The Power of Young Storytellers

Society and civilization thrives from storytellers. We learn in history class that before the invention of technology or the "cloud", previous civilizations orally passed down stories from generation to generation. Stories have the ability to entertain, inform, and create entire new worlds that are only as limited as the imagination. The basic premise of classics such as Cinderella can be seen across languages and cultures alike.

So, why all the talk about stories?

On Tuesday, January 19, Book Bears partnered with the National Honors Society (NHS) to hold a virtual event just for young storytellers. The children, with some help from NHS volunteers, were able to write their own story complete with illustrations. First, the storytellers laid out the outline of their story, determining aspects like characters, plot, and setting, and message. Then, using Google Slides, compiled their story by typing it out on several slides and adding pictures, either hand-drawn or from the internet. What resulted were nine creative, humorous, and adorable stories that were a pleasure to hear and see. They included stories such as:

• The Savannah Hero

• Mario's Greater Outer Space Race

• Princess an Pikachu

• The Glow in the Dark Paint

• The Adventure of Keeran and Ava

• Biscuit's Big Adventure

• The Magic Mushroom

• Benny & Molly

• Pink!

From "Mario's Great Outer Space Race"

"You should always make the best of what you have"

I had the opportunity to sit in and watch one of the stories be constructed from the ground up. The story was titled The Glow In The Dark Paint Job by Eden and Gracen. It went as follows: Thomas the Train and his friends are at the Steamworks when they accidentally bump into three buckets of glow in the dark paint. At first, they weren't happy about their new paint job, especially when Victor the Train Manager told them that they had to keep it forever. But in the end, they realize the benefits of having a glow-in-the-dark paint job! The message of the story, as can be seen on the final pages, is to always make the most of what you have.

I was impressed with the ease and speed with which the story was constructed. Seeing everything play out made me realize how even children have stories to tell that are absolutely worth hearing. The novels in literature classes that we students are all too familiar with are great, but if you have youth in your life that you can help tell stories, I'm a believer that everyone can learn a thing or two from what children have to say. It never hurts to hear from a youthful perspective that most people would disregard.

The world runs on storytelling. That's why here at Book Bears, our mission is to promote literacy and encourage children to tell their own stories. Storytelling is one of the most important skills to teach from a young age because of the countless fields that require it. Everything in the art and entertainment industry run on telling a story that is captivating, relatable, and/or educational. The same skills required for storytelling, such as creativity, can be applied to any field imaginable: engineering, architecture, etc. So, when we help our youth practice their storytelling skills, we're really preparing the leaders of the next generation.