Calabash storyteller entertains children at Rourk Library

BY ROGERS WALKER JR., Staff writer
Updated: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 10:28 AM EDT

SHALLOTTE--Children laughed passionately with looks of amazed confusion as Calabash storyteller Joan Leotta growled like a bear.

Leotta was performing a story about a hungry bear for children at the Rourk Library summer reading program. She was the first guest in a program that will continue through July 19 at the Shallotte library as an effort to get local children excited about reading and learning. Children at the event brimmed with an excitement and wonder that is likely to keep their minds active throughout the summer. "You lose any skills that you don't work on. So, children's reading, thinking skills and their math skills are not going to be as developed come September if they just let their minds go to mush all summer," Leotta said. Leotta's performance was part of the library's "Get a Clue" summer reading program, which encourages participating students to read 10 books a week that are appropriate to their age and reading level. Books for the program are available at the Rourk library. "For the little ones I do more of anticipation stories where they get to use their critical thinking skills and try to figure out what's coming next," Leotta said.

In her story about the bear, children were taught a key phrase and encouraged to shout it out at the appropriate time in the story. Children who reach their reading goals each week are eligible to win prizes and will be able to attend an awards ceremony and pizza party at the end of the summer. Library organizers welcome new guests each Thursday to the library to perform and hold informational events for children. At the conclusion of each program children are encouraged to select a book to take home with them.

Next week the Magic Trunk Theater Company from Wilmington will visit the library to present a show for children. The reading events at the library are separated into two segments, one at 10 a.m. for preschool to 5-year old children and another at about 11 a.m. for children 6 years old and up. On June 28 representatives from the North Carolina Aquarium will bring with them some live snakes to entertain and inform children about the reptile world. Parents interested in bringing their children to one of the weekly events should arrive early as the program attracts numerous participants. Librarian Aimee Duncan, who coordinates the reading program, said she enjoys watching the children interact with the program guests. Duncan's own enthusiasm makes it clear the events are sure to warm grown-ups hearts as well. "To me it's just really wonderful because it gets kids excited about reading and it makes them want to explore their own stories," Duncan said. For more information on the summer reading program call the Rourk library at 754-6578.

Following is a list of the scheduled events for the Rourk library children's summer reading program:

June 21: Magic Trunk Theater Company
Begins 10 a.m. for Preschool to age 5 children
Begins 11:10 a.m. for children age 6 and older

June 28: North Carolina Aquarium - Snakes Program
Begins 10 a.m. for Preschool to age 5 children
Begins 11 a.m. for children age 6 and older

July 5: Cat Tails animal advocacy group with special guest Detective Eric King of the Shallotte Police Department.
Begins 10 a.m. for Preschool to age 5 children
Begins 11 a.m. for children age 6 and older

July 12: Ha Ha the clown
Begins 10 a.m. for Preschool to age 5 children
Begins 11 a.m. for children age 6 and older

July 19: Awards and pizza party
Begins 10 a.m. for everyone

Story-weaving a natural craftfor Joan Leotta

BY LAURA LEWIS, Staff writer

Joan Leotta grew up listening to stories. So it's little wonder she's been passing them on ever since. All her life, the Brunswick County storyteller and book author has been plying and perfecting the fine art of storytelling.

She'll be showcasing her talent once again when she takes part in the North Carolina Storyfest on May 13 in Greensboro. “These are big, national people,” Leotta said last week during an interview at her Brunswick Plantation home where she lives with her husband, Joseph. “We had to send in our audition tape, and then we were selected.”

Leotta will be joining the ranks of balladeer Sheila Kay Adams and storyteller Donald Davis, both of Appalachian renown, Emmy-winning motivational story weaver Willa Brigham and performer Logie Meachum of Greensboro, in addition to other featured “tellers” who'll be “telling” at different sites from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Part of what I do is teaching stories, using and helping children to write better and have confidence as writers,” Leotta said.

Her closet is full of costumes she dons to accompany her chosen stories of the moment, from a 19th-century cotton dress and pinafore to a bright red satin kimono and golden Egyptian dress. “These are just tools to help me get the story across,” Leotta said.

Her resume contains a long list of performances, from Brunswick County Libraries summer programs to festivals in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Massachusetts. When she isn't performing locally or somewhere along the East Coast, Leotta is busy freelance writing in her bookshelf-lined home office. She is the author of the Complete Guide to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Massachusetts, an elementary-level history book published by Scholastic Press, and numerous reference contributions, magazine articles and columns.

But stories, the basis of Leotta's oral and written tradition, are her first love. Growing up in Pittsburgh, “I listened to my grandma tell stories,” she said. “I just always loved to write. I was always fascinated by words.”

From the get-go, even before she learned to read and write, Leotta was “scribbling” little books and acting out stories with her cousins using puppets. “We'd force our relatives to watch,” she said. Her grandmother also used to hold tea parties for her women's club back in the 1950s, inviting her grandchildren to meet the interesting people she'd met via the University of Pittsburgh who were visiting from such countries as India, Africa and Japan. “Sometimes these women would wear their native costumes, and it was fascinating,” Leotta said, noting her own father was an immigrant from Italy.

At her Catholic girls' school, “I used to go up on stage and perform impromptu stories,” she said. “But I knew I didn't want to be an actress. It seemed you didn't have time for family. It wasn't me.” After earning a bachelor's degree in political science from Ohio University and a graduate degree in economics, Leotta studied abroad, continuing to glean stories to add to her repertoire. “I was really fortunate,” she said. “I'd always read stories and would talk and listen to the people. That's really where stories come from-the people.”

Wherever she's gone, including Brunswick County, “I immersed myself in local history,” she said. “I like to use stories to work with people and help people learn about themselves.” Accompanied by the props of her craft, such as a frog puppet or camel, Leotta entertains children and adults alike, bringing along a message in the process. “The frog stories I do have bearing on how we should treat others and how we should treat the environment,” she said.

Leotta also conveys international tales-”how to relate to other cultures and how we should relate and understand people,” Leotta said, adding that “different is interesting. It's not something to be afraid of.” Leotta said she likes to tell a different story from each ethnic group, especially when it's representative of a child in her audience who can respond, “‘Wow, we're special. We have a story, and it's good enough for somebody to perform.' It's building bridges between cultures, which is what the U.S. is all about.”

Locally, she's perfected her “Calabash folk tales,” drawing on local seafood history. “I'm very careful to be accurate,” Leotta said. “Then I adapt and make my own version of it.”

Stories, after all, are “the way people learn,” Leotta said, recalling when people have approached her and relayed a story she once told when they were children. “They don't remember me, but they remember my stories,” she said.

Most importantly, Leotta said she tries to let each child who hears her know that “he or she is a storyteller, too.”