Today, Jupiter and I started the day in a beautiful new media center with some very respectful Giraffes at Whitcomb Elementary.
And what a morning it was. There was SO much laughter as my puppet stole the show. My husband, who doubles as my driver, was laughing so hard I saw tears.
We started with a ukulele song, to wake Jupiter up from his cat giraffe, nap. It truly is the sweetest thing when the students who know the song join me in singing, You Are My Sunshine.
First-grade Sophie asked me if I play the ukulele because I’m happy, so I said yes, and that it makes me happy and calms me down when I get nervous, the perfect segue for talking through the therapeutic benefits of music.
Then, as I’m about to introduce Jupiter, who goes by Junior, he’s vigorously shaking his head no, and tells the crowd he’s decided to change his nickname to just JuJu. So I say, “Ok, Giraffe friends, I’d like you to meet Just JuJu.”
As you might imagine, that’s where the giggles begin.
As the laughter subsides, we dialogue back and forth, talking about the importance of names, we share a few of our own nicknames, then we read the book aloud, me in the role of Birdie, and JuJu playing the part of Mipps.
Since the story’s theme is empathy, after our read-aloud time, it’s time to teach the Empathy Switch: Thumbs up on the right hand represents you, pinky up on the left hand represents me. Now switch. Now switch back, then switch again.
Almost immediately, I heard groans of “this is really hard” and “I can’t do it,” so we slow it down and practice while we recite together: It’s empathy, it’s empathy. When you put yourself in place of me, that’s empathy.
Trust me, it gets more fluid with practice. And practicing empathy is a beautiful way to stick our necks out,
Then, it was time for their questions: How old is JuJu? How long have you been playing the ukulele? When did you start writing? If JuJu’s real name is Jupiter, does that mean he likes space? How old was our librarian when she was a student in your Spanish class? Can we pet Junior?
As they left, each K-2nd grade participant got a sticker, made by Cecily, to help them remember to write from the heart and to always show empathy, the key to human connection. Thank you, Ceci, for your partnership!
I’m so grateful to get to do these author Meet ‘n Greet visits and I’m looking forward to see where my books will take me next school year.
Happy slide into summer, dear reader.
Barbara Gruener 