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Community Corner

Theater Troupe Keeps Reading Alive This Summer

Indian Prairie's Reader's Theater Troupe keeps children reading and brings stories to life.

Summer is a time for children to be outside, run around and enjoy themselves. Books are often left inside, forgotten until school begins again.

But the Youth Services Program at aims to keep kids reading in creative ways. One program accomplished this goal by bringing books and theater together.

Youth Services Head Librarian Judy Cochran directs the library’s annual Reader’s Theatre Troupe. This group features a multitude of young students who gather for five weeks of practice before performing for fellow library-goers and family members.

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Monday night’s show consisted of almost 20 local soon-to-be fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. This year’s theme was “One World, Many Stories.” It opened with a well-known classic with a twist: Renamed “The Glass Slipper and the Gold Sandal,” it is the Cinderella story with the addition of elements from different cultures.

The children took turns reading the story for the crowd while shouting together the names of each new country represented, from Iraq to India to Ireland.

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Next up was Greece's Aesop’s Fables' “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Cochran pointed out that Aesop’s Fables always have a lesson.

From Africa came "Who's in Rabbit's House," a tale where wisdom conquers bullying.

“The Stonecutter” from China illustrates that fulfilled wishes are not always what they're cracked up to be. This story taught the critical lesson that it is important to be happy with oneself.

From right here in the U.S., “Clever Beatrice” outsmarts a giant, proving once again that size and strength are not everything.

A mathematical folk tale from India tells the story of a young girl who rescued her people by outsmarting a greedy Raja in “One Grain of Rice.”

Cochran kept the scripts exactly as they are in the books. While some children read their lines with feeling, other young actors brought it to the next level by taking on their character roles. 

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