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Activity for Midnight Mimi

Midnight Mimi

Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
JK – Grade 3

“Everyone was sleeping, some were dreaming, others snoring, except for Midnight Mimi, who found sleeping simply boring.”

This whimsical, action-packed story will catapult readers into the magic of Mimi’s moonlit night. Whether boogieing and woogieing from Paris to Bombay or jitterbugging and tangoeing across the Milky Way, readers are in for a surprise! The rhythmic, rhyming verse makes this story a favourite for reading out loud. It can certainly be used as a bedtime story, but don’t hesitate to read it at anytime of day.

Storytime Suggestions

Before the story...

Mimi makes a golden crown in this story when pretending to be a king. A great way to get kids involved is to have personalized crowns, with their names printed on them, prepared at the start of the storytime. You can make these out of construction or coloured paper using a freehand design or following a template such as the one attached.
Once each child has a crown, begin storytime with the following rhyme:

Kings and queens and princes, too
Now storytime begins for you.
Straighten your crown,
And sit right down,
And here is what we will do…

You can end the session with the follow-up to this rhyme:

Kings and queens and princes too.
Now I must say goodbye to you.
Goodbye, good day, good night and so long,
See you next week for more stories and songs!

An alternative would be to save the crowns as an activity for the end of the story, and allow the children to decorate and cut the crowns out themselves.

During the story...

Begin by having the children examine the cover of the book. Ask them what they think this story might be about, based on what they see there.
When Mimi says she’d rather be “an owl, a werewolf, or a bat”, mime bat wing movements with your arms.
When you reach the part when Mimi says she’s going to teach her rabbit to “dance beneath the moon”, encourage participation by asking the class if they have any pets. What are they? Have they taught them any tricks?

At the end of the story...

Continue the discussion by asking the children if they’ve ever stayed up really, really late? Past midnight? What was it like?
What would they be if they stayed up way-past-midnight like Mimi? A circus clown, a famous acrobat, a poka-dotted cat, a king, or something else entirely? Or are they more like sleepyhead Marie and would rather be in bed asleep?
Explore the pictures and ask which was their favourite. Notice the way Marie-Louise Gay uses pencil and watercolours to make her pictures.

Related Activities

Pencil and Watercolours

Have the children create their own pictures, inspired by the story, using pencil and watercolours
They can paint Mimi, Marie, their pets, or one of the beasties from Mimi’s adventures. Make some suggestions and leave the rest to their imaginations.
Use thick, absorbent paper suitable for watercolours.

Cat Mask

Get children started on their own games of make-believe by making their very own polka-dotted cat masks! See attached template for an example.

Materials:

Thick paper plates (half a plate per child)
Extra-wide popsicle sticks (one per child)
Pink and black construction paper
Black pipe cleaners (3 per child)
Red markers or paint
Scissors
Tape and/or glue

Directions:

Cut paper plates in half
Trace eyes onto the plate and cut them out (you may want to assist children with this step)
Cut out ear shapes from the black construction paper and glue or tape them to the top of the plate, cut out smaller pink triangles for the inside of the ears.
Cut out a triangle for the nose from the pink or black construction paper and glue or tape to the bottom-middle of the plate
Cut each pipe cleaner in half and glue three whiskers on either side of the nose
Add red polka dots to taste
Finally, glue or tape an extra-wide popsicle stick to back right or left side (this is the handle of the mask)
Enjoy!

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