Session 9

Session 9

Last day of term - and a wonderful way to finish this first series of pre-schoolers storytelling!

Now there are children present who have come especially to hear the stories. They were so engrossed in the stories that the session went on for 45 minutes instead of the usual half-hour.

This meant I was a little later than usual leaving the premises, and parents were already gathering. One mother came over to my car to thank me. It was really helpful to hear the effect my storytelling was having.

This session started in chaos as there were builders working in our usual room and we had to use the main classroom, full of toys and distractions. Everyone was running wild, overexcited by this change of routine. Poor BumbleBee was being pounced on and chased until even her placid nature was being tested.

But the Tibetan cymbals worked their magic and we all settled down. The first story was Five Threads from Margaret Read MacDonald's 'celebrate the World'. I had found some seeds and threads; made a little nest and some tiny bright birds (out of soft, fluffy feathers). The children loved them. A very simple story and one that I would never have thought of telling before working with these little ones.

Then I told the lion cub's story from Papa Joe's 'Jinook the Lame'. Another very simple tale that would not work by itself for an older audience, but just right for this age group with the help of an appealing lion cub soft toy.

The final story was another from Margaret Read MacDonald - 'The Magic Garden of the Poor' - simplified a little for this young audience. I had more beautiful birds made, very simply, from bright ostrich feathers, a bag filled with gold, a golden apple and an expressive boy-doll to play the student. It was the birds, of course, that really held their attention - such bright colours fluttering around my head.

Next term the sessions shift from Friday to Wednesday, for a different group of children, so that I can have a chance to consolidate what I have learned and get to tell all the stories again. 

Session 8

Session 8

Very interesting... I decided to try telling a longer story this time - my own story of The Tintagel Dragon and the Plane Crash. The crash really did happen in Tintagel in 1979 and there are photos online to prove it. The cause was never explained until I discovered the dragon's role in the event. It is a favourite story with older children and adults - I had never tried to tell it to pre-schoolers.

The sun was shining and the room was too hot. Several of the children were restive and, even before I started, were distracted by the toys that had been left lying around. Then a late-comer arrived which added to the distractions. My large dragon puppet proved to be a bit frightening for some and a few of the children decided to leave the room. Apparently some wanted to come back after a few minutes, but were told they couldn't.

Of those that stayed, some were absolutely transfixed throughout the story - excellent eye-contact and smiles of understanding. But I found the puppet a bit restricting. He is quite large, expressive and gorgeous in blue panne velvets and gold trimmings... very friendly... but I usually use a much smaller one. I think I can be more expressive myself, and more in control, with the smaller version.

As requested, I told Papa Joe's the Magical Blue Feather again and was interested to note how much I changed the words this time to suit the younger audience.

Next Friday is the last day of term - and my last session with this particular group. I think I am going to focus on bird stories.

Session 7

Session 7

Fantastic session!
I took a large basket filled with all the props from the 17 stories I have told over the previous 6 sessions - it seemed a good time to see if the children remembered any of them.

Much to my surprise - and to the amazement of the staff - as soon as I picked up a prop, they called out the name of the story. Every story was remembered, even the earliest ones that did not involve large, expressive soft props. And they could tell me the basic barebones of each story!

I never dreamt that each story would fix itself so strongly in their minds after just one telling.

As we went through the basket some of the children indicated which stories they wanted to hear again. Of course Mighty Mouse was the first on the list, and this time they really did listen to at least half the story. The loss of interest came when the mouse saw the corn-stalk. The children didn't know what a corn-stalk was so the staff promised to find some pictures.

Then Father Mouse was requested. This was the very first story I had told in that first session two months ago. The puppet is so expressive that the children were all fascinated with him.

And the last story of the day was SuLi and the Dragon.... they were most insistent on finding SuLi's sword in my basket so that she could chop off the dragon's head.

Next week I will try a much longer story and see if I can hold their attention all the way.

Session 6

Session 6

The sun was shining - a sense of spring in the air - and everyone was  bit restless.

The demand for Mighty Mouse came right at the start but I said, 'You always ask for that one - perhaps later.' That reply was not welcomed and did nothing to calm the restlessness. Eventually some of the more disruptive children had to be removed to allow the others to listen in peace.

This time I told 3 very simple stories that were new to me. I had found them only a couple of days before and barely had time to sort out the appropriate props and memorise the most basic bare-bones.

The Magic Porridge Pot is, I think, a famous old tale that probably appears in many forms - a poor farmer agrees to sell his cow for a magic porridge pot. The pot runs off and steals a big Christmas pudding  which feeds the farmer and his wife. It then runs off and steals a bag of gold from a miser, which makes the farmer financially secure - the pot then runs off and is never seen again.

Amongst my store of props I found a lovely soft doll... she could be Maori or some similar race. She is not pretty by Caucasian standards, but she is very attractive, warm and intelligent. I have decided to call her SuLi and make her the heroine of various strong-female stories starting with very basic ones:-

Why the Sky is High - sees SuLi getting angry with the sky lying so close to the earth that she is forced to bend over all the time and has difficulty stirring the big cooking pot. In frustration she prods the sky with her stirring stick, breaking it up into fluffy clouds that fly away up high.

SuLi and the Monster Serpent - sees SuLi volunteering to be fed to the huge serpent/dragon that has scared away all the heroes and is demanding maidens for supper. She, of course, slays the dragon and becomes Queen.

Some of the class were completely rivetted by these little tales.

I think I am beginning to be able to recognise the right sort of story for this age group.

The day before had been very interesting. I was booked to tell stories at a primary school - 4 half-hour sessions, each with a different age group.

HoneyBear & BumbleBee, my Story Companions

Both HoneyBear and BumbleBee came with me - they get loved to pieces in schools. I think every child there insisted on having a cuddle. They put up with it bravely.

With the youngest classes I tried some of the new stories and techniques I have been developing in these pre-school sessions. They worked well, and I was much less stressed than I used to be when faced with such young audiences. But I was so relieved when I reached the older groups! I do love being able to tell a story that has complex ideas, a good plot, dramatic tension - and humour. One very silly story left the class howling with laughter!

Session 5

Session 5

A bigger group this time as we were joined by some even younger children.

Apparently, as soon as the children heard that 'The storyteller has arrived', they dropped whatever they were doing and ran to line up at the door. Good to know that they are enthusiastic about our sessions.

Following the success of Chanticleer & Pertelot, I decided to try The Musicians of Bremen - largely because my store of soft props included a lovely donkey, dog and cat - and Chanticleer, of course. 

Once again I was improvising - I had no idea just how the story would work or what words I might use. Suddenly I found myself braying, howling, yowling and crowing with gusto - that would never have happened with an older audience. The children loved it, of course.

A simple story followed of why the sun rises when the rooster crows and the birds sing. Chanticleer is working hard!

Then an experiment - the night before my cat had released a wild baby rabbit into the kitchen and it hid behind the cooker. Rescuing it was a major operation and I decided to tell the story using a pretty soft-toy rabbit. It was almost a success. I am just beginning to understand what will and what won't work.

As requested, we had a repeat of Little Red Riding Hood, though there was some disappointment that I didn't repeat Mighty Mouse as well.

 I think my voice is becoming more flexible - or perhaps exaggerated would be a better description. With this audience I cannot rely on the meaning of the words to hold the attention. My voice is naturally expressive and with my usual type of audience I can trust it to convey both meaning and emotion while allowing the story to be much more important than the storyteller. But with these children I am finding that I am becoming more of a performer. The content and flow of the story is not as important as the energy and life of each individual moment.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I have a school booking for 3 sessions with 3 different age groups. The youngest will be a little older than my pre-schoolers, but I will try some of these new skills on them rather than trusting that they will enjoy my usual tales.

Half Term Thoughts

Half Term Thoughts

In just 4 sessions, I can feel my style has already changed - I am much more relaxed.

With Chanticleer & Pertelot I did not feel the need to to study and rehearse the story. I simply made sure I knew the bare-bones, fixed them as a series of images in my head, and made sure I had found some attractive soft props - then I trusted that I would be able to improvise the story. And it worked!

Now I am looking for more stories for this younger age group. Normally it is quite difficult to find a new story that I love and really want to share with an audience. The plot, the structure, the twist, the ending... they all matter so much. But not for this age range. The stories that are working are much simpler. They have hardly any plot, no subtle irony or humour - just good clear characters and lovable soft props/puppets.

Remembering to use my little Tibetan cymbals was a brainwave. They make a loud, magical reverberation that changes as I move them around. The sound catches the attention of even the most distracted child so that we can all be ready for the next story to start.

The children do not seem so frightening now. Of course, going in every week, I am getting to know them as individuals, which would not happen with a normal performance, but I think I will find it much easier to relate to such little ones from now on.

Already I am planning how to use this new skill in a public performance. My thoughts so far... when the session has been publicised as being for adults and older children and yet there are several tiny tots in the audience, I will explain that the first two stories will be special ones for the youngest listeners. After that, the stories will be for the rest of the audience. The tots will be welcome to stay if they are interested, but if they become restless or unhappy, then I would hope the parents would let them leave.