20 Desamb

En ce jour où l'on commémore
 l'abolition de l'esclavage à La Réunion,  

Je vous propose un livre accessible dès l'adolescence pour (re-)découvrir l'action de

Sarda Garriga-l'homme du 20 décembre 1848.

Il était une fois...Sarda Garriga,
Jean-François SAMLONG, ed. Jacaranda, 2009

 

Textes, documents d'archives et bande dessinées

s'entremêlent et se succèdent pour présenter au lecteur le chemin parcouru

depuis les heures sombres de la traite des noirs

à l'aube d'une nouvelle société où tous les hommes sont libres.

What's Next?!

Several weeks ago, I was joking with a mum after a workshop saying:

"If I don't update the blog soon, my next post will read What's Past?! and not What's Next?! ..."

Well, here we are, weeks later,

and with only one more StoryTime session scheduled before our big move,

 I dare to say: What's Next?!

See you on Wednesday April 16th at the Bibliothèque Alain Lorraine at 10 and 11 o'clock

for our last session here in Reunion.

 

~~~~

 

La famille English Rocks! déménage!

Rendez-vous le

mercredi 16 avril 2014

à la Bibliothèque Alain Lorraine à 10h (3-6 ans ) et 11h (7-9 ans).

C'est notre dernier rendez-vous sur l'île avant le grand départ!

A très Bientôt,

 

Emma

 

Spreading the Magic...

As I walk Eliott to his classroom in the morning 

I'm greeted by older children coming to give me kisses.

These kids are in love with StoryTime workshops 

and they either thank me for coming to their class

or ask me when is the next time I come to their classroom?!

It is such a great feeling to see that they get it.

Our purpose is to encourage literacy

 by introducing kids to the magic only books can provide

as well as developing peace, goodwill and understanding 

through meaningful stories from all over the world

and by providing children with a positive interaction with a foreign language at an early age.

Last week something magical happened.

You remember how in September some kids were reluctant to come and listen to stories
 on a Saturday afternoon for the Journée anglaise.
{see here for the full story}

Well, one of the children who decided to give it a try loved it so much
 that she wanted these workshops to come to her classroom.

She told her mum, who told me and her teacher, 

she told all her friends at school
and they kept asking me to come until finally it happened, last Thursday.

As I walked into their calssroom as Emma-the StoryLady,

they were beaming with joy and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement.

We shared Gemma O'Neil Oh Dear Geoffrey! -a great story about self acceptance-

My Mum by Anthony Brown - I believe we can never talk too much about filial love!-

and Nick Sharrat's Ketchup on Your Cornflakes - 

this book is always a hit!

{Anton was on my laps while I was reading and he won the children's hearts!}

This morning something even more magical happened!

As today is the last day of school before the Summer break,

a day characterized by games, candies and movies in the classroom, 

these lovely children asked me intently if I would please come and tell them stories in English, today. 

It's amazing to see that for them StoryTime workshops are as appealing as candies,games and DVDs...

Let's say it, 

English Rocks! and the magic is spreading...

Thank You Mr Mandela

Here is a great book to introduce older children and teens to the life of Nelson Mandela
Voici un livre intéressant pour découvrir la vie de Nelson Mandela avec de grands enfants ou des adolescents

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus by William Henley,

This poem is said to have been a source of empowerment for Nelson Mandela

during his years in prison.

~ ~ ~

Dans les ténèbres qui m’enserrent,

Noires comme un puits où l’on se noie,

Je rends grâce aux dieux quels qu’ils soient,
Pour mon âme invincible et fière,

Dans de cruelles circonstances,
Je n’ai ni gémi ni pleuré,
Meurtri par cette existence,
Je suis debout bien que blessé,

En ce lieu de colère et de pleurs,
Se profile l’ombre de la mort,
Et je ne sais ce que me réserve le sort,
Mais je suis et je resterai sans peur,

Aussi étroit soit le chemin,
Nombreux les châtiments infâmes,
Je suis le maître de mon destin,
Je suis le capitaine de mon âme.

"Invictus" de William Henley 

(traduction Wikipedia)

Il est dit de ce poème qu'il a été une source d'inspiration pour Mandela 

pendant ses longues années en prison

~~~~

Thank you Mr Mandela

for teaching the world that we can live together regardless of 

our culture or the colour of our skin.

Merci M. Mandela 

d'avoir montré au monde que nous pouvons vivre ensemble

quelque soit notre culture ou la couleur de notre peau.

Christmas Is Here Again!

With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to bask in the Spirit of the Season... again.

One of our family traditions is to solemly open our Christmas box every year on December first

{we did it a week earlier this year}

 and to unwrap and re-discover each item it contains.

The book-lovers we are, have collected a few Christmas books

 in French and English over the years, 

here is a glimpse into some of our Family Christmas Box treasures 

mingled with some StoryBox treasures.

Enjoy!

See you on Wednesday in La Source for our last StoryTime session 

before the summer break

~ ~ ~

Noël approche,

nous avons sorti notre Christmas Box en avance cette année,

histoire de bien profiter de notre dernier Noël Réunionnais.

Voici un petit aperçu des trésors livresques de Noël 

contenus dans notre Christmas Box familiale

et dans la StoryBox.

A Mercredi à la Bibliothèque de la Source pour notre dernier StoryTime 

avant le break des vacances d'été!

Happy Birthday "StoryTime"!

Today marks the first Birthday of our Bilingual StoryTime workshops.

To celebrate the occasion, I volunteered at my kids's school,

I turned into Emma, the StoryWitch 

and told Room on The Broom to Sam's class

and Meg and Mog to Eliott's class and to my neigbour's class.

Anton tagged along, 

he was such a darling in his skeleton costume.

Hard to believe it's been a year since I told Meg and Mog to a nice bunch of kids

during our first ever bilingual StoryTime workshop at the Bibliothèque Alain Lorraine.

I'm thankful for all the fun that has followed.

~~~

Aujourd'hui, StoryTime a 1 an,

pour fêter ça, je suis allée raconter Meg and Mog et Room on the Broom

dans les classes de mes enfants ce matin,

C'était chouette!

Je suis reconnaissante pour ce 31 ocotbre 2012 

où j'ai raconté Meg and Mog à un groupe d'enfants bien sympathiques

 à la Bibliothèque Alain Lorraine 

pour la première fois.

C'est avec grand plaisir que je vous retrouve là-bas tous les 15 jours depuis.

Merci à tous pour votre enthousiasme pour nos ateliers,

Englishly yours, 

Emma

PS: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Soirée "Doudou et Pyjama"

October 17th, 2013 ~ La Bretagne ~ Reunion Island

WOW, what a great time we had!

The public library in La Bretagne celebrated its 20th Birthday last week.

A weekfull of events took place,

We were involved last Thursday for a special "Soirée Doudou et Pyjama"

(ie: Teddy Bear and PJ party)

The afternoon rain sent our outdoor project to the drain so we filled the library instead.

My mum can make anything grow

YES, "jaune" in English IS "yellow",
good job!

It's a BLUE whale

I love my mum, and you know what?
She Loves ME,
(and she always will...)

Can you help Maisy and Charly pick the right colour for the  carrots?!

ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is our reading list for the evening:

My Mum by Anthony Browne

Maisy's Big Flap Book by Lucy Cousins

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill

Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson

Ketchup on your Cornflakes? by Nick Sharrat

Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton

I came up with a plot line to unify all these books and to fit in the theme of the evening,

but it was one of these "you had to be there thing",

I tried to write it down on this post but it makes it sounds very boring,

when really it was not!

Special thanks go

to Frédérique Clain at the public library for inviting us to join the celebrations of the 20th birthday

to Marie-Laure and Cédric who kindly helped take care of my younger children

to Nicolas who came out of work early to take pictures and care for our kids

to Al, Sam, Eliott and Anton (our 4 boys) for being so good that evening,

and finally to all of  you who came 

and showed such appreciation for our work.

Thank you

and see you next time!

"Bookishly yours"

Emma