Tyler County Storytelling

Today it was up and out by 5:30 am, to drive the two and a half hours to an elementary school in Tyler County. The morning was perfect for driving, cool and just a little foggy.



The storytelling went very well. They liked Nasruddin, Anansi, Jack, and the other characters in the world folktales I told today. I think that the story that got the best reaction was Jack and the Beantree (English-Appalachian part of the cultures we touched on). Who would have thought that this variant of the classic tale would have them hanging onto every word? But the kindergarten class I told it to might not have heard that story before, and they were hooked.


Another favorite, told to the older classes, was Tam Lin, the Scottish ballad. I tell it as a story, singing only a few parts of the ballad (It has 52 verses or so, I think, and I doubt I'll ever learn them all!). They all liked Anansi Steals the Wisdom and of course the Kettle Song, which is good vocal warm-up.


Lots of interaction, puppets and singing today, not to mention clip-on tales! 6 sessions, 45 minutes a session, drained my voice and energy, but left me very pleased with the day.


These kids knew how to participate. A teacher told me that Beauty and the Beast Storytellers had been there last year, telling stories and teaching children and teachers to tell.


I think that helped prepare the group, because they knew how to listen and when to jump into the story with me. Who's in Caterpillar's House and Uwungalema (both from Africa) required student actors, as did Fox Guarding the Henhouse (Denmark), The Man Who Loved Dragons (China)--both from MacDonald's Three Minute Tales--and Filling the House (Armenia). Freedom Bird's chant (Thailand), and the soft African song Lie Lie Eh Lie Lie continued the participation.

On a teacher's request, I told the Ghost of Gamble's Run, a story with Tyler County connections. The tongue drum (made from a palm log), and the mbira (made with a gourd) seemed to intrigue the kids too, and added a different stimuli to two of the stories.

All in all, it was a very good day.