The West Stockbridge Public Library is happy to present Parents’ Choice award winning storyteller Davis Bates in a program of stories and songs to celebrate reading, nature and community. Entitled A Constellation of Stories and Songs , the program will involve the audience, through song and story, in a variety of cultural traditions. It will include stories selected from Davis’ wide repertoire, including international folktales, family stories from Davis’ own family, and more. You may hear how stars came to be in sky and why coyote howls a t the moon or help put a dancing wooden dog to sleep by singing a starry lullaby. There will also be plenty of participation and sing-alongs, and even a short lesson in how to play the spoons.
Pete Seeger has called Davis "thoughtful, creative, human, and a fantastic storyteller." Davis' traditional and participatory style of telling is a refreshing change from video’s and passive televised entertainment, empowering and encouraging audiences of all ages to join in the fun, and to take the stories home with them to share with others. He also encourages listeners to remember and tell stories from their own family and cultural tradition.
Davis Bates has been sharing stories and songs for over twenty-nine years, in schools, libraries, and community settings around New England and across the country. His storytelling recording Family Stories won a prestigious Parents Choice Magazine Gold Award, and was named one of the best audio cassettes of 1996 by the American Library Association’s Booklist magazine.
The performance is appropriate to all ages, and will take place at the West Stockbridge Public Library on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 starting at 3:00 pm. Be sure not to miss this wonderful family oriented entertainment event. This performance funded, in part, by a grant from the West Stockbridge Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.