Children’s musician Nancy Stewart will organize a “Super Saturday Sing-Along” on March 21 with a day of songs, books and events around the community, featuring a flash mob at the library and a song session at All the Best Pets with the owner’s dog, Barkley.

The events are part of Stewart’s “Sing with Our Kids” pilot project, which she started on Mercer Island in 2012 to create, test and document singing events that foster early learning, and specifically early literacy, while connecting children to their communities.

Stewart’s project is gaining international attention. On March 21, she will host Monica Dullard from Port Phillip Library Service in Australia. Dullard was awarded a major grant to observe library story times in the U.S. and develop web materials and videos based on her experiences.

“I presented librarian workshops in five states in Australia in 2009, and was so impressed with the work they are doing in the early literacy field. It will be great to have this international connection with the project,” Stewart said.

Dullard’s scholarship program is titled ‘It All Starts with Storytime!’ Arguing that dynamic storytime sessions help promote early literacy, community building and engagement, and building on her experience as a storytime practitioner, Dullard is touring public libraries in the U.S. in search of quality storytime sessions for a variety of age groups and communities.

Dullard asked Stewart if she could observe some of the events Stewart plans through her pilot project. Recent ones include fireside sing-alongs, scavenger hunts, holiday caroling and community singing in Island parks.

Singing with a child builds their memory, sense of rhythm, spatial reasoning and vocabulary. Most people never forget the songs they learn as kids, like the alphabet, Stewart said.

“That is the magic of music and literacy. It makes sounds and words into patterns so our brains can remember them,” she writes on her website, singwithourkids.com.

Dullard will spend a couple of days at Seattle Public Library branches, but none at those of the King County Library System.

“That’s one reason I wanted to have the flash mob at the library, so it could be represented,” Stewart said. “I’ll be meeting up with [Dullard] again at Maine when I present the keynote at the Barbara Bush Foundation For Family Literacy conference April 1. By then she will have been to several other cities across the country.”

There will be activities for children at Island Books and Hennie McPennie throughout Saturday’s Sing-Along.

At the Sing-Along with Barkley event, Stewart said she will have Dullard read an Australian picture book called, “Little White Dogs Can’t Jump.’”

“It’s quite funny, and will be a fun experience for children to hear read with her Aussie accent,” Stewart said.

Sing-Along schedule

9 a.m. – Flash mob at Mercer Island Library

Twenty librarians will read and sing a picture book version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The event will be filmed and put on YouTube.

11 a.m. – Maypole at Mercerdale Park

1 p.m. – Sing-Along at the Fire Station

The sing-along will be followed by tour and short safety talk by firefighters.

4 p.m. – Sing-Along with Barkley the Dog at All the Best Pets

Visiting librarian Monica Dullard will read a book about dogs.