Since 1981, Marilyn Kinsella from Fairview Heights, IL, has been telling stories. Her collection of hundreds of stories include: personal experiences, folk tales, literary stories and historical tales. A more detailed list of stories is on another page on her website. Her style has been described as "animated." She uses "word imaging" to color enhance the story.                                                                                      For 16 years she worked as the storyteller at the Edwardsville Public Library where she honed her skill as a storyteller and puppeteer. After her retirement (picture above) in 2002, she has worked as a full-time, freelance professional storyteller. She now travels extensively telling her stories. Her main area for telling includes the St. Louis area and the Southern Illinois region, but she has been known to tell stories "to the four corners.". Her rates depend on the time, the audience, and the distance she travels.                                                                                  Awards:                                                                                                                                                                                      The Jane O'Brien Award from the Illinois Library Association  The Chancellor's Award from the University of Missouri - St. Louis for the St. Louis Storytelling Festival Under the Arch Committee Illinois ArtsTour Roster 2004-2005, 2006-2007, 2008-2009 The Illinois State Board of Education recognizes Marilyn Kinsella as certified to grant CUPDs to teachers who attend her workshops UMSL's July, 2007, Volunteer of the Month Award. Annette Harrison, Marilyn Kinsella, Sherry Norfolk July 2007 "Annette, Marilyn and Sherry volunteered with the department of Continuing Education- Arts & Science, Storytelling Festival. They gave of their time and talents freely, donating a tremendous amount of time. The women's greatest contribution was towards a study guide that the department was trying to develop. Annette, Marilyn and Sherry took an idea and developed the guide into a tool that could be placed on the website immediately. They were more than willing to volunteer their time, talent, and expertise to accomplish the goals and mission of the festival"  (from www.umsl.edu/.../PreviousRecipients.html) To see the study guide for the St. Louis Storytelling Festival. Click HERE. UMSL's Volunteer of the Year Award - May, 2008, for work on the study guide with Annette and Sherry.                                                                                                                                     Sponsorships The Illinois Arts Council Marilyn Kinsella is listed on the Illinois Arts Council's ArtsTour. You can receive 30-50 % of her fees by filling out the application...at least 8 weeks in advance. Marilyn will work with you to apply for this grant.           For more information and an application, click here.                                           For Marilyn's listing on ArtsTour, click here.                                                                                       Recordings                                                                                                                                                                CONTACT - CLICK - MARILYN                                               CD - Fair Views From Old Fairview - $10.00 plus $3.00 mailing A nostalgic walk down Memory Lane in Smalltown, USA. Come and revisit some of your own memories as Marilyn tells her original stories: The Great Crabapple War of '56 - Marilyn and her neighborhood gang of "nerds" plan strategic maneuvers to combat the "Super Cools" by virtually denuding her Uncle's Crabapple Trees. Childhood memories don't get any better than this! The Call of the Mourning Dove - Grandpa Joe and Marilyn have secret codes to signal for help, compassion. and love. Now the secrets are revealed! The Last Punch - Remember the old-fashioned town picnics? Come along as Marilyn tries to hornswoggle her Grandpa Joe into winning "The Last Punch." Faces of Christmas Past and Present - A special ornament with faces of Christmas past and present sits at the top of the Christmas tree. Listen and find out why and how it got there. Read some of Taleypo's favorite folktales on "Fabulous Folktales". While you are there discover the origins of the Taleypo Mystique and stories stamped with the wit and wisdom of Taleypo.                                                                                        Publications   The Storytelling Classroom ed. by Sherry Norfolk, Diane Williams, and Jane Stenson - a chapter on "Tiki-Picky Boom-Boom." Release date: November, 2006 "Escape Adulthood" - Version of "The Last Punch" renamed "The Red Doll." Fall, 2007 "Guidepost's Books" - December, 2007, Miracles of Christmas "The Gift of the Hummingbird."

	St. Louis Storytelling Festival Under the Arch
	New Salem Tall Tales Festival
	Illinois Storytelling Festival
	Fox Valley Folklife Festival
	Oral and Moral Storytelling Festival, Hannibal, MO
	Chinquapin Storytelling and Music Festival, Peoria, IL
	Witches' Brew, Mt. Vernon, IL
	Celtic Folk Life Festival, Cincinnati, OH
	Coffeyville, KS - Humanities Grant

	Corn Island Storytelling Festival- Louisville, KY
	Story Celebration - Kansas City, MO
	NAPPS festival- Jonesborough, TN
	Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival Read about the Midwest tellers HERE

St. Louis Art Museum - special exhibits; Scott Joplin House; Wickliffe Mounds Archaeology Days- Wickliffe, KY; Dickson Mounds- Lewistown, IL; Barnes Hospital "Women's Wellness Day;" "Arts Celebration Days"- Carbondale, IL; Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows- Belleville, IL (Earth Days and other special events); Many- Family reading nights, Scouting events, Young Authors, Holiday events, After dinner speaking, Senior Citizen Centers, Library summer reading programs and special events, and Recreation and park districts.

Schools: travels to many elementary and pre-schools per year. Schools include - Rockwood School District - St. Louis; Springfield IL schools; Mt. Vernon, IL schools; St. Louis Public Schools; Parkway Schools, St. Louis, MO; Numerous private, including Catholic schools in the Metro-St. Louis area and Southern Illinois.

Workshops are available for teachers, parents and students.  Workshops have been given to: The National Storytelling Conference in OKC, OK and St. Louis, MO; L.A.N.E.S. Conference in Boston, MA; The Northlands Conference in Madison, WS; Missouri History Museum; Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL; CHASI in Collinsville, IL; Mt. Vernon Teacher Conference; Madison County Teachers' Conference; Belleville Diocese Education Classes; Lewis and Clark Library System; Illinois Library Association; Missouri Library Association; Young Authors; Springboard to Learning, St. Louis; and many others.

Just click onto these workshops to view the on-line handouts:

	Storytelling 101 - for Beginners
	Storytelling for Parents
	Telling the 398.2's
	Multiculturalism in Storytelling
	Calligraphy for Beginners
	The Value of Language in Storytelling
	Fractured Fairy Tales
	Memory boxes: Treasures of Once Upon a Time
	Making Senses of Your Stories
	The Perfect Story from Nursery Schools to Nursing Homes
	How to Produce Effective Study Guides for Schools
	"Show Me!" - helpful hints on showcasing
	Saints Alive
	Writing and Performing One-Person Puppet Plays
	Study Guides  Study Guides for many different stories
	The Storytelling Classroom - the workshop
	Angelology - a look at angel stories from the past to the present
	Patchwork of Memories - An all-day retreat for hospice workers. Agenda and stories and memories.
	The Storytelling Classroom Workshop - a proposal to bring Taleypo to your school for a presentation or workshop on the premier book "The Storytelling Classroom". Marilyn has an article in this book.
	Handout for CHASI - all day workshop for daycare givers.
	Puppet Central: Puppets, Books, and Make-it/Take-it: a one to three-hour workshop on how to use simple puppet techniques.

	Riverwind Storytellers, Inc. - past president
	The Northland Storytelling Network - Illinois rep on board 2005-2007; vice president 2007- present
	MO-Tell - Missouri Storytelling
	St. Louis Gateway Storytellers - past officer
	Illinois Storytelling, Inc - interim board member 2004-2005
	EARS - Louisville, KY
	National Storytelling Network - formerly NAPPS in Jonesborough, TN, the Illinois rep committee member 2005-2007
	St. Louis Storytelling Festival Under the Arch 2000-Present... Committee - Youth Concert Chair

	Puppet Central - ideas for shadow puppets, writing puppet plays and monkey mitts.
	The Value of Puppetry - Original, one-person puppet plays that deal with values. See Puppet Central
	Original Holiday Puppet Plays. See Puppet Central
	Puppet shows based on folktales. See Puppet Central
	STORIES 'n STONES - Many collaborations with Experimental Archaeologist, Larry Kinsella to provide a variety of informative, educational and hands-on programs. Just click on the link...

                                                             Story Programs

	Stories from Mother Earth - many Native American stories including "Skunny Wundy and the Stone Giant," (Iroquois); "How Possum Got His Tail," (Creek); "Coyote Dances with the Stars," (Cherokee) Click on Native American Stories for a complete list.
	Christmas Stories of Light - Religious and fun stories for the holiday include: "Do You See the Lights?," "The Legend of the Poinsettia," and "Red Shoes for a Real Princess" - an original tale. Click on "Christmas Stories" for a complete listing..
	Spooktacular Stories - fun and/or scary stories include: "Mr. Fox," "Mary Culhane and the Dead Man," "The Humpback Gorrible," "The Hobyhas," and Taleypo's trademark story "Tailypo." Click on "Halloween Stories" for a complete listing.
	Fair Views from Old Fairview - Click on title for personal memories from growing up in a small town in Illinois - includes Taleypo signature story "Makin' Music" and "The Great Crabapple War of '56."
	Magic Carpet Ride - stories from around the world geared for young audiences K- 6th grades include African, Asian and European classics with many trickster tales from the four corners of the Earth.
	Funny Fractured Tales - both original adaptations such as "Demon Goat" and "Rumpelstiltskin." and literary works include "Sleeping Ugly," by Jane Yolen and "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka. Click on Fractured Fairy Tales Study Guide and Workshop Paper.
	Pure Americana -  Pioneer stories, tall tales, Br'er Rabbit and more stories that grew up in the United States. This program can also include true stories about famous Americans.
	A Potpourri of PreSchool Stories - Fun, short, participatory stories for the young listeners - The Wishing Star, Chit-Chat, Tiki-Piki/ Boom-Boom, The Gunniwolf. Programs include Nursery Rhymes and Samantha, the gorilla puppet.
	Earth Day Stories: Stories on being a Good Earth Citizen: How the Animals Were Formed, The Starfish Story and other nature stories.
	The Sights; The Sounds; The Story of the 1904 World's Fair - Click on title for the 45-minute program that walks the listener through a virtual tour of the St. Louis World's fair that leads in to the story "When Memories Come Fourth."
	Get a Clue: Stories that answer "Who, What, Where, When, Why and How". Listeners become detectives as they try to guess the end of "Br'er Possum and Br'er Snake" or "Who's in Rabbit's House?" or how something happened in "The Donkey in the Well." Program includes Samantha telling Knock-Knock jokes.
	Stories From the Seven Seas: Pirate stories, mermaid tales and jokes. Puppet show, Treasure on Book Island, also available.
	Stories from Afar: Star Stories from many lands including "Coyote Dances With the Stars" as a story or as a puppet show.

For a complete listing of stories click on "The Story Stone"

Taleypo Tidbits up-to-date info on the travels and travails of Taleypo. Go to Index page and scroll down for the most recent issue.

Mrs. Kinsella,

 

I just wanted to extend an additional thanks from everyone for such a wonderful evening. I think the boys would have sat there for hours if their parents would have let them. Several have already asked me when we'll have you back so I know we'll be seeing you in the future.    

                                                                                     Cubmaster, Cub Scout Pack 43, Mascoutah, IL.

Marilyn,
Thank you for your wonderful stories. The children were definitely engaged! You have a wonderful Thanksgiving too! We look forward to working with you in the future!  Thanks again,
                                                                                      Linda, reading teacher

Reviews from my "Making Useful Study Guide Workshop" at the National Storytelling Conference in St. Louis, 2007.

Great -- Thanks for a very useful workshop

Thank you!  Very helpful

Fabulous handouts and activity

Good job!

Very generous and informative