US couple brings Bubblebee
superhero to local classrooms
PHILIPSBURG--If it were up to authors, songwriters and spouses Gloria and Richard Rinderman, their brain child Bubblebee would be flying in classrooms all over St. Maarten. The Rindermans, long-time vacationers in St. Maarten from Long Island, New York, are currently in St. Maarten to promote their booklets and CDs.
Bubblebee is the Rindermans’ “non-violent superhero” who can blow bubbles from his antennae. His story is told in an audio book and accompanying picture book The Tale of Aladdin and Bubblebee: How it all Began.
In the tale, which is the start of a series of adventures, Bubblebee meets the legendary Aladdin, helps the genie free himself from his lamp and eventually teams up with Aladdin’s son, Al, to do good in the world.
Bubblebee is also featured in a 2004 CD, “Bubblebee: Songs for the Young at Heart,” which received a favourable review in School Library Journal.
Gloria Rinderman (72) was a schoolteacher for 20 years before she joined Richard (76) as an options trader on the floor of the American Stock Exchange.
They both left that hectic job several years ago and devoted their lives to music and songs. Richard, who plays the piano, was always asked to perform parody songs for weddings, graduations and bar mitzvahs, while Gloria often performed with her guitar.
They started creating songs together during a 1996 vacation in St. Maarten. “The beaches here inspired us,” they said. They formed Rymar Publishing Company the following year and began recording their own CDs, developing teaching programmes around them,
They have sold their music and curriculum tools, which use rhymes and rhythms to teach vocabulary and values about making the world a better place, to 900 libraries and schools all over the world, including St. Maarten.
The Rindermans said Bubblebee would be featured in this week’s Peace Project of Caribbean International Academy (CIA). Books and CDs are available at Le Grand Marché, World of Learning and Van Dorp bookstores. Samples of the songs can be heard online at
www.cdbaby.com/all/dickandgloria .
