*I have to list this link first in honor of my son, Mark Lockett.  He owns Creative Sites Media (CSM) the company that created this site and the administration tool used to keep it maintained. For web-based software, web design, eCommerce solutions, mobile app development, film/video production, and live event production, check out www.csm.cc .  Thanks, son!

 

 FAVORITE LINKS FOR STORYTELLERS AND STORY LOVERS

 Organizations - Resources - Events

 

Links of Storytelling Organizations

 

• Twin City Tale Spinners
  • The Twin City Tale Spinners is a non-for-profit storytelling group in McLean County, Illinois.   Dr. Mike Lockett is the president of the group.  He is one of the most active members of the storytelling guild.  The group meets on the second Thursday of each month at First Methodist Church in Normal, IL at 211 North School Street in Normal.  The church is next to the ISU Bowling and Billiards Center.  Guests are always welcome. For questions about the group, contact Mike Lockett - Mike@mikelockett.com  The Twin City Tale Spinner Face Book site is coming soon.  To Book a storyteller from the Twin City Tale Spinners in central Illinois. contact Dr. Lockett by clicking on his website (above).

 

• Beeingulapp - Learn to read other languages by reading stories.  This site offers stories in 13 languages for the purpose of helping you become multilingual.  Some of the stories on Dr. Lockett's site have been translated by Beeingulapp.  

 

• Illinois Storytelling, Inc.
  
  

  • Illinois Storytelling, Inc. is a state-wide network of professional and emerging storytellers, as well as a large and diverse listening audience, dedicated to our mission of connecting generations, nurturing communities, and celebrating our diversity through Story.  Illinois Storytelling, Inc.  celebrates Story in all of its forms – old tales, new tales and the diversity of storytelling styles – and provides website services, information about event production, professional growth opportunities, and a network of support to preserve the art and about the tradition of storytelling.  The group holds Open Mic nights at Dominican University in Oak Park, IL.  You can learn more about these nights and other events by contacting the event organizers at www.storytelling.org .  Dr. Lockett currently serves on the Board of Directors for ISI.

 

• The National Storytelling Network (NSN)  
  
  
  • Bringing together and nurturing individuals and organizations that use the power of storytelling in all its forms. Check out their website at www.storynet.org . Dr. Lockett is an active member of the NSN.  The organization connects storytellers all across the United States. Members can contact one another through the use of Storynet, an online source of storytelling events, storytelling websites and information. The National Storytelling Network sponsors the annual nation-wide storytelling Tellebrations held annually.(usually in November).  The NSN sponsors an annual conference.  The conference for 2017 will be held in Kansas City from June 29-July 2, 2017.  Whether novice or expert, the conference is worth attending.   The NSN maintains a National Storytelling Directory and a fairly comprehensive list of Guilds and Organizations for storytelling.  Visit the NSN's site to find a storyteller for your local event.  Contact Information:  P.O. Box 795, Jonesborough, TN 37659 - Office Hours: Monday–Thursday 8:00am-6:00pm (EST)  Phone: 800-525-4514 • 423-913-8201.

 

• National Storytelling Network Blog
• The National Storytelling Network supports sharing by storytellers who are NSN members with fellow storytellers and with all who are interested in stories and storytelling.  The bloggers share techniques, opinions, research, history, storytelling secrets and more.  One of the benefits of being an NSN member is the opportunity to add to this blog.

 

• Storytelling Magazine (Published by the National Storytelling Network)
  • Published four times a by the NSN. It contains enjoyable stories to re-tell, articles about storytelling and information storytellers.  A calendar of storytelling events and conferences around the nation appears in each issue along with advertisements for tellers and storytelling events.  Dr. Lockett has been a contributing author for the magazine in past years.

 

• Youth, Educators and Storytellers Alliance (YES!)
  • The Alliance is a Special Interest Group of the National Storytelling Network.  The Purpose of the group is twofold: 1) To promote youth storytelling and 2) To encourage educators and other adults to use storytelling with youth as an educational tool in classrooms and in other settings.  Members of YES try to inspire and nurture storytelling by and for youth. Members include youth storytelling coaches, teachers, teaching artists, librarians, full-time storytellers, and other mentors who view storytelling as a vital, essential art, as well as student storytellers who want to learn more about the art and craft of the oral tradition

 

• National Youth Storytelling Showcase (NYSS)
  • The NYSS encourages youth from ages 8-18 to participate in telling stories in their classrooms, in their communities and at youth festivals.  The youths are encouraged to have an adult record their stories and assist them in submitting the recordings for review.  Up to five winning submissions may be submitted per state to the National NYSS.  Up to 8-10 finalists are selected by a panel of judges from the potentially up to 250 entries.  The finalists are invited to tell their stories at the Annual Timpanogos Conference and Festival in Utah.

 

•  The International Storytelling Center
  • Located in Jonesborough, Tennessee. The center is a great resource for finding stories, storytellers, and storytelling programs. You can reach the center at www.storytellingcenter.com . The center features storytellers in residence during much of the year.  The largest event sponsored by the center is the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. The festival is held annually during the first full weekend of October. It is one of the premier festivals in America. 

 

• Northlands Storytelling Network
  
  
  • Northlands serves storytellers and storytelling enthusiasts in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and also welcomes those from other states. It is a charitable and educational organization dedicated to encouraging and expanding storytelling in ways that allow all people to understand and share the benefits of this art. Evidence of the compassionate service this group provides can be seen with the Katrina Storytelling Efforts. Read about it at the Blog . The Northlands website is www.northlands.net . Northlands hosts an annual conference at the end of April each year that is highly popular for storytellers in the area. Dr. Lockett is a member of NSN.

 

• League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling LANES
  • Northeast Storytelling, formerly the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling (LANES), is a  501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on artistic, educational and charitable pursuits.  It is one of the foremost storytelling organizations in the USA.  Many of America's top storytellers have come out of this talented group of individuals.  The vision of NS is to nurture family, community, and storytelling throughout New England and New York State.  While that is true - LANES has members from all over America due to the amazing way the storytellers share with one another in their efforts to promote of the art of storytelling in all its aspects: traditional, creative, educational, cultural, personal and therapeutic.  The group holds an outstanding conference each year called STF - Sharing the Fire Conference.  Dr. Lockett is an active member of LANES - and often attends the annual STF Conference.  Lockett is teaming with LANES member, Leeny Del Seamonds to speak at STF in 2017.

  

• National Christian Storytelling Conference
  • The National Christian Storytelling Conference is an annual event - generally held during the month of June.  The location varies year to year.  The 2017 conference will be held in Normal, Illinois from June 22 - 24.  Nearly a dozen well-known storytellers will be meeting to guide each other, learn from each other and to share with attendees the joy of being able to share God's word through storytelling.  Though the group is Christian in nature - people of all religions or NO religion at all are welcome.  Expert storytellers and non-tellers both have enjoyed learning from past workshops.  A special note: This is probably the cheapest storytelling conference of quality in the USA.  Mike is a frequent presenter at the Christian Storytelling Conference.

 

• Professional Storyteller
  • Professional Storyteller is a special Website created by Dianne de Las Casas. The site allows storytellers to communicate regularly with others to exchange ideas and information. The general public can view teller's websites and learn what's happening in the world of storytelling.  Dr. Lockett is a member of this site.

 

• Storyteller.net
  • Sean Bulava has developed a wonderful site with articles, storytellers, storytelling products and more. Sean hosts some excellent podcasts and online workshops about storytelling. The site is www.storyteller.net/ .  The tellers in this group often host a storytelling session at the NSN National Storytelling Conference.  Priority for tellers at the session is given to members of the group.  Mike Lockett is listed at www.storyteller.net/tellers/mlockett on the site.

 

• The Network Of Biblical Storytellers - NOBS
• This site will help you contact Christian storytellers across the U.S. and around the world. In addition, the site lists programs and festivals related to Biblical Storytelling. Their goal is to encourage everyone to learn and tell Biblical stories.

 

• National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS)
  • This organization was founded in 1982 for the purpose of giving more black storytellers to be heard and to promote the rich history of oral storytelling from Africa.  The organization has many affiliates across the USA and offers great entertainment for the public.  It sponsors an annual conference that is heavily attended by members from every culture and ethnic background.

 

 Links of Storytelling Resources and Story Sources

 

• Aaron Shepard Author Online
  • Aaron is the author of a number of children's books.  The site helps to promote his books.  But, it also is a fine resource for teachers, librarians, storytellers, children's authors, parents and kids.  Shepard's site includes folktales, fairy tales, myths, and legends as adapted by Aaron in Aaron’s World of Stories.  He lists storytelling resources in Aaron’s Storytelling Page.  There are pages for young authors, parents pages, books, stories and scripts.

 

• Aesop Fables
  
• • This is a great collection of Aesop's Fables.  The site includes more than 650 Fables. They are indexed in a table format, with morals listed. Most were translated into English by Rev. George Fyler Townsend (1814-1900) and Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914). The rest are from Jean De La Fontaine in French and translated to English by site volunteers.

 

• The Art of Storytelling  and Effective Storytelling - A Manual for Beginners  by Eldrbarry
  • Barry McWilliams, AKA Eldrbarry, hosts two sites.  The Art of Storytelling by Eldrbarry- is a "How To" site - offering storytelling techniques, online story resources, storytelling related websites and storytelling blogs.  Effective Storytelling is a well prepared six-page booklet to help beginning storytellers.  McWilliams gives permission on the site to copy and use the pages.  Thanks, Barry.

 

• Art-Links-Directory
  • A directory for arts of many different types across the United States. The website is www.art-links-directory.com/ .

 

• Bahamas Learning Channel
  • I told stories a few years ago in Nassau in the Bahamas for the Government Ministry of Education, for the Erin Gilmour School for the Blind the blind and for a large elementary school. The trip was facilitated by the Salvation Army in Nassau. A Bahemian storyteller, Portia Sands, sent me a link to her stories on the Bahamas Learning Channel. There are wonderful lessons in Spanish on the site and information for early childhood teachers. There are links to see and hear stories read and told by Portia Sands. Enjoy Portia's story about how the Bahamas became a country made of 700 Islands and Cays.

 

• The Baldwin Project
  • The Baldwin Project is a rich and comprehensive collection of resources for parents and teachers of children.  It is perfect for storytellers who want to research works published prior to 1923 including Nursery Rhymes, Fables, Folk Tales, Myths, Legends, Literary Fairy Tales, Hero Tales, Bible Stories, Storytelling, Games, Craft Activities and more.  The resources are FREE and can easily be printed by site visitors.  Even the print size is friendly with larger print that younger readers and aging eyes can enjoy and smaller print for everyone else.  The material is COPYRIGHT FREE and may be used directly from the site or may be adapted by the users as they wish. The creator of the site - Lisa Ripperton asks everyone to give full credit to the original creators of the materials included on the site.

 

• Catch the Story Bug - Website for Karen Chace - Storyteller/Teaching Artist  Karen Chase is an award winning storyteller and a highly recognized teacher .  She writes a storytelling column in Storytelling Magazine.  She has been a contributing author to various publications by the National Storytelling Network and is the author of Story by Story, published by Parkhurst Brothers Publishing, Inc.  Karen is a wonderful source for finding stories on the internet for teachers and storytellers to use in their work.  She respectfully requests that stories she has crafted not be republished or shared without her specific permission.  But there are many great stories and storytelling activities on Karen's site that can enhance the use of storytelling in the classroom.

 

• Center for Children's Books
  
  
  • This site is an excellent resource for finding good stories. The site has bibliographies for folk and fairy tales, print resources related to storytelling, and a variety of good on-line storytelling resources. The site is ccb.lis.illinois.edu/storytellingbib.html .

 

• Children's Literature Web Guide
  • Internet resources related to books for children and young adults.  Teachers will enjoy the section dedicated to children's book awards, the year's best books for children and a Children's Best Sellers Site.  The site includes links to Stories on the Web, Authors on the Web, Readers' Theater, Journals and Book Reviews, Resources for Storytellers, and more.  Because the site is copyrighted I  cannot list the actual stories on my site... But this source has Story Collections; Folklore, Myth and Legends; Songs and Poetry; and Classics for Young People and Christmas Stories.  The Children's Literature Web Guide was created by David K. Brown from the University of Calgary in 1997.  Though 20 years old, the site is a useful tool for educators and storytellers

 

• Children's Storybooks On-Line
  • This site includes stories for young children, stories for older children and stories for young adults.  The site is controlled by Children's Storybooks Online, copyright ©1996-2016 by Carol Moore. The stories on the site are not able to be published without permission - but make good reading for children.  A big benefit for storytellers is the READABILITY GUIDE on this site.  Storytellers sometimes want to know the approximate readability of their stories.  Compare your stories to those on this site.

 

• Enoch Pratt Free Library - Storytelling Online
  
  
  • From 2002 through the present, the Enoch Pratt Free Library system has collected multicultural stories and made them available on line 24/7 where adults and children can listen to good, clean family-oriented stories from some of the top tellers in the country. Happy listening if you visit this site.

 

• Etcetera
  • This is an odd site I came across while surfing the net. The owner rewrote stories to read to his/her son. The stories are a combination of public domain fairy tales and myths. The re-writes are fun to read. This resource is great for parents or educators who want to find clean, enjoyable material on the web.

 

• Famous American Folktales and Stories A-Z
• This is a collection of over 300 stories and legends collected from across North America by S.E. Schlosser. There is folklore from the USA, Canada and Mexico.  The collection includes tall tales, folk tales, myths and legends, fables and fairy tales.  Youth tellers may like reading the stories on this site.  The stories are crafted to be short and easy to read.

 

• Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
  • Edited by D.L. Ashliman from the University of Pittsburgh. The site features a collection of hundreds of folk tales and fairy tales along with myths, legends and sagas. The collection is categorized and sorted by country of origin.

 

• Folktales Collected by Phillip Martin
  • Phillip Martin started collecting stories while in the Peace Corps serving in Liberia.  and other countries while in the Peace Corps, collecting stories.  He gathered more stories while teaching in Asia, Africa and Europe.  He has posted his stories and colorful illustrations on this website.  The site takes a little time to negotiate.  But - it is worth the time, especially for teachers.  The stories are enjoyable.  But the most valuable resource on the site is the 100's of illustrations.  There are illustrations for almost every kind of story.  Martin gives permission to use his pictures FREE of charge. 

 

• Folk Tales for Kids 
  • A site with Celtic tales, African tales, stories from the Stories from the Panchatantra, classic stories for kids, Arabian tales, Greek mythology and more.  There are Valentine's Day stories. horror stories. Indian myths and legends, stories about wonders of the world, crafts for kids and projects for schools. A minor drawback for this site... It has pop up ads on it to help pay for the site.  You can hit the delete button for the ads and NOT damage your computer - then enjoy reading the stories.

 

 

• Folktales for Kids   (same name - but different spelling and different content from previous site)
• The creators of this site have collected tales for youth from the countries of India, China, Burma and many other countries.  Some of the tales make readers laugh.  Some make you wonder.  But, they all have wisdom hidden in them.  The site is excellent for teachers, but it is easy to get side-tracked by other lessons on the pages of the site.  The sponsors offer math lessons, reproducible coloring pages that teachers can use with their students and more.

 

• Heather Forest Website - Story Arts Inc.
  • Heather Forest is one of the top storytellers in the USA.  She not only is an outstanding storyteller, singer and musician, and she supports the art of storytelling through Story Arts Inc.  The group provides storytelling concerts, student workshops, teacher training, and educational media resources in schools, universities, and community cultural centers throughout the United States.  Their mission is to preserve and promote the ancient art of storytelling. It offers story arts programming for children and adults 
    to 1) to enrich interpersonal communication, 2) support literacy, and to 3) contribute to positive social change.  Visit the site to find articles on storytelling, a wonderful storytelling library filled with stories crafted by Heather Forest, lesson plans and storytelling activities and more.  The Story Arts web site http://www.storyarts.org offers a comprehensive guide for storytelling in education and hosts over 50,000 visitors each month. 

 

• Legends and Folktales
  • Legends and Folktales is a delightful site with about 50 folktales from around the world.  Click on the dots on countries shown on the world map to find a good story from that country to read.

 

• South-African Folk-Tales
• The stories in this site were collected by James A. Honey and first published in 1910.  There are nearly 50 easy to read stories collected during the 19th century from South-Africa.  It includes many great animal tales with classic African wisdom

 

• Stories for Children Magazine
  • Stories for Children Magazine is an online E-zine for children ages 3 to 12 years old. Each issue includes fun stories and articles based on age-appropriate reading levels. The magazine also includes puzzles, games, children's book reviews, crafts and poems to inspire the imagination. Stories for Children has reviewed several of Dr. Lockett's children's books. He and other children's authors are known to stop by, hoping to make new friends along the journey into the World of Ink.

 

• StoryBee - Website for FREE Story Listening
  • Would you like to hear a story?  More than 100 Professional storytellers have generously donated their recorded stories to the StoryBee site. Dr. Lockett is one of these tellers.  Storytellers have long been aware that children who listen to stories on a regular basis develop better vocabularies, improve their ability to be more coherent when speaking, better understand the spoken word when listening to others, improve in reading comprehension and become better story writers.  Encourage your children to click on their age group to find a list of story titles.  As they click on any title, the story will play.  Best of all - The stories are FREE! 

 

• THE STORYTELLING RESOURCE CENTRE - The One-Stop Site for all Storytellers
  • The Storytelling resource centre provides information and advice to all those who are interested in storytelling - including: Storytellers, Listeners, Researchers, Educationalists etc...  Visit the site for storytelling news, information, opinions and advice.  The site has Christmas stories, scary stories, tales of magic, inspirational stories, and urban legends.  The site has educational exchanges, storytelling products, story writing lessons and more

 

• Storytelling Websites and Resources
  • Elizabeth Giga from the University of North Texas has created one of the most comprehensive collections of information of storytelling resources on the web.  There are over 400 listings on the site that include: General Storytelling, Storytelling Organizations and Discussion Lists, Warm-Up Exercises, Breathing Techniques and Exercises, Folklore Research, Fables Research. Information in Storytelling Ethics and Copyright, Working with Audiences, Working in Schools and in Churches, Storytelling and Music, Family Storytelling, Multicultural Stories, and much more.  It is a VERY comprehensive site.

 

• Swedish Tales and Legends
• More than 50 stories can be found on this site.  The stories come from traditional Swedish folktales and legends.  However - the many of the stories have been shortened from their original formats.  A few of the stories look more like fairy tales instead of folktales.  Some have had brutal parts of stories altered or left out to make the stories more palatable for today's audiences. 

 

• Tellitagan Children’s Stories
• This is a site with downloadable audible stories.  Site visitors are able to click on stories they wish to read.  Colorful illustrations appear as the written text is narrated in good English.  This enables the children to read along as they listen to the stories.  The audio recordings and the visual illustrations work together to help improve reading skills for students who need additional help.  However, students who are already proficient readers also like to listen to the stories.

 

• Tell it Again! - A Storytelling Handbook for Primary English Language Teachers
• The 200 page handbook is FREE and on line for easy reading.  The book was prepared by the British Council for Teaching English.  The Council recognizes the importance of storytelling in the classroom and has prepared a manual for helping teachers effectively use stories and storytelling in education.

 

• Tim Shephard's Storytelling Links for Storytellers
• This site is probably one of the largest collections of storytelling resources on the internet. The resources listed are categorized and organized for easy reference. 

 

• World of Tales
• This site has folktales from each of the continents including fairy tales by Anderson and Grimm.   It should be a rich resource for both novice and experienced storytellers.  The section on Africa alone four books with 88 stories: 28 South African folktales, 40 Nigerian folktales and 10 Tanzanian folktales.  There are 353 Asian stories, 0ver 250 stories from across Europe, 31 from Australia, 136 from North America, and 36 from South America and a wealth of other types of stories and storytelling resources.  The stories are from the Public Domain and may be adapted for use by any storyteller. This is a very safe site to use for finding stories.

 

Links for Storytelling Events

Coming Soon