This review of The Natural Storyteller is from June Kent in Indie Shaman, issue 35. Many thanks to June Kent for her enthusiastic and thoughtful review, and for permission to share it here.
The Natural Storyteller is an enchanting book full of beautiful stories together with innovative ideas for practical activities which nurture literary skills and a connection to the natural world.
Author Georgiana Keable has taught storytelling at Oslo University since 1997 and she launched the Norwegian Storytelling Festival. Her stories reflect our relationship with nature and she often travels, asking strangers to share stories with her. The Natural Storyteller contains 48 stories from around the world, re-fashioned for children today, as well as games and activities including follow-up quizzes, riddles, story maps, planting a tree and wildlife tracking. The stories are from a variety of cultures and times; some based on myths and legends while others are real life tales, dealing with interesting topics of historical or current day relevance. All of them are inspirational.
Children are natural storytellers, both in listening and in creating stories and The Natural Storyteller is a wonderful resource, both as a source of pure enjoyment and for educational purposes. However as Keable herself says if you don’t want to tell stories “That’s totally fine! Just enjoy the book” and you will, whether you are reading the stories for yourself, or out loud as a bed-time story or in a story telling circle.
Georgiana Keable is a wonderfully talented storyteller and The Natural Storyteller is an absolute delight. I would highly recommend this book for children, parents and educators but it would also be excellent for anyone of any age who enjoys reading or sharing exquisite short stories with meaning.
Buy the book here…
More about Indie Shaman here…
