly story. We had the opportunity to review the CD a few years ago. You can read our review of Green Golly and Her Golden Flute here. Back to the book…

The illustrations in the book are magical. I love the drawing style and the color combinations. It’s whimsical, filled with little details throughout to explore as you listen to the story. I love this description from the press release: “Suzanne Langelier-Lebeda’s charming illustrations partner beautifully with the book’s text, narration, and music to create a work that has unity, contrast, and a lively flow of energy from one page to another, striking a healthy balance between classical children’s illustration and the modern graphic novel.”

I’m excited to be able to offer a copy Green golly & Her Golden Flute, the picture book including the CD, to a BBGU reader! I’m thinking 57 minute quiet time for you, right here! It is that captivating to little ones. Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below. There are two different questions to answer for some easy entries. You’re welcome 😉
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mixed Media: Mama Dada Blues

January 30, 2013 by ajpassey

Why Music?

Music is becoming an increasingly important part of our play. Music is great for dance parties and altering sour moods. But it’s great for so much more, too. Music is good for learning, bonding, communicating, and creating! As we have gotten to know various albums, specific songs have sparked art projects, gifts, and parties. With so many opportunities to review and share new music here on the blog, I’ve felt inspired to explore and elaborate on the connections we’re making between music and other early childhood education activities.

Welcome to the Fourth Edition of Mixed Media!

In each Mixed Media post I’ll share a song and a creative project that was inspired by the song. My hope is that you will be inspired to share music with your little one in a way that gets you two (or three or four!) connected to each other and to your creative sides. This week’s song is Mama Dada Blues by Vanessa Trien and the Jumping Monkeys. You can pick up Bubble Ride on Amazon to add to your music library. It’s full of awesome songs.

As we have got to know this song, I kept envisioning cute baby faces showing different expressions. It’s so fun to look at pictures of our kids as babies and all the facial expressions we were able to capture. As we listened to the song I asked them to listen for 1) how old the babyis, 2) what things the baby is thinking, and 3)what the baby is actually able to say. With a new baby joining our family this summer, I used this as a way to prepare the kids for what it’s like to have a non-talker around again.

For our craft I found several pictures of babies with different expressions in magazines and online. I also cut out several shapes and sizes of speech bubbles. Each of us chose a piece of construction paper and the baby faces we wanted to use. After gluing our faces to our papers, we glued a corresponding speech bubble down. Then we filled in the bubble with what we thought the baby was trying to say based on their expression.

Elli matched up lines from the song with her baby pictures. Scott said, “What’s your name?” I don’t know if he was asking the baby or if that’s what the baby was asking us! Sammi was very creative in what her babies were expressing. We all had so much fun thinking of what could be going on for these babies. I was amazed to see how well the girls could recognize and explain the different emotional expressions in the babies.

Don’t forget to grab Bubble Ride and a magazine today and share this activity with your little one.

I Am Happy-A New Album from Sukey Molloy

May 7, 2012 by ajpassey

When I pulled out I Am Happy by Sukey Molloy for one more listen before writing this review, Sammi exclaimed, “Goodie! I like her.” And for good reason, Sukey’s music connects with kids in an energetic, engaging way. This album brings Happy into our house every time we turn it on.

Sukey Molloy really connects with the preschool crowd. Her songs are spot on with what interests and engages little ones. The girls were following along the songs that invite actions and Scott was bouncing and bobbing along to every song.

I Am Happy is available on Sukey Molloy’s website and on Amazon, though it’s currently out of stock there. Enjoy!

Tangled Fun

September 3, 2011 by ajpassey

We were inspired by Silly Eagle Books’ Rapunzel tower earlier this week. The timing was perfect as we finished a roll of paper towels and I found another one hanging out in the office. Once the towers were underway, Sammi wanted to recreate as much as she could from movie, so there was a pond, a castle, a path and a slew of floating lanterns.

Tangled diorama

While making our Tangled diorama, we took turns retelling parts of the story to each other. This flowed particularly well as Sammi chose what she wanted to add. Then she told me about that part of the movie. She has a better memory than I do for this show so my forgetfulness made her ability to retell the story all that more important so I could get the details right!

My favorite part is the mobile of floating lanterns. Sammi really wanted to launch lanterns and included the “pond” as she called the large lake in the movie. She was also very adamant about the lanterns having suns on them. After I put them together and punched the hole, then she drew sun flames around it.

Of course we had to end the evening with another viewing of the movie. And see what else we might add tomorrow…

Other Rapunzel things we love:

Green Golly and Her Golden Flute by Keith Torgan and Barbara Siesel