Four and Twenty Blackbirds is a special presentation for schools' youngest audiences: kindergarden through third grade. Donald & Anicet's shadow theater and musical instruments take their audience back in time to the eighteenth century, the golden age of Nursery Rhymes.
Nursery rhymes are part of our cultural heritage: the origins of many of them have been traced back more than 30 generations (600 years)! Despite the ancient foundations of this oral tradition of these rhymes, the first known publication of a collection of Nursery Rhymes was in London in 1744. (The first collection of Nursery Rhymes using "Mother Goose" was published in 1780, although a collection of stories called "Mother Goose's Tales" translated from the frenchman Perrault was published in 1729!)

In 1744 "Tommy Thumb's SongBook" was published in London by Mary Cooper. That same year a bookseller and publisher called John Newbery (1713-1767) set up his business in St. Paul’s churchyard. He published his first children’s book in the same year called "The Little Pretty Pocket Book" which was dedicated to “the Parents, Guardians and Nurses in Great Britain and Ireland”. It was an instant hit and it became apparent to John Newbery that his firm could make substantial profits by publishing children's tales and rhymes and established Children's literature as an important branch of the publishing business. In 1767 Newbery's shop published the title "Mother Goose's Melody - or Sonnets for the Cradle" .

The melodies of these rhymes are in many instances clearly identifiable with ballad melodies and country dance tunes popular in London and Paris during the 17th and 18th centuries: the very melodies that were played on instruments such as the Hurdy-Gurdy.
Unfortunately, here in the United States, many of us know these melodies only in their (with all due respect) "Fisher-Price" and "Disneyfied" versions. Reaching back to the original musical sources, Donald and Anicét have restored to these Nursery Rhymes their evocative beauty and ageless charm.

As is usually the case in oral traditions, each rhyme has multiple variant verses and melodies, and despite its long written and published history, Nursery Rhymes are still very much transmitted orally. This intertwining of strong double traditions, both oral and written, offer special opportunities in early education.

The Rhymes enhance children's imagination, promote reading and stimulate learning on multiple levels. By presenting these Rhymes in performance with music and shadow theater, young audiences experience these Nursery Rhymes' charming scenes full of action and lively detail. They literally illuminate the rhymes in an engaging and entertaining way.

A study guide with information on the rhymes, shadow theater, musical instruments, as well as suggestions for pre and post performance activities, is provided.

The shadow theater is portable and easy to set up. It easily plays to up to 120 pupils at a time. A room that can be made dim is required.
Old King Cole Was a Merry Old Soul!