Hi friends! Welcome to Storytime with The Met. My name is Hannah and I'm so
happy to see you here today. You can join us for Storytime every Thursday at noon
where we'll read a new story and do a new activity. Before we get started,
let's sing our Storytime Welcome Song just like we do at the Museum.
It goes to the tune of "This Old Man."
Ready? On the count of three. One, two, three.
Welcome Friends! Get ready, get set,
for Storytime at 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 shhhhh.
Let’s begin with our first book.
Beautiful job! I hope you helped me out with singing that song.
Let's get started with today's book.
It's called, "Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story about Gender and Friendship"
by Jessica Walton and illustrated by Dougal McPherson.
This story has a great moral and it also has some great illustrations.
Errol and Thomas the teddy play together every day. They ride their bike in the back yard.
They plant vegetables in the garden and they have sandwiches for lunch in the tree house.
[sound of page turning]
And they have tea parties inside when it's raining.
Do you have any special activities you like to do inside when it rains?
It's actually raining where I am right now.
I usually like to watch movies or read a book when it rains.
One day, Errol woke up to find the sun shining through his bedroom window.
"Hooray!" he shouted. "Come on Thomas, let's go to the park and play!"
Thomas the teddy didn't feel like playing.
[sound of page turning]
"You seem sad today, Thomas," said Errol. "Don't worry the park will cheer you up!"
Thomas the teddy wasn't so sure.
Can you tell where they are in this picture?
Judging from their car seats and these dark grey lines around them,
maybe these little locks? I'd say they're in the car going to the park.
"Oh no, even the swing isn't working! What's wrong, Thomas? Talk to me!"
"I tell you," said Thomas, "you might not be my friend anymore."
See him turning away from us?
"I will always be your friend, Thomas!" Thomas the Teddy took a deep breath.
[deep inhale and exhale]
"I need to be myself, Errol. In my heart, I've always known that I'm a girl teddy,
not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas."
[sound of page turning]
"Is that why you've been so sad?" Errol asked. "I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy!
What matters is that you're my friend." "You're the best friend a bear could have," said Tilly.
There they are giving each other a big hug.
"Now that you're feeling better," said Errol, "let's call our friends Ava."
"Hi, Ava! Teddy and I are at the park. Do you want to come and play?"
"Sure, Errol! Let me just finish building my robot..."
That's a pretty cool hobby isn't it?
[sound of page turning]
"Hi, Errol! Hi, Thomas!" Ava called as she sped toward them.
"Hi, Ava!" said Errol. "Teddy has a new name! Let me introduce you to Tilly."
"What a great name!" said Ava. "Let's go and play, Tilly"
"Wait, I'm just moving my bow tie," said Tilly the teddy. "I've always wanted a bow instead."
Here's her new bow.
"Good for you, Tilly. Wear whatever makes you happy!" said Ava.
"I think I'll get rid of my bow. I like my hair free." Look at this free hair!
[sound of page turning]
Errol, Ava, and Tilly played all morning until it was time to go home.
"See you at our next tea party," Errol said as Ava stepped onto her scooter.
"See you there. I'm bringing a friend!" Ava yelled as she sped away.
Can you wave goodbye to Ava?
[sound of page turning]
Errol and Tilly the teddy play together every day.
They ride their bike in the backyard.
They plant vegetables in the garden.
And they have sandwiches for lunch in the tree house.
What else do you think they do?
And they have tea parties inside when it's raining.
Not so much has changed, but look who else is there!
Ava finally built her robot!
The end. But before we finish, here's a portrait of Tilly.
She's on the seesaw with a big smile and a big bow on her hair.
The end.
Thank you so much for listening to that story. Before we move on, I want to read
one more quote from the back of the book. It says, "Girl or boy, only you know who
you are on the inside, but the best thing you can be is a good friend."
The end for real this time.
Alright, did you learn anything new from that book?
I learned that you can be friends with people who are different from you
and how important it is to show that you love and care someone especially when
they're going through a hard time. I also learned that gender is more
open and fluid than just being a boy or a girl.
Gender can change based on how people feel on the inside.
Let's take a look at a piece from The Met's collection to learn a little bit more about gender.
Here's a painting by Auguste Renoir. It's called "Madame Georges Charpentier and Her Children."
It was painted in 1878.
Let's take a close look and see who we notice.
I see one grown-up. I see two children and I see one big fluffy dog.
Let's look even closer at the two children. What are they wearing?
And how are they wearing their hair?
Based on these two things do you think they're boys or girls?
It's easy to think they're both girls isn't it?
Based on their long flowing hair and matching dresses, but one child is
actually a girl and the other is a boy. The child sitting on the dog is a girl
and her name is Georgette. She's setting - sitting next to her little
brother Paul, who's also next to his mother.
In France where this painting was - where this portrait was painted,
it was customary for siblings to be dressed alike, regardless if they were boys or girls.
Boys also didn't receive haircuts until they were about three years old.
So they had long, flowy hair, just like you see Paul's in this portrait.
They had long curls just like their siblings.
Now after looking at this painting, it's easy to see how you can judge someone based
on the clothes they wear.
Today and just like in our book, "Introducing Teddy,"
people or bears can wear clothes based on what makes them happy. So for our
activity today, I'm going to challenge you to find two or three things that
make you the most happy, particularly a piece of clothing or an accessory.
I'll show you what I picked. I chose one of my favorite shirts.
It has a big red apple in the middle and five dancing green figures at the bottom
it says "New York" in big red writing at the top.
I love it because I'm both from and live in New York and it shows a picture
from my - by one of my favorite artists Keith Haring. It's cozy and warm and I love to wear it.
I also chose this necklace.
It's a beautiful color teal and is so shiny with jewels and gold details
and when I wear it, it makes me feel fancy and shiny just like it is.
Now, what did you pick?
I hope you're wearing the outfit that makes you feel the most like you,
no matter what it looks like.
Now before we wrap up, let's sing one more song together.
It's called, "The More We Get Together."
I'll pat along the rhythm out on my legs.
Can you join me?
Good job! All right, starting on the count of three.
One, two, three.
The more we get together, together, together,
the more we get together the happier we'll be.
Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends.
The more we get together the happier we'll be.
Thank you so much for joining me for Storytime today.
I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope to see you next week.
Bye-bye!