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Press Play to hear Bil Lepp who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on How to Lie and not get Caught on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Bio:
Bil Lepp is a nationally renowned storyteller and five time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. His outrageous, humorous tall-tales and witty stories have earned the appreciation of listeners of all ages and from all walks of life. From elementary school to veterans’ homes, from churches to colleges, from festivals to formal dinners. Though a champion liar, his hilarious, insightful stories often contain morsels of truth which shed light on subjects such as politics, religion, death, relationships, and human nature. An award winning storyteller, author, and recording artist, Lepp’s release, The Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit, received the Parent’s Choice Approved award, and Mayhem Dressed as an Eight Point Buck won a 2008 NAPPA Honors award. Lepp has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and at major storytelling and corporate events across the country. Says Bill, Everywhere I slept, I’ve lied. Bill is the author of four books and eight audio collections, and lives in Charleston, WV with his wife and two children.

To hear about Bil Lepp’s latest exploits goto his website at…
http://www.leppstorytelling.com

Press Play to hear Andy Offutt Irwin who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on entertaining children with out boring the grownups out of their skull on the Art of Storytelling on Tuesday, Dec. 16th at 8pm.

Bio

A native of Covington, GA, Andy started out in comedy, but added music and storytelling because he had a lot more to say. In storytelling circles,he is especially known for relating the adventures of his eighty-five-year-old aunt,Marguerite Van Camp, M.D. He’s always on the go, performing at festivals, theatres and schools throughout the United States, including two gigs as a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival, where in 2008 he will perform a solo concert at the Midnight Cabaret.

He has been a Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center; a Guest Artist at La Guardia High School of Art, Music, and Performing Arts in New York (The “FAME!” School); and he has been a Keynote Speaker/Performer at the Library of Congress-Virburnum Foundation Conference on Family Literacy. He is an award winning recording artist with five titles and growing.

Andy used to have real jobs: from 1991 to 2007 he was Artist-In-Residence in Theatre at Oxford College of Emory University. He spent five years writing, directing and performing with the comedy improv troupe, SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World. But he’s had lots of more interesting life experience-type employment, including – but not limited to – actor, camp counselor, political satirist, youth director, janitor, deputy voter registrar, theatre orchestra conductor, garbage man, teacher, carpenter’s flunky, and bullfrog tadpole catcher (Honest).

Press play to hear Elizabeth Ellis who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on the relationship between Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8pm.

Elizabeth Ellis Writes…
If I had a nickel for every time someone (attorney, state trooper, loan officer, IRS agent) has made fun of me because I told ‘em I am a storyteller, I could take us all out to dinner. At a nice place. With tablecloths. Because often the public perception of storytelling is that it is fluff and foolishness.
Well, we storytellers know better, and we have survived an entire movement of Back to the Basics and Almighty State Testing. What the left brain-ers don’t realize is there is another entire level of education far more basic to being human than the 3 R’s will ever be.
The most basic things about being human come from the right side of the brain, not the left. Chief among them is the ability to make ethical decisions. I am not talking about following the rules. Remember that the Nazis were great rule followers. Ethical decision-making requires the ability to imagine the effect of my behavior on your life. Without an active imagination, a child is an ethical cripple. The new study about the state of ethics of America’s youth just out from the Josephson Institute (http://josephsoninstitute.org/ for the full details of the survey) has many people in our culture asking themselves, “How did we get on this handcar? And where are we headed?
Hearing stories told leads to the development of empathy. And empathy is essential for all ethical decision making. I have been talking about this for more than thirty years. Recently other folks have begun to say the same thing. I am pleased by that, ’cause I’m not gonna live forever. Check out P.J. Manney’s article “Empathy in the Time of Technology” in the September, 2008 Journal of Evolution and Technology. (http://jetpress.org/v19/manney.htm if you want to read the entire article, especially the interesting part about the development of “mirror neurons”.)
Please join me for a discussion of how storytelling contributes to the development of ethical behavior on this Pod-cast, but also in your guilds and story circles and list serves. In a time of national financial hardship, it behooves us as tellers to be able to challenge people’s thinking about the importance of story and it’s role in right brain development. Storytelling is neither fluff nor foolishness. It is how we change the world “one listener at a time.”
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a attorney, state trooper, loan officer or IRS agent or some other form of left brain-er, it is the key to learning to “think outside the box”, which is imperative if America is to remain an economic power. (Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: How Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Riverhead Books, 2006.); but, that’s another story.

A Short Biography
Designated an American Masterpiece Touring Artist by the NEA, Elizabeth Ellis grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. A children’s librarian at Dallas Public Library before becoming a professional storyteller, the “Divine Miss E” is a versatile, riveting teller of Appalachian and Texas tales and stories of heroic American women, though her personal stories are arguably her best. Invariably hilarious and poignant, she is a repeated favorite at the National Storytelling Festival. Selected a Listener’s Choice at the 30th Anniversary of the National Storytelling Festival, she is a recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Texas Storytelling Association and the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. She has mesmerized nearly a million children in her thirty-year career as a professional storyteller.
Elizabeth is also well known for her workshops, which offer training for beginning and seasoned storytellers. Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories, which she co-authored with Loren Niemi has been described by NAPRA ReView as a “great leap forward in the literature of how to put stories together with art and truth”. It received a Storytelling World Award.
Jay O’Callahan says, “Elizabeth Ellis’s voice sounds like chocolate tastes.” Her stories are just as addictive as chocolate. A mother and grandmother, she makes her home in Dallas. www.elizabethellis.com

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #067 Mitch Capel Grandaddy June Bug
	for $2.23 Poetry and Storytelling

Grandaddy Junebug writes…
Good storytelling is like poetry to your ears…good poetry is storytelling at it’s best. Storytelling and poetry go together like hand in glove. Ninety percent of the stories I tell are in rhyme so I coined the term “sto’etry” to describe my unique style of telling.

At the tender age of three, my paternal Grandmother read to me the story poem “A Cabin Tale” from the “Life And Works Of Paul Laurence Dunbar”. The genius of this work coupled with the joy in my Grandmother’s eyes and the passion in her delivery left an indelible impression in my heart. Since 1985 I have been performing the works of Dunbar, myself and others at festivals, schools and other venues throughout the United States.

Storytellers in general are unaware of the vast potential poetry can add not only to the repertoire of the teller but, also to the “flavor” of the performance. This is especially true with venues for children. A vast majority of young audiences are familiar with the “Rap” genre of music and are, therefore, more inclined to not only enjoy the performance with greater appreciation but also to digest more of the content of the morals and affirmations. “Sto’etry” is “Rap” without the music with each child supplying his or her own “beat” to the vocals, which, in turn actually seems to garner more satisfaction as one seems to “enjoy the book more than the movie”. Older audience members are also appreciative of this style because most, in their youth, were taught the values of poetry and the importance of memorizing and reciting for different groups within their respective communities.

Come with me as we explore the unlimited possibilities poetry can add not only to storytellers, but, to story listeners as well.

Most storytellers shy away from utilizing poetry in performance because of the need to “memorize” verbatim as well as the inability to “ad lib” during the show. It is true that poetry lends itself to a certain rhythm, however, once you’ve crawled into the skin of the poet your voice becomes the vehicle and your words become the steering wheel that guides the listeners (travelers) on the journey. A good storyteller wouldn’t have any problem “playing” to an audience or “ad libbing” while utilizing the “sto’etry” style of telling.

About Grandaddy Junebug
Mitch Capel was “born and raised” in the small town of Southern Pines, North Carolina and was introduced to the world of storytelling at a very early age by his parents and grandparents. His grandmother, Elnora Leak Capel, read “A Cabin Tale” from the Life and Works of Paul Laurence Dunbar to him when he was three years old. The rhythm of the story and the genius of Paul Laurence Dunbar was planted like a seed. Mitch and his brothers were encouraged by their parents to memorize the works of great poets to recite at church and civic events. It wasn’t until he had finished college, moved back home and started working with his father in the family business that Dunbar would re-enter his life. His father, Felton Capel, shared stories of his youth and “creek talk” (a term used to describe the dialect of his hometown of Windblow) and one day gave Mitch the same Dunbar book that had been used by his grandmother. His father said, “if you love that ‘creek talk’, you’ll love this” and he handed over the book. Mitch’s father was right…the next seven years he studied that book, examining every word, every nuance, every moral and every intention of the author.

After re-discovering “A Cabin Tale”, Mitch started reading the story to his kids every night and eventually memorized it. He told a friend the story one day, was invited to recite it at a banquet where there were teachers in attendence, who subsequently invited him to their school. The seed that was planted twenty seven years earlier was being nourished and beginning to sprout. He developed a character, “Gran’daddy Junebug” to deliver the words because he felt a young man wouldn’t be as convincing. The character is a tribute to his own grandfathers who passed when he was young, two elderly gentleman he “adopted” to fill the void and a way to pay respect to other elders. The “blossoming” was evident when Mitch’s grandmother reached the point where her memory was failing her and he sat on her bed and started reciting “A Cabin Tale” at which point she start reciting with him, then laughed and said “boy, you remembered that story!” Not only did he remember, but because of his grandmother and his parents, he is now one of the most sought after entertainers in the world!

Mitch Capel is a storyteller, recording artist, poet, actor and author who has been bringing stories to life and delighting audiences mostly throughout the United States with his warmth, wit and compelling storytelling style since 1985. He is considered “the national interpreter” of poet laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) and it is his voice you hear as “Paul Dunbar” at the Wright/Dunbar Interpretation Center in Dayton, Ohio. He has done “voice overs” for Dunbar on film and has memorized over 70% of Paul Laurence Dunbars’ work. “Gran’daddy Junebug” has been described as “a national treasure”, “a transformer of lives”, “unexpectedly powerful” and “a word magician”…he coined the term “sto’etry” to describe his stories recited poetically. Continuing his family tradition of preserving culture and teaching through stories, “Gran’daddy Junebug” teaches personal responsibility and respect for self and others through the African oral tradition of “call and response.” He utilizes audience participation to share his wisdom on being true to self, finding your right path, coping with peer pressure and always doing the best you can. The stories are developmentally appropriate for all ages, or as he likes to say, “from the day care to the rest home.” He has received numerous awards for Artist of The Year from many national organizations as well as various accolades from state and local government agencies recognizing his work with youth. He is the co-founder of The National African-American Storytellers’ Retreat, has been featured twice at The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn., annually at the travelling National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference since 1988 and the Signifyin’ & Testifyin’ Storytelling Festival held in Minnesota. He is the official emcee at two National “Liars’ Contests” and has been featured on National and International Public Radio. Mitch was the first performer to grace the stage at the newly opened National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and was invited back to do his production of “Christmas On The Plantation” the following December.

Mitch has produced four award-winning storytelling cassettes, three compact discs and has published a motivational children’s book entitled “The Jealous Farmer”. He recently collaborated and performed on a series of DVD’s: “Jump Back, Honey Jump Back”, “In Days Gone By”, “Stories For Grown Folks” and “The Kings and Queens of Storytelling”. His program, “W’en Dey Listed”, a journey through the life of various colored soldiers in the Union army during the civil war, was premiered at the National Gallery of Art’s National Teacher’s Institute in Washington DC in July 2005 to rave reviews and was requested and performed twenty-three times the following February for Black History Month. His recent stage credits include “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Driving Miss Daisy”. Mitch has been married to the former Patricia Peek since 1980 and they have two sons (now grown) Christopher and Julian. His hobbies include collecting the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar, writing, landscaping and collecting art. He is also an avid golfer because he says “it was a pre-requisite for growing up in the Pinehust/Southern Pines area. I love the challenge, the beauty and tranquility that golf courses have to offer. Besides, golf is a lot like storytelling in that it teaches us valuable life lessons.” “Gran’daddy Junebug” leaves his audiences with the ancient wisdom and cultural knowledge of cooperation, collective responsibility, the importance of community, shared goals, empathy and always striving for excellence. Mitch Capel studied speech and theatre at North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University, but more importantly, he is a full time honor student at the “University Of Life”.

Check out more info on Mitch Capel
http://www.gjbug.com/

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #066 Michael D. McCarty
	for $2.23 Storytelling and literacy in the 21st century.

Michael D. McCarty writes…
That which does not evolve dies. The ability to change, grow and adapt is essential to the survival of any species, society or ideal. Storytelling has been around since the dawn of man, which says a lot for the viability of this essential art form. Throughout human history stories have been used to inform, inspire, educate and more. Storytelling is part of our DNA.
So what is the role of literacy and storytelling in the 21st century? How is it evolving? The National Storytelling Network’s Storytelling Interest Groups (SIGs) give an indication. Storytelling has entered the business world and the Storytelling in Organizations SIG, Annette Simmons’ books, “The Story Factor” and “Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” and a host of other books and individuals are taking it there in a big way.

The Storytelling in Higher Education (SHE) and Healing Story Alliance (HSA) SIGs promote storytelling in colleges and the healing arts respectively, while the Youth, Educators and Storytellers Alliance (YES) champion the value of storytelling in the classroom. The Producers and Organizers (the only SIG without an acronym) SIG brings together those who produce storytelling events. These folks are constantly working to make storytelling enticing to new audiences.

On another front, since 1997 The Moth, which is headquartered in New York, New York, has been conducting Story Slams, i.e. story competitions, which have brought in a whole new group of people to storytelling. The most prominent group is the twenty & thirty something’s that come in small numbers to traditional storytelling events, but come in droves to The MOTH.

A critical task for Storytelling is combating illiteracy. One of the most shocking bits of data is the alarming rise of illiteracy in America. People are reading fewer books and the ability to spell is going out the window. I’have worked with middle and high school kids who couldn’t read a simple children’s book or pronounce a word over two syllables without difficulty.
The positive impact of storytelling in fostering literacy has been well documented (check out www.storynews.org). The challenge for storytellers is to be proactive in making sure the education community is made aware of and utilizes storytelling and storytellers to this end.

The Los Angeles Reading Project (LARP) places storytellers in pre-schools telling stories to the children AND the parents and teaching the parents to read and to tell stories to their kids. A director at one of the pre-school sites noted that parents told her that their kids wanted to hear stories rather than play with their high tech toys and games! This is a great example of how literacy and storytelling in the 21st century are tied closely together.

The art of storytelling is alive and kicking. It’s up to those of us who love it to continue to spread the word.

“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them and learn to give them away. Sometimes a person needs a story more than they need food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. That is how people care for themselves.”
Barry Lopez

A short bio for Michael D. McCarty
Awards and Grants
Public Corporation of the Arts Grant (Long Beach, CA) 1994 -1999
Candlelight Award for Sharing Hope 1998 (South Africa)
National Storytelling Network’s 2003 Leadership & Service Award (Pacific Region)

Performance Highlights
Armand Hammer Museum California Afro-American Museum
The House of Blues, Los Angeles African Market Place, Los Angeles
Knott’s Berry Farm
Fowler Museum-U.C.L.A.
John Anson Ford Theater Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles
African Festival of the Arts,Chicago Whole Life Expo, Los Angeles
Bay Area Storytelling Festival Santa Monica Museum of Art
Autry Museum of Western Heritage National Storytelling Conference
Summer Solstice Folk, Dance, Music & Storytelling Festival
Co-Director Los Angeles World Storytelling Festival (2002, 2003)
National Storytelling Festival (Exchange Place)
Museum of Contemporary Art

Check out Michael D. McCarty’s Website….

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #063 Donna Washington
	for $2.23 The Anatomy of a Scary Story

Donna Washington Writes…
Why do kids love ghost stories? I asked my eleven year old son this question because I have discovered that my academic and empirical observations about these sorts of subjects often bears little resemblance to the actual answer. He was good enough to inform me that he loves the fact that the characters are frightened and they have no idea what is about to happen next. He didn’t say word one about wanting to be scared. In other words, it’s the idea of the scary thing being someplace far away from you so that you can have a good scare in a safe place and then walk away and be all right. Just for the record, that’s what I thought. In other words, I agree with the expert.

http://www.donnawashington.com

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #059 Jim May
	for $2.23 Storytelling in Classrooms.

Jim May Writes…
I tell stories to children because I learned many years ago that nothing in my ten years of experience as a classroom teacher held my elementary student’s attention like a story.

For some twenty-three years now, I have made my living as a professional, full time storyteller. That storytelling produces a singular, intensely vital experience in my listener’s imagination continues to be reinforced nearly every day of my professional storytelling life.

I remember a particular occasion telling stories to an auditorium full of primary-aged students (grades k-2). After the program was finished, the students filed past the front of the stage where I was standing and greeting a few as they passed. One second grade boy walking by, looked at me over his should and shouted in mid step: “Thanks for the movies!”

I am reasonably sure that he was responding very literally, simply and profoundly to the mechanism in the brain (the cortex where complex thought functions) that produces images in response to oral language. Joseph Chilton Pierce and others have theorized that the brain is activated by oral language in a manner that causes neural brain cells and neural pathways to be stimulated (and even to grow, creating new, neural pathways, etc) in a way that is not possible when image and language are artificially coupled as in television, dvds, computer screens, in which case the most creative part of the brain shuts down because the image is ready made, not personal, original or connected to the viewer’s personal, internal, neural life.

Levels of listener/viewer involvement can be observed if one contrasts the facial attitude of someone listening to a story as opposed to someone watching tv. The “TV face” is more likely to be glazed over. The listener — or someone using American Sign Language (ASL), since signs are also not literal — is having an active experience with the story, is, in fact a co-creator of the narrative

Some of the questions we answered included.
1. What are the implications of this insight for school curriculum?
2. For the relationship between parents and children, teachers and children, children and their peers?
3. Is storytelling different than reading aloud which also allows the listener to produce the images in response to language?
4. Is the brain growing differently (or less) in our media driven world?

More about Jim May
Jim May is an Emmy Award-winning storyteller and writer, and a former elementary and college teacher who had performed live for over one million school children and families in the Chicago area over the last 20 years.

His children’s picture book, THE BOO BABY GIRL MEETS THE GHOST OF MABLE’S GABLE (Brotherstone, 1992) is in it’s second printing and is a favorite of teachers, librarians and parents across Chicago Land, many of whom find that their students and children demand that the book be reread to them over and over again — ESPECIALLY DURING THE HALLOWEEN SEASON.

His collection of stories, THE FARM ON NIPPERSINK CREEK, won a best book award from the Public Librarian Association and was praised by Publishers Weekly: “…like Garrison Keillor, May describes life as he knows it…like soothing…elegaic bedtime stories;” Booklist: “…these well spun tales will delight readers;” and the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Deftly combines a child’s sense of awe and freedom with an adult’s awareness of life’s stickier complexities.”

Jim has appeared at Millennium Park, The Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo, on the Roy Leonard and Studs Terkel Radio Shows and numerous times on WTTW, channel 11 in Chicago. His touring schedule has included venues in Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Mexico and Canada.

He was inducted into the National Storytelling “Circle of Excellence” (Hall of Fame) in the year 2000.

Interview #058 Mary Jo Huff
	for $2.23 Early Literacy begins with rhythm rhyme & story time.

Mary Jo writes…
Language is critical for literacy development and storytelling creates an interactive bridge. Music, repeated phrases, and actions provide connections and invite participation by children when they become part of the storytelling event.

Working in schools demands that the storyteller is tuned into the state literacy standards. Storytelling connects many types of standards but I am only concentrating on the literacy connection. A good story challenges a child’s auditory, visual, and kinesthetic skills along with a phonemic awareness.

Performing in schools as a storyteller gives a teller the opportunity to address some reading readiness components such as repetition, retelling, rhyming and sequencing. When teachers are aware of what the stories have to offer they are amazed at the children’s reaction. Children develop their oral language skills by learning to tell and retell stories. They learn about their world, other cultures, visual imagery, moral and social issues and they increase listening skills.

Literacy standards connections to look for when telling stories for children:
- Phonological Awareness
- Understanding Stories
- Book Awareness
- Comprehension
- Word Awareness
- Story Enjoyment

Mountains of information are available for review and it can be mind boggling. Check out these organizations for documentation of literacy standards and review for connections to your type of storytelling.

- International Reading Association
- National Council of Teachers of English
- National Association for the Education of Young Children

Play with the sounds of language using songs, rhymes, chants and stories. Get excited about what you do. This life of mine is a passion and I work at it everyday in one way or another. Over the years I have been successful because I spent 35 years in the trenches with young children and also attended numerous conferences and developed a love for my life. I rely on my experiences to connect my storytelling to the world I live in and to share my experiences with anyone who will listen!

More about Mary Jo
I have 35 years as an Early Childhood Educator and 20 years as a storyteller. I believe in my heart that children who listen to stories develop a great vocabulary and understanding of their world. I used storytelling in the classroom and began visiting schools, libraries and doing workshops for teachers and librarians. In this period of time I have been in all but 7 states and visited with thousands of children and adults. Children need excitement, music, props and I like puppets with my storytelling. I am not a puppeteer I just play with puppets and I play with story.

Today I work as an author, storyteller, consultant, teaching artist and granny-on-the-go! I am a good traveler and my fluff goes with me wherever I go to tell stories. Children are hungry to hear a good told story and they connect especially when there is a little rhythm and rhyme. I have 7 books published and working on a couple at this moment along with 3 CDs and my favorite a new DVD called “Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Storytellin’ Fun!.

To learn more about Storyteller Mary Jo Huff go to her website at http://www.storytellin.com

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #053 Sally Crandall
	for $2.23 Historical Storytelling.

Sally Crandall writes…
I enjoyed with talking with Eric about historical storytelling. When I take on the creation of an historical story, I look at it as an opportunity to go back in time and explore places and people. The first story I told was about the 1913 flood, which changed the future for Columbus and for Ohio. I was sitting in my kitchen one summer afternoon when I heard a survivor of the flood, Ida Griswold, tell her story during a radio interview. I called her up, and, even though she shouldn’t have, she let me come over and spend a day getting to know her and see the house in which she grew up and which survived the flood. She pointed out the crack in the window caused by a floating telephone pole, and told me her dad never fixed it, and she never would either.

We spoke about some of the stories I tell and about their specific uses in the classroom. A few years ago, I spent several days in Cleveland at a Kennedy Center Workshop for teaching artists. It was a valuable experience. There I began to explore the idea of using the drama idea of tableau, or frozen pictures, with students to explore the history and characters in the stories I tell. I hope listeners call in with questions and their own experiences.

Sally’s Blog
http://sallycrandall.typepad.com/

Sally’s Home Page
http://www.sallycrandall.com/

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #052 Jan Andrews & Jennifer Cayley
	for $2.23 The Power of Folk Tales in children’s lives.

Folktales bring us the wisdom of the ages. They have been honed and shaped over centuries. They are there for everyone, functioning on the one hand as entertainment and on the other through offering so many layers of meaning that they are accessible to all. Adults may proclaim that Jack and Ti-Jean, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood (and all those other lesser-known heroes and heroines of the stories we ought to be telling more often) are archetypes. Children simply recognize in these long-lived characters various aspects of their own being. Folktales become then one of the places where children experience what it is to know themselves as adventurers.

Once upon a time, there was a storyteller called Joan Bodger who was running a Headstart program in Harlem. It was before Headstart got going. Experts came to visit, to see what all the fuss was about. One of them asked Joan, somewhat disparagingly, “What do you want for these children?” Joan answered, “I want them to be poets and princes. Poets to the extent that they have command of their own language. Princes – you know, like the heroes in the old stories: they may be shoveling the muck in the stables but they will stand at the centre of their own lives.”

We cannot imagine a parent or educator who would not have a similar aim (although we would, of course, say “princesses” as well). We’ve both been working with children for many years now – Jan as storyteller and writer of books for young people; Jennifer as storyteller and specialist in arts education. We’ve seen how a story told seems to be able to leap directly over barriers to some deep place of understanding we know will stand young listeners in good stead. We do not set out to be teachers but we are aware that the folktales inform and instruct as nothing else can. “What will you carry away with you from what you’ve heard today,” we ask often. The answers are always surprising and always heartfelt.

Here’s something else. The folktales belong to oral tradition. They were meant to be remembered and they are. Go into a school once, come back a year later, two years, meet the same children. They will always be able to name the stories told. That speaks volumes for how well the stories must be doing their work of handing on a torch of strength from those who have gone before us and in whose steps we tread.

We do not believe the folktales are “pure magic.” We believe they must be handled with care.

For more information on Jan Andrews go to http://www.janandrews.ca