Danny Kaye: Storyteller!

OK - so the kids are "acting", but if you watch the audience carefully, you can see that some of them are truly enjoying themselves.  This feels like a live performance in so many ways.  I love when they all pounce on him!

Mr. Rogers

"I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex."
~Fred Rogers

Great articles here and here.

Chase Your Tail!

Summary:
In this workshop, children will learn about sequencing and story line using circle stories. They will also practice storytelling as collaboration through round robin storytelling.

Publicity Blurbs:
1.
Round Robin Circle Storytelling Workshop
Circle stories—like “The Stonecutter” or “The Fisherman & His Wife”—can teach us lessons in irony, but mostly they are just plain fun! Play a rousing game of “Round Robin” storytelling and then create your own Circle Story Hat to share with family, friends & classmates. The workshop will last 1hour. (I did this with Grades K-1 at Minds in Motion-2005, I think)

2.
Chase Your Tail! A Storytelling Workshop
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Higgins Room
3:30 - 4:30pm
Grades K-2
Circle stories can make you dizzy, but mostly they are just plain fun! Come play a giddy game of “Round Robin” storytelling and then create your own Circle Story Hat to share with family & friends.


Introduction with Demo Story #1 :00- :05
Introduce yourself to the group and have the children do the same. Tell the story of "The Stonecutter", "The Fisherman and His Wife" or "The Wonderful Cat" (see resources.) This one can be fairly elaborate since you are using this story to engage the children and ignite their interest, so use your own style and embellish freely. All three of these are circle stories that (usually) use magical transformations as a plot mechanism. Just for fun, why not have everyone say “Poof!” all together each time there is a transformation in the story!

What is a Circle Story? :05 - :10
Have the students identify the different things that happen in the story. For instance, depending on which version of “The Stonecutter” that you tell, the stonecutter becomes a prince, the sun, a cloud and a mountain before he goes back to being a stonecutter. Draw a quick doodle of each story element on a pad or a whiteboard (or tape up photocopies from a book if you are uncomfortable drawing) and try to place them in a roughly circular form. When every story element has been identified, draw a line through or around all the pictures to unite them in a circle. Point out how the story ends as it began so that the stonecutter has traveled “full circle.”

Ask the children to stand up all together and look straight ahead at some object in the room. Have them turn around slowly until they end up where they started. A circle story does exactly the same thing—it ends up where it started!

Round Robin Game (Group Story) :10-:20
Sit on on the floor in a circle. Give each child a puppet or a stuffed animal and tell them that they are going to invent a circle story together. Each child should think about their animal a little bit so that they have some ideas when their turn comes up. What does each animal like? What would be the most fun about being that animal? The group leader needs two puppets to begin and end the story. This game is really fun if the first animal is something small, like a mouse or a ladybug, and the final transformation goes from something big and powerful, like a dragon or a lion, back to the initial tiny creature. The group leader controls the beginning and the end of the story by controlling the first and the last puppets. (Say “Poof!”)

Demo #2 with Story Hat and Story :20 - :25
Demonstrate a very simple circle story using a story hat created ahead of time. Make this a circular transformation story that is similar to “The Stonecutter” except that it only uses three animals. The story hat should be circular. I was able to get child-sized “gangster” hats with a brim (available in neon colors where party hats are sold.) I punched three holes in the brim and used brightly-colored string to suspend three wooden disks from the hat brims (I pre-drilled holes in the disks and painted them black.) I allowed one of the disks to hang down in my face and spaced all three two evenly around the hat. I chose three brightly-colored animal cutouts and affixed one to each disk—the first animal in my story hangs down in front of my face. The basic idea here is to use the hat as a storytelling prop, turning the hat as you tell the story. A paper plate or a big circle of cardboard with three animals pasted around the edges would work just as well (hold your disk up with the first animal at the top and rotate the disk—each time an animal transforms--as you tell the story.)

Children Work on Project :25 - :40

--Materials:
-a selection of pre-cut animal shapes—three for each child
(foam shapes with self-adhesive backs are ideal, but paper shapes and glue sticks are fine)
-round hats
(alternatively you may use paper plates or cardboard circles cut to fit over the crown of a child’s head and rest above the ears—however, anything circular will work, even if it is not a hat and is just something that the child will hold up for the audience while storytelling)

Allow the children to select three animals each to create their own circle stories (or have them draw their own animals.) Remind them that they should think about the things that make each of these animals special or different from each other. Help them affix their animals to their hats or their circles.

Story Pals Share Stories :40 - 1:00
As the children finish their projects, pair them up to tell their stories to each other. If there is time when everyone is through, ask the children to share their stories with the whole group.

More ideas:
The circle story hats can also be used to create different stories by starting with any of the animals and moving the circle clockwise or counterclockwise .

Resources:

The Stonecutter, by Demi (Crown, 1995)

The Stonecutter : A Japanese Folk Tale, by Gerald McDermott,
(Viking Press, 1975)

The Stonecutter : An Indian Folktale, by Patricia Montgomery Newton
(Putnam, 1990)

“The Stonecutter” from Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children, by Judy Sierra & Robert Kaminski (Oryx Press, 1991), pp. 104-105.

Stories in My Pocket: Tales Kids Can Tell, by Martha Hamilton (Fulcrum, 1996)
Includes a short version of “Stonecutter.”

The Fisherman and His Wife: A Tale, by Jacob Grimm (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1980) illustrated by Margot Zemach

“Too Many Wishes” from Paper Stories, by Jean Stangl (Fearon, 1984),
pp. 73-76.
This is a “fold & cut” version of “The Fisherman and His Wife.” If the mechanics with the paper prop are too daunting, just tell the story straight.

The Power of Storytelling: A Step-by-Step Guide to Dramatic Learning in K-12, by Harriet Mason (Corwin Press, 1996)
“Circle Story”, pp. 47-49.

“The Queen’s Favorite Pet: An Asian Folktale” from Terrific Tales to Tell: From the Storyknifing Tradition, by Valerie Marsh (Alleyside Press, 1997), pp. 41-43.

“The Wonderful Cat” from Read for the Fun of It: Active Programming with Books for Children, by Caroline Feller Bauer (H.W. Wilson, 1992), pp. 148-149.

“The Extraordinary Cat: A Chinese Tale”
from Twenty-Two Splendid Tales to Tell From Around the World, Volume Two,
by Pleasant DeSpain (August House, 1994), pp. 15-16.

The Story Vine

I keep a bunch of baubles on a necklace which I call my story vine. Each token represents a story that I can tell--my story vine helps me remember what I know! I will continue to update this post with links as I have time...

Circle of Love Stories

Here are a few longer, quieter stories. They are mostly appreciated by adults and older children because of their subtle social commentary and philosophical themes.

”In Those Days”
A queen’s love for a flower gives rise to a law that exists for centuries. From a short story by Eleanor Farjeon.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Flower, military, law, government, time, history, geography, beauty

A Japanese Fairy Tale
Neighbors wonder why a beautiful woman is happily married to a repulsively ugly man. This bittersweet love story explores the ancient Shinto belief that the kami, gods of Japanese mythology, predestine the love affairs of people. Adapted from a book by Baruch Zimmerman and Jane Hori Ike.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Love, destiny, Japan, beauty, ugliness, marriage, life before birth, self sacrifice, Shinto, Izumo temple, O-Kuni-Nushi

Savitri’s Quest
In this tale of ancient India, a young woman undertakes a journey to rescue her husband from Death. Derived from Hindu mythology, this story is found in the Mahabharata, India’s great epic cycle of literature and legends that was written 2000 years ago.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Love, death, India, Yama (Hindu god of death), Hindu mythology, Mahabharata


Circle of Campfire Stories

My favorite spooky stories usually have a surprise ending that makes them more funny than scary. These are chilling tales for older kids that can be “lightened up” for younger listeners.

Red, Red Lips
“It was a dark and stormy night, and there was a knock at the door…”

Old Bess
A man futilely attempts to avert a fortune teller’s dire prophecy.

In a Deep, Dark Wood
Take a trip through the universe, the galaxy and our solar system on the way to a deep dark corner of a deep dark closet.

Teeny Tiny
This famous English jump tale is kinda creepy, but mostly silly.

The Ghost of the Two White Eyes
I first heard this story during recess (or maybe at a slumber party) when I was in elementary school. I was really happy to rediscover it years later in a library book.

The Body in the Barn
Based on a true(ish) story told by my great grandfather (by all accounts he was a liar.)

It Floats
WHAT FLOATS!?


Pourquoi Stories & Trickster Tales

Traditional “pourquoi”—or “how & why” stories--and trickster tales--in which clever heroes outwit their opponents--are among the oldest stories ever told and they are found all over the world. The basic structure of these tales is easy to emulate, so they make wonderful story starters in the classroom.

The Story of Io
Poor Io! Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, flirts with her and then turns her into a cow to hide her from his wife, Hera. Now Io is stuck in the body of a cow and Hera has Io in her clutches.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Io, Zeus, Argus of the hundred eyes, Hera, Hermes (trickster), Greek mythology, peacock, pourquoi (how & why), Isis (Egyptian goddess)

”The Beginning of the Armadillos”
If you have ever seen an armadillo, you know that it’s one of the strangest looking animals on earth. In his Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling pays tribute to pourquoi folklore by imitating its language and cadence. This tale tells why and how the first armadillos came to be and can be told with or without puppets.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Turtle/tortoise, jaguar, hedgehog, South America (Brazil), armadillos

Rabbit & Crocodile
Many cultures have pourquoi stories that explain how & why rabbits have short tails (or long ears!) This one is from Japan.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Japan, island, crocodiles, how & why, pourquoi, rabbit, trickster

Nine in One…Grr Grr / Save the Tiger!
A how & why story told by the Hmong people of Laos. Adapted from a book by Blia Xiong & Cathy Spagnoli.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Tiger, sky god, Laos, Hmong, Southeast Asia(?), how & why, pourquoi, endangered species, predator, prey

Coyote & Lizard
In this southwestern trickster tale, Coyote the trickster is himself outwitted by a mother lizard.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Native American, trickster, Apache (Dineh), Hopi, Ute, coyote, lizard, sunflower, desert, small vs. big, weak vs. strong, escaping


Just for Fun Stories
I learned to tell these stories just because I like them.

The Girl Who Could Think
In this tale from China, a clever young bride overcomes the challenge of a rash promise and reaffirms her devotion to family. Can be told with or without paper folding to illustrate how the riddles are solved.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
China, Korea, origami, paper folding (fan, lantern, flower), family, shrewd daughter-in-law, petulant mother-in-law, riddle

The Peddler
A poor peddler listens to a dream which leads him to a treasure. This story comes from Jewish, English and Irish traditions.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Treasure, dreams, bridge, tree, shopkeeper, Jewish, Irish, English

Marushka and the Month Brothers
An oppressed heroine overcomes obstacles through hard work and a good attitude. This is a traditional eastern European tale from Slavic folklore.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Eastern Europe (Russia, Czechoslovakia), courtesy, value of hard work, seasons, bonfire, violets, strawberries, apples, blizzard, snow, January, March, June, October

The Story Bag
Not only is it selfish to keep a story all to yourself, it can be downright dangerous. In this Korean tale, a young man learns a lesson about respecting the story spirits.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Korea, Cambodia, storytelling, tradition, story spirits

The Soup Stone
When selfish townspeople refuse to share their food with a hungry traveler, the traveler gets his revenge—or does he? (Told straight up or with a twist…ie. A rock collector has a station wagon full of rocks and a town of busy families that eat out too much need some good, home-cooked food.)
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Variants of this story are found in the folklore of Sweden, Yugoslavia, England and other European countries. Hans Christian Anderson even wrote his version. Aesop?

“Jabberwocky”
The audience stands up to act out the hunt of the Jabberwock and we discover together that the nonsense of Lewis Carroll makes the best sense of all. This poem first appeared during a conversation between Alice and Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Creative movement, pantomime, group participation, nonsense, language

Yay! Boo!
An original nonsense yarn adapted from American folklore. The audience helps keep things moving with a “Yay!” and a “Boo!” Great fun for all ages.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Audience participation, pilot, airplane, haystacks, pitchforks, humor

The Mosquito & the Story Weaver
For thousands of years, storytellers from many cultures illustrated their tales with string figures (think “Cat’s Cradle”). Here, a storyweaver loses the thread of her narrative when a story turns into a pesky mosquito.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Africa, Pacific region, Europe, Papua New Guines, Inuit, string, mosquito, storytelling

The Squeaky Door
Sleeping over at Grandma’s for the first time becomes a slightly alarming (and very silly) adventure for a small child. Noisy kids in motion help bring this story to life!
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Grandmother, sleepover, family, cat, dog, cow, audience participation, carpentry, sound effects

The Tailor
Bit by bit the tailor cuts down his worn out clothes until he has nothing left but a story. Derived from a traditional Jewish folktale, most recently retold in the picture books Bit by Bit, by Steve Sanfield(?) and Joseph had a Little Overcoat, for which Simms Taback won the 2000 Caldecott Medal.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Thrift, making the best of things, something from nothing, Jewish

Naughty Marysia
Russian nesting dolls act out the story of a mischievous little girl and her family. Preschoolers love helping everyone in the family find their way home. Adapted from a story by Anne Pellowski.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Nesting dolls (matryoshka/matrioska), Russia, size, memory game, group participation, sequencing(?)



Circle of Story Songs
Sometimes a story is a song—and everyone can join in!

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

Willy the Whistling Giraffe
From an old LP recording that I listened to as a child.


Circle of Moon Stories & Songs

A great supplement to a school unit on the moon, this cycle of stories & songs lasts about one-half hour when told all together. Good for a group of mixed ages.

Moonrakers
A story-making experience in which the audience helps figure out a way to convince the foolish characters in the story that the moon has not fallen into a pool.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Ceylon, England, Turkey, Poland

The Rabbit in the Moon
Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? People from various cultures around the world, including Native American and Asian peoples, tell stories to explain why they see a Rabbit in the Moon. This story is a Jataka tale, one of the 500(?) teaching tales from the Buddhist tradition which is based on the mythology of ancient India.
Genres, characters, cultures and themes:
Visualization, India, Shakra the sky god, rabbit, monkey, otter, figs, fish, self sacrifice, generosity, friendship, fire, , Buddha, charity

“Wynken, Blynken and Nod”
Audiences of all ages remember and love this rhythmic lullaby written by children’s poet Eugene Field in 1894.

I See the Moon
“I see the moon and the moon sees me and the moon sees the one that I long to see. So I wave to the moon and the moon waves to me and she waves to the one that I long to see.” --Adaptation of an old song

Hey Diddle Diddle
The cow still jumps over the moon in this slightly rap version of the famous nursery rhyme.



Circle of Old Favorites
These familiar stories are just right for little ones, and everyone is welcome to join right in! Many of these “fairytales” can be “fractured” for older audiences.

The Three Little Pigs
“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”
“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”

Jack and the Beanstalk
“Fee Fi Fo Fum”

The House That Jack Built
A cumulative story that the audience can pantomime, with or without flannelboard characters derived from Arthur Rackham illustrations.

Henny Penny
Told with or without a flannelboard.
“Where are you going Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey and Turkey Lurkey?”
“We are going to tell the queen that the sky is falling!”

The Three Little Kittens
Lots of drama here—mewing, crying, purring, etc.

Going on a Bear Hunt
Together, we take a lively journey through grass, mud and water to a big, dark cave.

Little Dog Turpie, by Leila Berg (with illustrations by George Him)

Here is another story from Leila Berg. Apologies to Jane and Param for taking a year and a half to get around to posting this. Hey - just in time for Halloween!

Once upon a time there was a little old man and a little old woman, and they lived together in a little old house with their Little Dog Turpie.

Now out in the woods lived the Hobyahs. Every night they came running towards the house, up, up, on their long toes, creeping, creeping, through the soft grass, waving their wild tails, came the Hobyahs. And they shouted, "Break down the house, carry off the little old man, eat up the little old woman!" But Little Dog Turpie always heard them coming, and he would bark and bark and bark, "Wow, wow!" till they all ran away.


The little old man and the little old woman didn't know about the Hobyahs, because Little Dog Turpie always frightened them away. But one night the old man sat up in bed and said, "Little Dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can't sleep. In the morning I shall take off his tail."

So in the morning the little old man took off Little Dog Turpie's tail because he barked so much.

That night when the old man and the the old woman were in bed, out of the woods came the Hobyahs. Up, up, on their long toes, creeping, creeping, through the soft grass, waving their wild tails, came the Hobyahs. And they shouted, "Break down the house, carry off the little old man, eat up the little old woman!" But Little Dog Turpie heard them coming and he barked and he barked and he barked, "Wow, wow!" till they ran away.

But the little old man sat up in bed and said, "Little Dog Turpie barks too loudly, and I can't sleep. In the morning I shall take off his legs."

So in the morning the little old man took off Little Dog Turpie's legs, because he barked so much.

The next night, when the little old man and the little old woman were in bed, out of the woods came the Hobyahs. Up, up, on their long toes, creeping, creeping, through the soft grass, waving their wild tails, came the Hobyahs. And they shouted, "Break down the house, carry off the little old man, eat up the little old woman!" But Little Dog Turpie heard them coming, and he barked and barked and barked, till they all ran away.

But the little old man sat up in bed and said, "That Little Dog Turpie barks too loudly, and I can't get any sleep. In the morning I shall take off his head."

So in the morning the little old man took off Little Dog Turpie's head.

That night, when the little old man and the little old woman were in bed, out of the woods came the Hobyahs. Up, up, on their long toes, creeping, creeping, through the soft grass, waving their wild tails, came the Hobyahs. And they shouted, "Break down the house, carry off the little old man, eat up the little old woman!" And Little Dog Turpie heard them coming, but the little old man had taken off his head, and now he couldn't bark any more and frighten them away.

So the Hobyahs broke down the house. They didn't carry off the little old man, because he hid under the kitchen table and they couldn't find him. But they carried off the little old woman to their Hobyah house, and they put her in a bag and hung her on the doorknob.


When the little old man found the Hobyahs had carried off the little old woman, he was very sorry for what he had done. Now he knew why Little Dog Turpie had been barking every night. "I am a silly old man," he said. "I shall put back Little Dog Turpie's tail and his feet and his head this very minute." So he went out into the yard and put them all back right away.

Then Little Dog Turpie went running off on his four legs to find the little old woman. He ran and he ran till he came to the Hobyah House. The Hobyahs were not at home, but they had left the little old woman hanging in the bag on the doorknob. Little Dog Turpie bit the bag with his sharp teeth till it fell off the doorknob, and then he pulled it open so that the little old woman could get out. She ran all the way back home to the little old man, and they were very pleased to see each other again, I can tell you, and they had a bit of a kiss and a hug.

But Little Dog Turpie crept inside the bag himself, and lay there waiting for the Hobyahs to come home again. Presently they came, and the first thing they did was to poke the bag with their long fingers, for they thought it was the old woman, you see. And out jumped Little Dog Turpie, barking as loudly as he could. The Hobyahs got such a fright they all ran away, and they ran so far they never came back. And that's why there are no Hobyahs today, not one.


Text ©Leila Berg, illustrations ©George Him, from Folk Tales for Reading and Telling, published by Brockhampton Press 1966

I love love love this book and I have posted from it (and about it) before, with permission from the families of the author and the artist.

Here are some notes on this story from Leila's website:

"Folk Tales for Reading and Telling was originally published in 1966 and was reprinted several times in hardback and in paperback in the late 60s and in the 70s. The stories were traditional ones culled from a dozen different countries. Each one is prefaced in the text by an introductory sentence from Leila, always followed by 'And this is the way I tell it.' The children in the little nursery school Leila was running at the time of writing the book would always join in, 'And this is the way I tell it.'

"All the stories were enhanced by the illustrations of George Him, a brilliant artist whose extraordinarily evocative pictures capture scenes from the wildest stories as the innocent imagination of the reading child might see them. It was George's idea to make Dog Turpie into a toy-type figure, so that his different pieces didn't have to be brutally chopped off, but were just taken apart."

The me show - all me, all the time - me me me

I don't know if anyone out there has noticed, but in my mind this is a place where I deposit fragments of my storytelling life. This past summer I got photographed a lot for some reason. I told Stephanie it was because of the great haircut she gave me!


This was taken by a co-worker for a newsletter:


I also happened to be handy when it was time for summer publicity.


Another co-worker took this.
I don't really like it - I wasn't feeling groovy that day:



Here's the Farmer's Market in July. This one is my favorite. Click on the photo to enlarge it and take a few moments to look at each and every child. The magic was happening at that very moment and the photographer captured it. This is why I do what I do:

And the big finish...

Both of the Farmer's Market photos were taken by photographer Phyllis Groner.

Last but not least, here I am in late July. The article is less than fun to read (sorry, Joseph - and it's not a "red chest", it's a Story Wagon!) but I liked the photos.

So - pretty glamorous, huh? Just kidding.

I need you to know that there are librarians all over the country who are doing great work with children and literacy. They read more books than I do so that they can make very personalized reading recommendations to children and their families; they keep up with current technologies to educate their patrons and colleagues; many devote themselves to disadvantaged children in libraries with very few resources. Most of those librarians are unphotographed, unsung heroes who are better than me me me.

Listen to Hans, LeMans

OK-I know that my rhymes are getting really lame...anyway, here is an interview with children's author and illustrator Hans Wilhelm, in which he is SO articulate about the value of REAL fairytales - in all their gory glory - in the lives of children. Yay!

Hans Wilhem interviewed by Christina Haskins from Hans Wilhelm on Vimeo.

I've Got the Power, Flower!

Today the dandelion is my favorite flower. I had a chance to tell an Ojibwa dandelion story from Anne Pellowski's Hidden Stories in Plants today. I've been wanting to tell it for a long time. I'm not inclined to transcribe it tonight, but storyteller Fran Stallings retells it here and gives it pretty good alternative attribution, too. The tricky bit for me was that I wanted to tell this story with props. I wanted to have on hand both a fresh, young, yellow dandelion and a gray dandelion gone to seed. Dandelions only last a day after you pick them, so they have to be picked on the day you will use them. Usually the patches of flowers I find on storytime day are either all yellow or all gray, but today I found both together! Over ripeness is the other problem. Oftentimes you will pick a gray puff and it will be very delicate and the seeds will all blow away. But today was PERFECT! Today the three or four gray-headed girls that I found were not yet too ripe so I was able to pick and transport them with most of the seeds intact, and the fresh yellow flowers were tall and at their most beautiful because no one has mowed their lawns yet. And to top it off, little yellow-haired Alison called out, "Can I hold it?" so I had a golden-haired maiden who stood in the front of the audience and held a dandelion during the story. Thanks, story gods!

I also brought some bleeding hearts picked fresh from my garden--pink and white both--had a lovely time sharing my bleeding heart obsession!

Move to a Cave, Maeve

Sorry I've been out of commission for a while. I'm obsessively working on some renovation and restructuring inside my digs. And it all started with a little quart of latex paint that a friend gave to me. Oops.

Anyway - I'm still telling stories with vim and vigor, verve and contentment. And the audience has a lot to say about what goes into the stories. Today the Stonecutter morphed into a Chef; a Rich Man Who Wore a Leather Jacket, Cool Polka Dot Pants and Cool Clogs; a King in a Parade in a Great Car and Wearing a Crown, and so on...you know the rest of the story--right?

From the Middle of Me to the Middle of You - We Will Miss You, Brother Blue

Lately I've been thinking how everything in my whole life has led me to the place where I am now. (Duh.) Everything is suddenly connected. Summer campfires of my childhood; stories, poems & songs that have stayed with me; learning how to sing in the church choir; painting pictures in my parents' basement while listening to recordings of people telling fairy tales on the record player over and over; crashing Memorial Day parades in whiteface; learning from my father that I am part of a long tradition of liars; vivid experiences that I've never forgotten; people who have inspired & touched me...

Brother Blue died this past Tuesday. Jeff got an email from a friend (thanks, Doug) and immediately forwarded it to me: Hugh M. Hill; weaved stories as Brother Blue - The Boston Globe

Twenty-five years ago I was going to a state college out in the middle of nowhere and I was pretty lost career wise. My parents wouldn't let me be a clown (I can't think why not!) so I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had transferred from a small, liberal arts college in my junior year because I thought a bigger school would have more interesting majors. It didn't. It only had less interesting professors.

[Footnote: In my senior year the school forced me to declare a major in order to graduate. I looked at my transcripts to see if I had enough credits in any one subject that would add up to a major and the winner was...English (!) with a minor in...French (!)]

It was the early 1980's. To me, it seemed like the only people who had a well-defined future were the business majors. I didn't really understand what "business" was, but I had this vague perception, whether it was true or not, that all of those people were going to grow up and be stuck in offices for the rest of their lives. In this vast wasteland of pseudo-academic boredom (the guy who taught Shakespeare was a monochromatic, monotone nightmare) there were few glimmers of salvation.

The only class that I remember (I have, thankfully, blotted out most eveything else) was Francelia Butler's Kiddie Lit class, famous as a "boat" (I guess because you could float through it - or did we maybe call it a "gut"?) and it was "taught" (or performed) by an army of TA's (Teaching Assistants) and special guest stars. Francelia herself (I just love saying Francelia!) and around 300 students sat in the stadium-style classroom and watched and laughed. I was very excited to learn from our class textbook, authored by Francelia, that one of my favorite childhood rhymes probably originated right where I grew up. Now that's relevant!

One event was a visit from Margaret Hamilton - c'mon, you know - the Wicked Witch of the West in the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz? She was around 80 years old at the time and she sat on stage and regaled us with stories about green makeup and the hidden trap door that helped her melt into the floor (common knowledge now, but then not so much.) I always remembered Hamilton's visit as a highlight of my college experience, but I had forgotten that this was a Kiddie Lit event until just a while ago when I read Francelia's obit. So all these years later, I'm just now realizing that Kiddie Lit helped save my life!!!!

The next semester I became a TA myself. That was the semester that Brother Blue came to class. Here was this man, dressed like some sort of crazy jester (he has been called a "bedecked, scat-speaking story spinner") who rattled stuff and used his voice like a musical instrument and he told the story of Miss Wonderlick and I was gone, man, solid gone!

Afterwards, we "insiders" were invited for lunch at Francelia's house with Brother Blue and his wife, but I was not really an insider and I didn't think of approaching him. I was too much in awe, and besides, in those days I hadn't yet realized that you are allowed to talk to people that you admire (I still have a hard time with that.) I watched him, fascinated, from the far end of the long table, as he ate his lunch and talked to the folks around him. He was super charged. He was still in costume and seemed unable or unwilling to come down from his performance and talk like a normal person. He talked like jazz music. He was insane. I didn't know what he was. I didn't know that he had a PhD. I only knew that he was Brother Blue with a blue butterfly painted on the palm of his hand.

I rediscovered Brother Blue about 15 years later. Connie Rockman had turned me on to storytelling (thanks, Connie!) and I was running a youth storytelling club. I was at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and I saw this guy standing on the main street Connecting With People. It was him. That guy from my past. Brother Blue. I was so excited. Look! It's Brother Blue! Finally I knew what he was - it all became clear. Oh my gosh! He's a storyteller!

Fifteen years older and wiser, I seized the day. I photographed him.

I seem to remember that I introduced myself and told him how much his story had touched me all those years ago. I think that Jeff took our picture together, but maybe that's just a wishful remembrance. If I can find any photos, I'll post them.

So thank you, Brother Blue, for helping to make all my life a circle, sunrise and sundown, moon rolls thru the nighttime till the daybreak comes around. (sing it, Harry) All my life's a circle; But I can't tell you why; Season's spinning round again; The years keep rollin' by.

[Footnote: By this time, I had identified that unknown something inside of me that I had been wondering about. Kind of. Anyway. I think it was Storytelling. Or maybe Collage.] (hee hee)

Look in the Book, Schnook!

I keep forgetting that I co-authored a book. Jeff keeps reminding me. So I'm not really blowing my own horn here, I'm just using this space to keep track of myself. Back in the dark ages, Martha asked me to write Storycraft with her. The thing that I'm most proud of is the artwork. It's also still available from the publisher, so hey-why keep it a secret?

By the way, because of a youth storytelling club that I ran for five years, I'm quoted extensively in Children Tell Stories, by Beauty & the Beast Storytellers (Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton). I have never met Mitch and Martha, but I think that their coaching talents are evident from the photos of the children on the cover of their book. I'm honored that they invited me inside. Two whole pages (more or less) of fame!

How and Why, Butterfly? Part Two

Many, MANY educators are doing great things with Pourquoi stories in the classroom. This story form is easy to emulate and lots of fun. In fact, one of my childhood teachers (I wonder who?) used the theme for a creative writing unit. Somewhere in my vast collection of paper ephemera I probably have the story that I wrote. I remember that it is kind of Egyptian and involves both adultery (I read a lot of Greek myths when I was a kid - the philandering of Zeus and Aphrodite must have infiltrated my subconscious) and the origin of cats (big surprise!)

Anyway, I'm not trying to be comprehensive here. These are just a few of the creative people who have helped and inspired me with this workshop. I have provided links to the authors & artists when I think they are particularly interesting:

Nine-In-One Grr! Grr!: A Folktale from the Hmong People of Laos,
told by Blia Xiong and adapted by Cathy Spagnoli (Children’s Book Press, 1989)
I love the slightly befuddled tiger in this story and I love the sing-song refrain that she sings—you can really make it lilt and have the children sing along with you. I made a flannelboard for Nine-In-One and purposely made it primitive and cartoonish. The tiger resembles the cats I used to draw as a child—a big circle for the body, a little circle for the head and two triangles for ears. When I show this to kids, they instantly gain a lot of self confidence and lose any inhibitions they have about their drawing abilities!

How & Why Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell,
by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, (August House, 1999)
This book is one of several by Hamilton and Weiss, aka Beauty and the Beast Storytellers, which are written to help young people become storytellers. In fact, the audio version of this book showcases eight guest kid tellers ranging in age from nine to fourteen years. The book also happens to be a great resource for adult tellers. The stories are from cultures all over the world. Each story is no more than one or two pages in length and includes a short note "About the Story" and some "Tips for Telling".

Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children, by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac (Fulcrum, 1989)
Native American cultures are a rich source of how & why stories. The authors provide thought-provoking activities as well as scientific information related to each story. Other books in this series include: Keepers of the Animals, Keepers of the Night, Keepers of Life.

Folktale Themes and Activities for Children, Volume 1: Pourquoi Tales,
by Anne Marie Kraus (Libraries Unlimited, 1998)
This book is part of the Teacher Idea Press “Learning Through Folklore Series” and the author has packed this book with fun and useful activities. Her annotated bibliography is cross-indexed by culture and by topic and gives enough myriad details to help you find just the right story for any program. She also addresses the fact that many how & why stories are still part of a living culture and she provides inspiration that should help workshop leaders convey a sense of respect for the original tellers of these tales. On page 49 she shares various ways that pourquoi stories can be used to involve children in group storytelling. See also pp. 32-34.

Book of Greek Myths, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire (Doubleday, 1962)
This is a favorite childhood book for myself and for many other people (yes-it’s the tall orange and yellow book with the horses on the cover.) You may be tempted to discount Greek myths for a how & why program because they are too “overdone” or “not primitive enough.” I however, find Greek mythology to be a very satisfying source of pourquoi stories. If I have extra time left over at the end of a program, I like to tell the story of hundred-eyed Argus, Hera’s faithful servant who died while serving her. To memorialize him, Hera, queen of the gods, caused the eyes of Argus to appear on the tail of the peacock.

Landscape, sound recording by Coyote Oldman (Xenotrope Music-BMI, 1988)
Coyote Oldman is Michael Graham Allen and Barry Stramp. These musicians create atmospheric melodies with primitive flutes, bells and pan pipes. Use this recording, or one like it, as background music for the Time Travel exercise. The first track, “People of the Glacier” is almost fourteen minutes long and provides ample time for a group leader to narrate a journey back through the ages.

Changes: Native American Flute Music, sound recording by R. Carlos Nakai (Canyon Records, 1983)
R. Carlos Nakai is of Navajo-Ute heritage and has become well known for his personal musical interpretations using traditional musical forms of the Native peoples of North America. Nakai’s recordings are relatively easy to find. The selections here are quiet and haunting and many of them were composed outside in the open air. For me, these pieces truly evoke an earlier time; the flute is the only instrument used and it echoes as if it is being played in a desert canyon.

“Teaching With Pourquoi Tales,” by Kama Einhorn & Dana Truby, Scholastic Instructor, April 2001, pp. 51-54

Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children,
by Judy Sierra (Oryx, 1991)
I'm not sure, but I think this contains a useful concise section on telling stories with flannelboards. Anyway, it's a good book.

The Flannel Board Storytelling Book, by Judy Sierra (H. W. Wilson; 2nd Revised edition, 1997)
Judy Sierra expands on her earlier work describing construction and use of flannelboards for storytelling.

Soapbox moment: Don't forget to check at your local library for some of these books. Even if your library doesn't own them, they should still be able to borrow them for you through the magic of interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan (in which your library finds a book at another library, the other library sends it to your library, you borrow the book and read it, you return the book to your library and your library sends it back where it came from) is a library service that has been around for at least 100 years and is still going strong. So USE it! Your tax dollars at work, folks! (I know that I'm preaching to the choir with a lot of you. Why else would you even be here?)

Show Us the Way, Jay

Storyteller Jay O'Callahan specializes in telling original stories based on history and on his personal experiences. He is not at all folksy. He is often more like an actor performing a scripted one-man show. One of his characters that I love is the flamboyant Mrs. Lawrence in "Electra" from his Pill Hill Quartet recording. The link is from Jay's website and I don't know how long it will last, so grab on while you can. (Just click on the word "Electra", Uncle Fred!) If you like to listen to stories, check out the new category in the column to the right of your screen: Stories for Listening.

Tell Us the Truth, Ruth, Part 1

From Ruth Sawyer's The Way of the Storyteller (Viking Press, 1942):

"Storytelling is a folk art. To approach it with the feelings and the ideas of an intellectual or sophisticate is at once to drive it under the domination of mind and critical sense. All folk-arts have grown out of the primal urge to give tongue to what has been seen, heard, experienced. They have been motivated by simple, direct folk-emotions, by imagination; they have been shaped by folk wisdom. To bring a sophisticated attitude to a folk art is to jeopardize it. Or rather, it is to make it into something that it is not. To the unpracticed, unthinking public there is no difference between dramatic reading, recitation, and storytelling. But to one who knows, dramatic reading and recitation belong to a comparatively modern and sophisticated age, and storytelling is one of the oldest traditional arts, having its roots in the art of articulate expression. I think is is a common experience among storytellers of long standing to have the millstones of dramatic reading and recitation hung about their necks. Sometimes worse. The wife of a university president once said to me: "I haven't any parlor tricks. I wish you'd stay a week and give me some lessons in storytelling."

Of course, isn't the very act of reading a book about storytelling kind of like copping the attitude of "an intellectual or sophisticate"? OMG, I've corrupted myself!

How and Why, Butterfly? Part One

Here's the story...I've been mentoring youth storytellers for ten years now. I ran a youth storytelling club for five years and it was exhausting! I loved it, but I had to stop because it was too all consuming. When I said goodbye to the club, I resolved to come up with a different way to help kids tell stories.

My friend Karen did a puppetry workshop that inspired me to try something new. Karen is an artist, a professionally-trained puppeteer and a very efficient person. In less than one hour, she guided a group of ten or 15 children through manufacturing and manipulating their very own shadow puppets. Pretty normal so far, right? Here's the fun part - at the end of the workshop, family, friends and innocent bystanders were invited in and each and every young puppeteer had the chance to perform in front of a live audience. I was wowed. I stole Karen's idea.

Why Oak Trees Drop Acorns,
by Victoria
So now I run isolated workshops twice a year or so, and I do a lot of activities with local Scout groups to help them earn storytelling badges and such. It is SO much fun, and not at all like school (no offense to all the wonderful language arts teachers in the world.) These are notes from my first workshop five years ago (March 2004). It was at a local education event for gifted children and their families. The children in my workshops were in grades two and three. I have scattered some of their beautiful artwork throughout this post.

Pizza Box Pourquoi Stories

Summary/Publicity Blurb
How did zebras get their stripes? Why do roses smell so sweet? Journey back in time and learn the ancient art of telling "How & Why" stories. Create your very own Pizza Box Story to share. Family and friends are invited to a performance at the end of this one-hour workshop.

An Australian Miracle:
How Platypuses Were Made,
by Ryder
Introduction :00- :05

Sit on a blanket on the floor in a circle (using a blanket helps define the space.) Have each child share their name with the group and name a favorite animal.

The Talking Box Game :05 - :10

Before the program prepare a box full of objects. Each object will represent some aspect of human communication. Try to have at least one object for each child plus some extras. Some of the objects can represent more than one thing.

Examples:
Red wax candy lips can represent the human mouth & voice, or you can make a “cootie catcher” out of red paper (see Resources in my next post.) Use a pair of gloves (preferably stuffed to make them 3-D!) for human hands or sign language. Below is just a partial list of ideas. New technology is changing communication forms very quickly, so you should update this game periodically if you plan on using it often.

- Literature = book
- Hand writing = pen, pencil
- Art = crayon, paintbrush, painting (or maybe a picture of a pictograph)
- Mail = a stamped, addressed envelope
- Television & Motion Pictures = a videodisc (DVD)
- Radio = a small radio or personal stereo
- Symbolism = a flag
- Signals = a flashlight or emergency beam
- Music = a small drum, other musical instruments, audiocassettes, CD’s
- Computers, Internet & email = compact disk (or other storage device) , computer mouse, hand-held computer, etc.
- Telephone = telephone!
- Flag = symbolism
- Coin = Money ('cause money talks!)

Playing the Game:

Sit together in a circle. Introduce the Talking Box and explain that everything in the box has to do with how people talk to each other in different ways. Don’t show anyone what is inside. Ask the group to think of different ways that people communicate. You may need to ask specific questions to get things going (How do people talk? Can you think of different ways that people communicate?) and give an example if necessary (people speak, people send letters.) Make it like a guessing game. Each time someone guesses something find a matching object in the Talking Box and give it to that person. If necessary, keep the momentum going by posing a greater challenge (Can you think of something that I didn’t think to put in the box?) Keep everyone guessing until everyone in the group holds an object or until the box is empty. Now reverse. Ask the group to give back to you any object that uses electricity (or needs electricity to be used.) Put those objects back in the box. Next have everyone return any object that people made or invented. Give everyone a moment to examine the objects what is left. What are we left with? The only things that you really need for storytelling or-the most elemental things that people use for storytelling--HANDS & VOICE!

How the Raccoon Got Rings Around His Eyes,
by Emily
Time Travel Activity with Story #1 :10 - :20
Instruct everyone to lie down (or put their heads on their desks) and close their eyes. Play some soft music in the background--I like “People of the Glacier” by Coyote Oldman (see Resources)--and use your voice to bring everyone on a journey back through time. Include any or all of the following elements, moving progressively farther back in time (prehistory is your goal):

Imagine you have gone back one year in time. You are one year younger than you are now. How is your life different? Were you living in a different place? Was your family smaller? Maybe you’ve gotten a pet since then, or a new baby brother or sister. Was your teacher different? Now imagine that you are much younger. Maybe you can remember your first day of school or your first big birthday party and now go back to your earliest memory. Now travel back to a time that is too early for you to remember because you were just a little baby. And now we’ve gone back even further, to a time before you were born. Maybe your parents haven’t even met each other yet. And now your parents are children and now we are going to start traveling much faster to a time before your parents were born and your grandparents are children. Let’s travel back to a time before there were computers and television. And now we don’t have telephones or even electricity. We are using oil lamps and candles for light at night. And now it is a time before we even had lamps, before people discovered fire….before the first drum was made. It is nighttime and we are huddled together in a cave. It is so dark that we can’t even see each other. And now I’m going to tell you a story. (Here you should gradually lower the volume of the music and then turn it off entirely.) This is a story about that long ago time when the sky was much closer to the earth than it is today…

End with a pourquoi story. If the group is restless at this point allow them to sit up. Otherwise, just let them relax with their eyes closed and enjoy the story. I like to tell Nine-In-One Grr! Grr, a Hmong folktale about the adventures of the world’s first tiger (see Resources in an upcoming post, "How & Why, Butterfly? Part Two".)

How the Cheese Got Its Holes,
by John
What is a POURQUOI story? :20 - :25
Discuss how & why stories. Does anyone in the group know French? “Pourquoi” is the French word for “why.” Pourquoi stories—or “how & why stories”--are among the oldest stories on earth. The very earliest people asked the same questions that we still ask today: Why is the sky blue? Why do crickets chirp? They thought very hard about the HOW and the WHY behind everything in the world around them. This infancy of scientific thought resulted in many wonderful stories containing much wisdom and insight, so pourquoi stories are still very relevant to people today. Best of all, it’s very easy to invent new stories just for fun.

How Rabbit Got His Short Tail,
by Miss Lynne
Flannelboard Demo with Story #2 :25 - :30
Tell another story, this time using a pizza box flannelboard with characters that you have made in advance (see directions below) and stored inside the box. Prop open the pizza box with a stick so that the top faces the audience. The top of the pizza box is covered with black flannel attached with Velcro so you can detach the flannel and store it inside the box when you are not using it. This is a demonstration for the children to emulate, so the story you choose should highlight the essential simplicity of how & why stories. I like to use “Rabbit Counts the Crocodiles” from How & Why Stories, by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss (see “Resources”). Create no more than three flannelboard characters and make sure to point out afterwards that a good story doesn’t need a cast of thousands. For this flannelboard I made one piece with a picture of Crocodile and two pieces representing Rabbit—one with a long, bushy tail and one with a short, puffy tail.

Idea Hat :30 - :40
Explain to the children that they are going to create their very own pourquoi stories and that they can make a pizza box flannelboard. Give the children some time to think of a story. They can follow these steps:

Start with something that is true today. (Rabbits have short, puffy tails.)
How might it have been different long ago? (Rabbits used to have long, bushy tails.)
What might have caused the change? (What caused rabbit’s tail to become short?)

An idea hat can help this process. Before the program, write individual story ideas on separate pieces of paper, fold them up and stuff them in to a hat, bag, or box (a really tall wizard hat is fun.) A child who is stuck for an idea can simply reach in to the hat and pull one out. They can keep picking until they find an idea they like. Make sure you have plenty!

Why the Man's on the Moon,
by Gabby
Here are some ideas (find more in books listed in the Resources section):

How did rabbits get long ears?
Why are strawberries red?
How did raccoons get rings around their eyes?
Why is the sky blue?
Why do skunks smell?
Why do dogs chase cats?
How did deer get antlers?
Why is the sky faraway?
Why do we have night and day?
Why are crows black?
How did raccoons get rings around their eyes?
How did people learn to sing?
Why is the sea salty?
Why do owls only come out at night?

Making Pizza Box Flannelboards :40 - 1:00
It’s helpful to have another adult available who can handle a hot iron.
Play music while the children work--native American flute music works very well because it’s evocative, yet non-intrusive (see “Resources”).

Materials for one flannelboard:
- One large pizza box
- One piece of black flannel approximately 18” square.
This should cover the top of the pizza box and is handy to buy by the yard at a fabric store. Cutting the flannel to size is easy if you have it cut from a 36”-wide bolt.
- Three pieces of oval-shaped pellon fabric, also known as inner facing. (did I get this from a book by Judy Sierra?) Buy yardage of the heaviest weight available and cut it into 6-8” squares before cutting off the corners to make rounded pieces. Three pieces should be able to fit comfortably on the top of the pizza box without overlapping.
- Four sets of self adhesive velcro (both sides), approximately 1” across
- Set of fabric crayons/pastels
Use the kind that can be made permanent by laying a sheet of paper over the fabric drawing and pressing with a hot iron until the drawing bleeds through. Older kids can use permanent markers instead.
- Wooden stick or dowel approximately 18” long (long enough to prop open a pizza box lid almost upright, but short enough to be stored inside a closed pizza box)

Other supplies:
- A household iron
- An ironing board or a thick piece of folded fabric which can be ironed on safely
- blank sheets of paper for ironing images on to pellon (each to be used only once)

Why Strawberries Are Red,
by Megan
Putting it all together:
Give each child three pieces of pre-cut pellon fabric on which to draw the characters in their stories. If your time is limited and if the pizza boxes are still flattened, construct them while the children draw. Set up a station for the hot iron in a secluded corner of the room for safety. When the children are nearly finished drawing, warm up the iron. Have the children come to the ironing station with their finished drawings to have them pressed under a sheet of paper. Each child then receives the rest of the materials to complete their pizza story box. Have them affix the adhesive backing of four pieces of Velcro to the four corners of the pizza box. Take the matching four pieces of Velcro and lay them on top of their opposites with the sticky back facing up. Help each child (it’s easier with two people) lay the square of black flannel across the top of the pizza box. Press down on the four corners so that the flannel sticks to the sticky back of the Velcro and it’s done!

Share Stories 1:00 - 1:30
Anyone who finishes early can pair up to practice their stories on each other. When everyone is finished, allow time for each child to stand up in front of the group and tell their story using their flannelboard.

Photograph flannelboards to put on school or library website. Make sure to slip a copy of the web address into each of the pizza boxes so the children have a chance to view their artwork from home on the Internet.

I have also done this workshop using much less expensive materials. Give each child three 3x5 cards for creating their stories. When they have finished drawing, give them some masking tape and provide a surface--a whiteboard, a kitchen cabinet, etc.--where they can face an audience and tell their stories.

More ideas:
Group Storytelling-
Most children are unfamiliar with the old-time game of Round Robin storytelling. They don’t seem to have any trouble starting a story, but as they jump from person to person they sometimes have trouble sustaining the narrative (“Use verbs!” I shout. “Use action words!” I dream of someday experiencing a rousing session that is just as creative and silly as the scene in Little Women where Jo and her family and friends play Round Robin.) The most successful Round Robin sessions I have had with children occur when I provide some sort of framework. Have a blackboard, whiteboard or flipchart handy. Have the children brainstorm to make a list of elements that they would like to include in a group story, but don’t let them fill in the details about the action yet. Help them out by asking questions: What should our story be about? Should it be an animal? Should it be a thing? What is that thing like today? Is there something about it that may have been different a long time ago? How was it different?

Sit in a circle and have someone start the story. Each person should try to leave off at a suspenseful moment and let the next person pick up the story at that point. You never know what kind of fabulous story you might end up with, so you might want to record the session (audio or video) and listen the the playback together.

Give it Some Heart, Art

My bleeding heart blossoms are fading very slowly thanks to the cool rainy weather. I have both the pink and the white varieties. Yesterday afternoon a little girl named Damaris spotted my white bleeding hearts in the garden bouquet on my desk and told me that her mother and grandmother - both native Spanish speakers - call these flowers "turtle" (or "tortuga" in Spanish.) I plucked a blossom off for Damaris so that she could show me. It took me a minute to see exactly what she meant, but she's right. If you look at them differently (try sideways or upside down), the hearts look like little sea turtles with flippers!

So last night I got obsessed with trying to find folk stories about bleeding hearts, specifically my favorite, Dicentra Spectabalis, which is the "old-fashioned" variety that many of us remember from our parents' and grandparents' gardens. I've discovered that my "Bleeding Heart" is also known as "Lady in the Bath", "Lady's Locket", "Lyre Flower" and "Venus' Car". Native to Korea, China and Siberia, it was imported to Europe from China by Englishman Robert Fortune in 1846, after the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 opened up freer trade relations between Britain and China.

But What About the Stories?

I've told the story of "Princess Dicentra in the Bleeding Heart" from Sunflower Houses, by Sharon Lovejoy to Brook and Alice for so many years that I'm sure they can tell it themselves by now. I don't know if it's from folklore or if it's an original tale. In the story, a beautiful princess named Dicentra is imprisoned in a flower by an evil witch until a child, attracted by the beauty of the flower, sets her free. You can read a bit more in this article.

Here is perhaps the darker folkloric parent of the Princess Dicentra story:

"A long time ago there lived a beautiful princess named Dicentra. The prince in the neighboring country just knew he had to marry her. His mother the queen was very jealous, though, because Dicentra was so beautiful. On the day of the wedding, the queen turned Princess Dicentra into a flower so that she could never marry the prince. To this day, Princess Dicentra wears her wedding gown on the day she was supposed to marry. If you very carefully take the bleeding heart petals and pull them back as far as possible, then use some imagination, you'll see a Cinderella-type dress shape."
(posted in 2005 at NWHikers.net by jenjen - whose grandmother had a great garden full of nooks and crannies and used to tell lots of flower lore.)

If you don't have any blossoms handy to play with, it may be hard to visualize just how to use the flower parts to tell the story. But just the other day, Beth at Acorn Pies shared some nice flower photographs, including a great closeup of the Princess Dicentra.

I found another princess story that many people have heard. It's nice and gloomy, featuring both unrequited love and suicide. At first I wondered if - like the plant - it from Asia, but now I'm thinking that maybe it's just a Victorian story that includes the "Chinese slippers" as a nod to the flower's Asian origins. Heather presents a version with photographs of all the flower parts that you use in the telling. Cool that she uses the white "alba" variety. This is also the only other spot where anyone else has mentioned the flower's resemblance to a turtle (maybe I need to search the Spanish Internet?)

Here is a 7th-grade-student version of the story and here "Ann's Story of the Bleeding Heart" by Elma Lang, a modern story-within-a-story version posted in a gardening forum (gardeners talk about this stuff a lot!)

Last of all, I found an old Victorian weeper, The Legend of the Bleeding-Heart, by Annie Fellows Johnston. First published in 1907, there are lots of versions posted online. The one at Project Gutenberg is in an easy-to-read format, but the book's original pages have an interesting layout, so try this version if you have the patience. There's also a reprint available for people who are in a shopping mood.

Bleeding Heart Art

I drew a bleeding heart in 2005. I kinda like it.

I would someday love to have an antiquarian botanical print like this.

I also love these modern Art Nouveau-ish pieces by Jamie McCanless.

Someday I hope to gaze upon the fantastic Georgia O'Keefe painting that I've seen reproduced in books (I just gotta find out where it lives and see if I can go there.)

The three little Dicentra people in bonnets sitting on the branch above are from a vintage card in an article at HubPages.

Given people's fascination with this flower, it's no wonder that I found Dicentra postage stamps from different corners of the world (you've already seen the one from Korea above.)

Here's a cool book that is on my gardening wish list now. When I found it I became so excited that I started to have palpitations. Be still my heart!

Higgledy-Piggledy and Topsy Turvy

Here is a funny story that really resonated with me when I read it a few weeks ago (some of you know why!) It's from a sweet little book (an ex-library copy) that my friend Martha found and saved for me. You can find a complete citation* at the end of the story. Thanks to the son of the author** (thanks, Param!) and to the step-daughter of the illustrator*** (thanks, Jane!) for kindly giving me permission to reproduce the whole shebang here.

[Update, November 2009: Please remember that this is copyrighted material and must be used with permission. If you'd like to share Leila's stories, please link to my entries or to Leila's page.]

Higgledy-Piggledy and Topsy Turvy

Now this is the tale of too many women in one house.
It comes from Scotland,
and this is the way I tell it.

Once upon a time there was a very busy woman. She was busy all day long because she had so much to do. She had all the beds to make, and the floors to scrub, and jerseys to knit, and the sheets to mend on the sewing machine, and the clothes to iron--oh, and ever so many things more. And one day she felt just plain tired of working, and she said out loud, "I can't manage any longer by myself. I wish I had someone to help me."

No sooner had she said this than there was a knock at the front door. She opened it and there was a little old woman. And the little old woman said,

"Ask me in,
Ask me inner,
I'll help you
If you give me dinner."

Of course the woman was very pleased indeed, and she asked the little old lady in. And the little old lady began to do the ironing, while the woman got her dinner ready.

She had just put the meat in the pan to cook when there was another knock at the door. She opened it and there was another little old woman. And this little old woman said,

"Ask me in,
Ask me inner,
I'll help you
If you give me dinner."

So then the woman was even more pleased, and she asked the little old woman in. The little old woman began to scrub the floor, while she put some more carrots with the meat to make more dinner.

She had scarcely done this when there was another knock at the door, and there was another little old woman. And she said, just like the other two,

"Ask me in,
Ask me inner,
I'll help you
If you give me dinner."

The woman was beginning to get a bit bothered by now, but she asked her in the same way as the others, and put more onions with the meat to make more dinner. And the little old woman began to mend the sheets on the sewing machine.

The woman had scarcely put the onions in when there was a knock at the door. And so it went on, more and more old ladies coming to the door, and every one saying,

"Ask me in,
Ask me inner,
I'll help you
If you give me dinner."

And now they didn't even wait to be asked to come in. They came in themselves, and they started work, one making beds, one knitting jerseys, one doing one thing, one doing another, and eating, eating all the time. All the time they were working they were eating, and the more the woman cooked for them and the more she baked for them, the hungrier they seemed to get. And at last she was so hot and bothered that she didn't know what to do.

So she went to her husband who was asleep in the bed all this time, the lucky man, and she tried to wake him up to come and help her. She shook him and shouted in his ear, but it was no use, he just wouldn't wake up. So she put on her hat and coat, and she went to see a wise woman who lived over the hill, and left all the little old women eating and working away, with some more bread baking in the oven.
She told the wise woman all about it, and asked her what she should do. "First of all," said the wise woman, "don't ever say again you can't manage by yourself. And secondly, just go home now and when you get to your doorstep, stand there and shout 'The hill's on fire!' Then all the little old women will come dashing out to have a look, and you must shut the door quickly, and as fast as you can make everything higgledy-piggledy, topsy-turvey, upside down and inside out and as tingle-tangled as can be. And last of all wake up your husband by splashing some water on his face."

(click on this image for a closer look - the details are hysterical!)

So the woman thanked her and hurried away. As soon as she got to her own doorstep, she stood there and shouted out "The hill's on fire!" And all the little old women came running out to see. And the woman quickly shut the door and started to make everything in the house higgledy-piggledy, topsy-turvey, upside down and inside out and as tingle-tangled as could be. She turned the sewing machine upside down, she put the pillow at the bottom of the bed instead of at the top, she took the handle off the top of the bucket and fastened it to the bottom, she turned the clothes that were being ironed all inside out, she took the needles out of the knitting and stuck them somewhere else, and tangled the wool into knots just as if a kitten had been playing with it.

Then all the little old women outside the door began to bang and shout, "Let us in, let us in!"

"I can't," said the woman. "I'm busy. I'm baking bread."

"Bucket, come and open the door!" they shouted.

"I can't," said the bucket. "My handle's on the wrong end. I'm all upside down."

"Sewing machine, open the door!" they shouted.

"I can't," said the sewing machine. "I'm the wrong way up. I'm all topsy-turvy."

"Bed, come and open the door!" they shouted.

"I can't," said the bed. "My pillow's at the bottom end. I'm all higgledy-piggledy."

"Clothes, come and open the door," they shouted.

"We can't," said the clothes. "We're all inside out."

"Knitting, open the door!" they shouted.

"I can't. My needles are stuck in the wrong place and I'm all tingle-tangled."

Then the little old women remembered the bread that was baking in the oven.

"Bread, come and open the door," they shouted.

And the bread got out of the oven and was just going to open the door for them, when the woman grabbed the bread knife and quickly cut it into slices.

Then she remembered what to do about the water. She took a cupful from the tap, and threw it over her husband who was still snoring away. He woke up in a flash, and he dashed to the door where the little old women were banging and shouting and he shouted in a voice like thunder, "Go away!"

And they did!

© Leila Berg

*Berg, Leila. Folk Tales for Reading and Telling. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1966, pp. 88-95.

**Part of what drew me to Folk Tales were passages from Leila's introduction:

"I think we do not tell stories nearly often enough to children nowadays. As soon as they can read, we punish them. 'Now that you can read for yourself,' we say, 'you needn't bother me anymore.'

"But children need stories to be read to them for years after they can read. There is always much more in telling a story to children of any age than just the story.
"Sometimes you will be telling the story to a group of children. They will be sitting in front of you in a row, or in several rows, their faces very grave, their eyes fixed on you. So many faces you will have to watch for signs of strain, so many faces you will have to speak right into, telling your personal tale to each one child! But sometimes all the faces will break into glee, or the children leap to their feet and declaim with delight the jingle that has come so many times before and makes the story everybody's, not only the teller's."

[Read more of Leila's thoughts here.]

***I think that George Him's illustrations are charming and humorous and add so much to Leila's interpretation of this story. Leila liked them too. "I wanted George Him to illustrate this book because I knew he would do as an artist what I was trying to do as a writer," she says. "He brings his own gaiety, exuberance, and resilience...his picture of the story of Higgledy-Piggledy, with all the frenzied rooms seen at once like a doll's house (and others)...all of them catch the wildness and the control, each so essential." Anyway, George Him was a fascinating guy who was born in Poland in 1900. He witnessed the Russian Revolution in 1917 while he was studying law in Moscow. He was a graphic designer starting in 1922 and had a long, successful career. He died in 1982.