Hello friends and welcome to Storytime with The Met. My name is Julie Marie and
I'm so excited to see you today. Please join us every Thursday at 12
o'clock for new stories and activities. Now, grab a cozy spot and let's get
started. We're gonna begin with our Storytime song, which goes to the tune of
This Old Man. Count along with me 1- 2 - 3. 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, take a seat and give a Shh. Let's begin with our first book. Good job, everyone.
Today's book is, "Sweetest Kulu." The author is Celina Kalluk. She wrote the book.
Sweetest Kulu is one of my favorite books because it has beautiful illustrations. So
I need you to take a look at the pictures. Ready?
Sweetest Kulu on the day you were born, all of the Arctic Summer was there to
greet you. Smiling Sun shone so bright and stayed through the night, giving you
blankets of ribbon warm light. Melodies of the Wind arrived sharing stories of
how the weather forms, and telling you to always listen closely. Wise Wind had
learned of your name, charming Kulu, and invited the world to meet you. What
do you see in this illustration that makes you think the wind is there? Can you
find something it's moving and dancing around in the wind?
You had many wondrous and grand visitors! They shared thoughts, feelings, and best
wishes with you, darling Kulu. Let's see what animals we can find in this amazing
illustration. Take a closer look because we're gonna meet these animals again
throughout the book. Adventurous Snow Bunting gifted you with seeds from
Arctic cotton, and flowers for you to plant and grow with, reminding you to
always believe in yourself, happy Kulu. Always believe in yourself. Arctic Hare,
with rock willow and roots, came to show you love so easily. You became a best
friend, baby Kulu, loving to give.
Fox, so thoughtful and swift ,came to tell you to
get out of bed as soon as you wake, to help anyone who may need help along your
way, admired Kulu. Help anyone who may need it along the way. Kulu's learning
some amazing lessons here. Thinking of you, Arctic Char enjoyed reflections in
the water so see green, and gave you tenderness, too, beautiful and handsome,
Kulu. Can you find Kulu's reflection? Have you ever looked for your own reflection in the water? It's a lot of fun.
Seal, whose favorite colors ice blue, heard about Arctic Char's adoration for
you. She loves creativity, and surrounded you with colour, nicest Kulu. I love
creativity too. Especially love all the great colors that seal brings.
Narwhal and Beluga saw the natural gifts of the world that you are. They give you
spontaneity, little Kulu, and the joyful feeling that comes from finishing
well but you start. Those narwhals tusk remind you of another animal? We have a
narwhal tusk in our Museum but it's not in a spot you might think it is. Take a look and see if you
can find it on our website. Muskox shared heritage and empowerment
with you ,magnificent Kulu, showing you how to protect would you believe in.
Protect what you believe in!
Caribou chose patience for you, cutest Kulu. He gave you the ability to
look to the stars, so that you will always know where you are and may gently
lead the way. Polar Bear, with powerful instinct, taught you to always treat
animals with respect and never scold them. Polar Bear made an offering of
gentleness, making you a modest and kind Kulu.
Kulu's even playing baby polar bear here. The mama bear must really trust Kulu.
The beautiful land gave you a practical foundation to balance and build upon.
Never be lazy, beloved Kulu, because your Land is a place of bright ideas.
All these flowers look I think they might be Kulu's bright ideas. In their
dream dream. Dream a little, Kulu, this world now sings the most beautiful
song of you. Slumber in safety. Tomorrow will wait patiently. Be calm,
Kulu, and celebrate because are true love.
Did you know that you, too, are true love?
There's one more lovely illustration in the book. Of Kulu resting with a tiny little polar bear.
Thank you for reading Sweetest Kulu with
me today. There are so many amazing animals in this book and it made me
think of all of the animals that we have at the collection of the museum. And it
reminded me that this beautiful carved whale that we have it's made out of
walrus ivory. It was made in Alaska by the Inuit community. Now take a really
close look at this really tiny sculpture. Inside you'll see detailed carvings that
tell a story. Look at the people on the side of this whale. What story is it
telling do you? What do you think the people are thinking? Now what do you think the whale
is thinking? Do you think that they're surprised? Excited? Scared? Mad? Happy?
What do you think it might be? Have you ever carved into something as
hard as ivory or stone? It's really difficult to do but I bet if you have a
piece of soap at home, you can try carving, too.
Now, I made my own little carving of a whale out of soap. I think you should
give it a try. Grab a piece of soap
get a pencil or a paperclip and ask a grown-up to help you with a plastic
knife. Now you're going to use the pencil or the paperclip to first to sketch out
your big shape. And then once you're done with that, with your grown-ups help, cut
out those big shapes. If you happen to have a paintbrush, you can use the paintbrush
to get rid of all of the pieces that are lying around. Now you need to do all of
the tiny little details. Now that's easiest to do with the paperclip. You can
dig deep into your soap to make those carvings. Now don't forget to do all the
different sides. That's the fun thing about doing carvings. You can do it in
three dimension. All the different areas. All the different sides. You can share it
with your grown-up. You can either give it as a gift, like all the animals did
with Kulu. Or you can put it on a shelf for decoration or just use
it! And scrub up and have a whale with you in the bathtub. Thank you so much
for joining me today. I always love reading with you and I can't wait to see
you again next Thursday at 12:00! Bye!