Story Listening and Experience in Early Childhood

This book shows connections between oral story listening and unique, enduring educational effects in and outside of the classroom. Using scientific studies and interviews, as well as personal observations from more than thirty years in schools and libraries, the authors examine learning outcomes from frequent story listening. Throughout the book, Schatt and Ryan illustrate that experiencing stories told entirely from memory transforms individuals and builds community, affecting areas such as reading comprehension, visualization, focus, flow states, empathy, attachment, and theory of mind.

Donna Schatt is a storyteller, researcher, librarian, and writer based in Chicago, Michigan, and New York, USA. She is currently researching the effects of oral story listening on visualization abilities, as well as writing a novel.

Patrick Ryan is a storyteller, teacher, researcher, and writer, based in Belfast and working throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe, and North America. He is the author of Shakespeare’s Storybook (2001) and several articles on storytelling.