Storytelling in Early Childhood

A much-needed resource for early childhood teachers and literacy educators! Storytelling in Early Childhood: Enriching language, literacy and classroom culture documents the value of play in an era when playtime for superhero stories and sand castles is crumbling under the harsh glare of teacher accountability. Inspired by Vivian Gussin Paley’s groundbreaking work on storytelling and story-acting, this contemporary collection is a refreshing respite and reminder that children still play to learn. Nine leading early childhood scholars provide thoughtful theorization and convincing evidence of the power of children’s play and storytelling and the richness of literacy learning, when their teachers take children seriously, listen deeply, and respond imaginatively.

Karen Wolhend, Indiana University, USA

This book brings together a section of research from different disciplinary perspectives, focusing on the important themes of the role of narrative, story telling and imaginative play in children’s learning. Centred on a timely re-visiting of Vivian Gussin Paley’s work, the authors bring new and contemporary insights into these themes. The book has many features that will engage different audiences.

The chapters report empirical work across international contexts, using a range of theoretical and methodological frameworks. Each chapter contributes to the vibrancy of research that brings together literacy, play, storytelling and drama. What also stands out is the quality of relationships between children and adults – a theme that recurred throughout Paley’s distinguished work. The engagement with inclusion and diversity is embedded throughout the book, reflecting the commitment to democratic classrooms, pedagogies, and relationships.

The interdisciplinary nature of the research projects reported here shows the strength of using different lenses, and what emerges when we think within and beyond disciplinary borders. The authors engage with some well-established theoretical ideas, but from new angles, and with a critical edge that provoke new questions and debates.

This book is multi-vocal and multi-modal in that there are many voices in the chapters – those of the children and the adults who work with them, of professional story actors and storytellers, all with a deep interest in children, and ways of working creatively with them. Inevitably, there is some well-justified critique of current policy frameworks that emphasise an acquisition model of literacy and language, and that ignore the complex social practices that are portrayed so vividly in this book. The authors all respect children’s agency as fundamental to their engagement with complex social practices

The book offers theoretical, empirical and practical insights, and outlines new provocations for future research in this field. I recommend this as essential reading for students, researchers and practitioners in early childhood education, childhood studies, language and literacy studies, and playwork.

Elizabeth Wood, University of Sheffield, UK

Motivated by the work of Vivian Gussin Paley, this volume has a triple focus – children’s own stories, acting them out, and all in the context of playful learning. While we rush children forward, we take the joy out of literacy; this book argues for a vibrant approach that is child-initiated, shared, and highly collaborative. Collateral benefits such as perspective-taking and executive function skills associated with storytelling and acting abound.

Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, University of Delaware, USA