I've mentioned before that history was my least favorite subject throughout my years in public school. Later on, after I had my children and started graduate school for teaching, I suddenly became fascinated by the subject.
When I started researching the many types of children's books and online resources relating to social studies, it became one of my favorite subjects to write lesson plans and units for. Since I felt strongly that geography and diversity were important topics that were (and still are) not being addressed enough, I decided to try to infuse them into every lesson plan and unit I wrote.
How did I do it? Well, if you take a serious look at children's literature these days, you can find some truly extraordinary resources - IF you're willing to take the time to look through the many choices. Just think about it - you have non-fiction, historical fiction, biographies, and even folktales, fairy tales, fables, myths, and legends. If you haven't taken time out to look at any one of these genres, you're really missing out.
How does this relate to listening, though? Well, even if you don't enjoy reading folktales, fairy tales, and legends with your child, you'll really love listening to Amy Friedman's Tell Me a Story folktale cd's.
I was asked to review these around the time I started writing my Learning from Cinderella series, and was sent not one, but three cd's (which I will donate to the local library), as follows:
- Tell Me a Story: Timeless Folktales from around the world
- Tell Me a Story 2: Animal Magic
- Tell Me a Story 3: Women of Wonder
Here are just a few of the things I love about these audio books:
- The stories were adapted from tales that originated in many different countries around the world.
- Different narrators bring something unique and special to each folktale. It's great for children to hear different voices and read-aloud styles.
- The characters solve problems in clever and fascinating ways.
- The music, composed by Laura Hall, adds depth to the cultural significance of each story.
- Children may not even realize they are learning about culture and morality because it's presented in a way that will spark curiosity, empathy, and imagination.
- The stories are between 5 and 13 minutes long, and each cd provides you with over an hour of enjoyment! They're perfect for short or long car trips, or as a supplemental classroom resource.
Tell Me a Story audio books will take you and your family back in time to faraway places. They offer you a wonderful way to bring culture into your home, and may even spark creative writing, acting, and related reading. Best of all, though, they will help you put the listening back into literacy!
By the way, my favorite cd (of the three) is Animal Magic. Since animals have a lot of significance in many cultures, I found these stories to be the most meaningful and memorable. I did really enjoy all three of the discs, though...
Please let me know what you think, and feel free to recommend related picture books, or other audio books you may have enjoyed.
Also, I just happened to find a related blog post at Bookshelves of Doom, about the maybe-much-older-than-we-thought origins of fairy tales. Please be sure to read the linked article from Telegraph: "Fairy Tales have ancient origin." It's very interesting!
You can find out more about the Tell Me a Story audio books at mythsandtales.com. Also, if you'll be anywhere near Santa Monica, California this Sunday, you won't want to miss the official launch of Tell Me a Story 3: Women of Wonder! It's being held at the Every Picture Tells A Story bookstore on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica (1311 Montana, between 13th and 14th). The event runs noon to 2 p.m. and will feature story telling by Lori Ada Jaroslow, Wendy Hammers and Margot Rose, music by Laura Hall, puppetry by Gina Pavlova, and treats!
Enjoy...
In case you missed them, here are two other posts relating to this topic:
