Farm day

The old farm is a great place for storytelling, and we're delighted to be part of the traditional "Farm Day" when it opens to hundreds of children.


The old farmhouse, the barns, the fields beyond - all set the scene perfectly.

Early in the morning the storyteller takes a deep breath and mentally runs through stories about chicks and ducklings and piggies.

Here come the buses!

Here are the kids, pouring off the buses!

Now it's time for story after story after story, as each group takes a break to sit on the hay bales and connect the characters in the tales to the live creatures they've just seen and touched.

Spring Stories

Have you heard the frogs out calling?

They seem to have inspired several tellers lately.

Preschoolers at Ellettsville were entertained by Miss Stephanie's lively puppet rendition of "Jump, Frog, Jump". Everyone was happy when the frog escaped from the basket.

First graders at Highland Park weren't sure about the Korean folktale of the "Little Green Frogs". They liked the sons doing just the opposite of their Mother's wishes, but they were concerned when the Mother died.

'The Wide-mothed Frog" in two different variations entertained both groups.

Do you have a favorite frog story?

Children's Storytelling Workshop

Pamela will be introducing the world of gardening through stories to children ages 3 and up at Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.
This special event is sponsored by Bloomingfoods Community Outreach.

Saturday, Feb.28

call 812-855-8808 to register or for more information.

Wintertelling Tellers

It was a lively - and thoughtful - evening of stories at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium last night. Stories that explored themes of love and fortune and the strange ways of fate, with a little malice and a cup of tea tossed into the mix.

The audience was enthusiastic and well entertained by this collection of skillful storytellers.

Wintertelling

Wintertelling 2009

is coming up:

Feb. 6

Monroe County Public Library

Auditorium

7:30 p.m.

Hope premieres her Lincoln piece!

Of the People: Stories and Images of Abraham Lincoln

told by Hope Baugh
In collaboration with the Indiana Historical Society
Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center Frank and Katrina Basile Theater
450 W. Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Sunday, January 18th
4 -6 p.m.
Tickets $10/Advance, $12/Door
Call 317-232-1882 or www.storytellingarts.org/store/category/Tickets

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of our 16th president's birth, Hope Baugh will premiere her original piece Of the People: Stories and Images of Abraham Lincoln as part of the Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories Series presented by Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society.

Hope drew inspiration from Lincoln's unique position as the first president to be widely portrayed via photographs and other visual images. This, she imagines, gave the American people a sense of "ownership" of their President that had not existed before. His humble childhood in a one-room cabin and lack of formal education made him seem truly "of the people" -- an image that lingers even today.

Hope Baugh currently works full-time as a department manager for a public library, and part-time as a freelance storyteller and teacher. This year, she will be teaching a graduate workshop in storytelling for Master of Library Science students at IUPUI, and will serve as an Encore Association judge for community theater in the 2008 - 09 season. She also maintains a blog, http://www.indytheatrehabit.com/, where she reviews several local theater and storytelling performances per week. While not teaching, blogging, judging or performing, Hope enjoys spending time in her garden.

Hope is a long time member of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild.

Listen on-line

Here's a site to check out:

The Art of Storytelling with Children

http://www.storytellingwithchildren.com/

"A national online community of storytellers hosted by Eric Wolf"

Try listening to some of the audios - available as podcasts or just download to your computer.

Check out the list of guests he's interviewed - you'll recognize a lot of the names there.