On the day that we celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, I reflect on the 25+ years that I have told the stories of his plays (incorporating large sections of original language) & the positive way that audiences of all ages have responded. Thank you Bill.
#storytelling #Shakespeare

Here are all our latest reviews of picturebooks and nonfiction. Thank you Roy James Moss Rebecca Kennedy Branwen Bingle, Imogen M16 Ann Cowling Jo Tregenza President Elect UKLA SFHEA FCCT Heather Hann, Alastair K Daniel Rosemary Burke on a new adventure for your reviews:
justimagine.co.uk/childrens-book…

It was a great privilege to be part of this project earlier in the year, and to share stories of the chalk stream in Bishop's Sutton.

Paul and I share a love of the work of Hans Christian Andersen, and here is our first go at The Emperor's New Clothes with Paul creating paper theatre as I tell the story. youtu.be/i1Oge16eO9g?si…

This year marked my 10th at the Thomas More-hogeschool International Days. This year's theme being the impact of AI on society, I used Aaron Becker's fabulous wordless book 'Journey' to contrast AI with storytelling as embodied language with student teachers and international visitors.

Last week, I was invited to Hogeschool PXL to work with enthusiastic groups of student teachers. Focusing on storytelling to teach English as a foreign language through a range of practical activities, we also took the time to consider storytelling and language identity.

Last night Surrey Storytellers welcomed Sef Townsend back with ‘The Glory and the Pity’: stories and songs from the time when, for 800 years, Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in relative harmony in 'Al-Andalus, or Safarad’, Spain.
#storytelling

Time for some paper theatre with Paul Contryn and a bit of HC Andersen....
#fairytale #storytelling

Waiting for the keynote at Thomas More University College, Flanders #ID2024_TM

Saturday was a very constructive day, exchanging ideas, closely examining story and planning with puppeteer Paul Contryn in Mechelen, Belgium. More today, and perhaps even the warming-up of camera, mic and puppets towards the end of Sunday...
#storytelling #puppetry

Join Surrey Storytellers IN-PERSON on Friday 22 March with our good friend Sef Townsend telling 'The Glory and the Pity' - stories and songs 'Al-Andalus’ Spain. Get your ticket on the door, or pre-book an in-person ticket at surreystorytellers.co.uk
(£10 full price; £7 concession)

After last week's Book Week, I reflected how storytellers have to adapt very quickly to the needs of children of different ages over a day. But one thing that unites YR and Y6 is they can both sit open mouthed when a story catches them. Thank you Roy James Moss for the pics.

On Thursday, I returned to London Met Uni teaching both under & postgrads, exploring storytelling in the teaching of English language + literacy & in cross-curricular learning, and how learners can make connections between storied worlds and their own lives & experiences.

Yesterday, the Soc for Storytelling Board of Trustees met in London for a strategy day. To help our discussions along, we enjoyed home made Welsh cakes in honour of St David's Day, and some deep thinking resulted - not least in our plans for National Storytelling Week 2025.

A new blog post on Chalk Stream stories and songs at attention2place.blogspot.com sharing our second ‘whispers of chalk stream’ event. We hope you enjoy reading about it . Thanks again to Tina and Mark Newman and Alastair K Daniel #WatwecressandWinterbournes Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Last night, we gathered for Surrey Storytellers club night. After tales from the floor, we enjoyed the talents of our home grown tellers Anna Stickney (with 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’) & James Canvin (with the the tale of how Thor regained his hammer).
#storytelling

Last night I told stories tied to the landscape and history of the Hampshire village of Bishop's Sutton, alongside acoustic duet Tina & Mark who evoked the landscape in a set of songs written for the occasion.
Thank you Clarke&Witt for inviting me to share my tales.

A wonderful evening of chalk stream stories and songs. Thank you to the audience and Alastair K Daniel, Tina and Mark for incredible performances of stories and songs written for chalk stream in Bishop’s Sutton #whispersofchalkstream #watercressandwinterbournes
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

A wonderfully fruitful morning of teaching storytelling in environmental education with enthusiastic Roehampton Education student teachers as part of the #BlueGreenSW14 project with Barnes Common & Anthony Barlow, demonstrating how to connect the natural environment to storied worlds

So pleased to be on site today at Palewell Common and Fields the day with Alastair K Daniel and Barnes Common helping tell stories of the locality in SW14 supported by Anthony Barlow and Roehampton Education and QTS trainees