Check out this lovely piece by Alice Gunther on the importance of storytelling:
Perhaps one of the blessings of family stories is that, when told by a loving storyteller, we are able to grasp something better and more real than could be conveyed by film or photograph � we see the impression etched upon a heart. If we are fortunate enough to find love and loyalty, sorrow and courage, faith and determination there, it is that much easier to find it in ourselves.
It has been reported for decades that television (not to mention the computer) has replaced the hearth as the gathering place in modern homes, yet how often do we consider that it has also replaced the storyteller? The truth is, if we do not tell the stories, someone else will. Our children�s need for story is as insatiable as any other hunger, and it will make do with a diet of cartoons or reality shows. The result is a break in a chain and an opportunity lost. When we look at our children and get the feeling we do not know them, it may be because they do not know us.
