The Turtle’s Pal Children’s Librarian Draws Youngsters, Turtles Out Of Their Shells With Storytelling

Rebecca Christensen spent a chunk of her grade school years in the hospital.

But all that time missing class to have bone cysts treated didn’t stop her from learning.

During the five years she spent in and out of Minnesota hospital beds, wrapped from toes to torso in a cast, Christensen was learning her life’s trade - storytelling.

Her mother spent hours at her side, telling her stories about animals coming to visit. The skunk who couldn’t get in the hospital doors because he smelled so bad. The clever raccoon who instigated all kinds of mischief once inside.

Twenty-five years later, the children’s librarian dazzles kids with her own stories at the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library.

Toddlers and preschoolers huddle on the floor around Christensen’s rocking chair while she reads, draws and sings four days a week.

On any given day, Christensen and her young audience sing a good-morning song and make pretend lemonade or hot chocolate, depending on the weather.

Then the kids get a visit from Mr. Turtle.

Christensen’s puppet doesn’t say much. He’s too cold to talk in the winter, too shy to talk in the summer, and a bit of a scaredy-cat all year round.

Still, every batch of kids tries to get Mr. Turtle to come out of his shell.

They try to comfort him with “It’s OK,” and “We won’t hurt you,” but he is as stubborn as he is shy. Warming to the audience is a gradual process that will last all morning.

Christensen’s periodic turtle breaks are part of her strategy to keep the attention of the “wiggle butts,” said Nancy Ledeboer, the library’s youth services coordinator.

“It gets so quiet you wonder, where did all the kids go,” Ledeboer said. “Then you see her taking Mr. Turtle out of the basket. The kids are enraptured by this.”

Christensen puts him away in hopes that he will feel more at ease after a song or maybe another story.

If it’s a song, the kids might find themselves reaching for the ceiling and shaking an imaginary tree for fruit.

If it’s a story, that could mean anything from adventures in late-night cake eating to “Rainbow Fish to the Rescue.”

With nearby day-care centers bringing in regular bunches of kids, count on a cluster of toddlers pleading for Christensen to read from Mr. Turtle’s favorite book, Sally Grindley’s “Shhh!”

Or, as it is called by the children, “the giant book.” It’s about touring a sleeping giant’s home without waking anyone.

Maybe it’s not so much the story, but the way it is told, that makes it so popular with kids.

Christensen adds something to the stories she reads, said Denise Schilling, one of the head teachers at the YMCA.

“She catches the children with her sing-song voice,” Schilling said. “She uses different voices and follows the tone of the story. She gets excited at the exciting parts and scared at the scary parts and she asks questions about things in the story as it progresses.”

Christensen embellishes on the words and pictures with fearful facial expressions, a shiver in her voice, and the sense of being a tiptoe away from danger.

She gets that from mom.

When she was young and hospitalized the stories her mother told her helped take away the pain of her surgeries, she said.

“I want the kids to be in the story,” Christensen said. “I want them to be transported out of their world.”

Ledeboer said Christensen’s contagious enthusiasm and youthful spirit strengthen her rapport with the kids.

“Rebecca still has a strong connection with the child inside. She can relate to them and she draws from that when talking with them,” Ledeboer said.

After “Shhh!” Christensen usually closes a session with a final attempt to get Mr. Turtle to come out and say hello.

By this time, the kids have probably seen the tip of his nose peaking out, and they are squirming to see the rest.

Then it happens.

Mr. Turtle, slowly at first, extends his head out of his shell, smiles and waves to the children as they take turns giving him hugs.

He whispers a message for the kids in Christensen’s ear: Come back and visit next week.

Everyone goes home with a smile, the satisfaction of seeing Mr. Turtle, and a bellyful of imaginary lemonade.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo