"The Month Brothers" is a folktale that I adapted from several sources for my winter Family Story Time program. It is available as a Google document here. As I have done for most of the folktales I have adapted, I made it into a board story using figures from a story I had done earlier, "A Few Foolish Friends," to make the figures for the Month Brothers. I had the brothers on the top of the magnet board and the other figures on the bottom. I moved Marushka from the bottom of the board to the top and back as I told the story. I moved the staff from brother to brother as needed. Even though it was a bit long for the youngest ones in the audience, the story held the interest of the rest of the group. It would be a good story to tell for a class visit. Although "The Month Brothers" is not a well-known folktale, it has many elements found in more familiar tales.
Notes: Preparing this story turned out to be quite a project. At times I felt more like a costume designer than a children's librarian because I tried to make each brother look like the month he represented. The story was surprisingly easy to tell and as I did so I realized that I really didn't need all those figures to keep the audience's attention. I could have saved myself some time by simply using pictures of the items Marushka had to find in the snow - violets, strawberries and apples. I made a set using clip art from Microsoft Publisher to show as an example for this post. I think that the next time I tell this story I will use those as well as the figures by showing the picture to the audience as Marushka gathers each item or I might keep things simple and just use the pictures. I tend to adapt my storytelling to the audience, time frame, and the location of the program. For example, I have a limited amount of time when the second graders come for a visit so I would probably just use the pictures to tell the story. The figures are colorful so it would be fun to use them again when time is not an issue. It's always nice to have choices when it comes to storytelling.
This week's Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Katie of Storytime Secrets. For information about Flannel Friday, past and present, go to So Tomorrow's Flannel Friday page.
Notes: Preparing this story turned out to be quite a project. At times I felt more like a costume designer than a children's librarian because I tried to make each brother look like the month he represented. The story was surprisingly easy to tell and as I did so I realized that I really didn't need all those figures to keep the audience's attention. I could have saved myself some time by simply using pictures of the items Marushka had to find in the snow - violets, strawberries and apples. I made a set using clip art from Microsoft Publisher to show as an example for this post. I think that the next time I tell this story I will use those as well as the figures by showing the picture to the audience as Marushka gathers each item or I might keep things simple and just use the pictures. I tend to adapt my storytelling to the audience, time frame, and the location of the program. For example, I have a limited amount of time when the second graders come for a visit so I would probably just use the pictures to tell the story. The figures are colorful so it would be fun to use them again when time is not an issue. It's always nice to have choices when it comes to storytelling.
The Month Brothers
Marushka, Stepsister, Stepmother
Violets, Strawberries & Apples
This week's Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Katie of Storytime Secrets. For information about Flannel Friday, past and present, go to So Tomorrow's Flannel Friday page.
I totally agree! It is always nice to have choices available to you when you are storytelling. :-) Thank you for sharing the options as well as the story. I had not heard this story before.
ReplyDeleteWow... this is a beautiful TREASURE of a flannel story. I always enjoy the folktalkes you share - thanks so much for putting in the time and effort. :)
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