| Rationale
for Choice:
This is a wonderful moral fable about a handicapped creature who
overcomes his mental and physical difficulties. As he learns to compensate
for his deficits and to accept help, he gains appreciation and respect
in the eyes of others. In between the lines you can gain insights into
aspects of Freud's depth of psychology and C.G. Jung's philosophy
of archetypes.
Re-telling
Sigmund, a little bird, falls from the nest directly onto his head
and makes the sound „Zack bumm!“ … as if a door has been closed. After
his fall he cannot twitter, whistle or sing like the other birds, so everybody
calls him Zack bumm! An old wise rabbit notices Sigmund's sadness and
helps him to become a happy bird, the best flyer in the wood.
Translation:
P. 1:Sigmund was sitting in his nest. The world around him
was huge. “I want to fly like my parents”, he thought.
P. 2:
Sigmund bent forward. As he did this, he fell out of the nest. He glided
through the air. “Help!!!”, he was about to cry. But within seconds he
brutally crashed his head against the ground. “Zack bumm!” was heard inside.
P. 3:
When his parents found him, Sigmund sat on the grass quite confused.
“How are you doing?”, asked his mother anxiously. “Zack bumm!”, he replied.
“Zack bumm?”, asked his father. Sigmund nodded. “Zack bumm! Zack bumm!”,
he uttered with a croaky voice. It sounded as if somebody had slammed
a door.
P. 4:
Sigmund's parents were at a loss as to what to do. They fed him. They
took care of him al day and all night. They did not leave him alone. They
taught him how to fly. But Sigmund was not able to twitter, to whistle
or to sing like a bird. He tried it again and again. But when he opened
his beak, a sad “Zack bumm!” was heard.
P. 5:
Sigmund became older. “Hey, Zack bumm, how are you?”, the other animals
of the wood asked him when they met him. They had got used to his strange
call “Zack bumm!”.
P. 6:
One day an old, a white hare came to the tree where Sigmund lived. The
hare took out a book and sat down in the shade of the tree. “Zack bumm,
Zack bumm!”, Sigmund hoarsely croacked.
P. 7:
After a while the hare – his name was Carl Gustav – looked up. “Your voice
sounds sad”, he said. “Why are you not able to twitter like the other
birds?” Sigmund shook his head. “Zack bumm!”, he silently cried. Carl
Gustav thoughtfully looked at him. “We must undertake something to make
you happy again!”, he said. “Tomorrow, at high noon, come to me. I will
think about how I can help you.”
P. 8:
Sigmund nodded his head. Then he flew over the meadows and woods, over
the hills and mountains to the sea. He sat down on a high rock. “Zack
bumm! Zack bumm!”, he shouted into the roaring sea. He shouted himself
hoarse.
P. 9:
The next day he flew back to Carl Gustav. In the middle of the grass there
was a sofa as green as grass. “This is a good place to think about things!”,
said Carl Gustav. “Lay down and have a rest. Try to remember what has
happened. When did you cry “Zack bumm! Zack bumm!”, for the first time?
Take your time!”
P. 10:Sigmund lay with his eyes tightly shut on the sofa. At first he
saw stars, circles and clouds in his mind. But then he calmed down. He
was lying so still that Carl Gustav thought he had fallen asleep.
P. 11:
Finally Sigmund opened his eyes. “Zack bumm! Zack bumm!”, he said. “How
did the story begin? How did it happen to you?”, asked Carl Gustav. Sigmund
fell down from the sofa. He held his head in his hands. Carl Gustav was
thinking. “I understand”, he said. “You had fallen out of the nest and
you had a hard landing on your head.” Sigmund nodded excitedly. “And after
your fall out of the nest – you thought: ‘I am doing everything wrong!'
Sigmund nodded again and lay down on the sofa. Carl Gustav took off his
glasses and began to clean them carefully. “But in the meantime you learned
to fly. The wind carries you through the air. You are flying like a feather
… Even if you can't twitter, you are a real bird.”
P. 12:
Suddenly he heard a scream. A little something tumbled down from above.
A young bird was falling out of its nest. Sigmund flew up to him like
an arrow. Sigmund spread his wings widely and caught the little one. The
little bird softly landed on Sigmund's feathers.
P. 13:
“Bravo!”, shouted Carl Gustav. I do not know any other bird that can fly
so bravely like you. I have an idea. He gave Sigmund a wink.
P. 14:
Several days later Carl Gustav invited all the animals of the wood to
a special celebration. He was standing on the green sofa and shouted loudly:
“Welcome to the big “Zack bumm- air-show!”
Sigmund dived down from the highest tree. He performed a loop.
He displayed his forward and backward somersaults. He played all
his tricks. It was the most wonderful air-show the animals had ever seen
in the wood.
“It is so lovely to be a bird and to hover in the air”, Sigmund thought.
He croaked his “Zack bumm!” and this time it sounded as if somebody had
opened a door again inside him.
NB This is a working translation for educational purpose
only.
Activities
for use in school:
• Superboys and Supergirls!
The students tell each other what they are especially good at (e.g. handstands,
mental arithmetic, comforting others, drawing pictures, painting, surfing
or surfing in the internet, mae-up, shopping for good value, eating a
big plate of pasta, etc.)
Each students writes his/her special achievements in the list below:
I am …
excellent at … |
very good at … |
good at .. |
name/ achievement
|
...... |
....... |
Each students writes on a sheet of paper, what he/she would like to be
able to do.
Everybody says what s/he wants to learn from another child. Then they
pair up: one child is the trainer, one the learner. Finally everybody
shows/presents what they have learned from each other.
Variation: Each student shows something that he/she is proud of (e.g.
photos, a present, a ‘magic' stone or shell, a watch, a picture, a piece
of work) and tells a story about it. These stories are written down and
collected in a book or recorded onto tape and published as an audio-book.
(This is a nice present for parents and a record book for the child)
• Game: Everything has wings!
The children sit at their desks. Each child has both his/her hands on
the table and taps/pats rhythmically. One child begins by saying: ‘Everything
that has wings flies!' e.g. the plane flies, the duck flies ….. and the
other children must raise their hands. But when the child says: e.g. ‘The
table flies, the tree flies, my mother flies …….' their hands must stay
on the table. If somebody raises his hands he has lost and drops out of
the game. The winner is the one who remains.
• Game: I see things, you can't see!
According to the saying ‘I see things, you can't see … and this one is
green' (in one of the pictures in the book) - students then guess what
it could be. (e.g. the green sofa where Zack bumm is lying). Whoever gets
the correct answer, asks the next question. Each child should have a turn.
• Game: I bet, you can't do that!
(This game illustrates that nobody is perfect…)
In front of you is a glass of water. Put two drinking straws in your
mouth. The first drinking straw is in the glass and the second one is
outside. I bet you don't succeed in drinking the glass empty.
Reflection:
Consider how being good at something different can enrich
our lives.
NB
Further
literature and language-based activities can be found in
Picture Books sans Frontières available
from tb@trentham-books.co.uk
or www.amazon.co.uk
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