Several beloved children’s books came to life on Thursday morning when Webster Schroeder preschool teacher Jamie Palmer hosted a very special live book performance for Webster’s youngest students.
More than 250 preschool students, teachers and aides — from the district’s seven Webster’s elementary schools and Schroeder and Thomas high schools — attended the performance in the Schroeder auditorium. As the audience members filed in and settled with great excitement into their seats, behind the curtain, an assortment of characters (including a toad, bear, crocodile, donkey, duck, sheep, Elephant and Piggie, Ballet Cat and more) got into their costumes and arranged their props.
Ballet Cat herself (Jamie Palmer in her bright pink tutu) introduced the performance, which featured several of the preschoolers’ favorite children’s books and authors:
- Toad in the Road by Stephen Shaskan
- Ballet Cat: the Totally Secret Secret by Bob Shea
- What’s Your Favorite Favorite? by Bob Shea
- Oh! Are You Awake? by Bob Shea
- Elephant and Piggie: Let’s Go for a Drive! by Mo Willems
- My Friends Make Me Happy by Jan Thomas
- My Toothbrush is Missing! by Jan Thomas
In between books, as cast members prepared behind the curtain, the young audience members danced and clapped to songs performed by Webster Public Library (WPL) Outreach Cooordinator Jason Poole, and laughed at some pretty bad knock-knock jokes.
Palmer was supported by a talented cast of WPL staff members, Webster School District (WCSD) teachers and Schroeder students. I even got to play the supporting role of Grandma in What’s Your Favorite Favorite? Other performers included:
- WPL Teen and Family Experiences Librarian Colleen Hernandez
- WPL Assistant Director Shana Lynott
- WCSD Special Education Consultant Teacher Bill Ambler
- Webster Schroeder Librarian Jennifer Strege
- Webster Schroeder students Brody Walrath, Maura Ugine and Sarah Painton (on the drum set)
Thursday’s show was Palmer’s second annual preK book performance. The idea came to her a few years ago when she and Jason Poole were planning Webster Public Library visits for the district’s preschoolers. It was her first year as a preK teacher after working for several years as the Schlegel Elementary School librarian.
She said,
I missed doing book performances. I said, wouldn’t it be cool if we could do a book performance for all of preK on Schroeder’s stage. Since I’m here, it’s a big stage, and we have an auditorium that will fit everybody, that would be a fun field trip. We could celebrate summer reading with the Public Library and also the reading joy that happened while we were in preK.
You could definitely see that joy in the faces of the preschoolers as they danced and sang, laughed and clapped, and watched with delight as their favorite book characters came to life. And since there’s a new crop of preschoolers every year, you can bet this won’t be the last of these shows.
“After everyone came last year,” Palmer remembered, “they said, ‘Oh you need to do that again. And maybe you need to do two.'”
* * *
email me at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)
You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).
(posted 6/7/2025)
webster on the web 
Leave a comment