Story hour at many local bookstores is a time-honored tradition, taking children on far-flung adventures and introducing them to interesting places and characters.
In the backyard of Denver鈥檚 Second Star to the Right children鈥檚 bookstore, story time is bringing some of those characters to life in a new way.
鈥淲ell, hello everyone! How鈥檚 everyone doing this morning?鈥� greeted guest reader Shirley Delta Blow to the audience.
Between her white spike heels and the teased-to-the-sky red wig, she鈥檚 nearly 7 feet tall. On the tiny stage, she towers over the rows of fidgety kids, who are sitting legs criss-crossed on the lawn.
She鈥檚 not your usual children鈥檚 story time reader, but then again, she鈥檚 not reading the usual children鈥檚 story.
鈥淭his is called 鈥楳orris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress,鈥欌€� Blow said.
The book talks about all the ways Morris is a lot like many of the children -- he likes pancakes and playing at recess. It also talks about how he might be different -- he likes to play dress up and his favorite item is a tangerine dress.
鈥淪ometimes the boys make fun of Morris,鈥� Blow read. 鈥淪ometimes the girls do, too.鈥�
At this the crowd of children and parents let out a loud, 鈥淎wwww!鈥�
It鈥檚 a book that Blow can relate to. In real life, Shirley Delta Blow is actually Stuart Sanks, and today is not just any story hour. It鈥檚 Drag Queen Story Hour.
鈥淎s drag queens we bring happiness and joy and so who better of an audience to serve than kids,鈥� said Sanks, who is also a third-grade teacher. But this was a first time reading in drag.
It鈥檚 a first for bookstore owner Dea Lavoie, too.
A typical story hour brings in about 30 people, Lavoie said. For Drag Queen Story Hour, more than 200 people showed up.
鈥淲e knew it was going to be big,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know how big.鈥�
Lavoie said the demand may turn a one-off event into a recurring story time.
The guest readers were all performers from the recently wrapped Denver Center for the Performing Arts production 鈥淒ragOn!鈥� For Shirley Delta Blow, the change in her usual audience is a welcome chance to educate on another level.
鈥淓specially that idea of kind of representing something different than your average-everyday 鈥業鈥檓 a man wearing pants; I鈥檓 a woman wearing a dress,鈥欌€� Blow said. 鈥淲e mix it up a little bit. We challenge some of those gender roles.鈥�
While 7-year-old Madeline Ball of Arvada knew this story hour was different from others she鈥檚 attended at Second Star, she seemed to take it in stride.
鈥淚t just seems like they鈥檙e girls, but I know they鈥檙e boys,鈥� Ball said. When asked what she thought of that, she added: 鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 kind of strange, but I think it鈥檚 part of their personality.鈥�
Madeline鈥檚 mom said it was important to bring her to the event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good message for the kids,鈥� Melissa Ball said. 鈥淗opefully they remember it when they go to school and it becomes hard to be different.鈥�
That鈥檚 exactly why Lavoie wanted to do Drag Queen Story Hour. She had heard about it happening in cities like San Francisco and New York, where the Brooklyn Public Library鈥檚 event a little over a year ago spearheaded the trend.
鈥淚 chose books based on how accepting they were about being different because it鈥檚 important to me,鈥� Lavoie said. 鈥淚 have a teaching background and I know what bullying is like, I鈥檝e seen it firsthand. And I wanted to share the feeling of acceptance and being kind to others and embracing your differences. That鈥檚 always been what we鈥檙e all about anyway.鈥�
While she loves that there are now books like 鈥淧rincess Boy鈥� and 鈥淚 Am Me,鈥� Shirley Delta Blow -- aka Stuart Sanks -- said having them growing up would have been helpful.
鈥淚 know when I started to come out I would look for anything that I could figure out about gay people or -- I wasn鈥檛 into drag or anything then, but just -- people who were different, people who didn鈥檛 quite fit in,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so I would love to have had these books when I was a kid.鈥�
