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Woman Loves Weaving Tales

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS

Emily Harris makes a point during her story time at Palm Harbor Montessori Academy.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: February 9, 2008

On a recent windy day, imaginations soared. During an hour of listening to a story by storyteller Emily Harris and subsequently creating their own stories, 35 youngsters between 6 and 9 years old pulled out all the stops.

Responding to oral and visual cues from Harris as they sat outdoors at Palm Harbor Montessori Academy in Palm Harbor, they made up their own versions of classic children's tales.

At their hands, the Ugly Duckling stole a treasure, Cinderella talked an ogre into turning himself into a mouse, and Puss 'N Boots became a rock star.

Harris left her pint-sized audience wanting more. "They'd do it all over again if she said, 'One more,' " noted Marta Kellam, an admissions assistant at the school, at the end of Harris' session.

Through "Winter Wondertales," a free event of storytelling and workshops, on tap for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16, at the Dunedin Public Library, area residents can also enjoy the magic of story telling.

The event is sponsored by Tampa Bay Storytellers Guild, Friends of the Library and the Florida Storytelling Association.

Stories benefit all ages, explained Harris, a resident of Tarpon Springs and a frequent guest at the Palm Harbor-area Montessori school.

"For children, you're bringing something new to them. ... For adults, you're reminding them where they came from and what's out there they stopped seeing."

Harris is a former costume designer who fell into storytelling by accident while working as a counselor at a summer camp at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. Her charges were 3- to 6-year-olds.

"I would sit under a tree and have these kids looking at me with expressions of 'What do we do now?'" she recalled.

Harris found herself responding by telling stories.

Later, she went to a Florida Storytelling Association event and realized she had touched something deep within herself.

"I had never been able to find the reason I am here. When I found storytelling, that was it."
She does not find her reactions surprising. Stories reach deep places in humans, she explained.

"It's all about connecting. Connecting to the world around you, to people in it. Stories help you see the bigger connection."

Story telling has a broad range of uses, Harris explained. It has been used in conflict resolution, mediation and psychotherapy.

Her own storytelling is an extension of her love of books, Harris said.

That is often a common denominator among storytellers, said a Palm Harbor resident, Bettylou Rosen. Like Harris, she is a member of the Storytellers' Guild.

A majority of guild members are women, Rosen noted, and estimated a good portion of them are or have been school teachers or librarians.

Rosen is a retired librarian.

She discovered a talent for storytelling while participating in Palm Harbor Toastmasters Club, an organization that gives members a chance to hone their public speaking skills.

Although she has had both adult and children audiences in sessions in locations ranging from cruise ships to mobile home parks, Rosen's favorite audience is fourth- to sixth-graders.

"They get into the stories and are less inhibited," she said.

The difference between children and adults?

"The children participate, and adults just listen."

For more information on next weekend's storytelling event at the Dunedin Public Library, or to register, call 727-298-3080, ext. 253.

For more photos of the Montessori school storytelling session, go to suncoastnews.com, keyword: story.

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