Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for Storytelling [Paperback]

Nancy Schimmel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

For parents, teachers, librarians, goup leaders, and people who just like to tell stories, this is a first rate introduction to the art, based on Schimmel's years of professional storytelling and teaching...Just Enough To Make A Story contains an amazing amount of useful material.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Women have used stories to teach and delight children, at home and in the classroom. As oral history, women's stories have preserved women's wisdom and culture, sometimes as the only existing records, passed down through tellers, generation after generation. Beyond this, learning how to tell a story can make you a more effective orator and conversationalist, as well as helping you share your own life experiences and those of your family. In simple and elegant style, Nancy Schimmel relates the process of storytelling from choosing and learning a story to telling one. This is a terrific sourcebook with plenty of ideas to get you going and reading lists at the end of each section, including a four page listing of sources for stories involving strong and active heroines. No matter what your motivation for storytelling, this book can show you how. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by Ilene Rosoff

About the Author

Nancy Schimmel has performed her lively, thoughtful programs of traditional and original stories and songs at the National Storytelling Festival and at venues for adults, children and families throughout the country. Her book, Just Enough to Make a Story, grew out of her storytelling course at the University of Wisconsin library school and is now in its third edition.

The daughter of songwriter Malvina Reynolds (Little Boxes), Nancy grew up in Berkeley and Long Beach, California, listening to her mothers songs and her fathers autobiographical stories. She earned a BA and Master of Library Science degree at UC Berkeley, worked as a childrens librarian, then cut loose to become a touring storyteller. She started writing songs on the road, and teamed up with Candy Forest in 1985. With the Plum City Players she performs multicultural songs and stories on the environment and womens history in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Sisters Choice Pr; 3 edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093216403X
• ISBN-13: 978-0932164032
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gain storytelling skill, July 26, 2004

By 

Karen Woodworth Roman "Happy Librarian" (DeKalb, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for Storytelling (Paperback)

Like all good storytellers, Nancy Schimmel starts with a story. She than discusses the story behind the story. Finally, the author makes the point that we are all storytellers. Some of us are naturally better than others. She points out that this book will help storytellers acquire the skills of a good storyteller.

Just Enough to Make a Story is full of good, practical advice. It is also a super resource. It contains a number of complete stories and themed lists of stories. Schimmel starts off with several chapters on the basics of storytelling. Then she moves on to the stories. Next she discusses where to use stories and why to use stories. Finally she introduces several themes with annotated lists of stories.

The stories included are very tell-able as written. There are also illustrations and detailed instructions for several paper folding stories. One story, The Pancake, is for two tellers. This book includes sources and stories for all ages.

The source notes are fabulous. They include where the story came from or how she came by the idea for an original story. Schimmel notes if there are various versions and in what book the stories can be found.

I recommend this book. There is good advice from a seasoned teller. The resources are also very useful. My only criticism of this book is that the font is too small. I would prefer that this book was a large trade book size.

Karen Woodworth-Roman

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book!, October 3, 2001

By 

Myriam Namolaru (Haifa, ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for Storytelling (Paperback)

I'm very found of this book. Yes, really!
I'm a mother of two and this book helped me a lot.
How to choose a story? How to memorize it? How to tell it?
This is the questions that i asked myself and i received
many answers! And also, what to prefer: books with pictures,
puppets, origami, songs, to go with these stories.
Nancy Schimmel advised me very good.
There are also beautiful stories and the right way to tell them..
THe story of the tailor is the favourite of my elder son (7).
But there are others as: a story for Heather, a raincoat (origami), the Pancake ( a tandem story),the Lionmakers (a story
used for the education of princes in India), the Handsome Prince
(origami that intrigued very much my son).
Nancy Schimmel explain also how to tell stories in house and
elsewhere (school....)
If you look for list of good books about stories to tell to adults, stories with active heroines, peace and ecologie stories,
you don't disapointed!
This 57 pages book is wonderful!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Enough to Make a Story, August 29, 2000

By 

John F. Shipley (Cumberland, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for Storytelling (Paperback)

This is an excellent source book for teachers and storytellers.The material is well presented, and easy to adapt to various techniques. For beginners or old hats, this is a very useful text.