Sandra Seibert
The Tale of Sudan and Zimbabwe is a story about a giant and a little boy. The adults of the village are afraid of the giant, but the little boy is not. Find out how one small boy changes the adults' way of thinking forever.
This book is a great tool for music teachers. It can be a hands-on experience for the listeners. The tale can be told while the story reader is playing various kinds of drums. The listeners can echo the storyteller. Rain sticks can be used for the rain. Use your imagination through the sounds of thunder, etc. The song uses pitches mi, so, and la and can be taught as an echo song, or it is perfect for having the listeners read the pitches and figure out the melody. You can have the listeners play the rhythm of the song, using the concept of the quarter rest. When Sudan sings the song with the village people, some of the listeners can sing Sudan’s part and some can sing the village people’s part as an ostinato.
This tale also can coincide with a unit on African drumming; and it is always interesting for the listeners to find out that Sudan and Zimbabwe really exist on the map. Many questions arise if the story reader has a world map handy to show the listeners where Sudan and Zimbabwe are located.
This tale is a wonderful bedtime story with a life long message to it. Adults also find the message informative because it is seen through the eyes of a child. This child was my son and he was 8 years old at the time we started this story together. My son drew all the time when he was growing up and I was able to assemble some of his drawings, from the time he was 8 years old until 12 years old, to create this book.
I am also a music teacher, who is aware that teachers always need exciting materials to teach hands-on concepts in the music classroom. This book allows the teacher and the students to get creative in how the book is told. Imagination is a wonderful thing that helps children ask "what if" or "how come." These students later become inventors, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, etc. I run a creative music classroom that is full of experiments of wonderful sounds, creativity, and laughter.. May you share in the joy that I have teaching and enjoy this story that my son and I created together.
