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

See you on Thursday!

Dans le cadre des 20 ans de la Bibliothèque de la Bretagne,

Rendez-vous ce jeudi 17 octobre 2013 à 18 heures 

dans les jardins de la bibliothèque 

(Chemin des routiers à La Bretagne)

pour notre premier StoryTime 

en plein air!!!!

A la suite de l'atelier,

laissez-vous transporter dans l'univers "Doudou et Pyjama",

un spectacle du théatre Conflore

pour les 0-5 ans

Vous trouverez le programme complet des animations 

des 20 ans de la bibliothèque en cliquant ici

See you on Thursday!

Emma

Journée anglaise

September 21st, 2013 ~ La Bretagne ~ Reunion Island

Last Saturday, the second edition of the Jounée anglaise took place in our neigbourhood, here, in La Bretragne.

English Rocks! (our association) partnered with the local library to give access to books written in English to children.

The librarian brought a large number of  books from the central St-Denis library (Médiathèque François Mitterrand).

I was amazed by their collection, this place is a gold mine, 
they provide great resources for teachers or families searching for books written in English.

If you live in the area, be sure to check it out!

While the librarians supervised the reading area, 

I held bilingual StoryTime workshops for over an hour and a half.

It was tiring but fun!

When I invited kids to join the workshops, a few of them said no thank you.

They were not interested in BOOKS...

Some seemed to look at me either with a polite look saying I really don't want to hurt you but I'd rather do something else, others were more like, get real, why would I look at a book on a Saturday afternoon, books are at school, where they belong.

 Each time a kid said no, I extended the same invitation:

How about you try, come and sit with us and if you don't enjoy it, 

you can leave anytime, I won't mind.

Most of these kids came and STAYED! They did enjoy the BOOKS.

They realized that stories are fun,
that they don't have to be scared about not undersantding English (I translate when needed)
and they got a glimpse of the magic only good books can bring.

Here are a few pictures, kindly taken by one of the parents in attendance:

The Crocodile's knobbly Skin by Andrea Florens

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae

here are the books the kids got to choose from:
StoryBox treasures from all over the world

Festival Zétinsèl

September 7th, 2013 ~ Entre-Deux ~ Reunion Island

For the last two years, I've wanted to bring my family to the Festival Zétinsèl held annually in the south of the island in a lovely "village créole" named Entre-Deux.

Well, this year, I did better than that!

Not only did I bring my family there, but I also brought my StoryBox and shared my love of stories and cultures of the English speaking world with a bunch of kids at the festival.

Among other stories, we shared :

by Rod Campbell, always a favourite...

kids love to discover which animal is hidden behind the flaps,

they love to learn their names in English too!

We then travelled to Australia to meet Dizzy and her friends Snuffle, Spike and Bounce,

 starring in Rebecca Johnson's and Tony Flowers' Biggest Tower Ever,

a story about sharing and reaching higher goals when working together, 

this story has been in our family since 2005,

we just LOVE it!

and the audience at the festival did too!!!

When the kids get the wiggles, I usually read Eric Carle's From Head to Toes



Here we are kicking our legs like donkeys!
This book is definitely a StoryBox hit.

It was a wonderful day for all involved, 
my family, my StoryBox and myself were glad to be a part of it.
Now we are off to new bookish fun until we leave these shores
and start the StoryTime Around the World adventure.

See you on Saturday!

A l'occasion de la "Journée anglaise" organisée par l'association "Anglofun"

venez retrouvez Emma et sa StoryBox 

sur l'espace de la bibliothèque entre 14h et 16h 

ce samedi 21 septembre 2013,

à la salle polyvalente de La Bretagne

Pour plus de renseignements sur le programme de l'après-midi 

concocté par Isabelle, cliquez ici

ou téléphonez au 06 92 82 29 82

What's Next?!

Chose  promise, chose due!

(Deuxième édition)

Voici (enfin!) les dates des prochains ateliers Story Time:

Le mercredi, à la Bibiothèque Alain Lorraine

11 et 25 septembre, 9 et 23 octobre, 6 et 20 novembre et 4 décembre

 à 10 heures pour les 3-6 ans et 11h pour les 7-9 ans.

Le samedi, à la Bibliothèque Alain Peters

31 août, 28 septembre, 26 ocotbre et 30 novembre

A 10h30 pour les 3-6 ans et à 11h pour les 7-9 ans

Les inscriptions se font sur reservation auprès de chaque bibliothèque

BIAL: 02 62 90 49 90                    BIAP: 02 62 93 88 70

See you soon,

Emma

 PS: RDV également au Festival Zétinsèl,

dans la "bulle de rêve" sur la "Place du Livre"

le Samedi 7 septembre 2013

à L'Entre-Deux

Les Bons Plans Vacances - St Denis, juillet 2013

In July, we had the delightful opportunity to work with the St Denis City Council

as part of the "Bons Plans Vacances Program"

designed to provide kids with meaningful activities during the holidays.

Here are a few pictures of our Bookish Adventures:

Cette année, l'association "English Rocks!" a eu le plaisir de participer

aux "Bons Plans Vacances" de la ville de St Denis

en proposant des ateliers Story Time aux enfants de 3 à 6 ans et à leurs parents.

Pour l'occasion, les ateliers ont été rabaptisés Baby Anglais!

Me rendre chaque jour dans un nouveau quartier,

rencontrer des familles

et partager avec elles ma passion pour les livres, la langue anglaise

et la variété de la culture du monde anglophone restera pour moi

un des meilleurs souvenir de ces vacances.

Place aux photos:

Merci à tous et à bientôt,

Bookishly Yours,

Emma

What's Next?!

Chose promise, chose due!

Voici les dates des prochains ateliers "Story Time"

Le mercredi, à la Bibliothèque Alain Lorraine

29 mai, 12 juin, 16 juin,

à 10h pour les 3-6 ans et à 11h pour les 7-9 ans.

Le samedi, à la bibliothèque Alain Peters

1er juin, 29 juin

à 10h30 pour les 3-6 ans et à 11h pour les 7-9 ans.

Les inscriptions se font sur reservation auprès de chaque bibliothèque

BIAL: 02 62 90 49 90                     BIAP: 02 61 93 88 70

See you soon,

Emma

It's StoryTime......... again!!!!

Les ateliers "Story Time" à la bibliothèque Alain Lorraine ont repris hier. 

Chez les 3-6 ans, nous nous sommes régalés avec des auteurs australiens ainsi que l'incontournable Eric carle. Après notre voyage avec les wombats, les wallabies et Dizzy le koala, nous avons également fait un tour chez Anthony Browne et je remercie Christelle pour la voix française de I Love Books.

C'était chouette de revoir des visages familiers et de faire de nouvelles rencontres.

La grande nouveauté du jour, c'était l'ouverture du groupe des 7-9 ans. Quel plaisir de retrouver Jean, Lou-Ann et Mélissa et de partager avec eux Possum Magic, un classique australien, de leur faire découvrir "Les Oeufs verts au jambon" de Dr Seuss et l'humour anglais de Nick Sharrat. Nous ne pouvions pas finir sans Dear Zoo et j'ai été impressionnée de voir qu'ils pouvaient le lire seuls ou presque! "Sing and Play" a porté de bons fruits.

Happy Valentine everyone!

Emma

It's Picture Time!!!

Stage "Sing and Play" à la bibliothèque Alain Lorraine janvier 2013

quelques photos...

Les 6/7 ans

singing (for parents!)

portraying animals

playing guessing games

are you happy, scared, tired or sad ?! ?!

happy of course,
"Sing and Play" sessions are fun!

Les 8/9 ans

getting ready to Sing ...

... and Play!

What's this?
This is a snake.

making our very own...

my bee is too naughty, my pig is too smelly, my alligator is too fierce ...
but our time together sure was nice!

Merci à Mathilde pour les photos (et pour son talent de bibliothécaire)

Atelier "Sing and Play" à la Rivière des Pluies

A Short History of StoryTime

People often ask me how I came up with such a way of telling stories in English to little French kids.

One of the comments I usually get is "woah, this is so simple but you had to think about it!"

So here is the story of  how it came to be:

Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Al.

Before he even knew how to walk, he was already fascinated by books of all sorts.

 When he turned two, he received a gorgeous book from his mother’s Australian friend. His mother read it to him every night and discovered how fun and easy it was to read in English to this lovely French boy.

Other books crossed oceans to land in the boy's and mum’s hands and new pleasures were shared with each page read.

Years later, that reading team joined by three more darling boys, was living on a beautiful island somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. All of them still enjoyed the pleasure of reading Australian books together every now and then.

One day, the idea came, mummy wanted to share!

Share her passion for books, her passion for stories, her passion for English and her love for a foreign country where she had learnt so much.

It’s not only reading stories, it’s teaching kids that people are people wherever they may live ,

it’s helping them see that different does not have to mean better or less

or even scary!

It’s taking a step towards peace, goodwill and understanding one child and one story at a time.

Up with "Story Time"!