In Tribeca, Lots of Little Eyes on Ferdinand

POSTED OCTOBER 1, 2007

Little readers in Tribeca came through in a big way last month as they attempted to break a world record in a national “read-a-thon.” The event, in which kids across the country listened to readings of “The Story of Ferdinand,” was a benefit for Jumpstart, a national pre-school reading program that helps prepare disadvantaged children for school.

More than 1,000 books were sold in Tribeca, and more than half of those were donated to the charity, said Tribeca parent Jennifer Marrus, who is chair of the regional advisory board for Jumpstart and helped to coordinate local readings in schools, businesses and at Washington Market Park.

“Over all, we influenced over 1,100 kids,” she said. “That’s a lot of kids, a lot of little eyeballs.”

With 200,000 national readers, she said, the record was broken, too.

“The Story of Ferdinand,” tells the tale of a Spanish bull who would rather graze on flowers than fight. One day, he sits on a bumble bee and flies into a pained rage. Bullfighters mistake him for aggressive and send him into the ring. There, he returns to peaceful form and refuses to fight.

“The story really resonates for a child who wants to be different, who wants to pave their own way, who wants to take their own approach,” said Marrus.

With great gusto and charm, Debbie Deane, a singer and songwriter, read the tale for about 20 kids at Tribeca Treats. She encouraged the kids to make finger horns and butt heads and told them that in Spain there really are trees that grow corks.

At Park Preschool, Jennifer Brown, a school mother, read the story to a group of four-year olds who listened attentively until the last line when the pacifist bull returns to sit under his favorite tree. Kaitlyn Yang raised her hand, with a slight look of concern.

“Did he sit on the bumble bee again?” she asked.

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