February 2008


 townsend sign

Friday was a pretty fun commute!  I woke up to find the snow had started a lot sooner than the weather man said it would.  I considered entertaining the thought of calling Townsend and saying that I may not be able to make it.  Then I got dressed, brushed off my car, and before I knew it I was on my way, in the middle of a snow storm, to drive 2 hours to Townsend.  All I could think was “I really hope, since I making this trip, that people come out in the snow to hear some stories…

commute townsend

Luckily they did!  A wonderful group of people came out to laugh out loud and dance and hear stories.  We kept warm and I thank the Librarian for taking these pics of the show.

townsend group

townsend juggling

And Saturday, I had a much nicer ride to Millis Library where more children showed up to sing along and have a fun Saturday morning!

millis crowd

Lakeville1 

A full day of shows today started in Lakeville at 11:00am where a full room of children and adults laughed throughout “Sarah’s Little Brother” a story off my first CD “Hot Mustard and Grandpa’s Milk”.  The room was filled with a bunch of familiar and new faces that enjoyed the first appearence of the year of Alligator who they sang for.

lakeville sign

Lakeville 2

Then it was off to Sharon Library for a 2:00 show that brought many returning friends, many of who came up to say “Hi” and “Thank you” after the show.  Thank you to everyone who came out and braved the cold.  It’s so much fun to return to the different communities that I’ve visited.

sharon1

sharon 2

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I was in Marshfield today – it’s like a home away from home.  Thank you, Wendy, for taking pictures for me – and for telling me about the lunar eclipse tonight – it was fantastic!  The room was full of children and laughter as I told my audience “Cupcakes” and introduced them to a bunch of my other puppets!

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I love this next picture because Wendy caught the Juggling ball in mid air!  Yet, I’m not even looking at it!

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It was so much fun today!  I can’t wait to come back some time!  Thank you to everyone for coming and listening to my silly stories!

 birdie pic2

Alot of friends expressed interest in the Children’s Workshop “Building Stories” that I am hosting this summer.  I ran out of flyers and stated that I would post the info for anyone interested.  Just a reminder – you must register to be part of the workshop, and NO – you do NOT have to be a Plymouth resident to partake in “Building Stories”:

Summer Events 2008:

Big Ryan’s Tall Tales Presents: Building Stories Workshops

            “Building stories” are exciting, brand new workshops designed by Big Ryan to nurture and showcase your child’s natural ability to tell stories.  Great for children who have a wild imagination – even better for children who have difficulties using their imagination – Big Ryan’s workshop exercises their brains and lets them have fun in the process!  Taking place 4 Saturdays over the summer, each week we will develop better skills as storytellers and then the children will have the opportunity to showcase their storytelling abilities for families and friends in a “Story-fest” the following Sunday.

Two age groups and sessions are available:

                       

                          Session 1                                            Session 2                                      

             (11:00am -12:00pm, Ages 5-7)        ( 11:00am-12:00pm, Ages 5-7) 

             (1:00pm-2:00pm, Ages 8-11)          (1:00pm-2:00pm, Ages 8-11)

                          June 28th                                             August 2nd           

                          July 12th                                              August 9th            

                          July 19th                                              August 16th            

                          July 26th                                              August 23rd      

                 Story-fest: July 27th                           Story-fest: August 24th 

To ensure that each child gets the personal attention he/she needs:  Each session will enroll only 12 children each!  

            Enrollment in the four-week session is $45.00.  The children will gather for one hour each week par-taking in some storytelling exercises.  Then, Big Ryan will spend time with each child individually crafting their very own tale which they will have the opportunity to showcase at the Story-fest!

Thanks for everyone who has asked questions and showed interest.  If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 508 641 5336 or email me at ryanstalltales@hotmail.com  I look forward to hearing from everyone!  This will be so much fun!

*By the way – I’m not sure what the Bird picture has to do with this post – I just needed something to put here and thought it was nice.

plym08lib

I love my home town.  The children came by the hundreds today to the library to see my funny little show.  Thank you Mrs. McGrath for taking a few pictures so that I could post a little to show you.  The top picture is showing the start of the show where I performed the Bill Harley Classic “Sitting Down to Eat” and showcased a bunch of my rarely seen puppets!  I know it’s really dark this other picture is a bit better…

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It was alot of fun – and I can’t wait to back in the summer!  See everyone then!

 hulkplysho

I will be doing a huge Big Ryan show on Feb 19th – but if you go to the Plymouth Library now – you will see, The Hulk!!!!!! 

more dstuff

A portion (a very small portion) of Big Ryan’s Hulk memorabilia is on display for the entire month of February.  Check that out now, then come back to see Big Ryan! 

bowenhulkstuff 

Title: Gallop!
Author: Rufus Butler Seder
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Inc.

This book blew me away the first time I saw it.  And I can’t take the credit for discovering it, the wonderful librarians at the Walpole Library introduced me to this book.  With every turn of the page you see the horse gallop, or a chicken walk or even a monkey swing from vine to vine!  The animals actually move and fluidly glide across the page!  This is a beautifully inventive and wild book that entertains many, many times over!