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Tikki tikki tembo

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You know one of the most beautiful things about a storytelling workshop? I listened to so many stories! Here's one of them (not told by Nell, but by one of the workshop participants). Long, long ago, in a village in China, there lived a family with two sons. The elder son was called Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-peri-pembo. The younger one was simply called Chang. One day, the two brothers were playing near the well. Suddenly, Chang fell into the well! The elder brother ran to his mother. "Mother, mother!" he cried. "Chang has fallen into the well!" "Quick!" cried his mother. "Go to the old man near the well and ask him for help!" So Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-peri-pembo ran to the old man. "Old man, old man!" he cried. "Chang has fallen into the well!" Hurriedly, the old man got to his feet, took a ladder and rescued little Chang. And then, … [Read more...]

Storytelling!

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The difference between storytelling and drama is that the audience actually exists. The actor engages with the audience, can hear the audience, see the audience and speak to the audience. And what a wonderful experience my first storytelling experience was! Burd Ellen makes the mistake of going widdershins; Childe Rowland rescues her. We don't have Childe Rowland to rescue us, so what's the moral of the story? Don't go widdershins around a church! What an outdated story it sounds like, but Nell Phoenix made every moment come alive. Working with (or against) adults with huge inhibitions and children who did not know how to behave, she told the story with music, drama, dance and singing coming together in a delightful storytelling performance. Hsss! went the hissing rocks. Dhup! fell the heads that were cut off. Haaaah! sighed the golden gate. Murmurmurmurmur ... went the … [Read more...]

Day Three – Reading is Fun!

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I always tremble when I talk about my book. But somehow, today was just perfect. For once, I felt that the children simply loved the story and were still eager for more! Today was a grand day. I bit my lip controlling my laughter as a child read a little excerpt he had written about writing letters. About how he would write a letter. His mother would write a letter. His father would write a letter. His friends would write letters too. He ended the letter-writing spree with 'I love Geronimo Stilton'. I didn't quite understand the link, somehow. The children are wonderfully enthusiastic about everything I do with them! I made them write, make comics, listen, draw, colour... They were excited about everything! The library wants me to conduct the workshop again during the holidays. I'm not yet looking forward to it - right now, I'm looking forward to two more sessions … [Read more...]

Day Two – Reading is Fun!

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Yesterday was the second exciting session with eager young children, waiting to be entertained. I began with a presentation on the process of the making of the book - from the mind of the writer to the hands of the reader. It was a long (yet brief) detailed explanation of different aspects of the process. Reading, getting an idea, writing, sending the manuscript, rejections, sending it again, an acceptance, contract, editing ... It was an engaging discussion, with the children enthusiastic about participating. "Any questions?" I asked, before moving on to the next activity I had planned for them. Several hands went up. I asked one of them. His question was, "If the process is so long, why does anyone want to become a writer?" All the other hands went down. I think everyone had the same question. … [Read more...]

Sophie’s Lucky

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The perfect children's book is not one that you read and say, "Oh, I would have loved it so much if I had read it when I was seven!" The perfect children's book is one that you read and say, "What a truly delightful book!" And that's what I feel when I read Sophie's Lucky, or, in fact, practically everything I've read by Dick King-Smith (except one, to tell the truth). I love what he makes me feel. I love that warm sense of belonging, of animal love, of regular daily happiness. I remember being thrilled with The Sheep-Pig and thoroughly enjoying Ace. I loved How Green Was My Mouse and so many others - so many that I've lost count. Sophie in this series is such a lovely girl! I love the kinds of words Dick King-Smith continually uses for her; I love how she thinks coming down from Scotland has to be downhill all the way because, very clearly, it's … [Read more...]

Day One – Reading is Fun!

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And fun it certainly was! I had 21 children there in all. Apparently, after 20 registrations had been made, someone wanted to join. The child was told that there were no seats left, but she could try her luck, show up at the workshop and see if anyone backed out. The child diligently showed up early. No one backed out, but how could I tell her to go home? I told her to join in! We read, we acted, we played. I recited Television by Roald Dahl. I made them recite several poems. One of them was exceptionally good. I made them go get to know one another, asking one another questions about books, what the others like, what they dislike, evertything. How enthusiastic all of them were! At the end, they filled a feedback slip for me. 18 children chose 'good' from the three options given to them (Good, Average, Bad). One child asked what 'average' meant and then happily ticked average. One … [Read more...]

The Lion King

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I belong to the generation that was addicted to The Lion King video game. I loved jumping on the giraffes' heads, and loved to get the bonus points for a golden lion that did not look like a lion at all. I loved moving from level to level of jumping colour. However, I also belonged to the very small group of children who had not watched the movie. I remember a friend telling me that he had reached the Elephant Graveyard, and it was a very difficult level. "What elephant graveyard?" I asked. He looked at me wide-eyed. "The one with the hyenas!" I did not admit that I had neither watched the movie nor reached that level. I finally watched the movie yesterday and learned a lot of things. One, Pumbaa is not a wild boar as I was led to believe. He is a warthog. Two, the jumping on giraffe's heads is part of a song. Three, the golden lion that does not look like a lion has a meaning … [Read more...]