http://www.archive.org/details/TheMagicStone

The Magic Stone

Once upon a time, in the ancient China Three Kingdom, there is small village where argriculture is the main source income. There is farmer family working very hard on their padi farm for a living. Every year they have to earn enough money to paid the King for the lease of farm land. Their life will become harder while there is drought season. They have little daughter named Little Rain. Traditionally, girl is considered unable to help much in the farm as a boy, the parent are longing for a son and do not like her. If she make small mistake also being scolded badly. Due to this up-bringing she felt scared, small and lack of confident.

Althoght she always try working very hard, try to her best to finish her work and satisfy her parants and to prove herself. Of course, sometimes she also feel sad and run away to the river side to calm herself down. She like to listen to the peaceful water flow sound like the music that can confort her sadness. She always see herself in the water reflection and wish to become a someone bold and confident.

One day, when she ran to the river side again she saw a wounded cheetah lying in the water. Little Rain went to help the cheetah and its was too late. Before the cheetar took his last breath, he said with a voice in pain "Little girl, you are very brave and helpful. I was shot when I want to protect my family from taken away by the King for our fur. I love my daughter very much, she is about the age of you. So if you need help, i hope my spirit will be with you". When the cheetah died, Little Rain use her hand to closed his eye. Suddenly, the cheetah vanishing and turned into a stone with cheetah strip. She pick up and the stone to keep. When she try to dry the stone by wrapping it and look into the water she find herself become a bold cheetah with a lot of wisdom. She rubbed again the stone, she will became back a girl.

One summer season, the draught was very bad until everyone in the village could not get the harvest to pay the lease for the farm land. The King sent his soilder to force the people to paid. This was happen first to her neighbour where the soilders will catch the famer daughter and force her to work as servant in the palace. She quickly took out the stone and rubbed it. She become a bold cheetah and fight with the soilder. The bold cheetah caught the General and forced him down to the ground, it raor and said : " Bring me to the King. I want to talk to him." The General agreed and brought the cheetah to the castle to see the king.

In the castle, the cheetah saw the King's family, the Queen and the princess are playing in the garden. The cheetah attacked the princess who was the only daughter of the King. The King run out quickly to the garden and try to save his daughter. The cheetah raor and said : "Do you still remember me? My family being killed by you for our fur. Do you know how painful when your happy family being destroyed by other people and you can't protect them?" The King felt very worried and the begged the Cheetah : " Please, please don't hurt my daughter, my crual action is nothing to do with her .. . please" He added regrettedly and nobed his head : "I am wrong. Please forgive me." The cheetah continue to said : "Just now you ordered your soilder to the village to force the farmer to pay lease of farm land. If they can't pay, you caught their daughter. Do you aware that you are distroying the famers family for your own benefit?" The King felt very guilty. The cheetah rubbed the stone and suddenly Little Rain appeared infront of the King holding the princess hand. The King felt released when he saw the cheetah disappeared. The King asked mysterislly : " What happen? Where is the cheetah?" Little Rain released the hand of the princess to the arm of the King and said : " The cheetah is always with me, his wisdom is always with me." The King asked:" Who are you and where you come from?" Litter Rain said :"Your masjesty, I'm Litter Rain who stay in the village. I try to save the cheetah previously and now I want to save my village. As you know, our village had very bad draugh and everyone in the village have no harvest. If you distroyed all the farmers' family, who is going to take care of the farm land and no one will even pay the lease anymore?" The King realised that and asked, "What is your advise?". Little Rain said, " Very simple, we just need to help each other to get through this bad summer. You should deploy your soilders to help dig well and build channel to bring water from nearby river." The King agreed and carried out the plan accordingly.

A few weeks later, the first channel was built to bring water the wells for watering the farm. The villagers very thankful for Little Rain bravery , kindness and willing to sacrify for the village. From this incident, Little Rain's father and the rest of the farmers family also change their conventional perception that girls are not helpful to the family and they live happily ever after.

THE END


The Moral of the Story:
1) "Don't live in people perception, if you think you are small, you will be small. You can be what you want to be if you believe to do it in it."
2) "Single party benefit will not prolong and last forever. Helping each other to achieve the goal in a win-win situation is always the right way that will last forever!"

Alice Of The Dragon Curse

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful lady named Alice, who stayed in a village of Peaceville. She is pretty, kind and has a lovely voice. She is the creation of God of Tata to help to calm down the black dragon with her lovely voice and release the black dragon from his spell casted by a wicked witch.

Actually, the black dragon who lived in the lake was the son of the King who was turned into the black dragon by a powerful witch named Nataria who was defeated by God of Tata. This spell was casted as a revange of her failure. The spell on the black dragon will last forever if no one could break it after 18 years. When the time matured the black dragon will be her powerful weapon to destroy the Kingdom. God of Tata told the King and his people that only this lovely girl can break the spell by reading the word on her birth mark and the dragon will turn back to the prince Harry.






The Black Dragon was surrounded by the most harmonious mountain which was created and nurtured by GOD of TATA who is also called GOD of Protection. There surrounding was so peaceful that the black dragon was not disturb and wake up before the only girl, Alice, who could break the spell grown up.




All these years the Nataria lived in Forbidden Mountain nearby the lake to keep anyone away from breaking the spell of the black dragon. Nataria is waiting for 18 years and wants the black dragon to wake up from it sleep to create disaster to the Kingdom. She will not lost any chance that could stop Alice from coming to the lake and sing with lovely voice to calm the black dragon when it wake up. At one time, she make a thunderstorm so bad that Alice can hardly see the way to the lake.




While she was lost in the jungle path, she heard a waterfall sound in front and she realised that she could follow to stream to lead her to the lake. Unfortunately, the waterfall was the illusion created by Nataria to divert her direction.




Hours after hours she walked in the darkness towards the waterfall sound but still cannot see any stream. She was very exhausted and worried, then realised that she has actually walking up-hill. She was totally lost in the jungle again and cried for help. Before she gave up, she touched her birth mark and pray to God Tata. Suddenly, there was a unicorn appear in front of her and bring her back to original lake where the black dragon stayed. She managed to sing the song with her lovely voice and wake the black dragon up calmly. The black dragon was attracted by the lovely song and swam from the bottom of the lake as fast as possible to the surface. When Alice saw the black dragon wadding towards her, she quickly read the magic word taught by God Tata and flash her birth mark of "shining star" to the black dragon. Finally the spell on the black dragon broke and a handsome prince appeared. The evil Nataria could not withstand the power of goodness and varnishing while the spell broke.




Prince Harry and the King felt very thankful for Alice bravery , kindness and willing to sacrify for the Kingdom. Both prince Harry and Alice are attracted to each other and in love. The people of the Kingdom are very happy, dancing and cheering to celebrate they are free from the Witch Nataria curse and thankful to Alice. In the middle of celebration, the King announced that prince Harry will married Alice and the people also overwhelmed with the greatest joy ever happen. Wedding bell start to ring after the lovely couple tie their knot and white doves spread the joyfulness overall the world with the message "Evil never win!".

Puppet show time

Haha I found a nice background for my puppet show now which is my daughter drawing. Hope that you all will like it.









Just add in two horses and an old goat, it has become my puppet show background.

Testing story telling 1

The Arrogant Johnny

There was a horse named Johnny and he lived in a farm. He had a body brown fur and four slender, strong legs. Johnny had a bad temper and was very arrogant.



One afternoon, Johnny was taking a walk in the farm when he saw an old goat slowly walking in front of him. He ran up to him and laughingly said, "Old goat, old goat, you are so slow. If the big bad wolf should come from the forest, you will not escape in time!"

The Old goat angrily said, " Nonsense, who says I do not run fast?"

"Well, then try to catch me! If you can catch me, I will apologize." Saying that, Johnny ran off ahead.

The old goat madly followed Johnny but within moments was left behind. He even fell into a ditch, wetting himself. When Johnny turned around, he could not help but laugh loudly.

"Old goat, just admit that you have lost! I am off to have some fun!" Johnny leaped over the fence and out of the farm.

Johnny ran and ran across the green grass, smugly thinking to himself , "he he, I run so fast. No animal can compare with me."

Just then, a wild horse ran past him like the wind and disappeared within moments. Johnny was shocked, "Huh? I have to catch up with him." He followed the hoof-prints into a forest. There he saw the wild horse chewing grass.

"Hey! I want to race with you. Do you dare to compete with me?" said Johnny.

The wild horse said,"Fine. If you insist, then let's complete."

Excitedly, Johnny said, " When I count to three, we will start running. Ready, one, two, three!"

Johnny took off running on three. Just as he was so satisfied for being ahead, the wild horse san past him like a rocket. Johnny blinked his eyes, looked carefully and realized that the wild horse had already run ahead of him. Johnny used all his strength to catch up, but ended up with a mouth of dust. Soon, the wild horse was no where in sight.

"How can that be? None of the old goat or the donkey in the farm could beat me. I can't believe that the wild horse actually runs faster than me! If other animals should find out, they will laugh at me....."Johnny though sadly. It was getting late and Johnny headed back to the farm.

The old goat called out,"Johnny, wait for a moment. I have something to say to you. I saw you lost the race badly to the wild horse from Happy Forest. But don't worry. I won't tell the other animals. I just come to give you an advice: The world is a big place. You are still young and there are many things that you have not experienced. So you should listen and learn more. You should never bee too self-satisfied!"

Johnny became very ashamed of himself and said,"I'm sorry, old goat. I have been too arrogant and have been rude to you......"

"It's all right. I hope you will think about my advice." said the old goat.

Johnny thought, " Ah! I have finally learned my lesson. From now on, I have to be modest and never be arrogant again."

Here is a short story with a beautiful message.....

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,

'Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river.'

The little girl said, 'No, Dad. You hold my hand.'

'What's the difference?' Asked the puzzled father.

'There's a big difference,' replied the little girl.

'If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.'

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.

So hold the hand of the person who loves you rather than expecting them to hold yours...

This message is short......but carries a lot of Feelings.

Storytelling Techniques : Getting and holding the nursery child's attention?

WE START WITH THE STORY
1. Identify the kids' interest- if you know them well, great; if not, think about that age group
Animals
Stories where kids their age are heroes
Stories about things kids like to do: getting dirty, playing with an adult around, trying something new for the first time, etc. [NOT things adults think kids like: going to the circus, etc. which can go flat if you can't think like a kid]
2. Where do you find good stories?
Stories from your head (remembered, made up)
Picture books (especially if trying to excite reading)
Your public or school library (Dewey System 398.2 - Be sure to check the Juvenile section) has many collections of Folktales often compiled in easy format books, or adaptable to your needs.
Family stories (but don't discover yourself on other people's time!)
3. Key elements to a successful storytime
Know and like your story
Know and like your audience
Make sure they match each other
Be flexible
THEN WE WORK ON THE TELLER
4. How do you learn a story to tell?
Learn the bare bones plot (3 pigs left home and each built a house: one of sticks, one of straw, one of bricks. A wolf came and blew down the straw and stick houses. He tried to get into the brick house but got boiled when he went down the chimney into a pot of water. The End; a fox made a crow drop some cheese by flattering her into opening her mouth to sing. The End. Etc.)
Tell it to yourself while driving (mind the traffic wardens!)
Tape it if you want
Use a mirror if you want
Remember, you're not trying out for the London Theatre; relax and have fun
REMEMBER: ENVIRONMENT IS IMPORTANT!
5. Even if you know the story, you can't keep infants' attention in hyper situations
Room temp, noise level, physical environment
TIP: In a hot room, don't do action stories/ but do a warm-up poem in cold room
Special situations:
emotional atmosphere (have there been recent deaths, etc.)TIP: Let kids talk; let them choose elements of the story and you "improv" them in (the king's gifts, e.g. or what tasks the girl had to do, etc.) This improvisation is not nearly as hard as it sounds, particularly if you and the kids already know each other
The Easter Bunny is due in ten minutesTIP: Don't go on before the Easter Bunny. Period!
The kids are rowdy, restless, just ate sugarTIP: If kids arrive early for a program, encourage them to walk about rather than sit. If it is possible to control timing, tell before they eat. Pay attention to what kids want/expect; don't attempt the impossible. Start with a calming poem. Set up expectations. "If you can hear me" games.
If You Can Hear Me is a technique for regaining control of a noisy room. The adult stands at the front and says very quietly "If you can hear me I want you to pat your head." She pats, and as one or two kids catch on and begin patting, the noise dies down. As it does, the adult increases her voice level until everyone can hear the instructions and do the action.)
MAKING STORIES EXCITING AND FUN
6. Add the tools of the teller:
Voice
Body
Face
Imagination
Enthusiasm/Spirit (Cooperation with the audience!)VoiceA good voice exercise is to write some sentences on a blackboard, and have each person say them in different situations. For instance, say "I want a cup of coffee" as though you were tired, happy, angry, disgusted, humiliated, etc. Then change this to an entire situation: you are in your boss's office and he has just fired you. Let them choose the emotion and the voice.
Body languageA good body exercise is one I learned from Heather Forest. Have two people hold up a sheet, and two more stand behind it, the sheet covering their torsos and upper legs. Whisper an emotion into their ears, and then say "go." Have the students point out what made them know which emotions they were imitating. This is called cultural knowledge. We know when people are angry, sad, excited, etc. We don't always know why we know, but we do know. So do kids
in fact, they are sometimes quicker to pick this up because they need it for living by adult rules. So be careful with your face and body language; the kids are reading it.
ImaginationThere are many old theatre games that work well here. One I like is the Magic Box - an imaginary box that goes around the circle, each person pulling out and using an object until everyone has guessed what it is. This involves the next tool: cooperation. Someone will choose something complex or esoteric, and no one will be able to guess. Then we have to cooperate with the audience, help them, give them clues. It is our responsibility, not theirs, to provide the communication needed to make the link to our thoughts.
7. Practice
A tape recorder will let you hear what your voice is doing
A mirror will let you observe your face and body
Mulling the story over will bring out imaginative sparks
Taking it all too seriously will kill your enthusiasm and spirit
8. Remember: you're not just telling stories; you're teaching them to be an audience
Intersperse with rhymes, fingerplays, prop stories
Sing
Keep stories short
Participation stories
9. Ways to participateKids love to move, to see things develop in front of them (balloons, origami, etc.) And they love to get to yell, talk, laugh, make themselves a part of the story.
Refrains
Breathing - take a great big breath just before you want them to join in
"and then the giant said. . ." done slowly
hand gestures
conduct them with a sweeping motion. Kids are quick.
practice beforehand if very tricky, but incorporating the "now I want you to do this" won't spoil the surprise, particularly if you use one of the above techniques rather than breaking the story to give instructions. Kids will begin repeating when repetition becomes obvious, if you let them know you want it.
Actions
tricky with rowdy group
magic velcro use Magic velcro is a Wendy invention. I use it with a poem about running puppies. This is a basic scenario: "Okay, now everybody is standing up, right? Here we go. Pick your right leg up with your hands. Now stick it to the floor with the magic (or imaginary) velcro. Push it down hard. Wiggle it around. Is it stuck? Oops, that one's not stuck; better try again. Everybody stuck? Good, now the left leg. Okay, can you move your feet off the floor? Try." All sorts of contortions as you show them your feet are stuck. "Okay, now let's run with our feet stuck to the floor!" If you do it, they will do it.
Sounds
building a fire techniques.This is an old story technique, involving creating a rainstorm or building a fire. It is available in many books.
Individual parts (getting the kids to take parts and act out a story)
tricky but possible with pre-schoolers, easier with older kids. I recommend if you are going to do this that you choose a very repetitive story, like The Three Bears. Choosing parts doesn't always work well with strangers entering a classroom. Teachers who are familiar to the kids have better results.
10. Limit the number of participation stories per program, but be ready to be flexible
(If you're going to use it, use it sparingly!) Ways to participate
go over the stories individual class members have been working on and look for places in individual stories where these could be inserted. Not every story has them, not every class participant wants them. But it is a good exercise to identify them.
Finding stories appropriate to age groups and special circumstances
11. Librarians are our friends but YOU are your greatest resource
Look at books with discernment - some books are for adults to buy kids, some books are for kids to enjoy. Know the difference. Give people time to look through the stack of books on the tables (brought from home).
Sudden death exercise (Wendy's own invention again): each student is given a picture book chosen for her or him, no choice in the matter. They get five minutes to read the book (which is VERY simple - I keep a supply on hand.) Then take the book away - no matter how they plead or cry, take the book. They get five to ten minutes, then they tell the story. This is good for the end of the class, when they have the techniques but are still unconfident about not reading. It really works well.
12. Last things before leaving the class
Brainstorm ways the stories students choose to work on could be made into special circumstance stories (to combat teasing, to cope with family situations, etc.) Work together as a class if it is small enough, in groups if it is not.
Do a balloon story together
this is a type of telling I do where people are given balloon hats and props and asked to play parts in well
known fairy tales. It won't be appropriate for most users of these notes.