Storytime Chair

Here is the original storytime chair that I used at Ashland Elementary School. They were getting rid of them and replacing them with plastic stacking chairs. I got this one and refinished it. Perfect height for reading stories. Even with kids sitting on the floor they could easily see the pictures, and since my feet were flat on the floor, I could read for hours.

My favorite storytime story is about telling a story at Halloween. The library was darkened with blackout curtains and paper over the windows. The lights were out and the only light was a candle glowing from a ceramic jackolantern. The kids were in second grade and as contentious a group as I've ever had. They were whining and loud and obnoxious as usual but I wanted to tell a scary story. So I kept talking slower and softer until they finally had to shut up to hear me. They were creeping closer and closer to hear the words and some of them were resting their hands on my lap. I could see their eyes shinning by candle light and I was finally in control of this class for the first and only time that year. The story was "The Golden Arm." When I reached the final "Who has my golden arm?' I was in full scary voice and slowly building to a crescendo with the repetition of "Who has my golden arm?" Barely able to contain my laughter, I reached out and grabbed the nearest kid and shouted "You've got it!" They all screamed and jumped up. One of them ran out of the room and all the way down the hall. Some of them wanted to cry but didn't. One of them said, "You didn't scare me, Ms. Taylor. " Of course not!

The only other triumph of story telling was getting one kid to tear up during "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble." I hurried up and finished before he actually cried. He was a sweet little kid and I felt bad.

The glory days.