“Libraries need to understand literacy in the broadest sense – exploring all of the senses in the way kids and teens relate to the diverse services they have to offer.”
A selection of photographs from some of my recent workshops for children and young people in New South Wales.
These school holiday sessions in libraries offered high quality speaking and listening opportunities alongside exciting and unusual hands-on experience, with attendees also producing a range of narrative and non-fiction writing amid the fruit smashing and tower building!
Is the universe made of stories? Human beings can’t keep from telling tales, or listening to them – whether it’s creation myths or the “grand narratives” of science and politics, flights of fantasy or just an answer to the question, “So what did you do today?”
For more than four decades, one woman has sustained the tradition of oral storytelling in the heart of Manhattan. In 1968, Diane Wolkstein began an official role with New York’s Department of Parks and Recreation which has brought stories from around the world to life through her passion and craft.
Diane caught up with me recently to discuss her career, the challenges of drawing on stories from other cultures, and the business of telling tales in the modern metropolis.
Nikky Smedley, the performer, storyteller and choreographer best known for her role as the Teletubby Laa Laa, first appeared on my site back in 2010, when she took her children’s dance show The Tell Woman on tour in the UK.
On the eve of my interview with New York’s official storyteller Diane Wolkstein, Nikky joins us again for a guest post about storytelling and education in 2012.
As I leave Australia and New Zealand for a while, graphic designer and former newspaper cartoonist Hugh Todd pointed me to John Clarke’s song, ‘We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are’, and got me thinking about the power of myth and storytelling.
Today on Books and Adventures, we have the second part of a guest post by Lee Castledine, the Australian storyteller, youth librarian and secretary of the Australian Storytelling Guild.
You can find the first part of this post on Storytelling for Young Children using Props and Audience Participation here.
Props aren’t suitable for all stories and shouldn’t be used to prop up a bad story! It is important to choose simple props that enhance the telling. Don’t overwhelm the story by trying to use too many props or props that are difficult to manoeuvre, as they can distract the audience’s attention from the story. Once you choose your props, it is important to practise using them until you are comfortable handling them without constantly looking at what your hands are doing. Remember, it is vital to maintain eye contact with your audience. Props can help a storyteller to remember the sequence of the story, but if you become distracted with handling the props, you can lose your audience.
Many storytellers are of the opinion that the use of books in storytelling isn’t true storytelling. I agree somewhat, as there is considerable difference between story reading and the art of story telling. But to me, and to many other children’s librarians, a picture book can either be read to an audience, or it can be used as a visual prop for the audience. If a storyteller knows the book well, they don’t read it, they tell it, whilst showing the pictures to the audience to invite audience participation at certain parts of the story.
Today on Books and Adventures, we’re joined by Lee Castledine, an Australian storyteller, youth librarian and secretary of the Australian Storytelling Guild.
I was lucky enough to see Lee’s workshop on storytelling with young children at the Annual Paint the Town REaD Convention this month. Lee demonstrated her accomplishments as a performer, educator and storytelling maven, and today, Saturday 17th September, I’ll be venturing over to the New South Wales Writers’ Centre to see a Storytelling Workshop Day organised by Lee. Therefore I’m very pleased to present a timely guest post from her on Storytelling for Young Children using Props and Audience Participation.
A candle, a book, an apron, a string, a puppet, a piece of paper….Props used in storytelling for young children can be anything the storyteller can think of, that enhances the story. Some props are useful for encouraging audience participation, and manipulation props enchant the audience. Not all stories need a prop – sometimes actions are the prop.
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 