The children from Sunshine Nursery and Pre-School

RELATED LINKS: Performing Arts Library is a music researcher's dream STOCKED with everything to do with the performing arts, from books on musical instruments, dance and film, to CDs, DVDs and videos, Jozi's Performing Arts Library is a haven for students, teachers and other art-loving Joburgers. Read more JoLiFe aims to get Joburgers reading AS part of National Library Week, Johannesburg is holding the first Joburg Literary Festival to promote reading and a love of the spoken and written word. Read more Libraries launch Reading Circle Book Club THE Johannesburg Central Library has joined forces with the Glasgow City Library to launch a global book club and African literature programme. Read more Mambo Primary takes home Story Skirmish cup THEY read the books and prepared well, and it paid off for the team from Mambo Primary School in Soweto. The learners won the Carnegie Cup for this year's Story Skirmish. Read more Libraries JOHANNESBURG opened its first city-operated libraries in 1924. Originally traditional book-lending operations, the libraries later extended their facilities to include a wider range of information-related services. This is a complete list of the Joburg's public libraries. Read more

Japanese puppet show delights children From Japan, via Belgium to South Africa: Art Basics for Children brought a kamishibai theatre to Johannesburg and enchanted a group of small children with a magical puppet show. November 9, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka THE pint-sized learners from Sunshine Nursery and Pre School listened quietly and watched intently - and then squealed with delight when the sparrow gave his master a box full of silver and gold. The cause of their excitement was a kamishibai puppet show organised by a Belgian group, Art Basics for Children (ABC), at the Johannesburg Library. Kamishibai is a traditional Japanese story format using illustrations fitted into an A3-sized wooden theatre that can be mounted on a bicycle. "Kami" means paper and "shibai" means drama, hence it is a paper drama. It is an engaging, interactive form of storytelling that encourages children to ask questions and describe the drawings they see. The children, entranced with the theatre, were being introduced to a visual form of education allowing the storyteller and the audience to interact. The children from Sunshine Nursery and Pre-School listen attentively to a Kamishibai puppet show "It's the dragon eating him," one shouted out excitedly. They took to the concept and tried to guess what would happen next in the story. Lien Henerdcks, the ABC project co-ordinator, said the group was aiming to educate children through visual art. "The thing about the kamishibai is it's big and stays long enough for the children to pay attention." The medium was being used around the world to encourage children to read the books of the stories that they had been told with the kamishibai, Henerdcks added. "Through this we hope children will be attracted to reading books about a particular story so as to improve their reading." Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za