Join an intrepid young adventurer and her seafaring father as they reimagine the story of a tiny snail’s trip around the world, inspired by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved picture book. Longing to see the world, a tiny sea snail hitches a lift on the tail of a great big, grey-blue humpback whale. But when the whale gets beached, how will the snail save him? Together the two friends journey through music, storytelling and lots of laughs. A heart-warming adventure for everyone aged four and up, from Tall Stories, the Olivier Award-nominated company that brought you ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘Room on the Broom’ live on stage.

Visit Tall Stories Theatre Company’s website for more information about the show:

https://www.tallstories.org.uk/the-snail-and-the-whale

The cycles of life, like the cycles of nature are celebrated in this festive production that combines music and dance from Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile to create a captivating performance for young children. Cyclo also features instruments from these regions including zampoña, Colombian bagpipe, charango, marimba, maracas, accordion, and guitar.

Visit the Compañía Aranwa's website for more information about the show:

http://aranwa.cl/

This beautifully designed puppetry work, performed without words to an enchanting musical score, reveals a storybook world where rivers sing, trees laugh, and curious dragonflies come to visit. It tells the tale of a grumpy old man, living in a little house in the woods, whose life is forever changed when a magical creature leaps into his world. With its themes of friendship, communication, play, adjustment to change, Old Man and the River is perfect for the youngest theatregoer.

Visit WeeFestival Productions Canada’s website for more information about the show:  

https://weefestival.ca/shows/old-man-and-the-river

Jump into our Festival in a fun way by being a part of our Pre-Festival kick-off performance with BIG JUMP Entertainment! Beloved Canadian author, Judith Henderson, will be on hand to do a reading of her popular book that has been made into the TVO series Big Words, Small Stories, along with a LIVE Q&A session!

Big Words, Short Stories is a fun and smart early-reader series. Each book is a collection of five quirky, bite-sized stories. They feature humorous and endearing characters, including The Sprinkle Fairy and her helpers, who place a multisyllabic and fun-to-say BIG WORD into each story, along with its pronunciation and definition. Along with hilarious illustrations by T.L. McBeth, Big Words, Short Stories is a series that will help kids to want to try using BIG WORDS in no time!

Visit Big Jump’s website for more information on their activities.

https://bigjumpent.com/projects/big-words-small-stories

WPBS will be presenting some family fun to watch and enjoy! An episode of the new PBS Kids show Donkey Hodie will be aired! Donkey Hodie is the spunky young granddaughter of a character from the Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood series. With her spiky pink mohawk, Donkey and her friends discover important lessons about how to approach some of the challenges we all experience in life.  In DONKEY HODIE 106: Flying Flap Jacks/Pickle Penguin Problem - watch Donkey make a surprise breakfast for Grampy all by herself, but none of her flapjacks will fly. Maybe she does need a little help. Then, Panda’s toy Pickle Pet gets stuck between two rocks. How will he and Donkey rescue it?  Curriculum themes: It’s okay to ask for help if I need it./ I can turn a problem into a fun challenge.

Click on the link to find out more about Donkey Hodie and WPBS: 

https://pbskids.org