Carol Knarr - Storyteller and Drama Specialist

 

One day I was telling stories in Glendale, Arizona, for an elementary school. I had been telling How the Camel Got His Hump all morning and my throat was sore. The camel puppet I used as a prop was in the bin of props with its head peeking out. Wouldn’t you know that is all the class of special needs students saw! One of the children asked if I would tell the story of the camel and began to beg. I tried to explain that my throat was sore and I had other wonderful tales to share with them. Then a boy asked, “Can the puppet tell the story?”

 

Always up for a challenge, I put the puppet on my hand and let the camel steal the show. Mind you, I had never practiced the camel’s voice prior to this and had never thought about what the camel might say. What I learned in the next ten minutes was that camel was a show stopper! He had quite an attitude and told the story in such a funny way that I found myself laughing at him, too! I also learned I needed a lot of practice telling a story with a puppet.

 

I wouldn’t suggest throwing a puppet on your hand and telling a story cold to a group of students to see what would happen, but in a rehearsal process, you can learn a lot from gaining a new perspective of a story hearing it from another point-of-view whether using a puppet or not.