15 Apr 09

Children were encouraged to pull faces to an invited guest at St Dominic's School - discovering the power of storytelling as part of their IPC Topic on Festivals during National Storytelling Week. The Gurning Festival is just one of hundreds of tales that world famous author Taffy Thomas keeps his young audiences enchanted with.

"Stories have legs," Taffy explained. "When I came to St Dominic's this morning, 300 stories walked in with me." Taffy's world famous relaxed and enchanting style kept children engrossed for a full morning of tall tales that they could take home and share with brothers and sisters.

The traditional tale of the Gingerbread Man took on a new meaning when filled with real people from Taffy's home village in Grasmere. Bringing stories to life gave children a chance to become part of the action and generated interest in all areas of their English work when they returned to the classroom.

The session ended with a story from Taffy's famous Tale Coat, embroidered with dozens of animals and story scenes. One lucky pupils got to choose anything from a mouse to a moon and watch taffy spin one of his tall tales.