Thank you, Emilio!

Two posts in a day, yet again! 

It's nice when kids draw me pictures, especially to show that they've really been listening. Emilio at Southern International School drew this for me today. It's his version of the ghost in The ghost with the one black eye, along with the baby (note the smell lines rising from the diaper). On the other side of the paper, he drew the puppets Peeps, Stephanie, Trixie and the table behind me that held water and cups. Emilio and I had a little issue at one point in the program (it's so hard to sit on the floor with your friends and NOT poke them), so I think this was an apology. It was very kind of him.

 

Thanks, Emilio!

Schools in Argentina so far

 

Today is the fifth school day of the tour. Because schools in Argentina teach at least half the day in Spanish, I tend to be at schools either in the morning or the afternoon, not both. Today I have three performances beginning at 1:30, so I have the morning here in the apartment. The school day runs until 4:30.

I've been having a grand time! So far, I've done fourteen shows at six schools, for students ranging from age 6 to 12. The level of English varies from school to school. Very few of the students so far have been native speakers of English. A few come up to tell me that they used to live in Florida or Connecticut. Of course, the younger kids generally understand less, but the puppets help me on that score.

The baby is always a hit.

The children wear uniforms and often the boys and girls are seated separately. I was at an all-girls school on Tuesday and Wednesday--perfect opportunities to tell Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch. 

Here's a 2nd grader joining in on Poor Little Bug on the Wall. 

That's it for today. Off I go to work!

Website re-do

Soon, very soon, my website will have a new look. My wonderful webmaster, also known as my sister, and I are working at a complete makeover. You'll be able to read this blog on the website, watch videos, listen to stories, find out more about what I do, and find out more about storytelling in general. You can listen to stories on the website now, but it's going to be a bit different.

Here's the insider tip: every time you refresh the listen-and-watch page, you'll get a different video and a different audio clip (whole stories only). I'm putting ALL the stories that I've recorded on the site. That's a lot of page refreshing! Yes, I still am selling the recordings on CDbaby.com, filmbaby.com and amazon.com but I also like making them easily available.

Oh, and there are new pictures. Here are a few:

Some of you have seen this on Facebook. It might be my favorite.

I...want...my...appa' juice!

The hair color is a little funny--don't worry, Baby still is more of a redhead than a blonde.

Peeps has come out of his shell.

I'll try to keep the calendar up to date, too. Look for the new site in the next few weeks.

ESL Storytelling

Sometimes I'm a little slow. I recently realized that after having given more than 200 performances and workshops for non-native speaker of English, in Belgium, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Bulgaria and Germany, as well as at schools in the US where there are many non-native English speakers, I might have a specialty. I have become an ESL storyteller.

Students listening to me at a school in Brazil in 2008

Let me be clear about a few things:

I'm not a bilingual storyteller. Well, I am, in a way--sometimes I'll tell stories in French and occasionally in Bulgarian, but when I go into ESL classes, I'm there to speak English.

I'm not a teacher of English as a Second Language. I'm a storyteller.

I am a storyteller who goes into settings where students don't speak English as their mother tongue. Here's how I make this most effective:

I speak distinctly and clearly.
I use lots of synonyms.
I use my facial expressions and body language to buttress the spoken language.
My choice of stories includes lots of repetition and universal humor.
No puns or wordplay.
With younger kids, my puppets do a little pre-teaching. For example, when I introduce Robert Munsch's brilliant story Stephanie's Ponytail, I point out some of the girls who have ponytails and some who don't in the audience. Then I show the audience the ponytail on my puppet.

Stephanie and her ponytail

Also with younger kids, I include fingerplays and songs. Some of these involve the whole body. No matter the language, some of us are kinesthetic learners, taking information in through our bodies.

Primary school students in Mexico, 2009

The fact that I understand a lot of Spanish helps with groups where that is the predominant language--for example, if kids say "Una bruja!" when they see my puppet Trixie I then can say in English, "Yes, she looks like a witch but she's not one, she's just very old. She's one hundred and eleven years old."

With older kids, I often explain an unusual word or two before I begin. For example, I tell the Bluebeard variant "Mr. Fox" to older kids. Within that story, there's a refrain that includes the word "bold." Most students don't know that this means courageous, so I tell them in advance. If I don't, I risk losing their attention--they'll stop listening to try to puzzle out that word.

After a story for older audiences (age 10 and up), I pause for about ten seconds so the students can explain to each other the parts they were unclear on within the stories. I'll also answer specific questions about the stories.

At the end of the session, as I like to do with audiences who are native English speakers, I invite the students older than about age 8 to ask questions about stories, storytelling, puppets or about me.

My goal is to provide a language-rich, story-rich, laughter-rich experience to extend the students' knowledge of English. Oh, and there's that other goal, the one I have for every performance, residency or workshop: that we all have fun.

Stories with the dulcimer

Last week, I did something new: I used my mountain dulcimer in performances with preschoolers. I've had this beautiful instrument for about twenty years, a present from a friend who used it as a wall decoration. I've played it occasionally for my own entertainment. I don't pretend to play terribly well, but I can pick out a tune if I hear it in my head, in the way I play harmonica and various recorders and folk flutes.

But use it in performance? Nah. Then I was asked to do a series of shows in conjunction with performances by Chiara String Quartet for the Lied Center of Kansas' program, Performing Arts 3 to 5. The quartet played for the children and collectively told a story. My goal in following them was to underscore what they did and extend it with stories, music and puppets.

First I asked the children what they remembered from their field trip. They went to the Lied Center and sat on the stage, not swallowed up by the theater seats, for the show. Most of them remembered that they'd seen violins and a cello (a jello, some said). Some remembered the viola. Some proudly announced that it was a quartet.

I told them I'd brought a stringed instrument, but it wasn't a cello or a violin or a viola. I brought it out of its box and showed them the similarities to those classical instruments. I showed them the pick and the noter (a little stick used to press the strings down next to the fret).

Then I told a story about a boy with a violin. I played songs in the story and the kids called out what I was playing: "Mary had a little lamb," "The itsy bitsy spider," etc.

The next part was magic. I carried the dulcimer to the children and let them strum it, one at a time. The kids were amazingly patient and quiet, waiting their turn, even with the big groups of 40 kids. Gentle, too, in the main.

I put the dulcimer away and moved on to more songs and another story, with help from my puppets.

I visited thirteen groups at five preschools last week. This week I have eight more of these sessions. It's a treat to try something new--a treat for me as much as it is for the children. We all have a good time.

Oh, speaking of puppets, don't you think the inside of the case looks like Elmo?!

The other way I get the audience's attention

So silly of me. I thought about that last post, wrote it carefully, reread it, edited, posted and shared on various social networks, completely forgetting the MAIN way I get the audience's attention. Thanks to Margaret Meyers for pointing it out! 

When I'm working with kids under age 10 and with family groups, I use puppets to get the audience's attention. In the beginning of the show, often after pied pipering with my harmonica, I say, "I brought a friend with me today, in my bag. I usually travel with my friends in a bag. Don't you? You know, you say to your friend, "Hey, jump in this bag and I'll take you down to the library.' Right?" I reach in the puppet bag for Trixie. 

Then Trixie and I have a little chat. I ask her if she remembers why we're here. Sometimes she does, and sometimes she thinks we're here for the big basketball game. Kids love correcting a puppet who is wrong. I remind Trix that we're here for stories and ask what she recommends. 

Frequently, kids say Trixie is a witch. She does look like one, and I always acknowledge this when a child says it, but she's not. She's afraid of witches. Trixie is just old. She's 111 (hasn't aged a day since I picked her up in1994). She likes to rest during the stories, so she sits quietly next to me on the chair while I tell.

Trixie and the other puppets draw the attention of the audience and help me manage the energy in the room. If it's too wild, a quiet puppet will come out of the bag to calm everybody down. If it's subdued, one of the puppets will bring up the laughter. If a child is afraid of Trixie (her eyes can be extremely piercing), she does something silly like chew on her foot, or she'll get shy. Sometimes she goes back in the bag for a longer nap and another puppet comes out. 

Here's the 2-minute puppet lesson, for when you're visible to the audience and you don't happen to be a ventriloquist.

Video of Peeps at Maple Valley School

A friend was looking me up on youtube and found this--I didn't even know it was up. It was filmed at Maple Valley School in Kansas City, MO, during the Kansas City Storytelling Celebration earlier this month.

I had two different groups at this school. The kids responded really well. I think my favorite part was walking around after the stories inviting each of the kids to shake hands or touch my puppet Trixie. She's quite gentle in this kind of setting.

By the way, I DO have my own youtube channel. Check it out!

A headful of stories and a bagful of puppets

I was asked to be a guest blogger on the Novel Adventurers blog, so this is cross-posted there. I decided to write about a performance in Peru.

I highly recommend visiting Novel Adventurers. Great reading and lots of armchair travel.

(By the way, the first picture isn't the one on that blog post. On this one, Blogger decided that picture looked better on its side, no matter what I did. Fie.)

Slow down, I remind myself. I look at the audience in front of me, this time third and fourth graders (eight- and nine-year-olds) in school uniforms. They’ve settled in, sitting in rows, wondering what I’m going to do. I pied-pipered them into the hall with my harmonica. I try to engage them as quickly as possible so we can get down to business.

That is, the business of stories. I’m a full-time storyteller, and this audience is in Peru, made up mostly of kids who are learning English as a second language. At this school, a few are native English speakers. I pull out my map of the United States. This is not just a geography lesson, but a way for the students to get used to my voice and accent before I begin the stories. I show them Kansas, where I live. “But I was born over here in Rhode Island. My mother lives in Maine. My brother lives in Oregon. My sister lives in Kansas. My sister lives in Wisconsin. My brother lives in Kansas.” By this time, the kids are laughing. “My brother lives in Vermont. And my sister lives in Massachusetts. I have three brothers and three sisters.

We’re almost ready for the stories. “I brought a friend with me, in my bag. Do you travel with your friends in a bag?” I reach in and pull out my old lady puppet, Trixie. “Una bruja!” I hear. I answer in English, “She does look like a witch, you’re right, but she’s not. She’s just old. She’s 111 years old.” Trixie introduces herself and she and I discuss which stories to tell. “Can we have a story about hair?” she asks. “Hair?!” It becomes clear that she wants either Rapunzel or Robert Munsch’s story, Stephanie’s Ponytail, (I have his permission to tell this). I sit Trixie on the chair gently, with her head in her lap. She may well fall asleep.

We’re off. I tell stories for about 45 minutes, with puppets and songs in between. My baby puppet is always a big hit—she could pop her pacifier out of her mouth twenty times and get a laugh each time. In this show, she only does it seven times. With middle school and high school students, I tell more sophisticated stories with fewer or no puppets. With this audience, I do a short Q and A at the end. They ask about stories, about puppets, about me.

Photo by Annie Tichenor

Here are some of the questions they ask:

Q. Where do you get your stories?

A. Many are folktales, which I find in books or I hear from other storytellers. Some are from books, and some are my own stories.

Q. How long have you been a storyteller?

A. I’ve been telling stories since 1988. I told stories in my job as a children’s librarian for five years and then in 1993, I left my job to become a full-time storyteller.

Q. What’s your favorite story?

A. That’s a good question. The big rule in storytelling is, only tell stories you love. So I love all my stories. My favorite is the one I’m telling at that moment. The favorite story of listeners is usually The Ghost with the One Black Eye.

Q. What countries have you visited to tell stories?
A. I’ve performed around the United States and in Belgium, Mexico, Bulgaria, Germany, Brazil, and Peru.

Q. Do you have any more puppets?

A. I have more at home. I have around 75 puppets in all. In my house I have a puppet room, where they all live.

Q. Do you like telling stories?
A. I love it. I’m lucky that I get to work at something I love.

The Itsy Bitsy Tiger is here!

The UPS delivery man stopped by yesterday with over a thousand copies of my new DVD, The Itsy Bitsy Tiger and Other Ridiculous Stories and Songs. It looks great!

I've had a huge amount of help on this since beginning the project last spring. Christie, Jeff and Kevin Dobson of Stormdoor Productions filmed it live at the Union Pacific Depot in Lawrence (you can hear the train go by twice--this required a certain amount of vamping on my part) on May 8, 2010. The proceeds of the performance itself went to the Lawrence Schools Foundation. The audience rocked!

Thom Alexander of Americana Music Academy wrote the song Gary's Gone Fishin' for the intro. Graphic designer Annie Tichenor, who worked on my last project, did an incredible job on the packaging. I love the tiger stripes! Countless family members and friends previewed the video.

Since I'm about to go on tour, I'm not quite ready for orders. While you wait, here's the first cut:

I'm not yet sure where the DVD release event(s) will be. Maybe one in KC, one in Lawrence. I'll let you know.

Oh, and for those of you who gave an opinion on the packaging, I did go with the eco-friendly digipak. Much less plastic than the ordinary packaging.

New puppet habitat

I live an opulent life: in my new house, I have a whole room for puppets, games and musical instruments. Up until this week, I wasn't satisfied with the arrangement of the Puppet Room. Most of the puppets were in bins in the closet, all jammed together. Nobody was happy.

Last week, I went to the Borders Books that is going out of business in Lawrence. [As an aside, I'm not all teary about it--this large chain bookstore opened up a half-block from the wonderful and independent Raven Bookstore years ago. Kudos to the little store for outlasting the behemoth. I hope folks in town will go back to the Raven, buying local again.] After not finding any books I wanted to buy, I looked at the fixtures. Way in the back room I found a blue metal rack with adjustable shelves and hooks, the perfect puppet storage unit. I thought about it for a few days, then went back and bought it. It broke down into pieces and all fit in my car. When I got home, I introduced everybody to the new place.

There's room for everybody (though I've put the duplicate Trixies and Babies in the closet), and space for games and puzzles on the bottom shelves.

Don't they look pleased?

This fellow, a present from a friend, surveys the scene from a nearby wall.

Punch is on the other wall, in case he gets the urge to whack somebody with his slapstick.

Mr. Bacon was interested in the puppets and yesterday tried to find a good sleeping spot on the rack, so when you see me at performances, the puppets may have a little extra cat hair on them.

Yet another puppet!

I was just walking past The Toy Store. I had no intention of going in. Really. But there I was, in between performances at the Lawrence Arts Center Preschool. My car was around the corner getting the tires rotated and aligned. What harm could there be in just stopping in to see if there were any new puppets?

Sigh. This one reached out and put itself on my hand. Since I walked out of the store with him in my puppet bag, he has joined me at twelve more shows in this preschool residency week, part of the Lied Center of Kansas' Performing Arts Three to Five program.

At first, I gave him a generic bird squawk. No, he's just a baby. He spoke up: "Peep? Peep?" That fit better. On the first day, I was calling him Peep, but I made a slip and called him Peepy by mistake. Most of the kids didn't hear that, but I knew it was dangerous--if I have a puppet named peepee, I'll never get the children's attention back. His name is now Peeps. He likes worms, but he's like my turtle puppet Billy, susceptible to hiccups.

At home, this new guy ran into unexpected danger.

At first, there was no problem. He was napping in his shell.

He began to wake up. He's got bedhead, hasn't he?

He's just a baby, unaware of the perils in this life.

Still oblivious to the danger, he was cheerful, hoping for a worm or three.

Hey!

Thank goodness for that shell. Those evil claws can't get through.

Back on his perch, Peeps let go of the trauma. After this, I put him back in the puppet bag, where Trixie and Baby will always protect him. Mr. Bacon turned his attention to the scratching post and is now in his favorite chair.

Down came the rain

It's raining. Again. Cold, too. I've gotten used to May in Kansas being pleasant and warm. Last week I had a fire in the wood stove. I'm considering having another today.

Or I could turn my attention further to water, to the summer reading theme Make a splash at your library. The program I'm offering for the theme is called Didja ever see a fishy? and it will be a medley of puppets, stories and songs. Trixie is considering wearing a shower cap, Ray the ray puppet will swim up out of the bag thanks to the "mistic hand." I'm certain that Prince, formerly known as Frog, will make an appearance. I suspect the baby will sing The Itsy Bitsy Tiger.

The title of the program is from a song I learned from another storyteller. Here it is:

Didja ever see a fishy on a hot summer day, (wipe sweat from brow)

Didja ever see a fishy all swimming in the bay, (mime fish swimming)

With her hands in her pockets and her pockets in her pants, (hands on front pockets, then on back)

Didja ever see a fishy do the hoochie koochie dance? (little dance)

You ne-ver did (clap, clap), you never will.

Didja ever see a fishy on a cold winter's day, (shiver)

Didja ever see a fishy all frozen in the bay, (mime hands forming a block of ice)

With his hands in his pockets and his pockets in his pants, (hands on front pockets, then on back)

Didja ever see a fishy do the hoochie koochie dance? (little dance)

You ne-ver did (clap, clap), you never will.

I'm still playing with stories. I'm thinking of The Pincoya's Daughter, a Chilean story about an old woman who finds a baby mermaid, and Little Crab's Magic Eyes. Maybe also Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch. I just found a newer story Munsch wrote called Down the drain that might work.

I'll keep you posted!

What really happens in the puppet bag

In April, I visited second grade classes as part of the Learning About the Environment Through the Arts residency, through the Lied Center of Kansas and USD 497. Many of the kids wrote me thank you notes. I love this one!

At the top, Jonah wrote "the bag. the bag. the bag." This is indeed my puppet bag. Over on the far left is the bat marionette. I think there's another one with more detail on the other side of the poker table. Yes, that's Prince, formerly known as Frog, sitting at the table under a single light bulb, looking at his cards. In the middle, Trixie is sitting on the baby's head. Near the top, to the right, the baby is popping her binky (a.k.a. pacifier, a.k.a. passy) out of her mouth. Best of all, on the far right, is "the mistic hand." That's correct, my hand as perceived by the puppets in the bag.

Here's the text:

"Dear Ms. Howe, Thank you for coming to Sunset Hill. The puppets were really funny. The predators and preys were something good to learn. Also the bats were cool to learn about. your friend, Jonah."

What a great letter from an eight-year-old! Will I ever reach into the bag again without thinking about "the mistic hand"?

More on bats

Yesterday and the day before I had my first sessions of the residency "Learning about the environment through the arts," through the school district and the Lied Center of Kansas. I wrote about the preparation for the residency a few weeks ago.

The marionettes I was making didn't quite pan out. The Model Magic bat wasn't quite flexible enough. I found a bat marionette online and ordered it. The "Boingy Bat" arrived on Thursday, about an hour before my first session. It's fun, but more of a chachka than an actual usable marionette. Still, in a pinch it works to explain about marionettes in the context of other puppets.

Here are the other bats I've been using. The little black finger puppet is great for showing the bat's structure--those looong fingers that make up the ribs on the wings are very cool!

Prince (formerly known as Frog), Trixie and the Baby are all part of these sessions. One point I've been making is that puppets have distinct characters and voices. I illustrate this by switching the voices around, for example giving the Baby Trixie's voice. Weird!

Before I bring the baby out, I tell the kids I'm going to show them the biggest predator of bats. Then I bring the baby out. What? A baby?! I explain that of course not when she's a baby, but that human beings destroy bat habitat (say that five times fast), and other habitats as well.

I'll meet with these six groups again after they've visited the Baker Wetlands. They already know and understand a lot about the environment. We'll see how it expands in the second session.

More puppets

Just a few more pics of the menagerie. Here are some creatures from the watery world, some of whom will join me for "Make a splash at the library" summer reading programs in June and July:

Kisserella, Ray, Prince (formerly known as Frog), Billy, and an unnamed dragonfly.

Billy the Turtle was my first puppet, bought at a fair in Middletown CT from a puppet builder in Colorado (Leslie Larson of Big Game Trophies and Puppets). Soon after I got him, my sister asked me to show him to friends. In the process, Billy nipped their dog on the nose. My sister said, "Priscilla, did you see that? Billy just bit the dog on the nose! Did you see that?" As soon as she said it, she realized that not only did I see it, I had something to do with it. I've used this as an example of how focus makes puppets believable, even to adults.

Here are a few miscellaneous animals. The sheep is Felice, the dog with blue velvet on the underside of her ears is Martha, the goat is Kiddy and the dog is Louie. If you roll Louie on his back, you can manipulate his hind leg so it kicks when you scratch his belly. Nice.
Next are some of the finger puppets. See the white mouse? If you put her on your right index finger and hold her with your left hand, then twine her tail around your third and fourth fingers of your right hand and twitch it slightly, while giving her a little tremor, she looks real. Don't take her into a restaurant, please.

I don't take most of these with me to gigs, except the bug next to the dolphin in the lower right corner. He lives in Trixie's sleeve and comes out for "Poor little bug on the wall."

After I took these pictures, I bought a new puppet. I'll have to give him his own post.

Puppets and the TSA

I can only barely imagine the scene at the airport on my way to Utah, when the Transportation Security Agency folks inspected my bag for dangerous items. Did the baby pop her binky out at them? Did Belle the dragon bat her eyelashes at them? Did Kiddy Goat and Felice Sheep, nibble their clothes? Did they complain about how cramped it was in the bag and how Mavis made it smell like a monkey pit? Or did the puppets all take on that strange submissive attitude many of us get as we're trying to go quickly through security? We'll never know.

Bird puppets

Grackle Crow, Bill Duck, unnamed rooster, Capercaillie, Cheep Chick, unnamed duck, Nigel Parrott, Olivia Ostrich

I don't know why I have so many bird puppets. The oldest of these is Nigel, who I found back in the early '90s. My nephew Willie got a similar puppet named Fred. One night I was talking with Willie on the phone. He was about five. We put our puppets on so they could have a conversation. After a few minutes of chat, Willie said to the puppet on his own hand, "Okay, Fred, I'm going to talk now." Nice.

The crow and the ostrich are both tricksters. They like to nibble on earrings and other jewelry, and are fond of imaginary bug snacks. Olivia is also an opera singer--her rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in operatic style is, umm, unforgettable.

I haven't used the capercaillie much--this lovely puppet was a trade with storyteller Neppe Pettersson, from Finland. I'm always looking for uncommon puppets. This is definitely one--wish it had come out better in the picture, as he fades into the background. I think he's shy, and maybe grouses a little.

Bill Duck is more of a joker. He's likely to quack out a joke. Here's his favorite:

A duck walked into a drugstore and asked for some lip gloss. "That will be $1.38," the clerk said. "Quack! Just put it on my bill!"

I haven't used the other duck much. She's pretty, but I haven't figured out her personality yet. She has a stick inside her head so I can turn it easily, but the mouth doesn't move. You'll notice a bias on my part toward puppets with workable mouths.

More to come!

Puppets I've made

Often I'm asked if I make my own puppets. For the most part, no. I buy them and sometimes perform minor puppet surgery. However, there are a few I've made. Here are some of them:

Now for an awkward question: do I have a pattern? No. I've never been very good at following directions. I looked at some store-bought puppets and reverse engineered them. Many I made in the early 90s, back when women all over the country still had a bottom drawer full of shoulder pads (you know who you are). Shoulder pads make lovely puppet mouths. This is the extent of my sewing expertise.

These puppets are hideous, in a strangely endearing way. I use them in the few stage shows I perform. Usually my puppets come out in between stories, with no stage, and without their own story to perform, though one or two may play a part in a story. Every now and again, I perform Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Bookstalk, Bettina and the Beast, The Prince and the Pea and a few other slightly twisted versions of folktales with a stage. The stage is short, only about a foot tall, and it sits on a table. I'm completely visible and play the part of the narrator. My friend Judy Nichols was my inspiration for doing puppet shows this way.

Truth to tell, though I enjoy the stage shows, I find them a lot of work to prepare and set up. My usual storytelling with puppets requires one trip from the car, with a bag of puppets and the sound system. Stage shows require two or three trips and anxiety that I've left something crucial at home. A few years ago, for example, I left the stage itself at home! Fortunately, the library where I was performing had a stage I could use.