Storytime...SOLO!

I did my first solo storytime at the public library a couple of weeks ago. My trainer, Librarian Amy, filmed the performance. It differed from my previous experiences in that this was a storyTIME not a storyTELLING session. I had to incorporate more fingerplays, songs, and read from some actual books. She did not film the whole thing, but rather segments of it, which I have posted to the left.

The actual venue was the 11:15 Tuesday Lapsit. Lapsits, or babytimes as they are sometimes called, are geared at children 6 months old up to 2 1/2 years. Our attendance averages in the upper 30's to low 40's. I had around 40...babies. The 40 does NOT include the caregivers! That is a LOT of babies, a lot of kinetic energy, and a lot of noise.

I was not overly concerned about the number of attendees, since babies tend to be fairly non-judgmental. However, there were a lot of distractions, and the parents were not familiar with all of the songs I sang, so I ended up doing a couple solos.

The theme was sheep....and the line-up included:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Sheep Asleep by Gloria Rothstein
"This is the Way..." traditional song
"Five White and Fluffy Sheep" traditional song

New Quarter, New Directions

Since I last posted here, there have been many changes.

The biggest change is that I now work at a public library in the greater San Francisco Bay area. This means that I now have many opportunities to interact with children through storytimes, readers advisory, and library programming. It also means that I am having to learn how to think on my feet and work with children from disparate economic, cultural, and educational backgrounds. I have been making notes of book titles and read-a-likes that are popular with our patronage...and trying to delve into them as much as possible.

I have also started another quarter of my UW Masters program. My courses include LIS 565: Children's Materials and LIS 567:Youth Services. Between the two courses, I will be generating annotated booklists, reviews, and book talks in addition to continuing with my storytelling and storytimes.

I invite all of you to join me on the next leg of our journey. The format of the blog will change slightly. In addition to posting new videos of various stories, I will also be posting more in-depth reviews, video book talks, and read-a-like lists. Eventually I hope to move all of this blogs content over to a comprehensive webpage...but we will see how that goes. In the mean time, sit back, kick up your feet, and enjoy a good tale!

Bedtime Stories with Megan

For my final assignment in the storytelling class...but hopefully NOT my final storytelling...I created a web page with a variety of bedtime stories, poems, and a song.

I call it Bedtime Stories with Megan

I did a web page, as opposed to a single storytelling session, on the thought that I could keep developing it. Kids could come and pick a bedtime story to be told. The stories could rotate and change out over time. However, as there is a common thread running through the set, it could also be used as a single session...assuming you had a stubborn child that would not fall asleep.

The connecting thread to the whole session is, well, my bedroom. The main idea behind the set was to use "found" objects, or pets, to tell children bedtime stories. This is based on my experiences babysitting for friends and family. Often kids want to hear a story but there are no books handy, like on a camping or car trip. (Also, how realistic is it to expect to have your own props with you when you are at someone else's house?) So, I have taken to picking up one of the kids' toys and using it as a springboard for a story. This is something everyone can do, especially if they familiarize themselves with stories that use common toys. Most kids have a Teddy Bear or Princess Doll. (And, as in the case of one of the poems, everyone has the night sky...)

The stories told in my story set are a little more thought out, in that they were not recorded spontaneously or without rehearsal. Still, they are all based on my own toys/stuffed animals/pets.

(Warning: I actually sing A Capella on one of the songs...I was worried about copyright issues if I used a song off my computer...I actually might eventually add some more lullabies...we will see...not a huge fan of hearing my own singing voice...especially all by itself!)

Hair and Back Again

I had a hard time deciding on a story for the "My Story" assignment.

At first I was going to do some anecdotes from my brother's, sister's, and my childhood. However, in order for it to turn out as I had envisioned, I was going to need to find a good illustrator. While my brother has the skills and was willing to do it, he just didn't have the time.

Next, I decided to recount a story from when I was studying abroad in Prague...mostly because of the plethora of pictures I had available to accompany it. Unfortunately, I couldn't locate my letters home to check facts and get some ideas.

While looking through photos, though, I came across one from the night before classes my freshman year of college. I had found my story.

It is uploaded to the left...and called Hair and Back Again: A Blonde Girl's Tale.

I suppose if anyone from class wanted to tell it, they could. But, seeing as how it is fairly specific to my life, I don't think anyone will.

Also, as long as we are discussing the topic of hair...there is a hilarious book called If I Had Long, Long Hair that is similar in theme to my story. I don't think it would make a good flannel board story, but maybe with a wig, or a puppet whose hair could "grow"...At the very least, it is great for a traditional storytime session at a library!

Maid Marian finally Made

I recorded (many moons ago) an online storytelling session that included me telling one of my Robin Hood stories. This was intended to count as one of my stories in front of a live audience. The problem was that I was the last story told in a storytelling/chat session that lasted nearly an hour. Also, if the viewer was not a UW student, I couldn't figure out how to get the story onto my blog.

I have been meaning to rerecord the audio, resync it to the powerpoint, and upload it here to the blog with a link to the original live telling. But I kept putting it off.

Finally, tonight, I had a great idea...why not test out my new video camera's voice recorder? I went to the original live session, recorded the audio while it played on my computer, imported it into Window's movie maker...along with the images from the powerpoint, saved it as a movie, and uploaded it onto Vimeo.

I prefer this method to using pointecast, because I don't have to use up space on my UW account. Also, vimeo will let me embed the video without having to link to it. Yay!

So, the video is posted to the left. It is an oral adaptation of a literary adaptation that I wrote of a historical/traditional Robin Hood ballad for my Honor's Capstone as an undergrad. The only major changes from the written version have to do with point of view and length. Originally I had the story written out as first person narrative.

I have put a link up to a very good resource: The Robin Hood Project. It is an online compendium of almost every extant Robin Hood legend...many in middle english. I also highly recommend the Howard Pyle version of Robin Hood...it is a classic, and a good introduction to the legend.

The Giving Tree

Today I did my fourth Story Time with Megan. Since I had the day off I drove to the Port Orchard branch office, where I used to work. They had wanted to hear a story as well. I did an adaptation in flannel of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I have posted the transcript to the right.

I know that this story is used to teach the importance of generosity. It shows kids that true happiness is found by giving, and by making others happy. But does it really? Ever since I was a little kid and first read the book I have thought that the boy was a creep. He takes and takes and never even thanks the tree. I almost feel that they story teaches kids to rip off those who look after them, and not express gratitude or care about what it costs others to help them. Still, it is a good story, and a modern classic. It is worth telling to children, but I would present it with a story that talks about being thankful/grateful for what we receive.

The performance went over well...although it was noted that this story was less of a warm fuzzy than the other stories I told. (Actually...one of my coworkers, Gail, was actually crying at the end. I didn't know whether to be pleased with the fact that I had moved her, or to feel bad because I made her cry...)

I need to thank my cousin Jake who is staying with me this weekend. He was my guinea pig audience several times when I practiced (pointing out mistakes and giving advice on wording), gave honest feedback on the flannel shapes, and then filmed the performance.

Little Bunny Foo foo

Today was the third Story Time at work. Whether due to a more convenient time slot, or the fact that buzz had been building from my previous performances, I had over twice as many attendees today. In fact, they had to relocate me from one of the signing rooms to the HUGE board room. It was also a more "high-ranking" audience...president, vice president...no pressure there!

The story I did was "Little Bunny Foo Foo,"' which was my own adaptation of a traditional camp/scout song. I expanded the verses to include reasons why Foo Foo bops the field mice, got rid of what I thought was a cheesy ending (Hare today, Goon tomorrow), and added my own ending. I have not yet written out a transcript for this story. I have told it before, and since I was very familiar with the storyline from the song,never took the time to write it down. I will do so soon though, and post it with the other transcripts.

I REALLY LIKE TELLING THIS STORY! And, I think and hope, people enjoy hearing it. I like that it can incorporate blatant moral lessons with twisted dark humor. Also, the repeated lines and hand motions can be used with younger audiences to bolster participation. My favorite thing about this particular video recording is that you can hear the audience reacting the way I want them to. It is reinforcing to me as a teller when they laugh or gasp in the right places.

(On an even more positive note...the president was so excited by the story that she demanded an encore and command performance of a second story...luckily, I still had my purple dry erase marker with me...I grabbed the white board from the sales room and did a rendition of Harold and the Purple Crayon. She even suggested that we do something like this once a week to break up the stress...I am all for that!)

Thank you to my supervisor, Kim, who filmed this one. She was so shocked at the end that she almost forgot to stop the camera!