Story Listening and Experience in Early Childhood

This book shows connections between oral story listening and unique, enduring educational effects in and outside of the classroom. Using scientific studies and interviews, as well as personal observations from more than thirty years in schools and libraries, the authors examine learning outcomes from frequent story listening. Throughout the book, Schatt and Ryan illustrate that experiencing stories told entirely from memory transforms individuals and builds community, affecting areas such as reading comprehension, visualization, focus, flow states, empathy, attachment, and theory of mind.

“This fascinating title lays out the innumerable, tangible benefits to listening to oral stories, while empowering new storytellers with essential tools and encouragement to get started. Thoroughly supported with well-integrated research and insights drawn from these experts’ first-hand experiences, this will be an invaluable resource for educators. It also offers illuminating and essential reading for parents, business executives, and anyone else seeking ways to better understand how we learn, communicate, encourage creativity, and develop a sense of shared community.”
—Gillian Engberg, Consultant of Children’s Books and Media and Former Editorial Director of Books for Youth, American Library Association Booklist, USA

“From cave paintings to the epic of Gilgamesh to modern movies, storytelling has been central to human culture and communication. Despite the earlier emphasis on oral storytelling in classrooms, limited current research and analysis is available. This wonderful book from two expert storytellers and educators fulfils this urgent need in the literature. Schatt and Ryan present a comprehensive and powerful view of oral storytelling from multiple perspectives—by describing their own experiences as storytellers, citing empirical literature on the topics as well as providing practical suggestions for aspiring storytellers. A must-read for not only educators and researchers, but anyone who is interested in children’s language and literacy development.”
—Ece Demir-Lira, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, USA

“Story Listening and Experience in Early Childhood is an engaging and accessible exposition on the art of storytelling. Displaying an in-depth knowledge and expert grasp of their subject the authors unpack the theory, practice, and application of oral storytelling in a clear and highly readable book that fairly skips along. Of interest to teachers and librarians as well as scholars and researchers, the interweaving of anecdotal and theoretical perspectives serves to illustrate and illuminate what is actually a highly theoretical treatise on the art and science of storytelling. The authors challenge scholars in education, literacy, psychology, and neurology to initiate quantitative research on the topic. With extensive reading lists, web-based resources and very useful appendices introducing and equipping the novice storyteller with strategies for beginning their own storytelling, this book is a valuable, welcome and timely addition to the field.”
—Jane O’Hanlon, Education Officer with Poetry Ireland

“With this book, Donna Schatt and Patrick Ryan have done us all a great service by bringing together a wealth of knowledge and experience from their careers as storytellers and educators, as well as thinking from across the disciplinary spectrum. However, this is not just a book for storytellers and educators, but for anyone interested in how we equip our children for the future.”
—Michael Wilson, Head of Creative Arts and Director of the Storytelling Academy, Loughborough University, UK

“The great significance of this book cannot be overstated. This is a marvelous book, and Donna Schatt and Patrick Ryan are to be commended for combining personal experience, theory, and research to demonstrate how children learn through listening to oral stories and how educators learn by listening to children. In addition, Schatt and Ryan provide numerous examples and methods that will enable educators and parents to deepen the experience of children when they listen to diverse stories. Their insights call for more reform in how we educate our children today. It should be a standard book for storytellers and educators alike!”
—Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota, USA, and author of Creative Storytelling (1995) and Speaking Out (2004)

“Every rare once in a while a book emerges that is required for our times. Story Listening and Experience in Early Childhood is such a book. The early childhood field has long understood the importance of storytelling as the perfect antidote to modern life and didactic education practices. Telling stories to young children improves vocabulary acquisition and promotes trust between the narrator and the child. Now the larger education community understands the importance of visualization as a vehicle for understanding complicated concepts. In a new world filled with technology, what could make more sense than implementing a personalized method to deliver fact and fiction. This book gives us the proof of its impact and provides a road map for implementation.”
—Harriet Meyer, Former President, The Ounce of Prevention Fund, USA

Donna Schatt is a storyteller, researcher, librarian, and writer based in Chicago, Michigan, and New York, USA. She is currently researching the effects of oral story listening on visualization abilities, as well as writing a novel.

Patrick Ryan is a storyteller, teacher, researcher, and writer, based in Belfast and working throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe, and North America. He is the author of Shakespeare’s Storybook (2001) and several articles on storytelling.