Cyrenius H. Booth Library will host a Tellabration! storytelling event for families on Friday, November 8, at 7:30 pm.

Tellabration! is annual event, made up of dozens of storytelling happenings all over the world. Its purpose is to introduce adults, as well as children, to the art of oral storytelling. It is one of the programs offered by The Connecticut Storytelling Center, based at Connecticut College in New London.

Storytellers Meris Palmer and Martha Bishop will perform at the Newtown Tellabration! this year.

Meris Palmer offers folk tales, traditional tales, ethnic tales, and stories from literary tradition to children, adults, families, and seniors. A certified teacher, Ms Palmer has held literacy workshops in schools, individual classrooms, and in childcare centers, as well as a wide variety of other venues.

She also offers intergenerational programs. Drawing upon her experience as a certified therapeutic recreation director, Ms Palmer has worked extensively with the elderly. Ms Palmer is a trained facilitator for Connecticut Humanities Council Book Voyagers.

Martha Bishop, know as Mzz B, is a storyteller and author. She uses stories to entertain as well as educate, and emphasize the importance of developing our own inner strengths and abilities. An active member of the Connecticut Storytelling Center, Mzz B, as a teller and a producer, is also a veteran of two decades of Tellabration!

During her teaching career, Mzz B used storytelling and creative drama in her classrooms as tools to help children understand everything from the American Civil War to long division. She was active for many years in several community theater groups and has worked with young teens to develop their talents in public library creative drama and storytelling programs. Mzz B is an award winning storyteller as well as author of Rafe’s Grand Performance, a children’s book based on the adage “That which is truly valuable is often underrated.”

For more information contact Booth Library Young Adult Librarian Kim Weber at 203-426-4533 or chbya@biblio.org. 

A full listing of over 25 Tellabration! sites in Connecticut, with dates and times, can be found at www.connstorycenter.org/tellabration.htm or by calling The Connecticut Storytelling Center at 860-439-2764.