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“Mom, I don’t see a puppet stage!” That’s what the boy said when I started one of my shows at a rural library in Nevada a few years back. It seems the librarian had billed the multicultural storytelling program as a puppet show. When I booked the program, I mentioned that I might bring along […]

  I realize that many storytellers may feel that adding a puppet to a storytelling performance is just plain wrong. After all, can’t a well-told story or program of stories stand alone? Why depend on an attention-getting device like a puppet to keep the interest of an audience? Isn’t it bad enough that most people […]

Every storyteller has a favorite approach to the process of learning and remembering a story to tell. Some storytellers use a combination of steps that work well for them. The one thing every storyteller I know seems to agree about is that learning and remembering a story does not mean memorizing it. A good storyteller […]

If you are just starting out as a storyteller – volunteer or otherwise – and have agreed to a date for the storytelling, it’s time to start thinking about what to include in the show. Talk to the presenter and make sure you are clear about the following aspects of the show.  performance time(s) average age of the audience(s)  expected number of […]

Thoughts About Developing a Theme-Related Show Years ago, as a mother with five young children, I became a volunteer storyteller for a small community in New Jersey, and I loved it! I didn’t realize it at the time, but those years with the library helped me learn other skills that eventually made it possible for me […]

I was recently asked to provide a storytelling program for Family Reading and Math Night at a Title One Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona. The evening celebration proved to be a surprising and wonderful time for everyone involved. I hope other schools will seriously consider doing an interactive evening like this.   Students and parents brought […]

In 2001 I interviewed Dusty Vail, a remarkable woman who grew up in the early 1900s on the Empire Ranch in Sonoita, Arizona, once one of the largest cattle operations in the Southwest.  Although she was 86 when I interviewed her, her memory was razor sharp, and the stories she shared with me were full […]

A teacher from Ash Creek School in Sunizona who had enjoyed watching me as Dusty Vail, subsequently submitted a grant application to the Arizona Commission on the Arts naming me as the Artist in Residence. The grant was approved, and my job as a storyteller was to introduce the art of the Chautauqua to all […]