Hello friends! Welcome to Storytime with The Met.
My name is Hannah and I am so excited to see you here today.
You can join us for Storytime every Thursday at noon,
where we'll read a new book and do a new activity that you can join us for.
Now, before we get started with today's book,
let's sing our Storytime Welcome Song.
It goes to the tune of "This Old Man."
All right, ready? On the count of three. Here we go.
One, two, three!
(singing) 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 shhhhh.
Let's begin with our first book.
Good job! Can you give yourselves a round of applause? (clapping)
You are a good singer. Thank you for joining me.
Now let's get started with today's book called "Hair Love."
It is written by Academy Award-winning creator Matthew A. Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison.
Let's get started.
[ page turning ]
Hair Love. I like this book already, don't you?
[ pages turning ]
My name is Zuri and I have hair that has a mind of its own.
It kinks, coils, and curls every which way.
Can you tell me what your hair looks like? Does it do anything on its own?
Daddy tells me it's beautiful. That makes me proud.
I love that my hair lets me be me!
In funky braids with beads, I am a princess.
[ page turning ]
And when my hair is in two puffs, I am above the clouds like a superhero.
Can you put your hands on your hips
and stand up nice and straight like a superhero?
[ no sound ]
Good job.
[ page turning ]
My hair even does magic tricks.
One day Rocky and I were playing outside when along came the rain.
From large to small it went. Presto! Just like that!
There is nothing my hair can't do.
[ no sound ]
Today I woke up extra early all by myself.
I was too excited. It's a big day!
[ no sound ]
You think someone else helped her wake up?
Maybe this little guy right here, Rocky?
Can you raise your hand if you have a little cat like Rocky?
[ page turning ]
Daddy was still sleeping.
"Shh," I said to Rocky.
Let's make sure you can see the pictures.
"Shh," I said to Rocky as we tiptoed past him.
Lately daddy has been worn-out!
He makes me breakfast, takes me to school,
goes to work, picks me up, and yesterday we went for a bike ride around the park.
I think he needs a break.
Isn't that very nice of her?
[ no sound ]
[ page turning ]
Because today is special, I want a perfect hairstyle.
This calls for a professional's touch.
[ no sound ]
"Paws off, Rocky!" Crack!
Daddy heard the crash. "Zuri, what on earth?" he asked.
[ page turning ]
"I was only trying to help," I said.
Daddy smiled. "Can I help too? It'll be a piece of cake, Zuzu."
The first style was a big NO WAY.
Look how big her eyes are, right?
[ page turning ]
The second was no better. "No, daddy."
Then daddy tried slicking my hair back into two puffs.
"Ouch!" daddy yelled.
What happened here?
I think her hair tied - sla, uh -
[ no sound ]
yeah, (laughs)
It snapped right? That's the word I'm looking for.
Does that ever happen to you?
It happens to me too.
[ page turning ]
"Wait a minute," Daddy said it as he reached into the drawer and pulled out a pick.
"Ta-da!"
"Daddy, really?" I said.
"I'll be right back," he promised.
He's trying so hard, right?
Look at Zuri.
[ page turning ]
"Now. How's that?" he asked, pulling a hat down over my eyes.
Daddy, come on. We could do better than that.
I really need my hair to be special."
"Don't worry," he said, "we'll figure this out."
[ no sound ]
Then I had a great idea.
What do you think? (gasps)
Daddy gathered all the tools we needed, and we were set!
Check them out!
Even Daddy has his hair back, ready to go.
[ page turning ]
Watching carefully...
Daddy combed, parted, oiled, and twisted.
(gasps)
He nailed it!
Funky puff buns! Pretty, pretty, and so much fun.
Rocky approved, too!
I put on my superhero cape as the final touch to a perfect look.
Now remember how we put our hands on our hips?
Can we put our hands up in the air with our fists? Right!
How do you feel like this?
Maybe excited, maybe triumphant, and happy.
She got her perfect hairstyle. Doesn't she look great?
[ page turning ]
"Where's my Zuzu?" Mommy called from the door.
She could not get in the house fast enough.
"Mommy!"
"You've got to be the prettiest superhero I have ever seen," she said.
[ page turning ]
"And your hair is beautiful, Zuri. Who did it?
I looked at Daddy and beamed.
Do you know what beamed means?
It means a big smile, like a glowing smile.
Mommy smiled, "Very nice."
"Thank you. We learned from the best." Daddy said as he gave her a big hug.
[ page turning ]
My hair is Mommy, and Daddy, and me.
It's hair love!
(whispering) Who else? Rocky!
The end.
And here we have Zuri again, her cape and her fists up.
Can you give yourselves a round of applause?
Thank you so much for joining me for that story.
Did you have a favorite part?
I think my favorite part was when Zuri had her idea to get serious about her hair,
and they got it done.
Now let's take a peek at an object from The Met's collection.
It is inspired by this piece of clothing Zuri is wearing on the front
and in the back.
And I chose it because I think it makes her look like a superhero. Don't you think?
Not even does it make her look like one,
she must also feel like one. Look at that big smile and her big pose.
So let's take a look at a cape from The Met's collection.
So this is from the 1850's, which is a long time ago.
And it's made of wool and silk and is probably European,
though we're not quite sure exactly where it came from.
Now looking at this cape, who do you think wore it?
Maybe someone special, right?
Or maybe someone who needed to feel special.
Just like superheroes need their outfits and uniforms and capes and cuffs
to feel like they're able to take on the world.
Now, how does - what do you like about this cape?
Why do you think someone would wear it?
Do you ever want to wear your own cape?
Well that's where our activity for the day comes in.
What you're going to need is a t-shirt and a pair of scissors.
Now when you get your t-shirt, I'll use this as an example.
You are going to cut from the armpit to the collar.
Just like that, diagonal line, like this
on both sides.
And when you cut the front across and then down the sides,
you will wind up with your own superhero cape,
just like this!
You see how this is the collar of my shirt?
And when you do that, I'll model mine for you,
you put this over your head
and you
are able to decorate the back of your cape however you want it.
I left mine with my tie dye, but you can add
paint or markers or glue or glitter to decorate it however you want.
Maybe it's sparkly like Zuri's
or maybe it has lots of gold like the one from, um, the collection that we looked at.
No matter how you decorate it, I hope it makes you feel special and important and strong
just like we saw Zuri.
Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you have a great day.
Bye-bye!