Picture Book Remix
Read Across America Day is Tuesday, March 2nd, and we're celebrating with a round-up of picture books we've "remixed" for the stage.
Beautiful Blackbird
By Ashley Bryan
Long ago, Blackbird was voted the most beautiful bird in the forest. The other birds, who were colored red, yellow, blue, and green, were so envious that they begged Blackbird to paint their feathers with a touch of black so they could be beautiful too. Although Black-bird warns them that true beauty comes from within, the other birds persist and soon each is given a ring of black around their neck or a dot of black on their wings—markings that detail birds to this very day.
We adapted Beautiful Blackbird into a show for the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young in 2017, and we're bringing the feathered funk band back for a family concert this spring!
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
By Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement.
This book inspired our animated short Sit-In currently streaming on Alliance Theatre Anywhere.
The Dancing Granny
By Ashley Bryan
Spider Ananse gets Granny started dancing so he can raid her garden, but his own trick does him in.
In 2017, we remixed this book for the stage and took it to three locations around Atlanta for families to tap their feet and clap and sing along to.
From Head to Toe
By Eric Carle
Giraffes can bend their necks, monkeys can wave their hands, and donkeys can kick their legs. And so can you! Throughout this interactive board book, the animals of From Head to Toe invite young readers to copy their antics as they play.
In 2017, we brought Eric Carle's book to life in a show for ages 0-5 through the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young.
Pancakes, Pancakes
By Eric Carle
The barnyard rooster crows to tell Jack it's time to get up. It's very early in the morning -- and Jack is so hungry that what he really wants is a large pancake for breakfast. But first, Jack's mother needs flour from the mill, an egg from the black he, milk from the spotted cow, and butter churned from fresh cream. Will it ever be time for breakfast and that large pancake?
With amazing costumes and original music, Pancakes, Pancakes! took the stage in summer 2016.
Cat the Cat Series
By Mo Willems
Cat the Cat sure likes her friends. You will too! Join this spunky feline as she introduces the very youngest readers to her world, where a surprise is waiting in every book!
Originally produced in 2016, this Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young production has toured to schools, libraries, and cultural spots around Atlanta.
In My Granny's Garden
By Pearl Cleage & Zaron W. Burnett Jr., Illustrated by Radcliffe Bailey
As a young boy, Zaron Burnett spent a great deal of time on the large North Carolina farm of his extended family. He has great memories of being invited to work in his grandmother’s garden and of the early morning hours they spent together growing some of the food that would feed the household. This real memory was used to shape a story that takes a city child who, like too many city children, thinks food comes from a grocery store and allows him to see where food really originates. His appreciation for his grandmother’s skill inspires him to think of her as a Superhero because “we need food to live.”
Originally staged for the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young in spring 2020, we captured the remix of the book by Alliance Theatre Distinguished Artist in Residence Pearl Cleage on film so that families can watch it anytime!
In the West End
By Will Power, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
In the West End is depicts a historic town in the city of Atlanta. Will Power and Gregory Christie explore the various places in the West End to find healthy food. Take a trip and explore the rich history and diversity of Atlanta’s West End.
Coming later this month to the Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young, families can enjoy a 4-episode virtual expansion of this unique story exploring Atlanta's West End neighborhood.
