Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes [Paperback]

Judy Sima (Author), Kevin Cordi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2003 | ISBN-10: 156308919X | ISBN-13: 978-1563089190

Anyone who wants to start a youth storytelling group or troupe will find a wealth of practical information and inspiration in this guide. Written by two veteran storytellers and storytelling group leaders, this book takes you step by step through the entire process of planning, starting, managing, and growing your storytelling group-even up through taking the show on the road. Complete instructions for teaching storytelling skills and performing are accompanied by dozens of reproducible activities and practical tips-from how to recruit members and how to adapt stories for telling to what to wear when performing, and fundraising ideas. Storytelling is a powerful teaching and learning tool. It increases literacy and language skills, builds creativity and imagination, instills confidence, encourages cooperation and collaboration-and it's great fun for everyone! Share the gift of storytelling with young people and watch them grow. Grades 4-12.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

A unique and reliable blueprint for beginning and sustaining a successful group or troupe of storytellers from grades 4 to 12. (A group is defined as three or more youths "who gather to tell stories," whereas a troupe is defined as three or more individuals "who travel as storytelling performers.") Even though the authors work with young people in the school setting, their organizational ideas and applications are equally suitable for community groups. Sima and Cordi cover everything from the preparation for the first meeting of the group through the teaching and then honing of skills to the actual performances that may start in classrooms in the local school and could grow to community (and even national) events. The book includes reproducible forms that will save a lot of work and lists of valuable resources. Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss's Children Tell Stories (Richard C. Owen, 1990) and Stories inMy Pocket (Fulcrum, 1996) are important for storytelling collections for youngsters, but Raising Voices is the complete, and essential, handbook for this special group of storytellers.--Judy Sokoll, Florida Storytelling Association, Naples
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Review

"Raising Voices shows how storytelling gives youth the opportunity to find and develop their own special voice that otherwise may never be heard....[h]as relevance and utility for Texas Speech Communication Association and Texas Forensic Association and that the field of communication needs such a venue as storytelling."-Texas Speech Communication Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited (April 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156308919X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563089190
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold!, June 29, 2003

By 

Karen Chace (East Freetown, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes (Paperback)

I am thrilled with this newest addition to my storytelling library. As a professional storyteller and story coach I know I will turn to this valuable resource again and again. It sparkles with insight, wisdom and every basic tool you could possibly need to nurture your own Storytelling Troupe.

This concise and comprehensive hands-on guide is written with clarity and conviction. I predict it will become one of the bibles of storytelling, one which storytellers and teachers will turn to again and again. A must have for anyone interested in storytelling and passing on the ancient art of Oral Tradition!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure chest!, May 10, 2003

By 

Yvonne Healy "storyteller" (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes (Paperback)

From recruiting to lesson plans, from games to tellable tales, everything you need to start & grow a storytelling group is here. This book is wonderful! An instant classic! Comprehensive & clear, well-written & easy-to-reference. Designed for use with grades 4-12, this book will be my well-thumbed resource for teaching all my artist-residencies from elementary through college and beyond! It''s great to have everything in one place. Thanks!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely NOTHING is left out!, May 16, 2004

By 

Gwyneth Calvetti (West Salem, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes (Paperback)

Maybe I'm just a wee bit biased, since I get mentioned in the acknowledgements, but even if that weren't the case, Judy and Kevin have done an incredible job of putting together THE resource guide for anyone interested in helping cultivate the next generation of storytellers. Whether you work with kidtellers in a school, church, community setting or another venue, this book is worth every penny it will cost you.

I've coached kidtellers at both the middle school and elementary school levels for about eight years, but Judy has been at this three times as long at her middle school. Her years of experience, along with Kevin's insights as the advisor to a high school telling troupe, are invaluable for any of us just starting in this venture. From the logistics of how to promote involvement, stories to tell, managing your resources, arranging opportunities for telling experiences and many things you never even considered, it's all in the pages of this book.

There are a very few other books out there that address the concerns of those working with youthtellers. The books by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, along with Len Cabral's storytelling book for kids, have long been among my favorites, and will continue to be. However, none of them covers the many aspects of actually organizing your troupe, helping it to grow and celebrating it's success quite like "Raising Voices." Of particular interest is Judy's approach to recruiting adults in the community and training them to become story coaches to the tellers. Not only does this allow the kids more frequent opportunities to rehearse and refine individually, it develops relationships across generations, something that is in danger of dying in our culture today.

If I had to limit myself to only one book to help me in my journey as a coach of young storytellers, this would be it.
Judy and Kevin have truly filled a niche with this volume!