Tag Archives: traditional tale for children

Verity and her Daddy review “Peace at Last” (Father Reading Every Day).

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…

Storytelling resources for schools and families – Storytime Magazine

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.

It not (quite) all about Roald Dahl …

Twits islingtonThis summer has been terrific.  As discussed at length in this blog I have been more or less everywhere and few places besides but there is a down side to being Mr Twit.  Now before I go any further I don’t want anybody to think that I’m complaining because I’m honestly not.  I have loved every second of presenting “The Twits”, I’ve met lovely people and the story has opened doors that I thought would remain forever locked but the truth is, there’s more to me than a single 40 minute story.

Having presented “The Twits” almost 130 times and having received pretty much universally positive feedback I have had days when I feel like a sort unofficial Roald Dahl cheerleader.   I used to get a similar feeling when I was presenting Michael Morpurgo’s “Private Peaceful” as part of Cityread 2014.  When you live with a story day in and day out it can take over your life and its easy to forget that you do do others too.

War GameLast week I was invited to take part in Norfolk Libraries’ storytelling festival.  When they contacted me I assumed it was because, like so many other authorities, they’d heard about and wanted me to tell “The Twits” but they didn’t, they wanted me to tell folk tales.  Now to some people folk tales may sound dull but I love them and devised (and continue to research) a tour of Britain where the route is dictated by the folk tale (ie a tale might start in one part of the country and finish in another allowing me to tell a story from another region).  For someone who loves travel, myth and mystery this was a liberating process and it exposed me and my audiences to stories from Norfolk, London, Warwickshire, Wales, Northern Ireland and my homeland, Lancashire.  It also gave me a brand new 45-50 minute presentation which I’m sure will evolve with time.

I have also been approached about a session of spooky Halloween tales and am having a lot of fun reading about ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night.  This only came about because of Dracula which like many of the stories in my established repertoire hasn’t had an airing for a good long while.

SHAKES RBKTAs summer gives way to autumn “The Twits” are taking a well earned rest as I am now involved in library presentations for #Shakespeare400, a national celebration of the life and work of William Shakespeare for which I am presenting All the World’s a Stage!  a 45 minute retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and A Mid Summer Night’s Dream.  Like #nfkstorytfest and “The Twits”, taking part in a prestigious Arts Council England project has brought me in contact with new audiences, opened doors and created opportunities.

The bottom line is that when I look at the feedback I receive, people use words like spellbound, captivated, engaged and entertained.  Everyday I thank my lucky stars that I have wonderful stories to tell and that people still want to hear me tell them but those words are used to describe all my projects not just the ones with famous titles.