John Olive - Tell Me a Story in the Dark: A Guide to Creating Magical Bedtime Stories for Young Children

Copyright 2015 by John Olive

All rights reserved.

Published by Familius LLC, www.familius.com

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Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data

2014959239

Paperback ISBN 978-1-939629-58-6
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-942672-74-6
Ebook ISBN 978-1-942672-01-2

Edited by Brooke Jorden
Cover design by David Miles
Book design by Brooke Jorden

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

For Michael, who heard it first.

Authors Note

Do you want to experience primal parenting?

Tonight at bedtime, instead of reading a story to your child, tell it. Dim the light, lie down next to her, and begin:

In a faraway land, a long, long time ago...

Or: Im gonna tell you about a crazy thing that happened to my great-grandpa.

Or maybe, simply: It was a dark and stormy night.

And then, weave a spell.

You will connect with your child, or children, in ways you never thought possible. Images will blossom. Characters will grow. Plots will evolve.

Your children will listen to you. They will hang onto your every word. So fervently believe that you are the most creative and entertaining person its been their privilege to encounter.

And maybe, if youre luckycross your fingersyoull hear the most wonderful sound ever, the sound that signifies the bedtime storytellers triumph:

Snoring.

This book will provide you with every tool you need to explore this wonderfulancient and yet freshform. Part I: The Shimmering Dark is introductory. It details the benefits, or bennies, accruing to tellers of bedtime stories. Ill supply you, the reader, with performance tips: how to set up the room, how to prepare the story, and how to tell the story effectively.

Part II: The Sea of Stories. This is the meat of the book. Here, Ill share stories of all kinds, starting with simple nonsense stories; moving on to myths, legends, tall tales, stories from religious and historical sources, and stories from family history; ending with examples of the most important, most powerful type of story in the dark: the fairy tale. Ill present these tales to you as vividly as possible with, where appropriate, story pointsor the skeletons of stories in bulleted listsallowing you to make the tales your own.

Some of these stories are standards,oft told, ancient, and wonderful, though created in this book with much originality. Jack and the Beanstalk, Prometheus and the Stealing of Fire, and City Mouse and Country Mouse (from Aesops Fables) are examples. Some are less known: e.g., A Huron Creation Myth. Some stories are based on popular works of literature: Great Expectations or The Secret Garden .

And many others are completely original: Ralph, the Sad, Sad Ghost, Big Bertha, Stacy, the Cowardly Crocodile, Sophie and the Unicorns, et al. In all cases, I have adapted stories and made them my own.

Finally, in Part III: The Greatest Gift, I explore the process of creating original, never-before-heard stories, giving the reader an easy 1-2-3 Method for doing so.

I urge you to use these tips, tricks, and tales to make this ancient and marvelous art form part of your regular family life.

Part I

The Shimmering Dark

Bedtime

Scenario Numro Uno

I ts bedtime plus thirty minutes, and the Essence of Sweetness, the Center of the Known Universefor now, lets call her Natalieis drawing a line in the proverbial sand:

Im not tired. It isnt even dark. I can hear kids playing outside. No fair!

Natalie, you should have been in bed a half hour ago.

Im not going to bed. She faces you, wearing her patented make-me smile. No way, Jos.

You groan inwardly. Not again.

Ah, but this time you have a card to play, and its an ace. Natalie, you say in your patented calm-but-stern voice, if you put your jammies on, brush your teeth, and get into bed like a good girl, Ill tell you a story in the dark.

Okay!

And off she rushes, quickly donning PJs, brushing teeth, and leaping into bed.

You enter Natalies room. Shes in bed, but the lights still on. Its one of those dreadful overhead units, bright and garish. The place feels like an operating theater.

You turn off the light.

Boom.

The room changes. What had been familiar and dull is now charged with possibility, with imagination. New shapes appear. Moon-driven shadows emerge. Strange, moving wedges of light from passing cars cross the walls. Its not scary, though. Not really.

Why?

Because you are there. So, yes, the room bristles with potential, but not with demons and scream-producing monsters. Your presence makes it safe.

You settle yourself in. Perhaps you sit on the floor or pull a chair up close. Or maybe you get into the bed. Get comfortable.

Tell me a story.

Shhhhhhhh. You pause for effect. This is it. Storytime.

Youre a touch nervous. Who wouldnt be? You have a basic story in mindmaybe youve recently read a book or seen a movie that you want to share, or perhaps youve downloaded and read Tell Me a Story in the Dark (bless you), and youve found a story you want to try out. But you certainly havent memorized the story. A lot of it will be semi-improvised.

Its even possible that you have no idea at all what youre going to say.

Natalie grows impatient. She starts shifting around in the bed, adjusting her blanket and stuffed animals.

Not to worry. You and Natalie have experience with stories in the dark. (Thats why shes suddenly so cooperative; she loves these bedtime tales.) You know what a piece of cake this is going to be. You know that as soon as you install yourself in the dark bedroom, next to your child, the story will flow.

Easy.

Easy? Really?

Well, okay, I cant absolutely guarantee this. I cant offer you your money back. But Ill bet you a nickelheck, Ill bet you a whole quarterthat with a little practice and a lot of love, youll become a maestro of the bedtime story. Inside everyone lurks a master teller of bedtime tales.

Scenario Numro Dos

I remember the first time I told my son Michael a story in the dark.

It was a sticky-hot night in the middle of a brutal Minnesota heat wave. We lived in an apartment without air conditioning before we moved to our current home with (ahhhhhhhh) central air. Michael (who was two and half years old) was sufferingtossing and turning, sweating and moaning. I stood in the bedroom door, listening to the rattling window fan and my unhappy son, wondering what to do.

Then, without really thinking about it, I went in and knelt down next to his crib.

On a hot night like this, Micky...

He jumped. The loud fan had prevented him from hearing my approach.

... what we need is a ghost story to send shivers up and down our spines.

He listened. Ill never forget it: he lay on his tummy, bediapered butt sticking up, eyes round pools of wonder.