The Strings of St. John's and Rag & Bone Puppet Theatre present Owl at Home, from the book by Arnold Lobel. Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24.

 

Whether he's inviting Winter to sit by the fire or finding strange bumps in his bedroom, Owl is a hoot! Rag and Bone's puppets, accompanied by the The Strings of St. John’s orchestra, make these delightful stories about soft-hearted Owl irresistible.

 

What an opportunity to introduce classical music to young children! Specially chosen excerpts from composers like Mozart, Vivaldi and Haydn highlight Owl’s feelings as he tries to be in two places at once, or thinks of sad things for a perfect cup of tea.

 

The show is best for ages 4-11.

 

The Strings of St. John’s is a chamber orchestra based at St. John the Evangelist Church, conducted by Gordon Johnston, with associate conductor Donnie Deacon.

 

The group brings a wealth of experience and professionalism to their work, and features musicians who have played in world-class orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the NAC Orchestra. Your children will be thrilled to hear their fantastic sound in such an intimate setting.

 

Visit their website here.

 

The American author or illustrator of nearly 100 children's books, Arnold Stark Lobel is best remembered for his classic series of Frog and Toad books: Frog and Toad Are Friends (1970), Frog and Toad Together (1972), Frog and Toad All Year (1976), and Days with Frog and Toad (1979).

 

Using engaging stories and interesting vocabulary to explore the meaning of friendship, Lobel significantly loosened the traditional early-reader format. Appealing animals populate most of his books, including A Zoo for Mister Muster (1962) and Fables (1980), which won the Caldecott Medal.

 

He also wrote poetry (Whiskers and Rhymes, 1986), folktales (Ming Lo Moves the Mountain, 1982), and nonsense books (The Book of Pigericks, 1984).

 

With his wife, Anita Lobel, also a children's book writer and illustrator, he collaborated on several books, including How the Rooster Saved the Day (1977), A Treeful of Pigs (1979), and The Rose in My Garden (1984).

 

He also illustrated The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983) and The Random House Book of Mother Goose (1986).

 

—from the Scholastic Books website.