The Howard School Brings the Adorable and the Brer Rabbit Stories

First of all, Happy Halloween!  I hope you’re having a spooktacular day.  We totally are.

The Howard School visited today, and brought a hearty amount of awesomeness in the form of 21 second graders (we think).  They were a hoot.

Nannie and Jeri gave them a tour of the Wren’s Nest, Donald gave them a performance of the Brer Rabbit stories, and I provided them with a mess of Brer Lion t-shirts.  Lain sat around and put his feet up.

In return, the kids performed their own versions of the Brer Rabbit stories on our stage.

The children had crafted papier-mâché masks of various characters and “acted along” as their teachers read from The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit.

Here’s one of the masks, up close and personal.

Below is Brer Rabbit (and family–you can understand the need for poetic license when you have 21 fidgety players) stumbling upon the tar baby.

Pretty convincing, if I do say so.

My favorite part of the performances were when the students, instructed to repeat after their teacher, would boisterously yell stage directions.  For example:

TEACHER: (with repeat-after-me emphasis) And then Brer Fox said, puffing up his chest, “I’m–”

2-3 CHILDREN: (with passion) PUFFING UP HIS CHEST!

TEACHER: (chuckling) I’m going to cook you in a stew!

1 CHILD: (timidly) I’m going to cook you in a stew?

I loved it.  Thanks for a great day, Howard School!