Stories make us more alive.
– Madeleine L’Engle

A National Library of Medicine article on their website described a research study that compared children’s brains when exposed to both picture-book reading and storytelling.

The article abstract states that, “The results indicated more sustained brain activation to storytelling in comparison with picture-book reading, suggesting possible advantages of storytelling as a psychological and educational medium….In children, storytelling provides benefits, such as enhanced imagination to help visualize spoken words, improved vocabulary, and more refined communication skills.”

Pursuing Bad Guys by Donna King is a book about the power of storytelling to spark teachers’ and children’s insights, questions, and understandings. The book describes a yearlong, co-constructed investigation of “bad guys,” and the concepts of goodness and badness, real and pretend, safety and courage. Much of Donna’s and the children’s bad guys work is anchored in the practice of writing and acting out stories.

Donna shares profound insights into children’s development, the role of an educator, and how to build a culture of inquiry, collaboration and storytelling.

Pursuing Bad Guys is part of the Reimagining Our Work (ROW) collection. that celebrates how early childhood educators are reimagining their work and thinking alongside children.