Running head: STORYTELLING 1

Signature Assignment: Storytelling

Ramona Torres-Martinez

Fresno Pacific University

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Storytelling

Williams, L. (1986). The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything. USA: Harper

Collins Publishers

The book The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything, tells the story of a little

old lady that lives alone in a cottage by the forest and is not afraid of anything. One day the little

old lady decides to go for a walk in the forest to gather herbs and spice that she needs. Since she

was not afraid of anything she walked far into the forest until that the day turned into night. On

her way back home from the forest she encountered two big shoes that went Chomp, Chomp

blocking her path. The little old lady told the shoes that she was not afraid of them and

continued on her way back to her cottage but the shoes followed her along. After the shoes she

then stumbles into a pair of pants that went wiggle, wiggle and once again the little old lady

informs the pants that she is not afraid. She continues walking, but the pants join the shoes and

follow her along the path. The little old lady then bumps into a silly shirt that went shake,

shake that joins the shoes and the pair of pants in following her. The little old lady also

encounters two white gloves that went clap, clap, a tall black hat that went nod, nod who tag

along with the shoes, pair of pants, and shirt. Finally, as the little old lady is approaching her

cottage, she is startled by a huge scary pumpkin head that went boo, boo. The little old lady

runs without stopping until she is safe inside her cottage. She hears a loud knock on the door and

hesitates to open it but remembers that she is not afraid of anything. She opens the door and sees

the shoes, pair of pants, shirt, gloves, hat, and pumpkin head standing outside her door. She tells

them that she is not afraid and cannot scare her. The pumpkin head gets sad and tells her that if

they cannot scare her, then they do not know what else to do. The little old lady whispers into

the pumpkins ear and says goodbye. She goes to bed, and the next morning when she looks out
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her window she notices the pumpkin head and clothing has become a scarecrow in the middle of

her garden and is scaring the crows away.

The props and materials that will be used to present the story of the little old lady who

was not afraid of anything include:

A large black flannel board for the felt story puppets and scenery pieces.

Handmade felt puppets of the little old lady, two shoes, pair of pants, shirt, two

white gloves, a black hat, and one scary pumpkin head.

Handmade felt moon, sun, clouds, and pathway to create story background on the

flannel board.

The book The little old little lady who was not afraid of anything to display on the

tabletop for visual of the front cover in case other students are interested in

obtaining a copy of the story to use in their classrooms or with their children.

A wicker basket that will hold the character puppets until placed on the flannel

board.
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The art of storytelling is a skill that has been used from generation to generation to retell

stories of past events, teach about cultural traditions, and also most importantly as a form of

entertainment especially for young audiences (Eades, 2005). Educators of young children can

use storytelling as a tool to retell the stories of familiar classroom books. The book The Little

Old Lady was not afraid of Anything is a great choice for story telling because it illustrates a

world of fantasy, encourages participation, promotes social and emotional development, and

offers literacy structures that children enjoy.

One of the reasons that the book The Little Old Lady was not afraid of Anything is a great

choice because it encourages the children to use their imagination as they hear about the clothing

items that the little old lady encounters. Stories that expand the imagination and offer a way for

children to fantasize about the events in the story can learn how to deal with real-life situations

improving their mental health (Davies, 2007). For example, in the story, the little old lady is not

afraid of the shoes, pants, shirt, gloves, or hat that she is startled by the scary pumpkin head. The

little old lady overcomes her fear of the pumpkin head and finds a creative way to solve the

problem. This book teaches children that it is okay to feel scared but that there are ways to

overcome that emotion positively.

Another reason this book is an excellent choice for storytelling is that it encourages the

children to participate in the story but repeating the recurring phrases in the book. Children are

active participants in storytelling, and they are part of the creative process of telling a story

(Eades, 2005). Children enjoy listening to stories but will be more engaged if they can be part of

the storytelling because they will be able to express their creativity.

A third reason that makes this book an excellent choice for storytelling is because it

promotes social and emotions skill development in young children. Telling stories to young
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children helps to decrease the stress level and helps them to feel secure in the classroom

environment (Eades, 2005). The book teaches children about the feeling of not being afraid and

being brave. The book also introduces the children to a scary situation like walking in the forest

at night and encountering clothing that moves on their own in an age-appropriate manner.

Lastly, the story in the book offers a literacy structure that captures children attention.

Young children enjoy listening to stories that provide repetition and rhyme because it allows

them to predict what comes next in the story (Temple, Martinez & Yokota, 2015). In the book

The Little Old Lady was not afraid of Anything, there is a repetition of the actions of the clothing

items and a predictability of what will happen next. The language in the books also offers a

rhyme that makes the story enjoyable. As Berkowitz (2011) states, Linda Williams, The Little

Old Lady was not afraid of Anything to engage preschoolers and offer opportunities for them to

recognize patterns in the storytelling. The recognizable pattern in the sequence of the story

encourages children to feel relaxed in listening and participating in the story.

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The story of The Little old lady who was not afraid of anything was presented to a class

of twenty preschoolers ranging from the age of three to four and a half. Before the storytelling,

the children were informed that they were going to hear a story about a little old lady that was

brave and not afraid of anything. The children were also told that a flannel board was going to

be used during the storytelling to illustrate the story with felt puppets. The lights were then

slightly dimmed to add a more dramatic effect on the presentation.

Once the storytelling began one of the children asked where is the book? Why are you

not reading the book? I explained that this story was different because it was going to be told

and acted out instead of just looking at the pictures in the book. Another student said, Teacher,

I want to see that pictures in the book. The children were also informed that felt puppets were

going to be used instead of the pictures in the book. The story was able to maintain the children

focused and engaged by encouraging them to repeat the actions of the characters. At the end of

the story one child asked: Why did she run from the pumpkin, I thought she was not afraid of

anything. After the storytelling, the children also said do it again, and another child said, I

want to be the pants and the scary pumpkin head. Then children each wanted to be a character

from the book and help to retell the story.

The experience of storytelling was a unique and enlightening. I learned that my students

were a bit confused because they did not know why I was not using the book to read the story.

This assignment made me realize that storytelling was going to be something that I would need

to incorporate more often into my lessons for the children to be able to learn to enjoy listening to

stories. It also brought into perspective the fact that I this is something that I can do more often

especially with the stories that are frequently read to the children in the classroom. I also learned

that by incorporating the use of a large flannel board and felt puppets I was able to maintain by
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younger students engaged. The props were also helpful for the student with a learning disability

be able to visualize the story and keep engaged. After the storytelling, I received feedback from

my two instructional assistance, and they both mentioned that they had enjoyed the listening to

the story. They also mentioned that the felt puppets were an excellent prop to use because they

looked similar to the ones in the actual book. The children were asked what they liked about the

story, and several of them mentioned the scary pumpkin head while others said the little old lady

and the rest of the clothing items. But the most important thing that I learned from this

experience is that I was able to take one of my favorite stories and share it with my students in a

different context.
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References

Berkowitz, D. (2011). Oral Storytelling: Building community through dialogue, engagement, &
problem-solving. Young Children. Retrieved from
www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/200203/Isbell_article_March_2002.pdf
Davies, A. (2007). Storytelling in the classroom: enhancing traditional oral skills for teachers
and pupils. Retrieved from http://0-ebookcentral.proquest.com.librarycatalog.fresno.edu

Eades, J. M. F. (2005). Classroom tales: using storytelling to build emotional, social and
academic skills across the primary curriculum. Retrieved from http://0-
ebookcentral.proquest.com.librarycatalog.fresno.edu
Temple, C. A., Martinez, M. A., & Yokota, J. (2015) (5th Ed). Children's books in children's
hands: a brief introduction to their literature. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Williams, L. (1986). The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything. USA: Harper Collins

Publishers