A group of women have come together to read stories to children for an hour every day, trying to bring some respite and magic into their lives as they spend endless hours indoors.
“Children love stories and, at a time like this, it is important to reach out to as many children as possible,” says Rachel Ellul Mercer, an early childhood educator who is involved in the Facebook project My Storytime.
“The more children are exposed to storytellers, the more they too will pick up books to read for fun – not because they have to.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic reached Malta’s shores, various measures have been put in place to contain the outbreak, including the closure of schools.
With parents no longer taking children to playgrounds, children have been spending days indoors, keeping up with homework or doing online classes.
So why not take storytelling online too?
Stories are magical and there hasn’t been a more needed time for some magic in our lifetimes than now
That’s the thought that struck actress Pia Zammit and she uploaded a Facebook post about it. A number of women picked up on it and came together to set up ‘My Storytime Malta’.
So, every day at 5pm they premiere two or three stories, targeted at different age groups. Stories, read out by those involved in the project or guest readers, are pre-recorded.
“I know how much work class teachers put in with students, and now that all students are at home, I wanted to help relieve parents of their child-minding duties for at least a short while,” Zammit said.
She hopes the initiative will also foster a greater love of books in children.
Coryse Borg, an actress and writer, agrees: “With so many children being home now, we thought that parents would appreciate someone reading to their offspring – and we knew the children would enjoy it too.”
Marija Schranz, a self-confessed bibliophile, is using this as a creative platform where she can contribute to the community during this trying period.
“Books are a refuge that opens us up to so many worlds beyond our imagination, something we need badly at the moment,” she says.
Dramatherapist Lou Ghirlando adds: “Stories are magical and there hasn’t been a more needed time for some magic in our lifetimes than now.
“Stories can take us to different worlds through our imagination, and they can also speak to our souls, minds and hearts – helping us to make sense of our world.”