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Reviews of the Healing Heart Books Jane Victor
From Counterpoise,
Allison M. Cox and David H. Albert, eds. The Healing Heart. Two volumes. The Healing Heart ~ Communities: Storytelling to build strong and healthy communities. Gabriola Island. BC:Canada: New Society, 2003. 237p. ISBN 0-86571-469-X. paper $19.95. The Healing Heart ~ Families: Storytelling to encourage strong and healthy families. Gabriola Island. BC: Canada: New Society, 2003. 256p. ISBN 0-86571-466-5 paper $19.95 These two volumes, which combine sample stories and background information on where and how they have been used, were edited by Allison Cox, a health educator in Tacoma and storyteller from Vashon, Washington and David Albert, a public health planner and writer. The purpose of these stories is not only to entertain an audience but also to teach them how to deal with dangerous and difficult life situations. Most of the stories are typical folktales that have been gathered from books or from the mouths of storytellers around the world. Many have been adapted to fit a situation pertaining to mental and physical health (e.g., a story of the "Three Little Pigs" adapted for Asthma education or an old Welsh folktale, "The lady of the Lake Waters," adapted for educating the inhabitants of a shelter for abused women). Others are told just as they are told traditionally, only used in an appropriate situation. (i.e. "Kofi's Hat" and "Kanu above and Kanu below," traditional stories from Africa, which deal with prejudice and misunderstanding.) The contributors are health educators, teachers, social workers, professional storytellers, and therapists who have found storytelling in places like schools, group homes, prisons, mental health centers, and hospitals. Some stories are told or sung and discussed afterwards. Some subjects are encouraged to tell or adapt their own stories. In the Families volume, the stories deal with problems encountered in the family. Some examples are a chapter "Children with Medical Problems Reclaim their Lives," which includes a modern story about coping with diabetes ("Sally goes to School") and a modernized Irish folktale ("Nobody's good for Nothin'") designed to be told with music and which was adapted for use with children at an oncology camp (the kids played the drums). There is another chapter "Coping with Grief," which includes an Hungarian folktale, "Outwitting Death," adapted by the author to show how she and her family dealt with the death of beloved grandmother; and an original tale, "Infinite Resources and Sagacity," (written in a folkloric style), about the author's effort to cope with the sudden death of an adult son. In the chapter "Early Childhood Interventions: The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program," the author describes a program from Toronto that teaches isolated and often poor and abused mothers how to relate to their babies by teaching them to interact with their offspring through baby songs, finger games, and nursery rhymes. One of the most interesting projects described in this book was the Odyssey Project from the Tacoma, Washington Department of Health. This project was designed to prevent adolescent pregnancy through storytelling. The stories, told by the project coordinators as well as the children themselves explored "themes related to self-esteem, continued school …attendance, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, domestic violence, peer pressure, hygiene … positive decision-making…[and]…refusal skills." Some of the stories were traditional, but others were true-to-life about what went on their tough neighborhoods. When the staff asked for stories "respecting nature," one boy told about drug dealers in his neighborhood using their own dog for target practice. When asked about stories for bravery, a girl talked about how she tossed a toy truck in the face of a burglar, locked herself and her brother in a bedroom, and called 911 (her mother was working a late shift). The fourth grade children then told their stories to first, second, and the third graders. The evaluation of the Odyssey project given by the author (who was also this books editor, Allison Cox) was, "I believe we were effective in creating a safe environment for these children to explore who they were as people and to help shape dreams for possible futures…The Odyssey staff offered the students tools for survival, for negotiating through a world that for many of them was fraught with peril … Through it all, story was the thread that bound us all together." In the Communities volume, social problems are dealt with in a larger context. One of the most surprising chapters was "Taking off Superman," written by a storyteller who ran a story group in Sing Sing Prison in 1996. Robert Reiser, the storyteller used a flashlight for an imaginary campfire and told stories from his own collection before getting the men to open up with their own stories. I was quite astonished to read how these hardened adult criminals not only appreciated Mr. Reiser's stories, but also made up stories of their own. "The moment I told the men to close their eyes and relax, they were gone, deep into themselves, deep into their imaginations…As the men opened their eyes, one looked up and smiled. 'Now I can take off my superman suit' …The tough, hard assed superman suits, the most important part of their prison garb, were put aside. For an hour … they could just be kids, trading stories." Some of the "communities" in this book are halfway houses, group homes and shelters for victims of domestic violence. Others are ethnic communities submerged in America but struggling to preserve their identities. "On the Trail of Judge Rabbit: Sharing Tales of Cambodian Refugees" tells how a Cambodian refugee community in Seattle tried to preserve their culture and identity by compiling the stories of the Cambodian trickster Judge Rabbit (Brer Rabbit's Asian cousin). Cathy Spagnoli, the author of this chapter, describes how she had to gather fragments of stories from different sources when she advises the reader to "Gather several people together and fish for tales … for everyone helps each other remember, and they spark ideas and images. The story emerges as it is pieced together by several heads and hearts." "Tales from the Heart and Spirit," by Joseph Naytowhow and Cheryl L'Hirondelle Waynohtew tells about how the Meadow Lake First Nation hired a storyteller-in-residence (the first author) who visited elders to gather stories and also visited schools (sometimes accompanied by these elders) to pass on these tales to the younger generation. Not all the communities sampled are from the United States and Canada. One of the best chapters, "Storytelling on the Path to Healing in Northern Ireland," by Liz Weir, tells about several innovative storytelling programs in Northern Ireland, some of which have now spread to Southern Ireland, which had storytellers visiting schools, libraries, and even the notorious Maze Prison. The goal of these programs was to preserve an old art as well as build bridges between Catholics and Protestants. At the end, Ms. Weir reproduces a story (told by Dan Keding), "The Two Warriors," which tells about the two last survivors of two mighty armies. They agree to fight to the death in the morning, but after spending a night swapping stories, "They…slowly sheathed their swords and walked away, each to his own home…you cannot hate someone when you know their story. Those who love to share stories with our children (either orally or by reading to them) or who like to collect and share stories from books, older relatives, friends, etc. will love these two books. They reproduce several sample stories, traditional, adapted or taken from real life. They also give advice to teachers, psychologists, social workers, volunteers, and professional storytellers about how to collect and compile stories, how to present them and how to teach special groups of clients to tell stories. These stories are not just for children; very few of the participants in these programs are young children. Most are adolescents, adults and the elderly. These books will be great in academic collections serving students of education, psychology and social work as well as literature and theatre. They'll also be great in school libraries and libraries serving special populations (e.g., prisons, shelters, and mental health facilities). - Jane Victor Review for the Vancouver Storytellers' Newsletter
The Healing Heart - Families
The Healing Heart - Communities
New Society Publishers, 2003
Imagine hanging out with many of your favorite storytellers from near and far, sharing tales, batting theories and experiences about, musing over a surprising twist on an old yarn, and then finding yourself engrossed in a totally new story from an admired teller you've wanted to meet for ages. All this and more is yours in this welcome pair of books brimming with essays and stories that show how storytelling can be applied "to encourage caring and healthy families and communities." Allison Cox and David Albert bring together a rich mix of tellers whose insights, experiences, and stories create a reference that no storyteller should be without. By and large these are the kinds of stories that-if we could find a way for people worldwide to hear them regularly-could move mountains (probably literally as well as figuratively). No question: healing through the spoken word is one of the "big themes" of our time. We all know that good storytelling is far more than pleasant distraction. As Nancy Mellon writes, "Listening to well-turned phrases spoken with wonder and affection by a storyteller primes the natural poetry in our souls and ignites our creative courage for life." The stories in The Healing Heart - Families touch on issues that range from the highly private (sleep-wetting, asthma, coming "out" in a homophobic society) as well as more public concerns (family survival in difficult times, angry urges while child-rearing). The storytellers' various accounts of their approaches to "finding what divides us"-as one contributor puts it-can't help but inspire and stimulate others to a deeper understanding and expression of our art. The compelling companion volume reaches out to the larger world and focuses strongly on approaches to social conflict and strengthening community values. One essay--"Storytelling on the Path to Healing in Northern Ireland"-- suggests a model for helping to ease some of the conflicts and misunderstandings in the Middle East and other troubled areas. Its central thesis proposes that children on all sides of a cultural and political dispute gather together for a great story sharing conclave in which they hear stories told by representatives from all the relevant factions. Another inspiring project--from the Meadow Lake Tribal Council of Saskatchewan-is designed to affirm the values expressed in the stories told by elders from many tribes. The editors-both accomplished storytellers themselves--are highly qualified for the selection and shaping of materials from varied backgrounds. Allison Cox works as a therapist and prevention specialist in Tacoma, Washington and is founder of Healing Story Alliance (part of the National Storytelling Network, USA), and editor of its journal Diving in the Moon: Honoring Story, Facilitating Healing. David Albert is Senior Planner and Policy Analyst with the Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse and author of two seminal works on home-schooling, as well as a contributor to other books about storytelling. The editors appear to have bent over backwards to retain the language and voice of each contributor, allowing their defining rhythms, vocabularies, and unique imageries to prevail. Author biographies and contact information are backed up by useful bibliographies in each volume. --Antoinette Botsford
Personal Reviews from Storytellers I just want to say thank you. The books are deeply inspiring while also being deeply instructive. Your opening essay in 'Families' brought me to tears (happy tears... same as Barre Tolkein's chapter in "Who Says?"). The articles were very good and the story selection was truly wonderful. I learned so much... and one of the most important things I learned is the hardest to articulate... I learned to recognize and trust the voice of my intuition in story selection. This centering, this deepening of my confidence, arises not from a single article or story... but from the whole collection together. You have given us all a wonderful gift. Thanks so very much! Sheila Darr
I'm finding the Healing Heart books so richly textured, an amazing mix of ideas, stories, spirit. Bravo to you and David. Cathryn Wellner,
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Allison Cox • (206) 463-3844 • 25714 Wax Orchard Rd • Vashon, WA • 98070 • Email Allison
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