Storytime

I had a lovely birthday treat the other week of being taken to Burnham Beeches to see the Rone Empire art installation. Burnham Beeches, built in the 1930's and now abandoned was taken over by street artist Rone. It took over a year for him to create this work. Everything from the haunting aloof images painted on the walls, to the carefully created dust, cobwebs and even a patina of look-alike black mould on the ceilings.  It was a stunning piece of work. Very atmospheric, and creating a story of abandonment.  The images were awesome.. But what drew me in were the carefully placed ornaments and items. They added so much to the story being told, and in fact were a vital part. The clothes left in the wardrobe. The book by the bed. The sheets of music scattered with the autumn leaves. The drinks cart waiting for that second cocktail to be created... The piece of paper marking the spot in the book being read. The layers ...

We all tell stories, some of us even make a living out of it. At the moment I've been doing a few extra Storytimes and we are now endeavouring to not only make them fun, interesting and educational (who knew 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, once I caught a fish alive was about counting?) but dynamic and interactive as well. This often means bringing in puppets, props or toys and using these to help tell a story. A few weeks ago I told the story of The Three Little Pigs. I used some puppets and a white board. For each pig we drew their house. First a straw house, then the log house, then the brick house. The children had to help the Big Bad Wolf huff and puff the houses down. The kids loved it. When it was time for the brick house there was so much huffing and puffing that I hate to think how much spittle I was covered in. Stories, of course, are everywhere and we hear them everyday. It doesn't take much to make them come more alive for children. Little Miss and I made a unicorn s...

I recently went to a free event at our local library...Players from Storytelling Australia presenting A Grimm Reminder- celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Grimms' Brothers Fairytales. The storytellers were Matteo, Jackie Kerin and JJ- Retailer of Tales, and this was just a tidbit, a teaser for their show during the Pave Festival . It was a great night. Not only did I hear fairytales that I hadn't heard before (these were for adults, so none of the 'tidied up' versions retold to children) but I was fascinated by the storytellers delivery. Each of them had a different style, a different way of presentation. They were all confident, all spoke clearly and well, all used some kind of audience participation....whether waiting for our responses, for us to call out answers - 'the iron dwarf' - or whether through eye contact. . These were professional storytellers....but as a poet who sometimes performs, I learnt a lot about presentation. Not only is it ...