Language and Literacy are not only about reading

It felt like a fantastic boost to oral storytelling to learn a short while ago that, as of June next year, the writer Kevin Crossley-Holland will add to his many other roles by becoming President of the School Library Association. Like Philip Pullman and Michael Morpurgo, Kevin Crossley-Holland is an excellent oral teller of stories as well as being a highly respected writer of children’s books.  

I suspect that too many people are inclined to think that language and literacy are all about reading. I don’t agree. As a professional storyteller who has worked with children of all ages in hundreds of schools up and down the land, I know for sure that the telling of stories can provide the most enormous boost for getting children engaged in listening, talking, imagining and writing. It’s one of the main reasons why I began my new Storytelling Starters Blog at the beginning of October. I want to encourage as many people as possible – and especially teachers – not to be afraid or hesitant about telling stories orally but to try it for themselves. It’s empowering and effective and it’s fun. I know Kevin Crossley-Holland would agree. He’s one of the Patrons of the Society for Storytelling and, in that role, has been an enormous support to us peripatetic storytellers.

Mary’s Blog is at www.storyworks.org.uk/wordpress.

The School Library Association’s website is: www.sla.org.uk

The Society for Storytelling’s website is: www.sfs.org.uk