Verity turned two on Valentine’s Day (where has the time gone?) and I thought that this would be an ideal moment to reflect on her love of stories and our family’s reading routines. For the past few months I have been following Father Reading Everyday; an award winning blog about the importance of Dad’s reading with their children. I decided to write a contribution…
I have been lucky enough to tell published stories by the likes of Roald Dahl, Michael Morpurgo, Jeremy Strong and Terry Deary but traditional stories, fairy and folk tales remain the backbone of my work and the sessions I offer are always incredibly popular with children, schools and families. It’s not surprising as these stories are timeless, inter-generational and appear on most academic curricula. They are also a fabulous way of introducing reading. Over the years through my work with schools, libraries and literature events I have seen wonderful versions of stories like The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs but last summer I was reccommended a magazine devoted to folk stories for children and when I received my first copy I was completely enchanted.
Storytime Magazine is a fantastic resource for schools and families and can be enjoyed by any child (or story enthusiast) of any age. Rather than adverts, issues are crammed with beautiful illustrations and stories from around the world, so as well as rediscovering old European folklore favourites readers are introduced to new tales from other cultures and continents. The magazine promotes reading for pleasure and grows with a child as they make great self readers or can be used as guided or shared reading material. Since the magazine was recommended to me I have seen it in school libraries and people’s homes. I think a subscription would make a lovely gift and that this publication would work as an alternative to a regular comic. To find out more about Storytime Magazine follow this link to their website.
To find out more about my traditional tale, fairy and folk tale offer to schools, libraries and festivals contact me.
So for the third time in as many months I’m away from home for work. This time I’m in south Wales to tell The Twits. As I write this it is almost 2am on Monday morning and I have recently arrived at my waterfront Premier Inn (the room is reminiscent of the rooms in Sheffield, Hemel Hempstead, Poole and just about every other Premier Inn I’ve ever stayed in!). The original plan had been that Lauren, VBz and I would come down together but a combination of circumstances (those being that I worked on Saturday and am working in Horsham on Wednesday and that our camper van is in the garage being serviced) has meant that I am here alone although the cot in the corner of the room is already a constant reminder of the family I left in London.
It’s not my first visit to Swansea; I worked down here a couple of years ago when I was telling Terry Deary’s “The War Game”. I only did a day with the library service on that occasion but I have such fond memories of the library staff and the children we worked with that when the opportunity to return came up I jumped at it. Over two days I will work with Swansea Libraries and the Literacy Trust to deliver stories to five local primary schools.
The reason I’m so late is that I got the last train out of London. This was an interesting experience in itself. It took four and a half hours, which when I think about it means that had the van not been in the garage I could probably have actually driven here quicker. The people on the train were an eclectic bunch; the last train from London it turns out is also the last train from Bristol and Cardiff. What started out as a regular inter city service becomes the slow stopping service for revellers. Fall Down Drunk fell on in Cardiff and fell off in Neath. Then there were the colour runners still covered in powder paint and the anarchist sporting a pair of garish yellow tartan bermuda shorts. By the time I got off the train it was spitting with rain. I dashed past the bars and clubs of Wind Street over the sail bridge and into the hotel.
Anyway it’s getting late. Time to get some sleep and dream of what might be tomorrow…
Monday afternoon
Today was a lovely day.
I met with Carole Billingham from Swansea Libraries and Irene Picton from the Literacy Trust just before 8.30am. Carole is our host and chauffeur for the next couple of days. This makes a huge difference because not only does she understand the geography of Swansea so we won’t get lost but she also knows the schools we’re working with and the children recognise her during our visits. Like me, Irene is London based and is running the Young Readers Programme in towns and cities across the country. The programme is a brilliant initiative to encourage reading for pleasure rather than as just as a means for academia. At the beginning of each session Irene speaks to the group about their participation in the project and the children’s responses show that it’s been making a difference to their exposure to literature.
I have now told The Twits well over 150 times at schools, libraries and festivals across England and Wales (as well as Swansea I was in Conwy last July) as well as in Germany and the UAE but I never fail to find delight in telling it or seeing children finding the story for the first time. The three schools we visit are outwardly very different but at each we quickly discover a shared love of stories and an enthusiasm for the project. The feedback from the groups to my story is positive and enthusiastic (after the final presentation 50 children stay behind to watch me pack my suitcase!). I feel like the children I have met valued the work we have done but what’d be really wonderful is if as a result of the intervention today any of the children were inspired to visit the library or read the story for themselves. Unfortunately if this happens then I’ll only hear about it on the grapevine because my time in Swansea has flown by and all too soon I’ll be heading back to London.
So far Swansea hasn’t disappointed; the people are as warm as the glorious weather. I look forward to seeing what day two holds for us but for now though, it a lovely evening and I’m starving.
Tuesday evening – on a train back to London
Last night I had a wander into Swansea. I walked from the hotel over the Sail Bridge, past The Dylan Thomas Centre up to Swansea Castle before heading through town and down onto the beach. It has always struck me as very appropriate that the Civic Centre which houses the library overlooks the coastline. I’m sure Wales’ great writers and poets of the past would’ve found inspiration by gazing out the library window onto such an impressive vista. Stood on the beach looking out toward Mumbles or Port Talbot with the hills and town behind you it is simply awesome. After filling my boots with the scenery I headed back to Wind Street for dinner (that’s wind like curl although in a Welsh accent you’d be forgiven for thinking this street of many pubs, clubs and bars was aptly called Wine Street!).
Unfortunately the wifi in my hotel room wasn’t working so I went to the hotel reception to do some work. It turned out that the receptionist’s sister went to one of the schools we’d visited. Talk about a small world!
Today we visited two more schools and once again the children we met really responded to my storytelling. What’s been fascinating has been the way in which five very different groups of children and five different schools engage with the same story. Live presentation is often a unique experience for all concerned; sometimes a group of children will sit very quietly and listen very politely and sometimes you are thrown into the chaos of school life and end up chasing a child around the building with a water pistol!
So my flying visit to south Wales is over. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it which is good because I’ll be back next week to work with a sixth primary school we couldn’t squeeze in this week. Two days isn’t a very long time; it’s certainly not long enough to improve my Welsh pronunciation which is still woeful but I do feel I’ve made an impact. As I ride the train back to the big smoke I find myself in reflective mood. My involvement in the Literacy Trust’s Young Reader’s Programme although its been brief has highlighted a few things: