Tales of a Swamp Monster
Bayou storytellers tell wild tall tales. You can, too!
Materials
- Drawing supplies
- U.S. map
- Related Books (optional)
Directions
Louisiana bayou storytellers weave wonderful larger-than-life tall tales. (As examples, share the books, "Alligator Sue" and "A Million Fish... More or Less" with your child.) Try your own hand at "round robin" storytelling. Start telling a tale about a swamp monster's day, then stop and let your child continue. Keep passing the story around the family. Where does the swamp monster sleep? What does it have for breakfast? When it brushes its teeth, how many teeth does it have to brush? Think about all the everyday things in a swamp monster's day. Then draw some pictures of your swamp monster! .
Talk About It
With your child, find the Louisiana bayou on a U.S. map. It's near New Orleans, where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Trace the route you would follow to drive there from your home. Discuss what you noticed about kids' life on the bayou and help your child compare it with his or her own life. When the kids in "Bayou, by Me" walk out their door, what do they see and hear? What does your child see and hear outside your door? What do the kids on the bayou do for fun together? How is this similar and different from what your child and his or her friends do together?
Related Books
- Alligator Sue by Sharon Arms
- A Million Fish... More or Less by Patricia C. McKissack
- Bayou Lullaby by Kathi Appelt
- Buster and the Great Swamp by Marc Brown
- Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer
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