Crash Course in Storytelling
This is the most user-friendly handbook for librarians who seek the tools, resources, and the confidence to incorporate more storytelling into their programming. The authors offer clear, basic, and tested guidelines that include how to select, learn, and tell a story; tips on voice and body movements; audience participation; and the pros and cons of using puppets and props. Other fine books for beginners are Margaret Read MacDonald'sThe Storyteller's Start-Up Book(August House, 1993); Norma J. Livo'sStorytelling: Process and Practice(Libraries Unlimited, 1986); and Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss'sStories in My Pocket(Fulcrum, 1996). Haven and Ducey excel in giving the hand-holding, step-by-step encouragement needed by new tellers as they make the leap from reading aloud to telling. Strategies for handling "catastrophes" (e.g., forgetting what comes next, or leaving out an important part of the tale) are invaluable for building assurance. Novices will also learn to accept their individual styles, strengths, and comfort levels rather than to compare themselves with professional tellers. The appendixes discuss copyright issues and give definitions of different types of traditional tales. Research data presented here to support the need for more stories in children's education should be shared with library and school administrators. An essential purchase.—Judy Sokoll, Florida Storytelling Association, NaplesCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.