Parenting

StorytellingProducts Relating to 'Storytelling'

Since before history began, storytelling has been a way of passing on a soceity's traditions and beliefs from one generation to the next - both in written and oral format. Indeed, storytelling is one of the oldest art forms still in existence. It is practised all over the world and in almost every known language there is a word or phrase which means "storyteller."

An ancient Egyptian papyrus contains the first known reference to storytelling, although early Greek writings also refer to the telling of stories, but without going into details about how the art was practised. Greek and Roman writers are responsible for the word "bard" entering the English language. The term was used to describe someone who related events or told stories and is still current in Ireland and Wales today.

Indian storytellers wandered between villages carrying a large picture cloth called a kalamkari which they spread out to illustrate the story they were telling. In China travelling storytellers visited the homes of the wealthy to entertain them with stories.

There is a rich tradition of storytelling across the continent of Africa, many cultures having a history of long story-poems recited by several hereditary storytellers in each village. In the same way the tribes of North America and the Australian Aborigines have a rich oral tradition with storiees, poems, religious and tribal knowledge, making up a complex culture, all handed down throught the generation by the spoken word.

Storytelling has always been an important means of communicating traditions and maintaining social harmony. The storyteller can vividly convey religious beliefs, "explain" the mysteries of the natural world or transport their listeners into an inner world of fantasy. You may wonder why storytelling continues to be so important in today's digital society ....

We should continue to tell stories in order to:

• help children learn to listen
• enlarge their vocabularies
• extend their knowledge and understanding of the difference between fact and fantasy
• stimulate their imagination
• inspire them to reach for a book to experience more stories for themselves
• to introduce storytelling as a shared, interactive experience between the author, or storyteller, and their audience.

Unlike TV, video, DVD or other electronic media, storytellers are a direct interface between the story and the audience. They can change pace, alter or explain a difficult concept and emphasise, play down, or omit entirely, a particular event, depending upon the needs of those listening.

The storyteller therefore is as important to a largely literate, electronic world as he or she was to a largely illiterate one in times gone by.

Please take a moment to visit my website, www.scruffysbookshop.com to find lots of stories to enjoy with your children, and while you're there check out "How to Tell Stories to Children" which offers easy-to-follow guidelines to help you become a great storyteller.

Article Published: Wednesday 31st October 2007