Time for a story

Storytelling is a powerful medium. A well-told story can inspire action, foster cultural appreciation, expand children's knowledge, or provide sheer enjoyment. This creativity is dependent upon the storyteller's lively telling of the story and the listener's active interpretation of what is heard. Amanda Garzia learns that the more delightful the story and the storyteller, the more the children get out of the whole experience.

Adults are, on the face of it, responsible for the images and the words, written or said, which inhabit the world of children's literature. Few of us have direct control on the output of publishing houses. Many of us can, however, give children the footing they need to exploit their sense of wonder and appreciate the artistry of storytelling.

As we draw children towards us to share a story or two, we may create conditions which make them feel more involved in what we are doing. They are encouraged to share their ideas about the material they are being exposed to, spinning, in good time, a narrative of their own.

According to a Eurobarometer survey carried out last year between February and March, less than half the people in Malta manage to read at least one book or more in the course of 12 months. As parents and guardians, we can do a lot to bolster the work which educators carry out both in class and during school outings. Yesterday, for example, my son was looking forward to a Tell Me a Story session at St James Cavalier, his last outing for the scholastic year. By doing things with our children, we create fond memories of the bonds that connect us and the interests that we share. From the time we grow out of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle's classic, to the time explored by David Lodge in The Deaf Sentence, we rely on shared memories to help us through.

Why should we encourage children to enjoy stories? Narratives for children both teach and entertain. I recently discussed this with Denise Farrugia, mother of two, who has very fond memories of the afternoons she and her peers spent at Nanna Rebecca's, one of her grandparents. Although her grandmother could not read, she was a great storyteller. She was never in a hurry, Denise emphasised, and she had a knack for turning story time into something of a special event.

As the young audience tucked into homemade buns and sandwiches, a pitcher of orange squash always at hand, they were treated to a feast of pictures and sounds. Nanna Rebecca used to bring poems and tales to life with the help of picture books and puppets fashioned out of towels. It was magical and Denise regrets that storytelling may not be as much a feature of family life as it used to be. Indeed, she feels that internet, TV and video games vie for too large a chunk of our leisure time, already a scarce commodity given the nature of our busy lives. While it is important for children to become familiar with technology at a relatively young age, it is worth questioning whether or not this may be happening at the expense of family and culture.

In the book Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge, author Jean-Noel Jeanneney offers a European perspective about information, particularly the kind we get from the internet. Following a partnership announced between Google and five British and American libraries, the author drew attention to the detrimental effects this could have on European culture in the long run. The world library envisioned by Google is in danger of excluding works of art created by artists in cultures where, for example, English is not the mother tongue.

When I spoke to Marija Hammett, daughter of well-loved writer Trevor Zahra, she was quick to emphasise that storytelling is a great way to expose children to the proper use of language. This cannot be underestimated in a country like ours. With the advent of Cable TV and the Web, there are increased opportunities to learn how to write and speak English correctly. At times Maltese is treated as if it is some kind of runner-up.

In Understanding Children's Literature, a collection of essays edited by Peter Hunt, a paper by Tony Watkins - Space, History and Culture: The Setting of Children's Literature - highlights the fact that the language and literature a people share are part of their identity. The Maltese language is one such marker of identity. As adults set the atmosphere to narrate a story, they also ground their children in a past which gives them the means to move forward. There has been, from time immemorial, a tendency for dominant cultures to suppress minorities. Parents, however, may stand up for their history by passing down its stories and language to their children.

Cultural issues aside, it would be naïve of us to believe that the information obtained by means of the internet is all the instruction we need. When educators and parents take the trouble to create the right mood to tell a story, they are also creating an emotional bond with the children they are entertaining. Marija told me that her father used to tell stories when it was time for dinner. He used to make them up there and then, entertaining his children to the point that they sometimes asked for a repeat of the story a day or so later. Since the stories were improvised, their father used to forget, occasionally, what he had come up with earlier. Their involvement was such that the children used to voice their protest when the repeat performance did not tally with the original version.

Both Denise and Marija believe that atmosphere is crucial when it comes to storytelling. You can, perhaps, make the lights dimmer and bring out the cushions. The adult, Marija told me, can sit down next to the children. It is a simple gesture which shows that the storyteller is entering the children's world. This is reinforced by involving the children in the narrative.

Marija showed me a large format book by Trevor Zahra called Oink-Oink. It is part of a series of books which includes Krispella and Kemm Naf Inpinġi. I was curious. Did Trevor Zahra's children have a hand in their father's creative process? Oink-Oink, Marija explained, was inspired by the sounds game they used to play during long car rides. I also saw one of the literacy sacks she uses at her childcare centre.

She opened the large cloth bag and out popped the old lady of There was an old lady who swallowed a fly and a host of bean bags, including the fly itself. The storyteller is meant to literally push the bean bags down the old lady's mouth as the story unfolds.

According to the National Literary Trust in Britain, story sacks are ideal for parents who are ill at ease around books. The trust's experience of story sacks shows that they not only encourage parents to read to their children; they also encourage parents themselves to take up reading during their free time.

Incidentally, 2008 is Britain's National Year of Reading. While contents vary, story sacks usually contain the book itself together with a number of props.

This instantly brings Nanna Rebecca to mind.

Denise's grandmother introduced story aids at a time when educational material was not as easy to find or purchase as it is today. Indeed, our country experienced a dark period during which education came up against a great deal of hostility. Yet Nanna Rebecca managed to fascinate her grandchildren with an inventory of handmade props, inspiring Denise and her husband Ramon to repeat the experience for a wider audience.

Denise and Ramon are, in fact, currently caught up in the last-minute preparations required to open the doors of Nanna Rebecca's Story House.

It is a fitting tribute to the lady who took the time to motivate a generation of youngsters. One of her cousins, Denise mentioned, is Mark Calleja who has created, among other things, the title character of the One TV series Marvin.

Denise and Ramon hope that Nanna Rebecca's Story House will be so much more than a place where people may browse around and purchase books. Their idea is to complement the shop with a centre for storytelling and make-believe.

It will, Denise explained, assist clients to foster a creative mind and bring on the itch to read more.

The phrase do not touch, she emphasised, is banned at Nanna Rebecca's Story House. Children will have the opportunity to explore a wide variety of activities.

A small theatre stage, a puppet theatre and a dressing-up area are some of the more elaborate props which will be available.

There will also be workshops aimed to attract both older children and parents. Speaking of older children and parents, Denise told me that she and her cousins are still very close.

They organise family dos on a regular basis, during the course of which they seek to keep the children entertained in the style of Nanna Rebecca.

In The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia, Orlando Figes unearths the goings-on of everyday life during a turbulent period of Russia's history.

Bolshevik ideology and the rampage of Stalin's purges wiped out a generation of parents. Grandparents were left to fill the void.

Many of them attempted to keep tradition, identity and spiritual beliefs alive by passing their ways on to their grandchildren.

Some parents, on the other hand, tried to do the best they could, given the unfortunate turn of their circumstances.

Particularly inspiring is the story of Nikolai Kondratiev, with which Figes concludes his third chapter, The Pursuit of Happiness.

Kondratiev, sentenced to eight years in prison on trumped-up charges, wrote letters to his daughter Elena.

They included stories which were inspired by the wildlife with which he was surrounded. Occasionally, the stories were allegories for the deteriorating conditions of the country.

Kondratiev probably sensed that he was a condemned man. He was executed in 1938.

The very mention of Stalin's camps remains notorious to this day. Yet, while the system disrupted family life, this man tried to play an active role in his daughter's life by using a pen to offer guidance to the child he would never see again.

It makes me thankful for all the time I have been granted to share a universe of make-believe with my son.