'Tales Told in Tents,' by Sally Pomme Clayton. Visit the Photo Place

Storyteller will work her magic this Thursday at libraries

Local children's librarian provides latest news on books and more

Date published: 3/10/2009

B RING YOUR school-age kids to the library this Thursday to for a real treat as Megan Hicks, storyteller extraordinaire, tells humorous stories about greed, gratitude and why you must never forget to thank the good fairy.

She'll be at the headquarters library at 4:30 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m. she'll be telling civilian stories from the Civil War and World War II to teens and adults at the Salem Church Library.

Her appearances are the final events in this year's Ardiena Ann Tromley Family Storytelling Series.

After listening to a storyteller as skillful as Megan, you'll understand the power of stories to move listeners to laughter, tears and everything in between.

Even if you're not a storyteller yourself, you can read traditional folk tales and fairy tales to your children, and see for yourself why they have endured for generations.

Robert D. San Souci is a prolific re-teller of traditional tales whose latest book, "As Luck Would Have It," is a new version of an old tale from the Grimm Brothers.

Left alone to take care of the house and farm while their parents are away, twins Jonas and Juniper get into all kinds of trouble.

Jonas leaves the oxen to plow the fields by themselves, while Juniper leaves the cider tap to fill the mug by itself, resulting in total chaos.

When three peddlers sell Juniper new pots and pans, she leads them to the family's secret hoard of gold for payment, and soon enough the peddlers have run off with it.

How the foolish twins end up restoring the family fortune and cleaning up the messes they've made is as funny as the antics that got them into trouble in the first place.

In Daniel San Souci's atmospheric watercolors, the fairy tale setting is filled with lively details.

Less familiar but no less enchanting are the stories from Central Asia retold by Sally Pomme Clayton in "Tales Told in Tents." Clayton is a storyteller who has traveled in the area and collected a dozen tales of flying carpets, tricksters and strong women that will appeal to adventure lovers.

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Date published: 3/10/2009