Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal

Paul Fleischman has just published a very clever treatment of the Cinderella motif. Rather than gathering complete versions of Cinderella stories, he has combined the elements into one story. Where the stories vary, the elements are listed within a frame marked with the name of the country that variation comes from. For instance, the clothing she wears to the ball is a gown - or a cape - or a sarong - or a kimono. Fleischman does the same for the shoes. Not all the variations are listed. Important plot elements are chosen from one tradition or another but it all adds up to a fascinating story to read and to share. The illustrations by Julie Paschkis add a lot, too.

Happy to be here

I'll be telling stories at the Whitehall Public Library on Monday, July 16th at 7 p.m. This performance is for members of the WPL's Summer Reading Club. I will try to incorporate the accordion and string games in my performance. It should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.
But before then, I'd like to pose a question. So many storytellers are using musical instruments, magic tricks, games, props, etc. in their telling. Is this a good thing? The more I tell, the less I want to use those things but I sometimes feel that the audience expects it. I'd be interested in how other storytellers and story lovers feel about this.

Welcome, Welcome

Welcome, Welcome to The Storyteller’s Circle. Please, feel free to pull up a seat and share a story or two. Basically, this circle is open to anyone who wishes to join. The purpose is to share stories, keep posted on up coming storytelling events, as well as a place to attach awesome links. This is a basically a community blog for storytellers, so please feel free to stop by from time to time.