Children of all ages love hearing stories. Many parents, though, freeze when their children ask them to tell a story rather than read one, or panic when they begin to lose their attention mid-story. Margaret Read MacDonald comes to the rescue with a collection of helpful hints and techniques—everything from when to raise or lower your voice to suggested refrains for audience participation. She explains how to capture children's attention with easy-to-use dramatic techniques and fingerplays. Chapters focus on storytelling for the youngest listeners, bedtime stories and expandable tales, scary stories, improvisational ideas, and family folklore. To help beginners get started, MacDonald includes dozens of traditional stories as examples in easy-to-follow format. Includes a useful bibliography divided into topic areas, including old standards and new collections.

Margaret Read MacDonald holds a Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and teaches courses in storytelling for adults and children in the Seattle area. A former board director of the National Storytelling Association, she works as a children's librarian with the King County Library System