NARRATOR: Now Rhinoceros piped up, glaring at Zebra with his beady eyes. And LOOK at me! I’ve gotten so scrawny I can count the ribs beneath my black and white stripes! ZEBRA: Since this drought started, I’ve covered hundreds of miles searching for food. NARRATOR: Now Zebra chimed in, flicking her black and white tail. GAZELLE: Well… if we keep roaming around with our bellies empty like this, we’re going to run out of energy! Bounding across the savanna burns some serious calories, ya know? I mean, talk about cardio! NARRATOR: Elephant shifted her gaze toward Gazelle as he shook his slender horned head. GAZELLE: (unsure, skeptical) Mmmm… I don’t know about that, Elephant. Each and every day, sunup to sundown, we’ll try to cover even more ground, and journey even farther across the savanna in search of something to eat. (beat) I know we’ve been searching high and low for food. So Elephant, the leader of the animals, called an emergency meeting.ĮLEPHANT: Friends! If this drought stretches on much longer, we’ll find ourselves on the brink of starvation! After all, we can only nibble on burnt grass for so long. The animals depended on the grasses, shrubs, and trees for food. With no rain to quench the earth, the ground turned dry and dusty, and the sun’s blazing rays began baking the grasses, shrubs, and trees a crispy, crunchy brown. NARRATOR: Long ago… a drought fell upon the rolling tropical grasslands known as the savanna. You can hear Eric Shimelonis playing the balafon in three other Circle Round stories: “Friends in High Places,” “The Chattering Clams” and “Chameleon’s Contest”! Griots would often play music while telling stories or singing. In ancient Africa, the balafon was a popular instrument among the storytellers/musicians known as griots (other common griot instruments include the kora – a stringed instrument similar to a harp – and the small lute known as the ngoni. Experts believe the name balafon is likely a European creation that merges bala with the Greek root phono, meaning “sound” or “voice.” The Manding name for the balafon is bala, but variations exist across West Africa, including the balangi of the Susu in Sierra Leone the balo of the Mandinka people in the Gambia and the gyil of the Dagara, Lobi, and Gurunsi in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. The instrument’s oral history dates back to at least the 12th century, when the Mali Empire was on the rise. The balafon is the ancestor of the marimba, xylophone and vibraphone. Beneath the keys are small gourds which vibrate and buzz to create a distinctive sound that’s both percussive and melodic when you strike the instrument with mallets or padded sticks. This tuned percussion instrument usually has 16 to 27 keys made of very hard wood. an instrument which creates sound by vibrating. ![]() ![]() Musical Spotlight: Balafon Eric Shimelonis playing the balafon, an African idiophone: i.e. When you’re done, share your picture with someone you have fun with – maybe even someone on your team!Īnd if you’d like, share it with us! Grown-ups, you can snap a photo of your Circle Round fan and their picture and email it to We may feature it in a future edition of “The Lion’s Roar,” the monthly newsletter for members of the Circle Round Club. Think about your accomplishment, then draw a picture of you and your team working together. Think about something you accomplished as part of a team – something you may have had difficulty doing on your own. Our resident artist is Sabina Hahn and you can learn more about her HERE. To access all the coloring pages for past episodes click HERE. We’re also keeping an album so please share your picture on Facebook and Instagram, and tag it with #CircleRoundPodcast. GROWN-UPS! PRINT THIS so everyone can color while listening. Original music and sound design is by Eric Shimelonis. This episode was adapted for Circle Round by Rebecca Sheir. Voices in this episode include Feodor Chin, Gamalia Pharms, Jessica Rau and Kel Mitchell.Įmmy Award-nominated actor and stand-up comedian Kel Mitchell is known for the classic Nickelodeon show “All That” and its movie spinoff, “Good Burger.” “Good Burger 2” is streaming now on Paramount +. Our tale is called “Rhyming Rhino.” It was inspired by tales from parts of Africa. But in today’s tale, when our main character decides not to be a team player, he gets left in the dust! or you teamed up with other athletes to play a sport.īeing a team player and working toward a common goal can be really fun. ![]() ![]() you teamed up with family members to clean your home or cook a meal. Maybe you teamed up with friends to build the tallest Lego creation ever.
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