Opening the Conversation: Folktale as a Metaphor for Covid-19

Illustration by Connie Clanton for SPI.

A Creative Way to Spark Meaningful Conversation, All Ages

As schools open their doors for the new academic year, teachers may be looking for ways to initiate conversation with their students about the ongoing challenges of Covid-19. 

Vidaga’s Horn is an SPI original folktale that was written as a metaphor for Covid-19.

Vidaga’s Horn offers teachers and parents an engaging and creative way to spark conversation. It is a timeless tale that, as conversations around it evolve, can pertain to many different scenarios.

The story follows the adventures of three young children as they seek knowledge on how to "part the dark clouds" that cover "Great Land," their home. They embark on a journey to find "The Wise One," Vidaga, and come to find out that only by caring, respecting, and protecting one another will the dark clouds part and warmth and sunshine return to Great Land.

Vidaga’s Horn is a collaborative work, co-written by the much-admired storyteller Charlotte Blake-Alston and SPI’s executive director Mary Kuechenmeister. 

SPI has included several of Charlotte’s stories in its K-3 Storytelling Learning Lab project along with those of other master tellers including Odds Bodkin, Jay O’Callahan, Carrie-Sue Ayvar, and Diane Ferlatte.  SPI is working to further expand and diversify the collection. 

Charlotte Blake Alston is one of the nation's most admired storytellers.  She has performed at venues throughout the world including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian, and the Women of the World Festival in Cape Town, South Africa. For over 25 years Charlotte has served as host of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Preschool concert series and has served as storyteller, narrator and host on their family and school concerts. In addition, she has been a featured narrator for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In 2003, Charlotte represented Carnegie Hall when she hosted a series of concerts in Miyazaki, Japan, with the Eddie Arron String Quartet and fellow storyteller Motoko and has performed as both pre-concert artist and host of Carnegie Hall’s Family and Education Concert Series. Charlotte came to storytelling following an earlier career as a teacher.

To find out more about Mary and others on the SPI Board, click here: Who We Are 

Vidaga’s Horn is appropriate for all ages. 

It can be found in SPI’s K-3 Storytelling Learning Lab and will be – or has been, depending upon when you read this post -  uploaded to the 4-12 Learning Lab site. 

It can also be accessed on Soundcloud by clicking here: Vidaga’s Horn

Through both fiction and non-fiction stories, Story Preservation Initiative is working to help young people better understand Covid-19, to be aware of the significance of the time that they are now living through, and how the actions of all – particularly those actions that manifest caring and respect - can help to “part the dark clouds” that continue to surround us.   

Story Preservation Initiative makes its work available to all, free of charge. We are a small non-profit whose mission is to positively impact the lives of young people through the sharing of ideas, the transformative power of story, and the development of educational materials that engage the hearts as well as the minds of children of all ages.

Please consider making a donation - in any amount - to help us keep the stories coming. To make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

www.storypreservation.org

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