A Life in Storytelling

Anecdotes, Stories to Tell, Stories with Movement and Dance, Suggestions for Educators

Binnie Tate Wilkin

A Life in Storytelling contains the reflections and lessons from one of the most noted storytellers of our times. Fifty years of storytelling has provided Binnie Tate Wilkin with the experiences and insights to form the basis of a text for the storyteller, both for the professional librarian, teacher or parent wanting to provide children with substance through story. The sections of the book are designed to provide background material for the art and craft of storytelling, the methods and uses of storytelling, sources and examples of stories, and a broad selection of over 100 stories briefly annotated.

Included are sections that explain how to derive or adapt stories from current events, history, or imaginative writings and a detailed treatment in the use of dance in storytelling, a technique that, if not invented by Wilkin, has become a trademark of her approach. The treatment is always informal and personal and is interleaved with anecdotes drawn from the author’s more than 50 years of storytelling.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 174 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4422-3177-1 • Paperback • March 2014 • $77.00 • (£59.00)

978-1-4422-3178-8 • eBook • March 2014 • $73.00 • (£56.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General, Performing Arts / Storytelling, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Youth Services

A Life in Storytelling

Anecdotes, Stories to Tell, Stories with Movement and Dance, Suggestions for Educators

Paperback

eBook

Summary

A Life in Storytelling contains the reflections and lessons from one of the most noted storytellers of our times. Fifty years of storytelling has provided Binnie Tate Wilkin with the experiences and insights to form the basis of a text for the storyteller, both for the professional librarian, teacher or parent wanting to provide children with substance through story. The sections of the book are designed to provide background material for the art and craft of storytelling, the methods and uses of storytelling, sources and examples of stories, and a broad selection of over 100 stories briefly annotated.

Included are sections that explain how to derive or adapt stories from current events, history, or imaginative writings and a detailed treatment in the use of dance in storytelling, a technique that, if not invented by Wilkin, has become a trademark of her approach. The treatment is always informal and personal and is interleaved with anecdotes drawn from the author’s more than 50 years of storytelling.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 174 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4422-3177-1 • Paperback • March 2014 • $77.00 • (£59.00)

978-1-4422-3178-8 • eBook • March 2014 • $73.00 • (£56.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General, Performing Arts / Storytelling, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Youth Services

Author

Throughout her multifaceted career, Binnie Tate Wilkin has been a storyteller. Her presentations of African and American stories are still in demand. Yearly, she fulfills a standing invitation to entertain the public at the Los Angeles County Library’s Juneteenth celebration held at the A.C. Bilbrew Branch Library. After completing her Masters Degree in Library Science at the State University of New York at Albany, Ms. Wilkin was a school librarian and a children's librarian. As Children's Specialist for the Los Angeles City Library, she received national attention for her creative participation in that library's federally funded outreach project. Subsequently, after writing several articles in library literature, Binnie Tate Wilkin was recruited to lecture at library schools throughout the country including: The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, California State University, Fullerton, The University of California, at Los Angeles and at Berkeley, and The University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
Section One: Storytelling an Evolving Art
1. History and Culture
2. Folklore Defined
3. Educational Value
Section Two: Developing the Art and Craft
1. Storytellers
2. Choosing Stories
3. Reading, Adaptation and Learning
4. Developing Personal Style
5. Stories with Dance and movement
Section Three:
1. Suggestions for Educators, Parents and Adult Leaders
Section Four:
1. Stories to Tell
2. Three Original Tales
3. Resources Organizations and References
Index