Hello friends! Welcome to Storytime with The Met. My name is Christina and I'm so glad to be with
you all today. We are gathering every Thursday at noon for a book and an activity so find a
cozy spot and let's get started! We'll begin with our Storytime song, it goes to the tune of "This
Old Man," now can we sing it together? Let's start on the count of three! one two three!
Welcome friends, get ready get set for storytime with The Met,
where we love to read and sing and look at works of art and picture books, We'll use our
eyes to look and see, we'll use our ears to hear stories, now we'll take a seat and give a shhh.
Let's begin with our first book. Thank you for singing along!
So our book for today is called,
"Where are you from?" It's written by Yamile Saied Mendez and illustrated by Jamie Kim.
Where are you from? they ask. Is your mom from here?
Is your dad from there? they ask
I'm from here from today same as everyone else, I say. No where are you really from? they insist.
I ask Abuelo because he knows everything and like me he looks like he doesn't belong.
Where am I from?
Abuelo thinks. His eyes squint like he's looking inside
his heart for an answer. Can we all find our heart? Where is our heart?
You come from the pampas, the open free land, he says.
You're from the gaucho, brave and strong, from the brown river that cleanses
and feeds the land, that gives us the grain for our bread, the milk from the cows.
You're from the mountains so high they tickle Senora Cielo's belly.
Can we reach up and stretch the mountain so high? Can we reach those mountains?
Where the condor roosts his family and the jaguar prowls the night. Wow.
But you're also from the warm blue oceans the copper warriors tried to tame
and the elegant palm trees stretch their fingers to caress. Can we stretch our fingers?
How does that feel to stretch our fingers?
You are from hurricanes and dark storms and a tiny singing frog that calls
the island people home when the sun goes to sleep. What kinds of sounds do frogs make?
From this land where our ancestors
built a home for all, even when they were in chains because of the color of their skin.
You're from the grandmothers who search for their grandchildren, waiting, always waiting
in a plaza, their white handkerchiefs wrapping the sorrow of their thoughts.
You come from the sunshine that lights our path in this world and the rain
that washes away our mistakes. What does that feel like when you go outside and there's sunshine?
And what does it feel like when it rains? How does that feel on your body?
But, Abuelo, I ask, where am I really from? Abuelo laughs. You want a place?
He points to his heart, remember we found our heart before? Let's all put our finger on our
heart. He points to his heart. You're from here, from my love and the love of all those before us.
From those who dreamed of you because of a song sung under the southern cross
or the words in a book written under the light of the north star.
You? You are from all of us.
I am.
The end!
Thank you so much for reading along with me. I hope you enjoyed the words and the pictures
on the pages. Reading this book together with you has me thinking about a painting at The Met that's
a landscape painting. It's showing upstate New York and we can see the outside world.
Looking at this painting together, what do you notice? What stands out to you?
What do you see when you look at the mountains or the water? What about the
trees? Can you find anything in this painting that we talked about when we read our book?
Does it remind you of a place that you call home?
As we think about that I do have an activity that we can try together.
So we're going to be the interviewers. Just like our main character had questions for her Abuelo,
we can think about what questions we want to ask a family member, a friend,
or someone who's important to us about the place or the places that they call home.
So you don't really need any materials but you might want to get a notepad
and a pen or pencil so you can write down your thoughts or make pictures to remind you
of the questions you want to ask your family. So let's start to think of some questions together.
I'll start. I might want to ask, in the place you call home, what does it smell like?
I might ask, in the place or places you call home, do you see mountains or rivers
or oceans nearby? What do you see?
And I might ask, what is your favorite part about the place or the places that you call home?
So it's your turn! Are you ready? Think about all the questions you could ask that would help you
understand something about the places or place that your family members call home. See what you
find out! Thank you so much for joining me today for Storytime. We hope to see you soon! Goodbye