Creative Storytelling: Building Community, Changing Lives

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Storytelling at all grade levels delights both children and their teachers, and this manual will undoubtedly be useful to teachers. Zipes describes his own ventures in classroom storytelling and outlines the process for teachers to follow. Particularly interesting are the variations of fairy tales that Zipes has researched. Without being overly scholarly, he whets the appetite, allowing teachers to develop their material according to time and interest. Zipes also includes useful material on the structure of fairy tales, as well as other types of stories such as the utopian tale and the myth. His final chapter gives suggestions for further reading that will extend the teacher's understanding of storytelling. A good "Notes and Sources" section and an extensive bibliography complete this concise and very useful aid to storytelling at all levels of the classroom. For academic collections.Nancy E. Zuwiyya, Binghamton City Sch. Dist., N.Y.

Ilene Cooper

Zipes is serious about his storytelling. His book is based on a program he has developed for schools and libraries in which storytelling becomes an integral part of the curriculum, not just an entertainment. After a solid discussion of why integration of storytelling in schools and libraries is a good idea, he goes on to discuss the different kinds of tales and offers specific telling techniques that can facilitate the kind of experience he thinks storytelling should be. In the last chapter, which is his very personal view of storytelling, Zipes looks at classic tales, so often featuring abused children, and correlates them to what is happening with child abuse today. Not everyone will agree with Zipes' methods or conclusions, but this is certainly thought provoking.