About the Book
Storytelling has been used for millennia to delight and entertain, but it is vastly more than that. Metaphor is the language of the brain. Stories provide patterns and templates through which we make sense of our world and our place in it. Of course, we need data; we need the facts, the numbers….but the data is not the story, it exists to help us tell the story.The approach proposed in these pages understands the power of story and integrates it into the learning process. We live in an age where there are more platforms from which to tell our stories than ever before in human history, along with a plethora of stories competing for our children’s attention. It is of vital importance that the stories we tell our children are carefully selected to nurture and nourish them as thinkers, learners and emotionally resilient, happy people. These multi-layered little story gems slip unheeded past the guards at the gates of our rational defences and offer a springboard for developing the thinking tools necessary for navigating the ever more complex social and emotional world our children inhabit. These stories offer to touch hearts and minds and counter the negative, unhelpful patterns in so many of the ‘stories’ which work their ways into hearts and minds everywhere.
About the Author
Paul is a storyteller, illustrator and educator with many years of international experience nurturing the thinking skills necessary for managing strong emotions and for providing the foundations of effective thinking and learning, both academic and social.
Qn 1: Can you tell us more about your book What is it about?
Story Kingdom offers a timely resource for the many parents seeking effective, fun and stimulating ways to promote their children’s learning and wellbeing through storytelling in these times of Covid and lockdown.
The Story Kingdom method nurtures the thinking skills which underpin the curriculum and social learning.
These same thinking skills enable children to manage the strong emotions which may arise during these unprecedented times, developing emotional resilience which will serve them throughout life.
Qn 2: Who do you think would be interested in this book, is it directed at any particular market?
This book is being used in schools and homes internationally, from India to the USA and all points in between. It has proved to be of particular value during the Covid crisis, where many children have experienced heightened levels of anxiety and worry. Story Kingdom’ has offered parents, teachers and therapists practical tools for supporting the emotional wellbeing of children everywhere.
Qn 3: Out of all the books in the world, and all the authors, which are your favourite and why?
I am a huge fan of traditional stories from all over the world. I particularly love Scottish, Irish and English fairy tales, European folk-tales and Sufi teaching stories. There is a multi-layered richness and depth in all of these traditions which taps into the metaphorical power of story to touch and transform hearts and minds.
Qn 4: What guidance would you offer to someone new, or trying to enhance their writing?
Read, read, and read some more. Dive headlong into the sea of stories. I’d also recommend that people listen to stories; seek out traditional storytellers. Storytelling is, arguably, our earliest art-form. To lose it would impoverish us.
Qn 5: Where can our readers find out more about you, do you have a website, or a way to be contacted?
I can be found on the following platforms:
https://www.patreon.com/ShanachieStorytelling
I have a storytelling channel on YouTube:
‘Shanachie Storytelling’ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuUSJsWIAUIoyLM22OWgeVQ
I also offer audio stories on Insight Timer: Just search on Insight Timer for Paul Pringle
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