Sublime Storytime at YCIS Beijing

This past Wednesday, in a second annual collaboration with DreamOn studios, we invited storyteller Priscilla Howe to share some of her most exciting and entertaining tales with ECE and Primary School students. Following her enthralling storytelling sessions, Ms. Howe offered parents and teachers some effective methods to tell inspiring and impactful stories that stimulate a child’s creativity and passion.

Please introduce yourself.

I’m a native New Englander now living in Lawrence, Kansas, with my cat, Francis Bacon. A former children's librarian, I’ve been a full-time storyteller and puppeteer since 1993. I travel around the country and abroad, telling stories in schools, libraries, conferences, festivals and special events. I’m always searching for new stories to tell, as well as for the best restaurant pie on earth!

How did you become a storyteller? What inspired you?

In 1988, I discovered storytelling. I was a children's librarian in Middletown, Connecticut (after a stint as a Slavic Librarian, but that's another story) and my colleagues invited me to tell stories at a school. One of them suggested a book by Philippa Pearce, Lion at School. I flipped through and found the perfect story: "The Crooked Little Finger." I was born with crooked fingers! I told that one, as well as a story I'd made up when I was a teenage babysitter. The kids at the school liked it. I could feel that connection. I was hooked.

How do you choose which stories to tell?

The main thing is I must love the stories I tell. If I don’t like or love the stories, the audience will pick up on this and won’t be engaged. In my mind, that’s the only major rule in storytelling: tell stories you love. That’s the singular hard and fast rule to me.

I also want audiences to get whatever they get out of it; I don’t like to have an agenda or intended message. A storytelling idol of mine, Donald Davis, said that “meaning is the property of the listener;” I’m not in charge of how the audience reacts, which is part of the fun! I love to see the reactions and discussions these stories provoke.

What are some of the most effective ways parents can improve story time with their own children?

There are a few fun storytelling games that I love. When I was a kid, one game we would play was called “Mailbag”, a passaround story. One person starts the story, and then after a few sentences says “mailbag,” or any other keyword, which prompts the next person in the circle to start speaking. Another similar game is called “Magic Box.” Find a box and put some small random objects in it. Players pass the box around and draw items out as they pass, creating a story from the items they pull out.

The essential part of all of these activities is connection. It’s a connection of the storyteller with the listeners and the story, the listeners among themselves, the listeners and the story, and so on. Storytelling is a fantastic way to strengthen an intra-family connection.

To read more of our insightful interview with Priscilla, please click "read more"!