Around the World and Then Goodnight

Theresa Dardanell

At 6:30 p.m. on January 17, 2017, approximately twenty-four Lewistown Elementary School students were dressed in their PJ’s and ready for bed, but they weren’t at home. Along with their parents, they went back to school for Family Literacy Night, sponsored by the PTA.

The children brought blankets, stuffed animals, and pillows, and they made themselves comfortable. Through the magic of storytelling, Dr. Cook, Associate Professor of Education at Mt. St. Mary’s University, treated the children to a trip around the world in their minds. She began by telling a Pawnee Folk tale, Baby Rattlesnake, and invited the children to join in a rattlesnake song and dance. The trip around the world continued with a Ukrainian folk tale, an Australian adventure, and a story from China. The trip concluded with a bedtime story, Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein. Lewistown Elementary Literacy Specialist Abby Dillon said that the families enjoyed the relaxing night and that one student thanked her for “such a fun slumber party.”

Dr. Cook, Associate Professor of Education at Mt. St. Mary’s University, is pictured with Lewistown Elementary students and their families, during Literacy Night, held January 17, 2017.