The Sunbird Sings

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

By: Hadeel Nashef, Illustrations: Niseem Sarmadi

The bird who likes to sing moves among different animals, annoyed by his chirping until he meets a farmer who finds peace and rest in the bird’s song. The book touches on the issue of our need to share feelings with others, joyful and sad ones, and the reactions of others to this need.

Family Activities

Like the Sunbird, sometimes we are overwhelmed with strong joyous, sad, or angry emotions, and we search for someone to support us or share our emotional excitement. Some people may disregard us because they are busy or because they find it difficult to contain our emotions at that specific moment. ...

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Dear Parents,

A proverb in Arabic that says, "if your son hums, sing to him." What this proverb indicates is that we should be attentive to our children's emotions. We should sympathize with them when they are happy or distressed and support them when they need to express their feelings. We should also deal with them in a manner that gives them a sense of security and strengthen their self-confidence in coping with emotional crises.

Herby, we share with you some suggestions for activities about the book you can do with your children:

Family Activities

We recall the animals in the story that were entirely disturbed by the bird's songs and shunned the bird away, as well as the animals that shared the bird's joy. Discuss the different reasons that made the animals shun the singing bird at that moment.
The Sunbird expresses its joy by singing. Discuss with your child the different ways in which we express strong emotions such as happiness, anger, or sadness. Which methods suit each of us and make it easier for the people close to us to understand our feelings, share them with us, and support us when needed?
The Sunbird wants to sing, but his desire contradicts the needs and desires of his animal neighbors. Discuss situations that may occur in the family in which the desires of different family members may conflict (like playing a noisy game while someone is asleep.) How can we cater to everyone's desires and needs?
"La la la la la… How beautiful life is…" the Sunbird sings and asks other animals to sing along. Think about nice topics to sing in a family choir.
The Sunbird is a small bird that characterizes the scenery of our homeland. We see it many times in our gardens sipping flower-nectar with its pointy beak. It is fun to learn about it via looking at pictures and reading materials. We can also design a small device to hang on a tree or put on the garden ground, fill it with grains, or vegetables and fruits leftovers, or fill it with water to attract beautiful birds to our garden.
The drawings of the book are inspired by Persian miniatures drawn from the native culture of the illustrator. Look around the house for objects with the same features (such as a rug, ceramics, etc.)
A working group developed these suggestions for Maktabat Al-Fanoos project from Bidayat Center for the Development of Early Childhood in the Arab Society, and from Grinspoon Foundation Israel, and from the Ministry of Education.

المربّية العزيزة،

لا شكّ في أنّك تختبرين يوميًا مع الأطفال مواقف يعبّر فيها طفلٌ ما عن رغبة بالقيام بعمل قد لا يتلاءم لحظتها مع ما يقوم به الأطفال من نشاط جماعيّ، أو لا يتّسق مع البرنامج اليومي الذي خطّطتِ له. وقد يعبّر طفلٌ عن مشاعر حادّة مثل الغضب، أو الحزن، أو الحماس لأمر ما، ممّا يتطلّب منك تعاملاً حسّاسًا فيه احتواء لمشاعر الطّفل من ناحية، ومرافقة له في تعلّم طرق يترجم بها مشاعره بوضوح ويتواصل مع أشخاص من حوله يمكن أن يساندوه، مثل المربية والأهل الأطفال الآخرين في الرّوضة.

قصّة "عصفور الشّمس" تفتح بابًا للحديث مع الطفل حول خبراته في التعبير عن مشاعره، ليس فقط من زاويته، وإنّما أيضًا من زاوية الأشخاص الذين يشاركهم مشاعره. هل يتقبّلون جميعهم بوح المشاعر بذات الدّرجة والطّريقة؟ وما الذي يجعل النّاس يختلفون في ردود فعلهم؟