Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Ghostly Statues

On Tuesday I told my first ghost story at the Public Library. Most of the children were from my storytelling class from last year but we did have two new ones, a boy and a girl.

As I described in the previous post, the story I told was about how the statues in people's yards come to life on the first night of the full moon. These seemingly sweet innocent stone figures morph into ghostly creatures and chase and eat any children they catch. Since Monday night was the first full moon, I asked them if they knew of any children who had disappeared. Their jaws dropped as they thought about their friends but they all shook their heads no.The kids loved the story, especially the boys. Since one of the younger girls seemed a bit frightened, I added a solution. I told them that if they were ever chased by one of the statues that all they had to do to escape was to freeze and stand like a statue themselves and the statue would ignore them.

We thought a bit of practice would be helpful, so the children danced around the room while I pretended to be a statue, chasing them. When I would tap one of the children on the shoulder, they would freeze in whatever position they happened to be in. They loved it!

I also told them that if they looked carefully the day before and after the full moon, they might actually see where the statue had changed locations or positions. They're counting the days until the next full moon which is October 11. Em

Monday, September 12, 2011

Storytelling at the Library

Tomorrow I tell my first story to the children at the public library. Last year I read stories to the children but this year the librarian is allowing me to create my own. Since Quinn's Cove is known for its beautiful yards and gardens, I thought I would start with a story about some of the yard art - in this case the statues.

So, the first ghostly story I will tell the children will be about how the statues of Quinn's Cove come to life on the first night of each full moon. And of course, if any child is found outside after dark during these times, they are in danger of being chased, caught and eaten! (I may have to substitute 'tickled' for eaten; it will depend on how young my audience is).

This girl may look angelic, but she is capable of tying up children with her beads.
These little cherubs are known for tackling children...
An innocent looking cat, but with claws that scratch and poke...
A cherub just looking for something to eat, perhaps bites out of little children...
And a stoic lion, who once each month prowls the yards looking for little children to pounce on.
Okay, as much as I would like to use these ideas, I pretty much know I'll have to tone it down a bit. I'll let you know what I do:) Em

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Book Festival!

Mom, Dad and I made a quick trip to Atlanta for Labor Day weekend to visit my grandparents. There was lots to do but the best part was going to Decatur to attend the AJC Decatur Book Festival. We only got to go one day (Saturday) but it was great!

I was able to see and meet some of my favorite authors including Margaret Peterson Haddix, Avi, Tony DiTerlizzi and Gordon Korman. Mom bought a bunch of books for her classroom (she teaches kindergarten) and we had lunch at one of the local restaurants. It must have been nearly 100 degrees that day, but we didn't mind. It was all soooo cool!!! Em