Read-ing tales with a passion
With over four decades on the job, Dr Margaret Read MacDonald is still happiest when telling stories to children.
MEET Dr Margaret Read MacDonald and youll understand why she was born for the job. As her maiden name Read suggests, she reads and tells stories for a living.
Whenever she tells a tale, she touches the soul. She is like the fairy godmother who with her magic wand dazzles you with words, voices and even actions of characters from storybooks and movies.
Dr MacDonald, 71, also specialises in folk tales and enthralls her young audience with stories of people and their unique lives from places far and wide like Mahasarakham in Thailand to Rio in Brazil.
Folkfore is wonderful. Stories have been passed down for thousands of years and the challenge is to keep them alive because if you dont tell them, they will just fade away, says Dr MacDonald, who holds a PhD in Folklore from the Indiana University, United States (US).
In fact, Dr MacDonald, whom School Library Journal (a US magazine for school librarians) has described as a grand dame of storytelling, says there is no right or wrong way of telling a story.
In public speaking, you worry about sounding right and being perfect, while storytelling is an art form. You dont memorise them but you tell them in your own words.
They (folktales) have been told for thousands of years and those who tell the tales may change them a little, so it doesnt matter how you tell them, so long as it has been told ... after all, we are all folks! she says in jest.
Dr MacDonald who hails from Southern Indiana, says that her storytelling tours have taken her to places as far away as Kenya, Argentina, Luxembourg and the Philippines. Most of the time the sessions are held at schools or libraries.
Dressed in her signature costume a floral dress over a brown top her face glows as she talks about the popular activity,still enjoyed in many parts of the world.
With a voice that resonates across any room, Dr MacDonald says she developed a penchant for language as a child, thanks to her mother.
My mother didnt really tell me stories but she read me poetry a lot. Its the sound of language that I have learnt to appreciate, she says.
At 27, a major opportunity came for her to pursue her passion when she moved to Hawaii with her husband who was studying there.
She managed to get a job with the Hawaii State Library Bookmobile which saw her promote literacy around the island and hone her storytelling skills.
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