Storytelling! I forgot

I forgot to reflect on my storytelling program last week, so I'm doing that now.

There were around 10 people who attended, including two adults and one teenage chaperone.  I told the stories, "The Simple Saame Man" (Finland, retold by Jamila Gavin in Our Favorite Stories), "The Mitten" (Ukraine, retold by Jan Brett in The Mitten), and "How Loon Outsmarted Winter" (native North America, retold by Linda Raczek in Stories from Native North America).  I did use the felt mitten and laminated animals for "The Mitten" but only to briefly hold up each one.

For the most part, the kids were quiet while I told the stories, but it was hard to gauge their reaction from their faces.  One girl was sort of frowning the whole time, but it may have been a concentration sort of frown.  The highlight was definitely "The Mitten," which several of the kids said that they knew.  At the end, they said that this was their favorite story, although the one teenager said that she liked, "The Simple Saame Man" for its lesson about courage.

One younger boy definitely enjoyed "The Mitten" and did react during "How Loon Outsmarted Winter," when Loon is trapped under the ice, by looking at his mom with surprise!  That was definitely the highlight for me because I got him to become invested in a story (without pictures or props) that he hadn't heard before.

Many of the books that I had displayed were taken at the end of the program, especially compared to how few are normally taken after Toddler Time, for example.  I also set out a basket with packets of hot chocolate, which was also popular.

One mother stayed behind to tell me that she really appreciated the program, and that she was trying to get her son to begin enjoying stories without pictures.

Overall, I think the program was a success.  It definitely got some of our folktale books circulating, and I think everyone found the storytelling enjoyable.  I wonder if I would get more reaction on the future if I told more energetic stories, if I told stories meant for younger children, or if I used more props of some kind.

Should I try it again?