They made a ruckus at Stetson Branch Library — with permission.
The occasion was a puppet performance of Whistle For Willie, a children’s book written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. The performance took place Wednesday. (Click on the video to watch.)
The young audience talked, laughed, and whistled along as Betty Baisden, the director of United Community Nursery School by day, flitted her handmade marionettes in front of a colorful backdrop.
Afterwards, 4‑year-old Clyde Stolzman, dressed as a “bad guy,” told his mom, “We should go to the other event!”
Wednesday’s show was one of a string of events between April 15 and April 27 celebrating the third annual Week of the Young Child, a time meant to highlight the needs of youngsters. For New Haven, this celebration centers on the work of Ezra Jack Keats.
“We have a lot of children of color in New Haven,” said Baisden (pictured). That influenced the decision to focus on Keats.
His books, originally published in the 1960s, include characters of color and urban settings. For those raised in New Haven, “it looks familiar,” explained Baisden.
With daily public performances this week and next in addition to private performances in schools and early childcare centers, Sandy Malmquist (pictured), one of the main coordinators of New Haven’s Week of the Young Child and director of Creating Kids Childcare Center at Connecticut’s Children’s Museum, estimates that 4,500 children will hear at least one Keats story by April 27.
The next few days aim to “increase awareness for literacy,” said Malmquist. To that end, 2,700 copies of Whistle for Willie, including 500 copies in Spanish, went out to local family childcare homes and early education centers.
“What’s the point of learning to read if you don’t have anything to read?” Malmquist noted.
Clyde, on right, and brother Miller with mom, Karissa Stolzman.
Clyde’s mom, Karissa Stolzmanof Westville, has already taken him and his brother, 2‑year-old Miller, to some of the week’s activities and plans to go to more.
Stolzman has looked forward to the week since last year as a short getaway from the glare of iPads and other screens. Whether she and her sons gaze at constellations in the Leitner Planetarium or take in a puppet show at the library, Stolzman appreciates the lesson: “Books are fun.”
