Three-Minute Tales

By Margaret Read MacDonald

Book Overview

Recognized as Notable book for Global Society

Anyone who teaches, lead, or speaks in public has had the experience of needing to fill short amounts of time in order to hold the audience's attention. The challenge is familiar to Margaret Read MacDonald, who for thirty-five years told stories to preschoolers every week.

Here are more than eighty simple, short, pithy tales for many occasions: holidays, museum tours, history or nature walks, public speaking, media appearances, school visits, curriculum boosters. These traditional tales come from China, west Africa, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Syria, Cuba, the Ukraine, India, eastern Europe, and the Jewish, native American, and African-American traditions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874837294
• ISBN13: 9780874837292
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 9.9"
• Age Range: 8 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 5

Customer Reviews

Perfect for story telling to young'ens

My son loves it. great feature is at the end of each story it tells you story origins....

Margaret does it again!

Storytellers are verbal by nature--hyperverbal, in fact. When asked to tell a five minute story, most of us stumble. It's an occupational hazard! Fear no more. Margaret Read MacDonald has compiled a book full of three minute gems to help fill those gaps in a story program, or to fit the call for a "short little story." She arranges the stories in categories such as "humorous tales," "stories for young listeners," or "scary tales." Source notes are, as with anything she writes, comprehensive, allowing the teller to explore the story in more depth. Her trademark telling notes in the margins accompany some stories, making this an excellent resource for use with new tellers. She even has each story timed, so that if you want a "story to think about" that is 1 minute 15 seconds in length, you can turn to "A Plan of Attack" from China. Thanks for a long overdue storytelling resource, Maggie!