Guy Zoda, aka “King Henry,” the on-field entertainer and community ambassador for the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team, performed his magic show at the Gerritsen Beach Library, located at 2808 Gerritsen Avenue, on Thursday, March 26th.
More than 75 children from P.S. 193 Gil Hodges, located at 2515 Avenue L, exited their school buses and bounced right on into the library, eager to meet the man in the red suit. Sitting on the carpet, crisscross-applesauce, the kids were absolutely rapt, as Zoda read the story, Pete the Cat Show-and-Tell, with great gusto.
Afterward, he explained the significance of the story, which centers around Pete’s family heirloom baseball glove and how the memories it holds makes it more valuable than some of the other, more flashy things his friends bring to school for show-and-tell.
Zoda also shared that he struggles with dyslexia, explained the condition and discussed how reading a book over several times before doing a read-aloud is a technique that always helps him. He went on to encourage the students to keep up with their reading even if it feels difficult at times.
As much as the children loved his reading, they equally loved Zoda’s comedic magical performance. With the help of several students from the audience, King Henry did silly tricks with balloons, flowers, kerchiefs and, to the kids’ great delight, even a pair of underpants on one occasion. He cracked them up, answered questions, posed for photos and finally advised kids to visit https://www.milb.com/brooklyn/forms/2024_home_run_readers, with their parents, to get a free ticket to a Cyclones game in exchange for reading four books.
