Over the course of my career, my experiences as a children’s librarian, teacher, and professional storyteller have planted seeds for Storypearls.
One seed was planted when I initiated and coordinated the Family Literacy Program at the Somerville Public Library, Somerville, MA. I reached underserved children at housing projects, WIC, and welfare offices, health clinics, parks, and a local Burger King to share books and songs, and left behind gifts of books that were gratefully received.
Another seed was planted when I was about to begin a storytelling residency at a school in Boston with a large African-American population. I asked a first grade teacher if she had anything she wanted to tell me and she immediately said, “These children need stories about African-Americans.” That weekend, I developed a storytelling model using the life story of African-American explorer, Matthew Alexander Henson, and then the African-American singer and traveler, Marian Anderson, into my plan to tell stories from around the world. I carried a large, colorful map from classroom to classroom and placed symbols near the countries we “visited” through stories. I will never forget how the children identified with Matthew and Marian, whose skin color looked like theirs. How eagerly they reached for the thematically connected library books that I left behind!
In author programs using my historical fiction picture book, Hope Somewhere in America, I carry a large, colorful map as I tell stories about African-American history and augment my teaching with thematically connected library books. The first grade teacher ‘s words continue to guide me in my work with predominantly African-American students.
My historical novel, Wordwings, set in the Warsaw Ghetto, shows how the power of stories can uplift people. A loan of $5025 will help me get this book published by the Canadian publisher, Guernica Editions.