Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling(August House, 2013) is a celebration of a family who has joined together to share their delight in oral storytelling and all of the diversity that comes with it. Author Margaret Read MacDonald has devoted her career to sharing the joys of storytelling with parents, educators, and librarians. Inspired by her mother’s devotion to storytelling, daughter Jennifer MacDonald Whitman became a teacher and began telling stories in her classroom right away. And then, when Margaret was a Fulbright Scholar in Northeast Thailand, Jen brought then fiancé Nathaniel Forrest Whitman for a visit ; he was smitten by the art of storytelling. Today, Margaret teaches storytelling techniques all around the globe, Jen uses storytelling to connect with Kindergarten curriculum, and Nat shares stories daily as an elementary school librarian.
The book is organized by The Seven C’s of Storytelling: Community, Character, Communications, Curriculum, Cultural Connections, Creativity and Confidence. Each chapter classification includes two stories and multiple suggestions for lesson extensions. The stories featured hail from places all over the world – Siberia, Australia, Burma, Cuba, Brazil and beyond! And, the authors demonstrate how storytelling helps to meet the benchmarks and academic standards by offering a resource section covering the concerns of meeting the rigors of today’s academic expectations.
“There are a thousand reasons to tell stories in the classroom, but really, the most important reason for bringing storytelling into your classroom is joy. Once you begin a tradition of storytelling with your students you will find that you delight in the telling as much as your students delight in listening (12).”
It’s not easy being at the top of the food chain. In fact, it’s downright depressing. And it hurts, too. After all, it’s not the lion’s fault that the gazelles don’t trust him. And the great white shark? Well, he’s just misunderstood. The timber wolf doesn’t even stand a chance, what with all those stories floating around about his big, sharp teeth. What’s a respectable carnivore supposed to do? Form a support group, of course. And… go vegetarian! Not surprisingly, eating leaves, bark, berries, and seaweed only goes so far. When the friends finally call in the oldest and wisest carnivore they know, life turns rosy again. After all, “I’m not bad,” whispered the lion. “Eating meat is just what I do!” Kids and parents will giggle through this rowdy read-aloud!
This book and accompanying music is just plain fun! Check out the video, “The Making of Sandra Boynton’s FROG TROUBLE” for a behind-the-scenes look at the music and story.
We spoke with author Sarah Sullivan about her journey from early draft to final revision and the aha moment that eventually became the evocative debut, All That’s Missing (Candlewick Press), set to hit bookstore shelves October 8th.
*** Thanks to all who entered this month’s giveaway! Congratulations to Colleen Malley, winner of a signed copy of All That’s Missing!
When my novel was still an unformed mass of keystrokes, I attended a writer’s retreat during which there was a memorable and rather heated discussion involving the absence of books which included characters of different races, in which issues of racial prejudice or inequality or social justice were not the primary focus of the plot. Where were the books that reflected our richly diverse society, where children are blessedly color-blind to an extent we only dared to dream possible in earlier generations?
While all agreed that it remains important to tell the stories of injustice and prejudice, wasn’t it time to reflect a world where diversity was simply a given, where African-American, Latino, Asian-American, Muslim, Hindu, Native American and Caucasian children, as well as children of multiple ethnicities, encounter the usual problems and joys of growing up in towns and cities and rural areas across the United States?
Well, wasn’t it time?
The discussion from the writing retreat haunted me. I needed to pay attention. I came home and went to my weekly read-aloud session where, for more than ten years, I’d been going into a second grade classroom in a racially diverse school and sharing picture books. On this visit, I read Martin’s Big Words and, when it became obvious that the students had no idea how things had been between black and white people during the Civil Rights Movement, again I knew I had to rethink my story. These students were way ahead of me. It was time for me to catch up.
As a country, we were on the verge of electing our first African-American president. I wanted to reach for a world where children of different races and, children whose parents came from diverse heritages, exist as part of a community and not as some object of controversy. Of course, there would be a history of racial prejudice because, after all, that’s the tragic truth of our history and my story was set in an area of the country that had seen its share of racial troubles. But these second graders had given me both hope and courage to reach for a better world.
I completely re-wrote the second half of my book. The characters came alive in my head and the story took shape. My protagonist, Arlo, becomes friends with a girl named Maywood whose parents own a small independent bookstore in the town where his grandmother lives. Maywood’s mother, who is an art history professor at a nearby college, is African-American. Her father, who runs the book store, is white. Her two grandmothers, one white, one African American, are strong and important influences in her life. Maywood also has an ancestor who was a famous African American artist in the early twentieth century, a fictional character, though informed by the life of the real artist, Henry Ossawa Tanner.
In creating my fictional artist, I researched the life of Henry Ossawa Tanner. Like my fictional artist, Tanner was an expatriate who lived most of his life in France in order to escape racism in the United States. He is the first African American artist whose work was purchased for the White House collection. (The Clintons acquired the painting.) Too little is known about him in the United States, but with a recent exhibit organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and a catalogue published to accompany it, I hope that will change. An Author’s Note at the end of my book calls attention to his work.
I don’t think I could have found my way to Maywood’s story if I had not been a part of that writing retreat discussion. Any time I tried to write about race before that, I became bogged down in the politics of bigotry and lost sight of the humanity of my characters. Talking about the issues in a public forum freed me in a way nothing else had and I remain grateful to have been a part of that conversation.
How, then, do we address the imperative to look forward to a more balanced future against the need to recognize injustice and lack of opportunity where it still occurs? And, don’t we need to offer hope of something better for young readers? There are no easy answers. That much is certain. I guess one acknowledges which part of the puzzle she’s putting under the microscope and tries to be as honest and fair as possible.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this. I love ReaderKidZ!
And thank you, Sarah, for sharing a piece of the “story behind the story.”
Would you like to win a signed copy of All That’s Missing? To enter your name in the drawing, be sure to leave a comment or contact us at readerkidz at readerkidz dot com. Include “ALL THAT’S MISSING Giveaway” in the subject line.
Martin Luther King Jr. used his peaceful words to help bridge the cultural and racial divide between African Americans and American Caucasians. He dedicated his life to making the world a better place and to teach love, equality, and acceptance in the hearts of those who feared and felt hatred. Eve Bunting and Don Tate have collaborated to bring us the story about the “humble cart that, not so long ago, carried greatness.” It is a poignant tale that pays tribute to the late reverend and how the American people honored Dr. King. Bunting tells us how an old cart was chosen, painted the color of green grass, and the mules named Belle and Ada picked to carry it through the streets of Atlanta, Georgia as thousands of mourners looked on.
We spoke with illustrator Don Tate and asked him to share his thoughts with young readers about this book and the powerful emotions it stirred within him.
Tate: I learned about the book while finalizing illustrations for Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (Charlesbridge, 2011). My editor for that project, Yolanda Scott, inquired about my interest and availability for the Eve Bunting book, and I was on board immediately. Then she told me about the subject matter: The day of Dr. King’s funeral, with a focus on the cart that carried his casket. I paused.
After reading the manuscript, however, I fell in love with the story. It was unique. I could think of many children’s books about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but I couldn’t think of another story that addressed his funeral. It was a momentous day. 1,300 people crowded into the service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Between 50,000 and 100,000 followed behind the wooden cart that carried his casket. It was a three-and-a-half-mile procession that led past the Georgia State Capitol building to a second ceremony at Morehouse College. I was awestruck by the photographs, and surprised the story hadn’t been told before as a children’s book.
ReaderKidZ: What emotions stirred within you in taking on this project? Did you feel any greater sense of responsibility? Any added pressure that you put on yourself to do it justice?
Tate: For this book, I experienced the full gamut of emotions, from deeply sad to happy and inspired. Sad about what happened to a great man. Happy and inspired by the change he created for black and white people.
I scoured the internet for pictures of the procession. Surprisingly, there was no shortage of images of the procession (The Atlanta History Center also has a wonderful online archive with aerial views). I collected thousands of photos — the wooden cart, people in mourning, Dr. King lying in his casket. Some days I was left downright depressed. And yes, because the subject dealt with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I felt a greater sense of responsibility. It’s a sacred topic. I feared getting something wrong.
The story begins by picturing the cart in front of an old antique store where two men found it. Hard as I tried, I could not find a photograph of the exact antique store. I had to use some creative license there, and I fretted about that. A researcher at Georgia State University library, however, helped me to locate the area of town where the store likely existed.
My style of illustration was one of the main reasons I was chosen to illustrate this book. While I try not to have a so-called trademark style, my art tends to be light, playful, whimsical, and some have even described my art as cartoony. I worried at first if my art style would mesh well with the subject matter. Later I came to realize my style was exactly what the story needed to lighten things up.
ReaderKidZ: What story did you want to tell through your illustrations?
Tate:The book is about the day of the funeral. It doesn’t delve into King’s life or why he was such an important historical figure. And that’s okay; there are plenty of books out there that deal with all of that. This book demonstrates the sheer numbers of people who came out to celebrate King’s life. It demonstrates the love and reverence people felt for this man. It also exemplifies the virtue of being humble. I strove to capture all of that through my illustrations.
I created the illustrations with acrylic gouache on watercolor paper. I worked quick and loose. For accuracy, I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site where the cart is on display. I took lots of pictures of the cart, as well as the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, recently restored to the way it looked back in the 1960s.
ReaderKidZ: What do you hope children of all cultures find inside this book?
Tate: In one of my favorite scenes from the book, the reader sees the funeral procession, the widow and the family, from above. There are thousands of people in the scene, so obviously I couldn’t paint the details of every little face. What the reader will notice are the various skin tones of the people in the crowd. Everything from dark brown to fair white. Dr. King and the things he fought for, his beliefs — his dream — it was not a black thing. His dream was for everyone. I hope all that came through in the art.
Celebrating diversity is a great way to begin a new school year. It reminds your students that each of them are valued because of, not in spite of, the unique characteristics they possess. “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” – Maya Angelou
For the youngest readers:
This Is the Way We Go to School: a Book About Children Around the World by Edith Baer and illustrated by Steve Bjorkman (Scholastic, 1990) This simple rhyming picture book shows how children in different countries get to school: by foot and by bus, but also by subway, ferry, and even skis! A list at the end of the book tells in which country each pictured child lives.
For the transitional readers:
Wake Up, World! A Day in the Life of Children Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer in association with Oxfam (Holt, 1999) Meet eight children from places like Vietnam, Ghana, Brazil, and the United States. From waking up and eating breakfast to going to bed, readers will love the photos and descriptions of what life is like for kids just like them in other countries.
In Counting by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan (2013 Dial), main character twelve year-old Willow Chance is a genius and she herself admits that she is strange. “But I know it and that takes the edge off. At least for me.” She’s also a young woman of color adopted and beloved by parents so white, “they are almost blue.” She counts by sevens to reduce anxiety, and is obsessed by botany, growing things, and medical conditions. She’s only ever had one friend, who moved away after fifth grade. Willow tells much of the story in her own drole manner, and those who become her temporary guardians after an accident claims both Willow’s parents, offer other points of view. Nguyen siblings, 14 year-old Mai and 15 year-old Quang-ha, and their mother, Pattie, come to Willow’s aid through a serendipitous string of events. They are joined by a sad-sack school counselor named Dell Duke, and taxi driver Jairo Hernandez. They all live in Bakersfield, California and together make up a resourceful, highly entertaining and heartwarming family of sorts who triumph over the odds, the system, and all manner of adversity to be together.
Celebrating diversity is a great way to begin a new school year. It reminds your students that each of them are valued because of, not in spite of, the unique characteristics they possess. “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” – Maya Angelou
For the youngest readers:
What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World by Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Derstine, and Cynthia Pon (Charlesbridge, 2012) The photographs of children from all around the world dressed for school, play, worship, and special occasions are outstanding. Suggested extension activities at the end of the book make this ideal for early learning.
For the transitional readers:
Throw Your Tooth On the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World written by Selby B. Beeler and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (HoughtonMifflin, 1998) In Colombia, it’s not the Tooth Fairy who slips money under the pillow and takes the tooth, it’s El Raton Miguelito. In Malaysia, children bury lost baby teeth. In Taiwan, India, Greece, and Botswana, it is customary to throw the tooth on the roof! Sharing traditions for this common childhood event is a fun way to discuss with kids how we are all different and all the same.
For the older readers:
Remember: the Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison (HoughtonMifflin, 2004) This is a powerful, poignant nonfiction book full of photographs that bring to life a time in American history when diversity was not honored. Morrison writes “Remembering can be painful, even frightening. But it can also swell your heart and open your mind.”
Mission Statement
To provide teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5.
