"Is Storytelling Genetic" with Dori Durbin

[00:00:00.970] - Dori Durbin
Hello, and welcome to The Power of Kids Book Podcast, where we believe kids books are a catalyst for inspiring and empowering change. I'm your host, Dori Durbin, and I know usually I introduce someone else as a guest on the show, but tonight I am going to talk, and I want to explain to you some of the origins for this podcast. It all starts with storytelling. Storytelling, as you know, has gone on for literally centuries. As a matter of fact, it used to be the one way that we could record what was happening to people and have it last through time.

 [00:00:37.640] - Dori Durbin
Most of it was verbally, and it wasn't until much, much later that some of this stuff actually got written down. Of course, now, with things changing and AI or artificial intelligence emerging, our stories have changed and adapted with our times. But in all honesty, the power of the story has not. And that's why it's so important. I often wonder if actual storytelling happens to be genetic.

[00:01:05.550] - Dori Durbin
I mean, have you ever heard families that like to tell stories and they kind of go on and on, and some of the family's stories are true, and sometimes those stories get stretched out into a little bit of a tall tale. You've probably met some of those families. I happen to live inside of one. My grandfather, Charlie Rusink, was a storyteller. He was a jokester.

[00:01:29.300] - Dori Durbin
He was someone who enjoyed entertaining and giving a good story a shock and a chuckle. And when I grew up, I was around that storyteller quite frequently. The funny thing is, I never realized he was a storyteller. I thought he was telling me everything he was telling me was truthful. And it wasn't until years later that I realized not all of that was actually true.

[00:01:54.470] - Dori Durbin
The really great thing about storytelling with him was that he actually loved to do it. He loved to entertain. He actually performed at elementary schools and also on hayrides that he delivered in his haywagon out in the middle of nowhere. My grandpa was a funny guy, and he did jokes, told jokes and did tricks for elementary kids. I remember watching him come to my school one time and being in awe and amazement, even though it was my grandpa.

[00:02:25.990] - Dori Durbin
And it was because of the delivery that he was able to give us. The way that he told the stories and knitted the words together made us shocked and awed and surprised, even when we weren't sure it was actually true. Now, can storytelling be genetic? I don't know. I wonder.

[00:02:46.660] - Dori Durbin
And I ponder that just a little bit, because I know that I grew up liking to tell stories, but I will say the majority of mine are true. Now, over time, you have to wonder, how much power is there in storytelling? Because storytelling does have a tendency to be tall tales. It has a tendency to stretch. But when someone tells you a story along with facts.

[00:03:15.160] - Dori Durbin
You remember those facts and lessons and you contain them so much easier than someone just telling you straightforward facts. As a matter of fact, we often use stories to teach kids what not to do. We use them as tools and devices to help shape and model the way that we want our kids to behave. I know I've used them when my kids were younger and said, do you see what this character is doing? That was not a good idea.

[00:03:45.450] - Dori Durbin
So there is great power in telling stories. And I do believe that the power of stories, the power that exists in kids books is the very same power. It's the power where we can take information and literally KidSize it make it appropriate for kids to understand, for them to relate to, for them to adhere to their minds and to take with them not just then, but because they've read that story over and over and over again. And it was read to them by trusted adults. That story resonates in their hearts and minds literally forever.

[00:04:26.630] - Dori Durbin
And I can tell you that's true because I have several stories still in my own mind and I know my kids do as well. So this is why we have the power of kids book podcast. There is power in kids books. Telling a story is powerful, but taking a story and crafting it to have a very distinctive point, to have a specific meaning, to have it resonate in the minds and hearts of kids over time, that is power. And that is the power of kids books.

[00:05:03.240] - Dori Durbin
Have a good night.