This is an excerpt from an article in the December 1950 issue of Canadian Camping Magazine.
The Art of Storytelling
Mary S. Edgar – Director, Glen Bernard Camp
Last summer a group of counselors-in-training were gathered by the fireside in my cabin, for a talk on “The Art of Story Telling”. It was the end of a busy camp day; the rain was beating against the windows; the fire burned brightly and the setting was perfect for stories. But I was scheduled for a lecture on story telling! Maybe it was a lucky break for the “Subs” that my notes had somehow been misplaced. “Just tell us stories instead!”, they begged, “and some other time give us the notes.” So that is what happened that rainy night. In the flicker of the firelight, I told story after story to a group of eighteen-year-olds, and no small child ever gave more rap attention to a bedtime story than did those almost-grown-up campers.
They had probably heard most of the stories before, for the tales have been told and retold to each succeeding group of campers for many summers. But there was the same eager response – the thrill of expectancy – the shining eyes and the clamor for “just one more”, which is an inspiration and unfailing satisfaction to any story teller. It was just an illustration of the accepted fact that we never become too grown-up to enjoy stories. Combined with wood fire and candlelight stories or poetry can grip the interest and stir the emotions of any group, young or old.
It is because of the potential value of story telling in camp that we should place more and more emphasis on it in our evening programs. We should plan more opportunities for training and arrange to give counselors more chances to tell stories. Just as we learn to do by doing, so, too, we learn to tell stories by telling them. Camp directors can give a great deal of encouragement to would-be story tellers by providing them with suitable stories to tell; by given them suggestions about how to prepare and tell a story, and by arranging a definite time and place for them to meet their audience – perhaps at first a cabin group or a camping trip group, then a larger audience such as a section, and later possibly the entire camp group at a campfire or chapel service.
Eventually the missing notes on “The Art of Story Telling” were located. It is with the hope that they might be of interest to a wider group that they are condensed in this article.
The art of story telling is the oldest art in the world. Long before there were books or scrolls written, there were stories told. In fact, that was the only way the oldest tales of every race were passed on and preserved, though a tremendous wealth of material has been lost. In the early days of every primitive people and, in fact, through long centuries, the story teller was a very important person. What books, newspapers, radio, theatres and television mean to our age, the art of the story teller meant to an earlier age. he passed down the myths, the legends, the fables and the great stories of his country’s heroes and history.
One of the great masters of the art of story telling was Jesus. His stories made a lasting impression on those who heard them. Some of the stories or parables learned from his own keen observation, like the Sower, some perhaps were experiences remembered from childhood, like the story of the Lost Coin. However, many, probably were stories to which he, too, had once eagerly listened, like the Prodigal Son and the Talents. These stories were remembered and retold for many long years before they were written down and preserved for us.
In a later age of chivalry and adventure, the troubadour sang his ballads and the story teller told his tales in all the courts of Europe and Asia, and his was the seat of honor by the fire – sometimes in great castle halls and sometimes by the gypsy fire under the stars.
Compared to the past, story telling in the present day is almost a lost art. There are story hours occasionally on the radio and in children’s libraries, but eh story teller is, for the most part, a professional in an uncrowded profession. We must not, however, overlook the fact that a vast company of fathers and mothers still tuck their children into bed and cheerfully respond to the urgent demand for a story. Happy is the child who has memories of bed-time stories!
If there is any place, however, where the art of story telling should be properly revived, it is in the summer camp, where every year increasing numbers of boys and girls gather around the campfire, just as the primitive folk and the Indians and Pioneers did in the long ago. Away from the many competitive, commercial attractions of the city, the story teller regains his prestige and has amazing opportunities to transport a responsive audience to new worlds of adventure and romance.
Anyone can master the art of story telling, provided they are keen enough about it. The most important way to make a story interesting is to be really interested in it yourself. Therefore, or at least familiarize yourself with the sequence of events. in imagination, see things happen in Technicolor as your describe them. Know the plot so well that no small disturbance can throw you off the trend of the story. Remember that each story, well told, has good beginning, a climax and a satisfactory ending. You need not apologize for telling the same story over and over again. If it worth telling once, it is worth repeating.
There are many inherent values in story telling. There is a physical value. It is relaxing just to listen to tale unfold. Bed-time stories, if they are not too exciting, promote a gradual drowsiness on the part of small children. It is an excellent custom in a junior camp to have stories told in each cabin for about twenty minutes after the children are tucked into bed. There is a tendency to settle down more quickly and it provides insurances against homesickness.
There is an educational value as well. Stories reveal life in different surroundings and various periods in world history. Like a magic carpet, a story can transport one to far-away lands and long-ago days, and one can relive the dramatic experiences of the great men and women of fiction and biography.
A good story may have tremendous influence in character building. Through the strivings and courage, the daring and idealism of others, we are often inspired to emulate their deeds.
There is a vast wealth of material available. Many modern children’s books are enchanting. Many of the oldest tales are being republished and dressed up with beautiful illustrations. Let us not neglect poetry. The stories in narrative poems are easy to learn. There are ballads with a rich store of excitement and romance, and many nonsense rhymes are popular in camp life. The range of fine stories is almost unlimited.
The ideal story teller is one whose love for life gives zest to what he says and does, whose sense of humor is unfailing; one who has a sympathetic interest in all kinds of people, and a sense of wonder for the amazing out-of-doors. From his art of story telling, he not only gives lavishly of entertainment and inspiration, but he gains rich rewards for himself, and is humbly grateful that he is a channel through which may pass to others some of the treasures of the story world.
“A story is a magic key to a child’s mind and heart. Wise teachers and parents should make full use of it.” Angelo Patri