Stories are woven so tightly into the fabric of our everyday lives that it's easy to overlook their significance in framing how we think about ourselves and the world. Stories are meaning making, providing a means of structuring and reflecting on our experiences in order to understand their significance. Story is also life making, a way of…

Early twentieth-century social activist Jane Addams is best known for her work at Hull House, the settlement house she founded with Ellen Gates Starr in 1889. Adams was also a pacifist, storyteller, writer and philosopher. Through her actions, stories, and writing, Addams modeled a philosophy of democracy-in-action based in imagination and…

This article explores how reading strategy instruction that targets children's literature can unwittingly interfere with the development of a reading life. It compares the use of story-based children's literature for reading strategy instruction with the "untaught" story. It asks: What, if any, role does a read aloud that is unfettered by formal…

Comments on the ability of fantasy to evoke images, the validity of fantasy, and influence of fantasy. (DD)

Describes the stories told by two three-year-olds and suggests that the storytelling process is a healthy expression of children's imaginations. (DD)

Examines the possibly factual origins of several elements of fantasy literature, including giants, dwarfs and goblins, fairies, talking animals, and the ability to transform beings into other shapes. (HTH)

Uses Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" and other novels to dramatize and highlight the conversations, conflicts, and multiple voices within and around the reader. Challenges readers to listen to all the voices in their minds for the sake of achieving a more communicative form of life. (MG)

Uses summaries and excerpts from ERIC documents to define fantasy, examine its attraction for children, and describe how fantasy may be selected and used in the elementary school classroom. (DD)

Children seem to learn language more quickly when movement precedes language use. (JH)

Argues that the absence of the arts in testing programs contributes to their marginalization. Considers the role of imaginative potential in determining what is important in schools. Considers what the arts have to do with literacy, that is, with the standard conceptions of reading and writing. Discusses transforming brains to minds, the arts as…

Notes that fantasy and fairy tales are frequent targets of censorship attempts. Provides a defense against such attacks, by offering an answer (perhaps a challenge) to each of the major objections to fantasy stories. (SR)

Preparational and situational cues are explained in terms of childrens dramatic responses to compassionate love. (JH)

Presents the value of stories, especially fairy tales, as ways of both tutoring and expressing the imaginative and intuitive side of the personality. (DD)

Reveals ways to help students learn that writing can be similar to play, in that they can use their imaginations to create new settings and even new worlds. Suggests using toys, imaginary trips, and including friends in stories as inspiration for writing. (SKC)

Familiarity with dance enhances perceptivity in the other arts by virtue of the kinesthetic sensitization it affords. (JH)