Collected and Reviewed by Patty Barr
Native American storyteller Joseph Bruchac offers stories from a wide range of North American Indian tribes. He writes of their origin, history, and culture. Connections are seen through art, nature, generations of families, ceremonies, and spirituality. A few sample stories are included for each topic, but the focus of the book is mostly on history and the author's personal experiences. An index and a chapter listing sources are included.
Cole, Amy and Carolyn Haas, Faith Bushnell, and Betty Weinberger. I Saw a Purple Cow and 100 Other Recipes for Learning. Little, Brown, and Co., 1972. Paper ed. ISBN 0-316-15175-0; $10.95, 96 p.
This book is intended to be used by parents or pre-school teachers who can use everyday materials and experiences to teach young children. The book is divided into sections on crafts, rhythm and music, creating, dramatics, parties, and games. Simple directions and illustrations make the activities easy to use. Many of the ideas include a list of needed equipment. The projects are intended to help children have fun as they learn.
Fredericks, Anthony D. Silly Salamanders and Other Slightly Stupid Stuff for Readers Theatre. Teacher Ideas Press, 2000. Paper ed, ISBN 1-56308-825-8; $23.50, 157 p.
Humorous scripts are guaranteed to bring laughs as students read fractured fairy tales and tall tales. The author gives persuasive arguments for the value of readers' theatre, and provides suggestions for staging and presenting readers' theatre. 24 scripts are included, as well as 7 scripts without endings. Possible conclusions are given at the end of each script, in a multiple choice form, with the option of writing your own ending. Appendices are included which contain a bibliography of tall tales and legends and ideas for scripts and resources.
Gustafson, Chris. Acting Out: Readers' Theatre Across the Curriculum. Linworth Publishing, Inc., 2002. Paperback ed. ISBN 1-58683-064-3; $36.95, 195 p.
Chris Gustafson is a middle school librarian who has written reader's theatre scripts to reinforce national educational standards. The scripts are organized to fit the cor curriculum areas: language arts, social studies, math, and science. Information literacy is also included. Some of the scripts are original material, while others are from the public domain or adapted from current young adult literature. Most are very short for easy inclusion in a class period. Instructions are also given for helping students write their own reader's theatre and suggestions are made for grading standards on readers theatre presentations.
Kraus, Anne Marie. Folktale Themes and Activities for Children, Volume 1: Pourquoi Tales. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1998. Paper ed. ISBN 1-56308-521-6. $22.50, 151 p.
Pourquoi tales five explanations for "why" questions, and the author, a school library media specialist, gives many suggestions for using these folktales with children. For use as a resource to plan lessons for children ages 6-11, the book has an annotated bibliography as well as chapters about connecting folktales to science, social studies, and creative projects. One helpful chapter contains a chart that shows topics, porquoi elements, and then lists specific books or stories on those subjects. Most stories are tied to science, such as plants, animals, weather, and the solar system. Illustrations and charts included sample shadow puppets, Venn diagrams, storyboards for multimedia slide shows, and comparison charts.
Kraus, Anne Marie. Folktale Themes and Activities for Children, Volume 2: Trickster and Transformation Tales. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1998. Paper ed. ISBN 1-56308-608-5. $24.50.
A continuation of volume 1, which highlights "porquoi Tales," this book helps to plan lessons with folktales for children ages 6-11. Activities in the first section are suggested for comparing trickster tales through the use of Venn diagrams and charts. The second part deals with transformation tales. A large section is also devoted to Cinderella tales. A few art activities are explained and illustrated that visually create transformations. Very helpful annotated bibliographies sorted by country and culture are included, as well as charts which detail themes and topics with related books and stories. Shadow puppet patterns for Maui and the Sun are a sample of some of the creative extension ideas.
Luxbacher, Irene. The Jumbo Book of Art. Kids Can Press, 2003. Paper ed. ISBN 1-55074-762-2; $14.95, 208p.
The Avenue Road Arts School in Toronto, Canada shares the "adventure" of art through sketches, photographs, and text. Four main types of methods for creating art are presented; drawing, painting, sculpting, and mixed media. Easy-to-follow instructions for a variety of projects are included in a format that provides a list of artists' tools and step-by-step illustrated instructions. Projects for the most part are appropriate for primary and intermediate-age children. Children can learn basic design terms and techniques and apply them to the simple ideas in the book.
McBride-Smith, Barbara. Tell it Together: Foolproof Scripts for Story Theatre. August House, 2001. Paper ed. ISBN 0-87483-650-6; $14.95, 192 p.
It isn't Readers' Theatre, its Story Theatre. The difference, as explained by the author, is that story theatre can evolve to include props, costumes, sound effects, and simple sets. Students may use scripts, or they might memorize their parts. The book contains twenty-three tales tested by elementary school children. There are myths, folktales, scripts based on fiction books, and one retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Each short script calls for five to fifteen cast members. A chapter at the conclusion has tips for choosing material and writing scripts. There is also a pronunciation guide and a list of resources for further information and scripts.
Raines, Shirley C. and Robert J. Canady. More Store S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-R-S: More Activities to Expand Children's Favorite Books. Gryphon House, 1991. Paperback ed. ISBN 0-87659-153-5; $14.95, 254 p.
This book expands on the original story s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s, with activities and ideas to accompany 90 children's books. Each recommended book has 2 pages devoted to dramatics, music and movement, science and nature, cooking, art, mathematics, and other pre-school activities. There are 18 different units, with five suggested titles for each. The units cover common earl-childhood themes. Connecting the child with literature across the curriculum provides a successful formula for teachers and librarians.
Segal, Lore and Randall Jarrell, translators. The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0-374-3397-6; $28.00, 334 p.
This collection of 27 fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm contains many old favorites (Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) as well as some that will be less familiar to the average reader. Maurice Sendak's black and white illustrations add to the text with the visual portrayal of the fairy tale characters. There is some nudity in the pictures. The stories are not sugarcoated versions. Some, in fact, are quite gruesome. The little story, The Juniper Tree, contains murder and cannibalism. These tales don't necessarily have a "happily ever after" ending, but they are authentic to the original stories written by the Grimms.
Weissman, Annie. Do Tell! Storytelling for You and Your Students. Linworth Publishing, Inc., 2002. Paper ed. ISBN 1-58683-074-0; $36.95, 86 p.
Annie Weissman's book is a primer for the beginning storyteller who wants to incorporate storytelling in student programming. A detailed table of contents highlights the main chapters in the book, including how to get started, presenting a story, bibliographies on selected topics, involving students in storytelling, short sample stories, and board storytelling. A few primitively drawn patters are provided to accompany some of the flannel/magnetic board stories. The stories range from very simple to moderate, and most are familiar tales that should be easily learned by students. A short list of websites is at the end of the book, but a few of the URLs have since been changed and are inaccessible.
