By Vivian Dubrovin

Mandy loved stories. She loved to listen to her mother read bedtime stories. She loved to make up stories with her grandma. But most of all Mandy loved to listen to her great grandpa tell family tales from long ago. How Mandy wished she could tell stories like her great grandpa. One day she even told him that. "I wish I could be a storyteller like you, Pappy." He chuckled. "If you want to be a storyteller, you must..." He stopped and smiled at her. "Mandy, I think you need a magic storytelling stick. I'll show you one I made long ago if I can find it. Ask your mother and grandmother if they can find theirs. It's a family tradition. It's how we all began telling stories."

At bedtime, Mandy asked her mother about her storytelling stick. "Oh, yes," her mother remembered. "I was about your age when I made my first one. I made two more, but I don't know where any of them are now." The next day while she was making cookies with Grandma, she asked about the storytelling stick. "Oh, yes," Grandma said. "I was just about your age when I started to make mine. It was really magic the way it turned me into a storyteller." That evening Mandy told her great grandpa that she had talked with her mother and grandmother about their storytelling sticks. "I want to make one, too, Pappy. I want to be a storyteller." Her great grandpa gave her a stick, twice as long as her ruler. Grandma gave her a piece of fuzzy yellow yarn. Together they showed Mandy how to start in the middle of the yarn at the top of the stick.

Great Grandpa wound the yarn and twisted it, back and forth around the stick. Then he tied a knot. Grandma tied two wooden beads at the ends of the yarn. "Remember, Mandy, whenever anyone asks about the yellow yarn, you must tell them our family tradition of storytelling sticks and why you are making this one." Mandy took the stick to school the next day. When she began telling why she was making it, Archer laughed and laughed and laughed. "How can a dumb old stick make you a storyteller?" He laughed even harder. "What's magic about a hunk of yarn wrapped around a twig?" Mandy's teacher said it was a nice tradition and thanked her for sharing the story. Great Grandpa was also glad she had shared the story, and he gave her some blue string from a package. Her mother gave her two tiny bells to tie onto the ends of the yarn.

The next day Mandy took the stick back to school and told how her mother and grandmother became story-tellers by making their sticks. Later that afternoon, Mandy's mother gave her a red ribbon for sharing this new story. Then Mandy told her teacher how her ancestors had made the first storytelling sticks on the boat when they came to this country to help them remember the relatives they were leaving behind. This time Archer didn't laugh. He listened. The next day Mandy told about how, when her great grandfather was a little boy, every child in the family made a storytelling stick on the Fourth of July to celebrate coming to this country. Archer asked Mandy if her great grandpa would show him how to make a storytelling stick. When Mandy had room for only one more string on the bottom of her stick, Archer visited her home. "Sir," he said to Great Grandpa. "Mandy tells really good stories. Could you show me how to make a storytelling stick?" Mandy's great grandpa laughed and laughed and laughed. "Archer, he said, "if you want to be a storyteller, you must tell stories." And then Mandy saw a twinkle in her Pappy's eye. "And believe in the magic of a storytelling stick."

How to Make a Storytelling Stick

You can make a storytelling stick like Mandy did. If you demonstrate making the stick while telling the story, have several samples of the stick at different stages. Pick up each one when you come to that part. To make a storytelling stick, you will need:

One stick, at least a foot long.Can be a ¼ or ½-inch diameter dowel rod or a tree or bush branch.
Six scraps of string or yarn, each about 18 inches long.
everal small beads, tiny bells, or fancy buttons.

1. Lay first string on ground. Place top of stick in middle of string.

2. Bring the two ends around the front of the stick.

3. Bring two ends around back of the stick. Continue to wind string back and forth around the stick until only about three inches remain at both ends of string.

4. Tie a knot in the string to fasten it.

5. Tie one bead at each end of string.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 with each string.

Each piece will cover about one or two inches of the stick. Each string represents one story. The kind of string, color, and texture should have something to do with the story. Knots, beads, or bells can also be symbolic. This helps you remember which string represents which story.

Strings You Can Use

Yarn (different colors & weights)
Ribbon (different widths)
Twine (for wrapping packages)
Cord (macram or other)
Threads (embroidery or heavier)
Shoe laces (fancy colors & patterns)
Pony tail ties

Choosing Strings & Beads

Where did the string/bead come from?
Who did it belong to?
Who used it?
Why was it important to story?
Why was it important to teller?
Why is it important to listener?
Why will it help you remember story?

Reprinted with permission from the Revised Edition of Storytelling For The Fun Of It: A Handbook for Children, by Vivian Dubrovin, Storycraft Publishing, 1999. This book won first place in the Children's Book Category of the Colorado Independent Publishers Awards for the year 2000. It also won the National Youth Storytelling Pegasus Award in the area of Teaching Resources for the year 2001 What Reviewer's Said: "Highly recommended." Children's Bookwatch. Artwork Copyright ‹ 1999, Bobbi Shupe

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