"She just keeps getting bigger and bigger"

Another lovely school year is under way in Brooklyn! In this fall's adventures, first graders ponder Australians, Sufjan Stevens reduces second graders to tears, and Flin Flon scares the living daylights out of a sweet kindergartner.

"The Owls Go"
Architecture in Helsinki

Raj: Architecture is buildings.
Delly: Skyscrapers.
Martha: I heard a...a...! (holds up pretend trumpet)
Raj: A ostrich?
Miss Sarah: I think it's a trumpet.
Martha: Yeah.
Miss Sarah: What's the song about?
Delly: I think that it is about a people, a person.
Raj: No, it is about architecture.
Delly: There is no songs about architecture.
Martha: This song makes me so happy I want to go sing all over the world. I want to hear this song at my house all the time and I never want to stop hearing this song.
Raj: This is my favorite song that I ever wanted. Did you ever see the Simpsons?
Miss Sarah: Yes, I love that show! Delly?
Delly: I like this one (pointing to Essex Green album). I like this one a little bit.
Miss Sarah: This band is from Australia.
Delly: That's where there are kangaroos.
Martha: And koalas.
Delly: And, um...I think there are cats and dogs there. Big dogs.
Raj: Do they speak the same as us?
Miss Sarah: They speak English too, but it sounds a little different than us.
Martha: Do they comb their hair?
Miss Sarah: I'm pretty sure they do.
Raj: What color socks do they have?
Miss Sarah: Many colors, I think.
Raj: Oh maaaaaan!

"Say Yes! to Michigan!"
Sufjan Stevens

Mead: That is a weird name!
Elizabeth: (sounding out) Soooof. Jan. Soof-Jan! What is a Soof-Jan? (laughs crazily)
Miss Sarah: That's his name.
Taneesh: I never heard that name before! Is it a name in China?
Elizabeth: A name in China is upside down.
Mead: Which song is this?
Miss Sarah: "Say Yes! to Michigan!"
Mead: Michigan is a state!
Miss Sarah: Yeah.
Mead: You can't say yes to it! A state can't even talk!
Taneesh: Maybe it could talk.
Mead: No it can't!
Miss Sarah: Let's unroll the map of the United States and I'll show you where it is. Ok...right here. And I am from the state next to it, right here (Wisconsin).
Mead: You live next to Soof-Jan Stevens? Did you go to his house?
Miss Sarah: No. These states are next to each other, but they're big. It's really pretty far between them.
Taneesh: Miss Sarah, Elizabeth is crying.
(It was really much more like whimpering. --ed.)
Miss Sarah: Elizabeth, what's wrong?
Elizabeth: I don't want you and Soof-Jan Stevens to move to Michigan.
Miss Sarah: Oh! Don't worry, sweetheart...I live in Brooklyn. I'm not going anywhere. And Sufjan lives somewhere in Brooklyn too.
Taneesh: I thought he lived in China.

"Brooklyn Bridge"
Darren Hanlon

Arlyn: We went on the Brooklyn Bridge!
Jahmel: When we were in kindergarten.
Miss Sarah: What can you tell me about that bridge?
Arlyn: It's BIG.
Jahmel: A lot of people made it.
Arlyn: It was invented.
Jahmel: We walked on it, with our class. You can see the water under the wood! I thought I was going to fall through on the water! Aaaaaaaaah!
(both laugh hysterically)
Arlyn: Does he live in Brooklyn?
Miss Sarah: He lives in Australia.
Jahmel: AUSTRALIA?!
Arlyn: (laughing) That's in a solar system!
Jahmel: Why did he say about the Brooklyn Bridge?
Miss Sarah: He visited from Australia and went to see it.
Jahmel: But he's from Australia!
Miss Sarah: But people from all over the world come to see the Brooklyn Bridge.
Jahmel: Oh yeah. It's famous!
Arlyn: Does he have to give us money to see it because he's from Australia?
Miss Sarah: It's free!
Jahmel: I'm gonna make him give us a hundred dollars!
Miss Sarah: What would you buy then?
Jahmel: Game boy games! And a bird!
Arlyn: A hamster.
Jahmel: A hamster.
Miss Sarah: What do you think of the song?
Elizabeth: I love this song.
Jahmel: I love it a little bit.
Miss Sarah: Show me how much with your hands.
(Elizabeth holds her hands so close together they are almost touching; Jahmel stretches his out as wide as possible.)


"Odessa"
Flin Flon

Remy: This is bad music.
Miss Sarah: Why do you think so?
Remy: This is heart-heart music. I am DARK. This is Dracula.
Miss Sarah: Is this music scary?
Remy: Yes. I am going to break this all up (picks up cd player).
Miss Sarah: Remy, wait! Wait! I'll turn it off!