(Cheerful piano music)
♪ You are the best you the world will see ♪
♪ Come along now and share you with me ♪
♪ Let's learn something new and share feelings too ♪
♪ 'Cause these are the things to do to be the best you ♪
(cheerful piano music)
(magical chime)
- Hello, friends!
Hello, Possum!
- Hello, Auntie Lena.
Wow-wee! That sure is a pretty bunch of flowers.
- Aren't they a lovely bouquet?
They're from my friend's garden!
I wanted to share them with you and Mama Possum.
- Really?
Why are you sharing your flowers with us?
- Well, why not Possum?
It's nice to be nice
and it makes me happy when I can share with my friends.
- Oh, it's like when we talked about kindness.
Sharing is caring.
- That's right, Possum, it is!
And we can share or be kind anytime.
- Auntie Lena,
Can Mama Possum and I share
some of the flowers with Grandma and Grandpa Possum?
- Well, of course you can!
Look at you, thinking of others
and how you can spread the joy!
That makes me proud of you, Possum.
- Oh, thank you, Auntie Lena.
- You know, you remind me of Adika.
He was often a step or two ahead of his mom
with his ideas to include others.
- Well, who's Adika?
- Oh, well, he is a boy in a story
called "Mama Panya's Pancakes,"
by Mary and Rich Chamberlin.
- Can we read it with our friends?
- Of course we can!
Let's go to Child Strive in Everett and listen.
- Hi friends! - Hi friends!
- I'm Arianee.
- I'm Cameron.
- And we're here at Child Strive in Everett
and we're gonna read to you today,
Mama Panya's Pancakes. - Mama Panya's Pancakes.
- A Village's Tale from Kenya,
written by
- [Both] Mary and Rich Chamberlain.
And illustrated by Julia Cairns.
- Good job, Cameron.
- Thank you.
- Mama Panya sang as she kicked sand with her bare feet,
dousing the breakfast fire.
"Adika, hurry up," she called cheerfully.
"Today we go to market."
- [Cameron] Surprise! I'm one step ahead of you, Mama!
- [Arianee] Adika stood in the doorway,
dressed in his finest shirt and cleanest shorts.
- [Cameron] I'm ready!
- [Ariane] Now Mama Panya had to hurry.
After storing her pots,
gathering her bag and slipping her feet into her sandals,
Mama Panya called, "I'm ready too, Adika.
"Where are you?"
- [Cameron] Here I am, Mama!
Two steps ahead of you.
- He sat under the baobab tree.
Mama Penya, walking stick in hand.
"Why, yes you are."
She accepted the stick and led them down the road.
- [Cameron] What will you get at the market, Mama?
- [Ariane] Oh, a little bit and a little bit more.
- [Cameron] Are you making pancakes today, Mama?
- [Arianee] You are a smart one.
I guess I can't surprise you.
- [Cameron] Yay! How many pancakes will you make?
- [Ariane] Mama fingered two coins
and a clock tied around her waist.
"A little bit and a little bit more."
Rounding the corner,
they saw Mzee Odolo sitting by the river.
"Habari za asubushi?"
Mama said softly, so she wouldn't chase away the fish.
Adika blurted out.
- [Cameron] "We're having pancakes tonight, please come!"
- [Ariane] "Adika," mama whispered in his ear.
Mzee Odolo waved back saying, "Asante sana, I'll be there."
Mama quickened her pace.
- [Cameron] We had to invite Mzee!
He's our oldest friend.
- [Ariane] "Hurry up.
"You're a few steps behind," Mama replied.
Have you ever been fishing
- Once? And I caught one fish.
- Good job!
"Look, Mama, it's Sawandi and Naiman!"
Adika's friends tapped long reeds
against the thighs of their cattle, moving them along.
"I'll be just a few steps ahead."
"Wait, Adika!" Mama called.
Mama hadn't gone too far before he returned.
"They'd be happy to come," Adika panted.
Mama frowned, thinking about the coins in her wrap.
Why was she frowning about her coins?
- Because she doesn't think
she has enough coins for everyone.
- That's right.
Oh, how many people will that be?
- [Cameron] "Let's see:
Sawandi, Naiman, you, and me,
and Mzee Odolo, that's only five."
- [Ariane] "Aiii! How many pancakes
"do you think I can make today, son?"
- [Cameron] I'm one step ahead of you, mama.
You'll have a little bit and a little bit more.
That's enough.
- [Ariane] At the market,
there are many buyers and sellers
trading fruits, spices, and vegetables.
Adika spotted his friend Gamila at her plantain stand.
- [Cameron] Mama, she loves pancakes!
- [Ariane] Now, now don't you..
But before she could finish,
he ran to greet his friend.
Mama tried to catch up,
arriving just in time to hear.
- [Cameron] You'll come, won't you?
- [Ariane] "Of course," Gamila replied.
Mama shot a stare at Adika
and quickly grabbed his hand,
whisking him away.
- [Cameron] Mama, we'll be able to stretch the flour.
- [Ariane] Ai-Yi! How much do you think
I can stretch flour, son?
Adika waved his hand in the air.
- [Cameron] "Oh, a little bit and a little bit more."
- [Ariane] After the flower stand,
Mama said, "Adika, you sit here."
After greeting Bibi and Bwana Zawenna,
Mama asked, "What can you give me for my money?"
She offered the larger of the two coins
to Bibi Zawenna, who scooped a cup of flour
onto a piece of brown paper.
Adika popped up.
- [Cameron] "Mama's making pancakes today.
Can you come?"
- [Ariane] "Oh, how wonderful!
I think we can give a little more for that coin."
Bwana Zawenna put a second cup on the paper,
then tied it up with string.
"We'll see you later."
Mama tucked the package into her bag.
"Ai-Yi-Yi!"
"You and I will be lucky to share half a pancake."
- [Cameron] "But Mama, we have a little bit
and a little bit more."
- [Ariane] "Come Adika, keep up with me.
We may have just enough left for a small chili pepper."
- [Cameron] "Leave it to me, mama.
I'll get a good one."
- [Ariane] "No, Adika!" she cried out,
but he ran ahead to Rafiki Kaya's spice table.
Mama got there just in time to hear.
- [Cameron] "Mama's making pancakes tonight.
Can you come?"
- [Ariane] "I'd love to!" Kaya exclaimed.
She grabbed the coin from Mama's hand
and replaced it with the plumpest pepper.
"That's just enough!
Thanks for inviting me."
Mama just sighed.
Why did Mama sigh?
- He probably invited too many people.
- Yeah, that's probably why she's sighing.
They headed home.
"How many people did we invite for pancakes tonight?"
Adika, skipping two steps ahead, sang his reply.
"All our friends, Mama!"
Mama piled small twigs and sticks into the fire pit.
Adika ran to fetch a pail of water.
Mama crushed the chili pepper in a pot
while Adika added some water.
She stirred in all the flour,
seeing there would be none to save.
Mama poured a dollop into the oil pan on the fire.
Sawandi and Naiman were the first to arrive,
shouting, "Hodi!"
Adika called.
- [Cameron] "Karibu!"
- [Ariane] To welcome them.
They carried two leather drinking gourds
filled with milk and a small pail of butter.
"Mama Panya, we have extra from our cattle."
Mzee Odolo came soon after.
"Old-Man River has given us three fish today."
Gamila arrived with a plantain bunch perched on her head.
"They go very well with pancakes."
Bibi and Bwana Zawenna brought a package filled
with more flour and handed it to Adika.
"Store this away for later."
When Rafiki Kaya arrived,
she brought handfuls of salt and cardamom spice,
along with her thumb piano.
And the feast began,
as they sat under the baobab tree to eat
Mama Panya's pancakes.
Afterwards, Kaya played the thumb piano
and Mzee Odolo sang slightly off key.
Adika whispered with a gleam in his eye
and a smile on his face.
"I know you'll make pancakes again soon, Mama."
She smiled.
"Yes, Adika, you're one step ahead of me."
Sounds like a great time.
Would you like to have a feast with your friends?
- Yes, ma'am.
Like to have a feast with all of my friends!
- Eating pancakes?
- Hmm, maybe cake.
- (laughs) All right.
- [Both] Thanks for joining us, friends.
Have a good day! - Bye!
- How'd you like the story, Possum?
- Oh, I liked it, but well, at the beginning,
I was scared there wasn't gonna be
enough food for everyone.
- Oh yeah, that had me worried too.
- Well, how did Adika know that there would be enough?
- I'm not sure, but if I had to guess,
I would say that Mama Panya and Adika
live in a culture that shows appreciation
to others by sharing.
So all of the guests who were invited to the meal
honored them by bringing something to share.
- Oh!
Well, I wish Adika was my friend.
It looked like the guests had so much fun.
- (laughs) It did.
Can you remember some of the things
that people brought to the meal?
- Hmm, well, they brought fish and spices
and some flour and-- (Auntie Lena laughs)
- Possum, I'm sorry, I should have said besides food!
What else did people bring?
- Oh yeah! (Possum laughs)
Let's see, oh, one of the friends sang
and someone else played some kind of instrument.
- That's right!
An mbira, or thumb piano!
Music is a great way to bring people together
and celebrate each other.
- Well, can we play music with our friends, Auntie Lena?
- Sure, Possum!
Let's visit with Miss Sheree
and see what she's playing
at the Children's Museum of Tacoma.
- Hello, friends. - Hello, friends!
- I'm Miss Sheree and I'm here with my new friend.
- EriBella.
- And we are here at the Children's Museum of Tacoma
to talk about the concept of sharing.
There are so many ways to share.
You know, if I had a cookie,
and I had two cookies,
I would want you to have one
because I know that's a good way of sharing
and we can experience the goodness of that cookie together.
Don't you think so?
- Yeah, I think so.
- I think so too.
Another way to share is
when somebody has something unusual
and they're bringing it and they'll say
I'd like to share this with you.
And so today I brought an instrument called marimba
and the music is played all around the world.
But I decided that I'm going to share some music
from the country of Zimbabwe,
which is in Southern Africa.
Have you heard of Zimbabwe?
- No, never.
- No, okay, well, very good.
Each of these slabs of wood have a different tone.
Can you test out the tones and see what you hear on there?
(gentle music)
Wow. What did you notice?
- I noticed it sounded like
(sings) do, re, me, fi, so, la, ti, do.
- Excellent, that's called a scale.
You did a good job.
And that's exactly what is happening.
That is the scale.
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti do,
and then it's repeated up here.
So on this instrument, I have two scales.
So I would like to share with you
the beginnings of a song so that we can play it together.
- Okay. - Okay.
This song is called Manhanga.
Manhanga, manhanga means sweet pumpkins.
You know what a pumpkin is?
- Yeah!
- All right.
So we're gonna enjoy our sweet pumpkins, okay?
- Okay.
- All right.
So here's our starting notes right here.
Can you play those one time?
(plays instrument softly) Excellent.
Now we're gonna move next door.
So we're going this way.
That's to your left.
And you're gonna play those one time.
(plays instrument softly)
And then we're gonna move back up here
and play those one time.
(plays instrument softly)
Can you put that together?
(plays instrument)
Excellent.
Can you play that three times?
(plays instrument softly)
Wow, excellent counting.
You did a great job.
- Thank you.
- So we gotta put a rhythm on the end of that.
So we're gonna be on these notes right here.
And our rhythm is gonna sound like this.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Can you play that rhythm on those notes?
(plays instrument)
Wow, that's it!
So can you put the whole thing together?
- Okay. - Let me see.
(plays instrument)
Very nice, very nice!
- Thank you.
- So I have some notes that are different from yours,
but I'd like to play my notes with yours.
And that's called harmonizing,
when I'm playing different notes,
but we're playing the same thing.
You think we could try that together?
- Yep!
- And go.
(plays instrument together)
Oh man, that sounded so incredible!
It is so much fun to share.
It makes the music richer, don't you think?
- Yeah.
- I know it sounds good by itself,
but it sounds so good together.
And that's the fun of sharing, don't you think?
- Yeah.
- I think we did a great job of sharing, huh?
- I think so too.
- All right, let's say goodbye to our friends.
- [Together] Bye, friends!
- That sounded awesome!
Next week, when I go to dinner at Turtle's,
I should bring my concertina!
- What a fun way to say thanks, Possum!
Well done.
- Oh, well, thank you Auntie Lena.
And you were right!
We can share and and be kind at any time.
- Yes, there's always time to be kind!
- Like, like when I'm a community helper
and when I share my toys with my friends
and like when you shared your flowers with me earlier.
- Yes, it felt good to share my flowers with you.
Being kind and sharing feels good.
That reminds me,
we should make our own bouquet of kindness flowers.
- Well, what are kindness flowers, Auntie Lena?
Whose garden do they grow in?
- (laughs) Well, these flowers don't grow in any garden.
We make them to share with people that we care about!
Let's go back to the Children's Museum of Tacoma
and learn how with Mr. Scott.
(magical chime)
- Hi everybody.
My name is Mr. Scott
and I am at the Children's Museum of Tacoma
and today we are gonna be making kindness flowers.
When I'm done with my kindness flower,
I'm gonna share it with a friend.
So let's get some materials together
and we're gonna go ahead and make our kindness flower.
So for my materials today,
I have some construction paper
that I'm gonna use to cut
and make some parts of the flower.
I have a pair of scissors
and I have a glue stick.
I also have a bunch of fun embellishments,
such as these little poms, washi tape, stickers
and markers and colored pencils.
So a kindness flower is a way for me to
think about somebody who's really important to me
that I want to share something with.
So when I make my kindness flower,
I'm gonna put the name of the person on it
and then I'm gonna put some different qualities
that person has that are really special to me.
All right, let's go ahead and get started.
So the first thing I need for my kindness flower
is a big circle that's gonna be the middle of my flower.
If you can cut a circle free hand,
go ahead and do so,
but you might need an adult to draw one for you
or to trace something you might have around like a cup
or a disc of some kind.
All right, so that's the center of my flower.
So the next step, I'm gonna need a stem for my flower.
So I'm gonna put my yellow paper aside
and get some green paper.
So one of the parts of a flower is the stem
and the leaves that come off of the stem.
So I'm gonna go ahead and cut that right now.
So I'm just gonna cut a straight line
down the edge of my paper
and that will be my stem.
Can you start to see it?
All right, for my leaves,
I'm gonna give myself a guide
to help cut out the shape.
You could have an adult in your life
maybe draw this for you
to help you follow along as you cut.
So I'm just gonna go ahead and draw a shape,
kind of like this,
which is essentially two circles that interlock.
Now that I have those lines,
I can follow them with my scissors to cut out my leaves.
I'm gonna set those off to the side.
And now I have to think about my petals.
So I think my friend Julia
might like some orange paper for her kindness flower.
And a petal is kind of a teardrop shape.
And it's okay if they're not all perfect,
'cause flowers always have petals
that are a little bit different from one another.
So one of the questions I'm thinking about
while making this is why is sharing important?
Why is it important that we share things with other people?
So I think sharing is such an important thing to do
because it's a way of showing somebody that you value them
and you care for them and they're important to you.
All right, I think I have all the pieces
of my kindness flower.
So I'm gonna go ahead
and get my glue stick and start gluing it together.
Okay, I think the first thing I wanna do is glue my petals.
So I'm gonna put a little bit of glue just on one part
and I'm gonna glue it onto my flower like that.
(lighthearted music)
All right, starting to look like a flower.
Just needs a stem and some leaves.
All right, my flower is almost done.
I just need to write the name
of the person I'm gonna share it with
and the things I love about them.
All right, so let's write some of the things
that I appreciate about Julia.
I'm gonna write kind,
smile 'cause I love when she smiles.
I'm gonna write caring,
'cause she's a very caring person.
Funny and helpful.
So I'm gonna write those two.
All right.
I think my kindness flower's done
and I just cannot wait to share it with my friend Julia.
So who are you gonna share your kindness flower with?
Thanks for joining us, goodbye!
(magical chime)
- Possum, is this your kindness flower?
- Yes, I made mine just for you, Auntie Lena!
- Oh my! Well, thank you.
Let's see what the petals say.
I'm fun, smart.
I'm a friend.
I'm colorful.
I am awesome!
Thank you, Possum.
- Oh, you're welcome, Auntie Lena.
And can we see your flower too?
- Absolutely, I made mine for you.
Ta-dah!
- Oh, funny, brave, helpful, creative.
And look, one of our petals is the same.
Awesome! (Auntie Lena laughs)
We're both awesome.
Oh, thank you Auntie Lena.
- You're welcome, Possum.
Our flowers remind me of what I always like to say.
Sharing is caring! - Is caring!
- Friends, thank you for taking time
to look, listen and learn with us today.
Remember, you are the best you that the world will ever see.
- Bye for now. (giggles)
[Auntie Lena] Please stay tuned after the credits
for Auntie Lena's parent tip.
(uplifting bright music)
Sharing is caring.
It may seem like a simple statement
but it's not always easy to do or to teach.
Sharing can be a tricky concept.
I find it much easier to share
when things are going well in my own life.
Like Mama Panya in today's story,
I shy away from throwing out the welcome mat
when my own cupboards are bare.
But in today's story, we learn why sharing is right,
kind and a good thing to do.
When Mama Panya is stressed about
not having enough finances and food,
Adika thought about the people
who'd helped share in providing plenty for all to enjoy.
Adika shows us that true and heartfelt sharing
comes from a spirit of trust.
Trust in yourself and in your community.
Reread today's story with your early learner
and talk about different ways
that they can share and show kindness.
Maybe they bring food to a meal,
maybe they make a silly song
or a kindness flower, like Auntie Lena and Possum did today.
Remind them there's always time to be kind.
And that by sharing with others like Adika did,
they can always stay one step ahead
in caring for their community.