A large and diverse group of children and parents came together for that most unifying of experiences- hearing and seeing stories presented live. On April 22 '09, at the Wallingford Public Library Children's Room, a packed audience of 45 was introduced to kamishibai for the first time.
I introduced the storytelling session by clapping hiyoshigi together, wooden blocks used in Japan as part of traditional kabuki theater, as part of neighborhood fire watch patrols- and as part of kamishibai storytelling.
Once, the kamishibai man parked his bike in Japanese neighborhoods, opened the theater perched on the back of his bike, and struck together his hiyoshigi. When he did, the children knew to come running- a storytelling treat awaited them.
In the Children's Room in this Connecticut library, the sounding out of the hiyoshigi signaled their entry into a special story experience. Kamishibai stories are ideal for library audiences because the entire audience can see the story's images the whole time the story is being presented. For modern audiences, so visual because of our increasingly digitalized lives, kamishibai seem peculiarly familiar, even to new audiences.
After several stories, a good stretch is always in order, particularly when everyone is invited to "paint the ceiling with your favorite color"!
And as they have before, in rooms and outdoor spaces across the globe, the kamishibai stories cast their spell, bringing laughter, indrawn breath at suspenseful moments, and the satisfied relief of seeing resolutions achieved.
I had brought along twelve kamishibai, and had presented five. At the end, a polite seven year old raised her hand and said, "And you can tell us the others when you come back next time." The best praise often comes from the mouth of a child!
