The St. Bernard Parish Library is still using its imagination when it comes to the 2020 Imagine Your Story Summer Reading Program. Weeks seven and eight of the first ever virtual summer reading program is sure to make a splash with readers as things get wet and wild with Page Turner Adventures as they celebrate ‘Imagine your Underwater Story’ all week long.
Page Turner and Kenny will present their original comedy show featuring some small but mighty superheroes, Melvin the Mantis Shrimp and Agatha the Axoloti to kick off our 7th week of activities. Kids at home will learn tons of weird watery fun facts when they play the trivia game show, GET SOAKED. And everyone can cool off with a sandpaper craft, paper towel tube rain sticks, and bubble art. Older kids will love Hydro-Dipping as they create one-of-a-kind designs in this creative craze that’s sweeping YouTube.
Page Turner will introduce viewers to not one, but two special people this week as part of their Author & Illustrator interviews. Author, poet, storyteller, former librarian, Shutta Crum will make it rain with her book Thunder-Boomer and author/illustrator, Janeen Mason will wow everyone with her Ocean Commotion series of picture books.
We will be swimming with the big fish on Friday when two very special guest artist performances are posted. Burl, the Bubble Guy will be coming all the way from Cologne, Germany to visit with Page Turner and Kenny. The Bubble Guy (a.k.a. Darren Burrell) has been entertaining audiences with is unique take on everybody’s favorite toy—soap bubbles—for more than 20 years. Summer readers are going to be floating on air when they see his amazing show.
Wait! There’s more!!! Liz Bragdon will present Vasilisa the Wise as part of her Tales with a Twist show. Readers will not only hear the Russian folktale, but they will be able to act it out. Tales with a Twist is a program that combines storytelling with yoga movements. Everyone becomes part of the story when Ms. Liz tells her tales.
Summer readers won’t need to juggle their schedule as we join Page Turner and Kenny for their Celebrate Your Circus Week for week eight of our virtual summer reading program. A steamer trunk, a mysterious book, and a hat belonging to Harry Houdini begin The Magnificent Circus Mystery, an outrageous show filled with magic, juggling, unicycling, and comedy. Kids will make clown bookmarks, as well as their own magical steamer trunks. Older kids will learn how to juggle plastic grocery store bags and how to make their own juggling balls! Author/illustrator of the week is the incredible Don Tate, author and illustrator of Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth.
Abracadabra! Hocus Pocus! Prepare to be amazed with world-renowned magician and Houdini historian, Jessica Jane Peterson of Penn & Teller’s Fool Me appears as the special guest with Page Turner Adventures on Friday, July 24th. The magic will continue with a virtual tour of the International Clown Hall of Fame in Baraboo Wisconsin.
The magic continues with another virtual artist visit when summer readers take part in an online architecture workshop with Carlos Nieto III from Los Angeles. Carlos is a favorite visiting artist at the St. Bernard Parish Library who normally leads teens and tweens in Anime or Manga workshops. This year he is building upon that foundation when he presents his ‘Design the Future program: Castle Edition. This online tutorial will have budding architects designing their own castle using recycled materials from around the house. Start saving those paper towel tubes, toilet paper rolls, cereal boxes, water bottles, and anything else you might want to build with! This virtual presentation was filmed especially for St. Bernard Parish Library summer readers and is sure to be a hit.
Summer readers and their families would not be able to enjoy all of the virtual programs being presented by our award winning artists without funding from a Decentralized Arts Fund grant that comes from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and as administered by the St. Tammany Commission on Cultural Affairs, St. Tammany Parish Government. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works as well as a donation from Arlette and Wayne Nunez and the Shell Matching Funds Gift Program.
Library families are able to enjoy any of our library’s wonderful virtual programs from wherever they are whenever they want. Patrons are asked to check the online calendar for the dates streaming is available for particular programs. Everyone who watches our many shows is invited to post their comments so that they can be shared with the various performing artists. Make sure to check the library’s website at mysbpl.org daily for new installments. For more information, please contact the library by calling 504-279-0448, by emailing us via the Contact Us button on our website at www.mysbpl.org, or messaging us through Facebook
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