As the much-beloved Malta Book Festival rolls exuberantly back into town, Laura Swale takes a look at how stories shape who we are, casting their spell on us as children and never losing their sparkle.

Perhaps you are one of the 40,000 avid book-lovers heading to this week’s giant celebration of stories that is the Malta Book Festival, or maybe your child is one of the thousands visiting with their school. Either way, prepare to be regaled by prize-winning tales, recounted, sung and performed by authors, actors and modern-day bards.

“There is no greater power on this earth than story.”
Libba Bray, author

Established in 1979, this year’s event entitled Strange New Worlds explores the genres of fantasy and science fiction. Over the five days from November 6-10, visitors to the Mediterranean Conference Centre can expect more than 90 events and activities for all ages, including book launches, theatre and comedy performances, interviews, discussions, workshops, conferences and presentations, dozens of exhibition stands and the chance to meet acclaimed and award-winning authors. The festival is also a focal point for the book industry itself, connecting local and international publishers, booksellers, NGOs, public agencies and student organisations.

So what is the secret of its success? Well, we all love a good story, whether it’s a good movie, a good book or (let’s be honest) a good old-fashioned gossip. For children with vivid imaginations the allure is all the more intense, particularly when they are still too young to read by themselves.

For young children storytellers hold the golden key to the door of these Strange New Worlds.

While organisers are preparing a feast of delicious stories to make our mouths water, the wonder of storytelling lies in more than mere entertainment. The purpose of the festival, operated by the National Book Council, is to promote reading and literacy in the young, and they know that a dynamic delivery will accomplish this nicely.

Jessica Logan is professor at the Ohio State University’s department of educational studies. Based on their research she concludes that “young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to. They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily”. She refers to this as the “million word gap”­.

In addition to developing literacy skills for academic success, reading to children has also been found to have a positive impact on the development of their emotional and social skills. As a former schoolteacher I can vouch that a class full of well-adjusted children is a considerably more productive and pleasant environment for everyone in the room. Confident, happy and communicative children also tend to be more respectful to their classmates. They are less inclined to be become bullies or be bullied themselves.

“The parent-child-book moment even has the potential to help curb problem behaviours like aggression, hyperactivity and difficulty with attention.”
Perri Klass M.D., New York Times

Another former teacher all too aware of this fact is children’s author Dave Rudden, a guest at this year’s festival and author of Twelve Angels Weeping Twelve Stories of the Villains from Doctor Who. Now a regular visiting speaker at schools in his capacity as a writer, Rudden refers to himself as a “giant child”. He credits his storytelling abilities with helping him to overcome anxiety and bullying as a child and with gaining the confidence required for his future career.

Milan the storyteller. Photo: Zuzana Banham Liskova

At this year’s festival he will be giving a special performance combining stand-up comedy, educational material and tips on how to encourage children to tell their own stories.

To learn more about the art of storytelling to children I caught up with another one of the festival’s storytellers as he read to his weekly group at the Central Junior Library in Floriana. Milan Haluška is from Czechia (Czech Republic), a country known for its distinguished publishing history, and is looking forward to his second year as an exhibitor at the festival. Milan is passionate about his vision to share authentic and original Czech books with children outside of his home country. He brings beautifully written and illustrated books to Malta which have been translated for the English-speaking market. It is his view that Malta needs more children’s books and he is working to lobby stakeholders here to enrich the reading material available in our libraries, bookstores and schools.

I watch Milan, holding court in the play area with book in hand, as he springs into storytelling mode, voicing amusing characters and making animated gestures to bring the action to life for his wide-eyed audience. The smaller ones are too young to maintain their attention for long, so much to their delight, he switches gear and clambers around the play area with them to continue the adventure. Milan believes that storytelling is all in the delivery and describes the book as a tool he likes to improvise and play with, so children become active participants in the story.

He also believes that children who live outside of their home country should continue to hear stories in their own language, to “connect to their roots, communicate in their mother tongue and retain their identity”. Before the written word transformed our culture, storytelling would have been a sought-after skill. In the absence of ‘history books’, heroic acts of battle would be recounted at the fireside. By controlling the narrative, the storyteller also helped to shape the collective memory and cultural identity.

“Stories are our primarytools of learning and teaching, the repositories of our loreand legends.”
Edward Miller, Children’s illustrator

Exposure to storytelling at an early age can also ignite a spark and inspire us to tell our own stories. Creative writing is actively encouraged by the National Book Council through its annual Terramaxka Prize, the winners of which are announced at the festival. This national writing competition welcomes submissions from adults and children alike and acknowledges original work by talented writers across a range of categories.

But whether we are writing them, listening to them or recounting them, stories not only transport us to new places, but remind us where we came from. So to all the little kids and big kids out there, get on board, buckle up and enjoy the ride through these Strange New Worlds.

For information go to www.ktieb.org.mt/national-book-festival or call 2713 1574.

Get to know Laura 

Times of Malta would like to welcome Laura Swale as our new Arts and Culture coordinator. A visual artist and former secondary school art teacher, Laura was recently acknowledged as a winner in the creative category of the Malta Innovation Awards for her entrepreneurial work in the cultural sector. Her company Allura Limited operates a range of visual arts events, most notably The Trail, a walking tour of open artist studios, and the new cultural website the Malta Arts and Culture Club (www.themacc.mt) or The MACC for short: an online What’s On guide with up-to-date daily event listings. Any non-advertising enquiries regarding features and content for the Sunday Arts and Entertainment section should be directed to Laura at whatson@timesofmalta.com.