An informative and practical guide for adults who want to be successful storytellers.
A pair of early childhood educators offers techniques for telling effective and entertaining tales to kids.
In this parenting book, debut author West and Sarosy (A Father’s Life, 2019) draw on their experiences as Waldorf and forest school educators to present methods that make storytelling work. The book explores the neuroscience behind the human fondness for tales. The authors encourage parents to focus on the connections they are able to form by sharing stories with their children rather than developing expertise in dramatic performance or plot and structure (“Because storytelling is about the relationship, not the narrative”). After explaining how to tell tales, the work concludes by urging readers to build links through stories with people of all ages. Each chapter includes several exercises designed to allow readers to strengthen their storytelling muscles as well as examples of tales the authors have told (for instance, a child reluctant to wear a backpack hears about a turtle who wants to shed her shell). The book guides readers through the ties narratives forge between the real world and kids’ imaginative play. The volume examines ways to defuse tension and mitigate arguments through tales (“The story doesn’t resolve the conflict, it creates intimacy”) and to educate children without becoming didactic (“The story of an RNA sequence gone hopelessly awry is not so different from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”). The book is well written and deftly conveys its lessons to readers, avoiding preachiness as it argues that storytelling is a way to provide kids with the attention they crave. The authors are encouraging throughout, making a solid case for storytelling as a skill that can be developed by anyone and practiced effectively by amateurs. Readers will walk away from the book feeling empowered and capable. The sample tales do a fine job of demonstrating how children can be satisfied by simple narratives, and the exercises (“Find Something Small and Make It Big”; “Change Your Voice”) deliver guidance while inspiring readers to experiment.
An informative and practical guide for adults who want to be successful storytellers.Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-55027-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Earth Children
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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