Storytelling and Folktales

While working as the PS 360 School Librarian I held the Collaborative Collection Development collection for Storytelling and Folklore. I learned a lot about the world of storytelling. This page begins with some of the resources that I learned about while building the companion web page for this CCD collection.

Storyarts.org includes resources for teachers including lessonplans and rubrics, and resources for storytellers including a library of stories.

National Storytelling Network

Go to https://storynet.org/ to explore the resources and offerings of this national organization. For more about storytelling for young people go to YES! The youth and eduction branch at https://storynet.org/groups/yes/

Lise Lunge-Larson wrote this lovely essay about the importance of Folklore as the introduction to her wonderful collection of Norwegian Troll stories, The Troll with No Heart in His Body.

https://www.liselungelarsen.com/troll_intro.php

Storyteller Ray Hicks

Ray Hicks was an Appalachian storyteller, the last of his time. Fortunately he lived into the digital age and had the courage to tell his stories for the ages. The video Ray and Rosa Hicks gives us a peek into a way of life that has just about disappeared. On Hunting with Jack shows Ray telling a Jack story on his porch.

Image from Grimm's Fairytales illustrated by Rie Cramer

Stories and storytelling online means both our collective wealth of stories, ranging from Project Gutenberg's archives to storytelling conferences, storyteller's blogs and YouTube video channels. Storytellers looking for inspiration or materialhave unlimited resources and a vortex to fall into!

Here are some favorites from the Project Gutenberg archive:

Here are the inspiring performances from the 2019 National Storytelling Festival. (Skip and skim - 12 hours, much of it phenomenal!)