1. Guiding Storytelling Experiences
Chapter 20

2. Why is storytelling important?
It promotes children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development
Helps develop love for stories and books
Enhances language development
Develops understanding of customs and culture through traditional stories

3. Children’s Books
Most can be divided into two main groups: picture books and storybooks . . .
Picture books – single words or simple sentences and plots; some are wordless

4. Children’s Books
Storybooks – often categorized as family life stories, animal stories and fairy tales; have more words and more complex plots than picture books

5. Storybooks – A Closer Look
Help children understand how others feel, act, and think
Most built around themes of achievement, love, and reassurance
Examples: Peter Rabbit, Little Bear, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

6. Types of Stories
Family life stories: help children develop social understanding by sharing problems, troubles, and feelings of others (Ex. My Dog is Lost)
Animal stories: animals have some human qualities; animal hero has unusual success or ability (Ex. Little Brown Bear)

7. Types of Stories
Fairy tales: characters or heroes perform difficult tasks in order to succeed; kindness and goodness win out over evil (Ex. Cinderella, Three Little Pigs)

8. Selecting Children’s Books
Consider the following when selecting books:
Fictional content
Illustrations
Vocabulary
Durability
Length
Age

9. Avoiding Stories that Reinforce Stereotypes
It is important to select anti-bias stories that are free from stereotypes, which are preset ideas about people based on one characteristic, such as sex, culture, religion

10. Avoiding Stories that Reinforce Stereotypes
Children’s stories need to be free of sexism, which is any action, attitude, or outlook used to judge a person based only on the sex of that person (Ex. Girls are supposed to help mom around the house
Look at ratio of men to women in illustrations
Notice how characters are described and what kinds of activities pictures show them doing

11. Achieving Variety in Storytelling
Besides reading stories aloud, there are other creative methods that help storytelling come alive
Younger children in particular will stay interested longer when several methods are used during storytime

12. Methods of Storytelling
Describe each of the following methods of storytelling:
Draw and Tell
Tapes
Puppets
Individual or Group Stories
Flipcharts
Slide Stories
Flannel Boards