NAHANT — The Public Library kick-started February vacation by venturing out to space with a brave group of young readers on Tuesday morning.
The library hosted the event titled “Stories with Carole”, which featured a live appearance from Miss Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus” at 10:30 a.m., who came to educate kids in an enriching, interactive fashion on the wonders of space, the stars and everything in-between.
The woman behind the magic, Carole Finn-Weidman, is an actress based out of Danvers who offers a variety of fun themes for kids’ parties, such as Elsa from “Frozen”, Pocohontas, and of course Miss Frizzle, on top of others. She said she’s been entertaining kids around the area for 27 years.
“I’m really happy to be here, and I’m very thankful that everyone braved the cold to come out and see me,” Weidman said. “I really look forward to teaching kids more about the stars and the solar system, because kids are always looking up.”
At 10:30 Tuesday morning, the library erupted with kids pouring through the main door in bursts of excitement as they waited for the event to kick-off. They gathered around and took their seats on the carpet as Miss Frizzle took center-stage. She started the day by singing the song, “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.
After that, she explained to the eager group how massive the sun is, and the vital role it plays in the Solar System. She drafted kids from the group to come up and casted them each as planets and the sun to show how each planet orbits the sun. She also educated the kids on the conditions of each planet.
Halfway through, Miss Frizzle paused her educational presentation and sparked a “freeze-dance” session, where the kids could shake off some energy. When she paused the music and the kids would freeze, she’d ask the young crowd questions like, “What’s your favorite flavor of ice-cream?”, or “What’s your favorite animal?”
Then, Miss Frizzle turned the Magic School Bus into a space shuttle — where the kids could learn what it’s like to step on the surface of the moon and experience a flash of “zero gravity”, where they were tasked with dodging in-coming asteroids and comets while she spoke about the harsh conditions of deep-space.
“I think it was a really great program where kids could learn a lot and dance a lot along the way,” Library Director Nori Morganstein said.
“It was great to have her here, teaching kids about space and walking on the moon, which I thought was just such a blast,” Children’s Librarian Raegan Herlihy said.
