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Joanna Abel

Giraffes Can Dance

Poor Gerald the Giraffe's neck was so long, and his legs were so thin that the animals made fun of him at the annual Jungle Dance. When a little cricket helps Gerald hear the sounds of nature around him, he learns to dance to his own special music. Dancer and visual artist Joanna Abel helps children learn that "when you're special, you just need a different song." For an additional $25 fee, children can make their own jungle scenes featuring a dancing giraffe!

Barnyard Dance

Join us for a lively StoryCorner featuring the book Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton! We’ll stomp, jump, turn, and move like all the barnyard animals as we read along to this fun, rhyming story. Get ready to dance like a horse, flap like a chicken, and wiggle like a pig! It’s going to be a moo-velous time full of laughter, music, and lots of energetic barnyard fun!

Dance! Spin! Play!

Introducing Dance! Spin! Play!—a fun-filled 30-minute performance experience designed for classrooms! Watch as Joanna Abel performs exciting dances that captivate young imaginations, then get ready to join in the fun! Children will grab colorful dance scarves and learn playful dance moves that get them spinning, stretching, and moving to the music. It’s an interactive experience that encourages creativity, movement, and pure joy!

Cassidy Adkins

Llama Llama Red Pajama

Baby Llama is full of big feelings right before bedtime and Mama Llama does all she can to help! Join along as Baby Llama learns to deal with those big feelings—children are lead though activities that help with social emotional learning.

Liza Barley

Sunflower House

This book by Eve Bunting is a fun story about all the things a garden of sunflowers can be -- a house, a castle, a cage, a shelter, but when the flowers fade and fall, the sunflower house is gone forever, or is it? In this interactive music and movement-based workshop, we will explore our imaginations, sing, move, and learn about the lifecycle of flowers!

Taylor Couch

Big Mooncake for Little Star

Little Star loves her mama, but she can’t stop thinking about eating the Big Mooncake they baked together, even though she’s not supposed to take any nibbles yet. Young artists will love stretching, dancing, and developing their coordination as they learn about Little Star and the phases of the moon.

Flying free with Birds!

Birds are full of fun movements! Children will love becoming these characters as they explore body awareness, moving versus stillness, manipulating props, and investigating the world of our feathered friends!

Betty Dell

Crocodile Beat

"Down by the river, in the heat of the day..." Join Ms. Betty and her puppet friends on an imaginary journey to a jungle full of fun as they hear the story of Crocodile Beat by Gail Jorgensen. Interactive movement activities, puppets, and call-and-response animal sounds lead children to take part in the animals' parade, but soon everyone must work together to help King Lion thwart the hungry crocodile!

Owl Babies

Where is Mother Owl? Children will identify with the three young owls in Martin Waddell’s Owl Babies as they flap, fly, and wait for their mama to return. Betty Dell uses puppets and props to make this interactive storytime fun for young learners. This program may be adapted for early intervention classroom. Specify when scheduling.

What? Cried Granny

Patrick needs a place to sleep when he visits Granny, but how do you make a bed? A pillow? A blanket? The children, with the help of Granny’s dog, sheep, and chickens (plus a special woodlands guest!) work together to create a place for a good night’s rest! This StoryCorner uses creative dramatics, songs, and movement activities to introduce STEAM concepts that help children think about everyday objects in brand new ways!

Celeta Hickman*

Kitchen Dance

Join dancer, Celeta Hickman, as she brings the book "Kitchen Dance" to life with Afro-Caribbean music, songs, and movement. Hear the story of a family who dances together in joy and love and then learn some dances from the around the Caribbean!

Chantal Joseph

I Got the Rhythm

Follow along with a little girl and her mother as they travel to a park and hear the rhythm of the world around her. Join artist Chantal Joseph as she leads the children through exploring steady beat, rhythm, tempo, pitch, and dynamics. Children will be able to explore their expressiveness through dance and song.

Joann Kielar

Green Eggs and Ham

Children will enjoy answering Sam-I-Am’s infamous question “Do you like green eggs and ham?” while learning about rhyming words and discovering that it’s fun to try new things. This program may be adapted for early intervention classroom. Specify when scheduling. Terms: Early Childhood, Pre-K, Story Time

Now Things are Worse

In this comic Yiddish folk tale about a man who takes advice only to find his situation becoming increasingly ridiculous, artist/puppeteer Joanne Kielar engages children by using props and folk instruments. Young listeners will help create the sound effects that accompany this fun-filled tale. This program may be adapted for early intervention classroom. Specify when scheduling.

Karen Merritt

Not So Small at All

In this wonderful story children will learn all about building self-confidence and perseverance. Artist Karen Merritt will guide children in dramatic play activities that will help them learn that even small actions can add up to big results.

Show Me Your Lion Paws!

In Jon Agee’s book Lion Lessons, a dedicated student desperately wants to earn a lion diploma! Your classroom can earn a lion diploma, too! In this StoryCorner session, theatre artist Karen Merritt will guide children in using their voices, bodies, and imaginations to pretend to be the character of a lion. Children will also learn the importance of looking out for friends, just like the dedicated student in Lion Lessons.

David Minniefield

A Color of His Own

Join the colorful chameleon as he travels through the jungle looking for a color of his own. Performer David Minniefield will lead children on a journey of discovery with colors, animals, and shapes!

Excellent Ed

Everyone in the Ellis family is excellent – except Ed. Ed is determined to find his own thing to be excellent at. But what if he’s not excellent enough to belong in this family? Children will engage with storyteller David Minniefield and determine what it means to find something that you’re good at, even if it’s not excellent.

Katalina Salcedo

Carnival of Animals

Dancer Katalina Salcedo will guide children through the classic, magical story of "Carnival of the Animals" with its accompanying classical music soundtrack from Camille Saint-Saens. In this story, children will clap, twist, march in place and move their arms up and down as they learn how to use movement & emotion to match the sounds of the music around them. Just like the animals, children will prance like a lion, hip-hop like a kangaroo, sway like fish and be graceful like a swan. The story culminates with each child dancing like the animal of their choice to make their own "Carnival of the Animals"!

Lindsay Woge

My Perfectly Messed-up Story

Telling a story is an easy thing to do, right? Join Louie on his messy quest to tell a perfect story while learning how to recognize and regulate emotions like fear, anger, and excitement. Visual artist Lindsay Woge will guide participants in this engaging and light-hearted tale of learning not to give up, even when things get messy . . . really messy! For an additional $25 fee, participants will create a perfectly-messed-up, interactive mini-book of their own.

Alison Zapata*

From Head to Toe

Alison Zapata and her friend Koko use interactive storytelling, art-making, and movement to explore this Eric Carle favorite.  For an additional fee of $25, Alison will lead the children in creating an animal collage!