Everyone Has a Story to Tell- The International Storytelling Festival

Storytelling is an awesome art form. It is gaining momentum through out the country with organizations, events, and educational activities. Teachers, healthcare workers, therapists, corporate executives, librarians, spiritual leaders, parents, and others regularly make storytelling a vibrant part of their everyday lives and work. Dr. Isbell also states that storytelling can make a difference in children's lives. Read her list below...

• The period of 0-8 years of age is a critical time for oral language development
• Stories told match children's level of understanding.
• They provide a new way to learn how the world works.
• Exposes them to stories from other cultures and different people.
• Storytelling develops their visual imagery.
• Provides opportunities to discuss moral and social issues.
• Increase listening comprehension of stories.

The International Storytelling Festival is coming to Jonesborough, TN for it's annual event, October 1-3. It is a great time with lots of visual arts and storytelling. This event has been going on for 38 years and is one of the top 100 events to attend in North America. Not to mention, it's so close to Knoxville, TN! If you want more information on this event, read about it here.

The image is of a book called Everyone Has a Story to Tell, by Rebecca Isbell and Marilyn Buchanan. This is a great children's books with some wonderful illustrations by William B. Bledsoe, who is a talented illustrator with many known works of art. The story captures a child's journey through the festival and demonstrates the amazing power of storytelling to children.

Dr. Isbell, one of the writers of the book is an advocate in early childhood education and literacy. I found this great project on her website that I think Caleb would enjoy. It's so simple too.

Rolling Photos
Idea for Infants / Toddlers (6-14 months)

large oatmeal container with lid
contact paper
photographs of each infant in the classroom and family members
pictures of people from magazines

Cover a large oatmeal containe rincluding the lid with contact paper.Using one container for each infant, securely tape photos of the infant, her family members, or magazine pictures of people to the container.This activity will encourage older infants to move to get to the pictures as they roll away.

For more information on Dr. Isbell, read here.