Telling Tales: Storytelling in the Family

Edith Fowke is professor emerita of folklore at York University, the
1986 winner of the Vicky Metcalf award for her body of work for
children, and the author of Canadian Folklore: Perspectives on Canadian
Culture and Legends Told in Canada.

Gail de Vos is a storyteller who teaches storytelling and children’s
literature at the University of Alberta. She and Merle Harris are
co-organizers of the annual storytelling festival that is held at Fort
Edmonton Historical Park each Labour Day.

Their book covers all facets of storytelling in the family, including
traditional nursery rhymes, folktales, legends, tall tales, urban
legends, and family histories. They tell how they became storytellers
and outline the stories they tell, suggesting that readers develop their
own stories by expanding the important events in their lives into
stories they can tell their children. They list various books that
provide different kinds of stories and that are adapted to different age
groups.

Probably the most useful part of the book is the final section,
“Storytelling Resources,” which includes books on family history,
recommended picture books and story collections, nursery rhymes and
lullabies, myths and legends, traditional tales retold with a twist, a
list of storytelling organizations, and a directory.

This book will be very useful for parents anxious to tell stories to
their children, particularly if they are inexperienced and don’t know
how to start. It should also be helpful to teachers, especially those
teaching young children.