By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
When youngsters attended the summer program “One World/Many Stories” at the Caribou Public Library, on June 29, they not only listened to the story/music of “Peter and the Wolf” (composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936) but they also met someone who had grown up in Russia.
Republican photo/Barb Scott
Lize Guerrette was a special guest at a recent children’s program at the Caribou Public Library. Born and raised in Russia, she displayed two sets of Matroshka nesting dolls.
Lize Guerrette, who works at the public library, came to America 13 years ago from her native country of Russia. Guerrette spoke with the children about Russia, pointing it out on the globe and explaining how large the country is compared to others. The young attendees were full of questions for the part-time librarian, who even spent some time speaking in Russian, assisted by her son Ronald, who showed his bilingual capabilities by speaking the Russian words for cat and dog.
The brief Russian geography and language lessons were followed by a surprise presentation by Mrs. Guerrette, who had brought along with her two sets of Matroshka, the famous Russian hand-painted nesting or stacking dolls.
As she explained the significance of the dolls and how each set were hand-painted depicting a variety of scenes/seasons, she also informed the children that no two were alike. The biggest surprise for the young audience came, as she opened the first doll, displaying the second one nestled inside, continuing until the 10th one, less than one-inch high was discovered.
Born in Stavropol, Mrs. Guerrette attended the University of Moscow, prior to coming to the U.S. She is married to Brian Guerrette of Caribou and the couple has three sons, Nickolas,10, Ronald, 8, and Nathaniel, 6
Russian born Lize Guerrette, who lives in Caribou and is employed at the Caribou Public Library, was a special guest during the children’s summer program, “ One World, Many Stories” recently, speaking to the young guests about Russia.
Young guests at the Caribou Public Library enrolled in the summer program, One World, Many Stories, paid rapt attention as Lize Guerrette displayed her Matroshka (Russian nesting/stacking) dolls. From left are Rachel Seidell, Lyddie Bourgoine and Caydence Brecht. In back is Morgan Fuller.
Antonio Fernandez can’t believe his eyes, as he witnesses still another Russian nesting doll being discovered during the recent Caribou Public Library summer program. The Matroshka were shown to the children by Lize Guerrette, a native of Russia, who currently works at the local library.
