Session 5

Session 5

A bigger group this time as we were joined by some even younger children.

Apparently, as soon as the children heard that 'The storyteller has arrived', they dropped whatever they were doing and ran to line up at the door. Good to know that they are enthusiastic about our sessions.

Following the success of Chanticleer & Pertelot, I decided to try The Musicians of Bremen - largely because my store of soft props included a lovely donkey, dog and cat - and Chanticleer, of course. 

Once again I was improvising - I had no idea just how the story would work or what words I might use. Suddenly I found myself braying, howling, yowling and crowing with gusto - that would never have happened with an older audience. The children loved it, of course.

A simple story followed of why the sun rises when the rooster crows and the birds sing. Chanticleer is working hard!

Then an experiment - the night before my cat had released a wild baby rabbit into the kitchen and it hid behind the cooker. Rescuing it was a major operation and I decided to tell the story using a pretty soft-toy rabbit. It was almost a success. I am just beginning to understand what will and what won't work.

As requested, we had a repeat of Little Red Riding Hood, though there was some disappointment that I didn't repeat Mighty Mouse as well.

 I think my voice is becoming more flexible - or perhaps exaggerated would be a better description. With this audience I cannot rely on the meaning of the words to hold the attention. My voice is naturally expressive and with my usual type of audience I can trust it to convey both meaning and emotion while allowing the story to be much more important than the storyteller. But with these children I am finding that I am becoming more of a performer. The content and flow of the story is not as important as the energy and life of each individual moment.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I have a school booking for 3 sessions with 3 different age groups. The youngest will be a little older than my pre-schoolers, but I will try some of these new skills on them rather than trusting that they will enjoy my usual tales.