Hi, friends. Welcome to Storytime with The Met. My name is Emily and i'm so glad that you've joined
me today. We have a special story time all about winter today. We are going to read a story, take a
look at a work of art, and do a project together. Let's get started. Find a cozy spot. We are going
to begin with our Storytime song just like we do when we're together in the museum. It goes to the tune
of "This Old Man." 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 use our eyes to look and see
we use our ears to hear stories. Now let's take a seat and give a "shh," let's begin with our first book.
Nice job, friends! Today, our story is called "Over and Under The Snow." The words are by Kate Messner
and the artwork is by Christopher Silas Neal. Let's open it up and see what we can discover. I'm going
to read the words and I need your help looking closely at the pictures. Over and Under The Snow.
Over the snow I glide. Into woods, frosted fresh and white.
Over the snow, a flash of fur -- a red squirrel disappears down a crack.
"Where did he go?" Under the snow," Dad says.
Look at this great snowscape they're in.
Winter, full of white. "Under the snow is a whole secret kingdom, where the smallest forest animals
stay safe and warm. You're skiing over them now." Who do you see?
I see a squirrel.
Over the snow I glide, past beech trees rattling leftover leaves and strong,
silent pines that stretch to the sky. On a high branch, a great horned owl keeps watch. Under
the snow a tiny shrew dodges columns of ice; it follows a cool tunnel along the moss, out of sight.
"Look," Dad says. "Tracks. Tracks always tell a story." Over the snow,
a deer has crossed our path. Deep hoof prints punch through the crust,
up the hill, under a tree. An oval of melted snow tells the story of a good night's sleep. Under
the snow, deer mice doze. They huddle up, cuddle up against the cold in the nest of feathers and fur.
Over the snow I climb, digging in my edges so I don't slide back down. Under the snow
voles scratch through slippery tunnels, searching for morsels from summer feasts.
Over the snow, I swoosh -- down, down, faster, faster, down, faster, faster.
Whoops! Under the snow, a snowshoe hair watches from the shelter of spruce.
Almost invisible, she smooths her fur -- a coat of winter white. Can you find her?
Over the snow I glide, past reeds where tadpoles play tag in springtime. Under the snow,
fat bullfrogs snooze. They dream of sun- warmed days, back when they had tails.
Over the snow I stand and stare. Little mountains in the marsh. Under the snow,
beavers gnaw on aspen bark, settled in for supper. Can they hear my tummy rumbling, too?
Over the snow -- stop. A sound. We stand like statues carved in ice till a bushy-tailed fox
steps from a thicket. Tips his ear to the ground. Listens... listens... listens still... and leaps
out onto the snow after an invisible dinner. His paws scratch away to find the mouse he heard
scritch-scritch-scratching along underneath. Under the snow. Over the snow
I glide. A full moon lights my path to supper. Under the snow, a chipmunk wakes for a meal.
Bedroom, kitchen, hallway -- his house under my feet. Over the snow I climb one last hill.
Bonfire smoke rises: warm hands, hot cocoa, hot dogs sizzling on pointed sticks.
Under the snow, a black bear snores, still full of October blueberries and trout.
Over the snow, the fire crackles, and sparks shoot up to the stars. I lick sticky marshmallow
from my lips and lean back with heavy eyes. Shadows dance in the flame. Under the snow,
a queen bumblebee drowses away December, all alone. She'll rule a new colony in spring.
Over the snow I glide home on tired legs. Clouds whisper down feathery-soft flakes.
Under the covers, I snuggle deep and drift into dreams...
of cuddling deer mice and slumbering frogs. Hungry beavers and tunneling voles.
Drowsy bears and busy squirrels. And the secret kingdom under the snow.
The end. Good listening, friends. Is it snowing where you are? Is it winter outside?
It's pretty cold here! What do you see outside your window? Well, this book and thinking about
all of the creatures that live in the snow reminds me of a great painting at The Met by
the artist whose name is Gustav Courbet, called "The Deer." Can you take a look? What do you notice?
What colors do you see in this painting?
I see the brown of the earth and trees and rocks. I see white -- that blanket of snow
that covers this landscape. That's why we call it a snowscape, right? It's a picture of outdoors, but
we see snow covering it all. I even see a little bit of icy blue. What other colors do you see?
Now, take a look again. Do you see the deer in the title of our painting? Where are they? Take a look.
They're hiding in the center of the painting, at the bottom of the tree trunks, underneath the rocks.
I see two deers, one looking right back at us. What do you think he could be thinking?
Now friends, it is time for us to make an art project. A layered snowscape or winter scene just
like we saw in our story and in the painting of "The Deer." I'm going to show you what I made,
talk about some supplies, and then you can make one all of your own.
Okay, so this is my winter scape or snowscape. I have layers that show some snow at the bottom.
I made a little bear hibernating in the middle. I put some pieces of paper to remind me of dirt and
leaves around him, and then I covered him up with some snow on top. Okay, ready to see what we used?
So I used a recycled jar. You can use any kind of container that you have at home including a
cardboard container if you want. My daughter made one too, and she used a cardboard container
for hers. Here she has a bunny on top of the snow, not underneath the snow. So, we use a container.
I used some construction paper to make my dirt and leaves, but you could also go outside and
collect some natural materials to put in your jar or in your container of your winter scene,
and I just tore it up into tiny little pieces. You can tear construction paper or tissue paper,
anything you can find to make a nice cozy, warm home underneath the snow for your creature.
I uses cotton balls for snow and I just pulled it apart to make it nice and thin,
you can make it as thin or keep it as thick as you want. And I also used pom-poms to make my animals. I
also added some pom-poms on top for snow. You can use them however you want, and if you have little
miniatures at home or you want to create them out of paper, you could use those, too. So, I took
my jar. I wanted a layer of snow at the bottom to make it nice and cozy, so I put that in there.
Let's see I'm going to take some of my paper and add a layer of dirt or leaves. Just add some more.
And then I'm going to make a black bear in here. I'm going to put the black bear's body
and them I'm going to cover him with snow. I can just really pack it in there to have layers of my winter landscape. Okay friends, I
can't wait to see what you make. I hope that you have fun crafting your own snowscape today.
It was nice to see you for Storytime. We hope to see you again soon.
And, most importantly, we wish you all a very happy New Year. See you soon. Bye!