Story Time with Julie Fowlkes (13/10/2012)
| Venue | ： | Olympian City Branch, Shop 115, 1/F, Olympian City 1, 11 Hoi Fai Road, West Kowloon, Kln. |
| Speaker | ： | Julie Fowlkes |
| Host | ： | Ms. Christa Tam |
Review
What a treat it was for our members to have four stories in one story time with Julie Fowlkes! The US childhood literacy specialist enthralled both children and parents with her storytelling skills, the result of over 40 years experience in this great art.
Right from the start, the children enthusiastically took part in the search for the green sheep when Mem Fox's Where Is the Green Sheep? was read. The story tickled their imagination; there were all kinds of sheep – red sheep, blue sheep, wave sheep, scared sheep, brave sheep – some of which they had never thought of!
After the delight they had of learning about colours and rhymes came the suspense of another Mem Fox's book, Hattie and the Fox. When the animals did not pay attention to Hattie's warning of impending danger from a predator fox, all the children started to worry as Hattie noticed more and more of the features of a fox in the bush. Julie delivered this gem for reading aloud exactly the way she had taught parents to do: “be silly and play and have fun”. The result was that the children had great fun too.
Julie continued to engage the audience with Michael Rosen's dramatic and comic masterpiece We're Going On a Bear Hunt. The children imagined the fun of going on a bear hunt through long wavy grass, a deep, cold river, thick, oozy mud and other obstacles as they enacted as well as chanted the chorus.
Peter Brown's heartwarming You Will Be My Friend, tickled the funny bones of every child. The children couldn't help laughing out loud at Lucy the Bear's search for friendship and that her enthusiasm brought misadventure after misadventure. What a relief it was when Lucy finally found a friend by just being herself!
The one-hour session was more that just a story time for children. Parents learnt many tips on reading from Julie.
Read Aloud Tips
- Let your child choose the book
- Snuggle in!
- Read slowly
- Read title and author
- Let your child turn the pages
- Ask questions, make predictions
- Encourage/praise your child
- Read while children are playing
- Be silly, dramatic and have fun!
We thank Julie for the great stories and story-telling tips as well as Bring-Me-A-Book for bringing Julie to Blooming Club. To learn more, visit www.bringmeabook.org.hk
