A little more about John.......
At the last count there were over 350 stories in his head and he`s always working on more. They come from everywhere: myths and legends that are thousands of years old, folk and fairy tales from every corner of the world, his own amazing stories and even some things that haven't happened yet but probably will.
His style is relaxed and conversational - he works very hard at making it look as if he`s not working at all. He never works from scripts and can tell any one of his stories half a dozen different ways.
He doesn`t use props, sets, costumes, lights or instruments because he doesn`t want anything to get in the way of the story itself and - most importantly of all - because he wants the children to think that they can do what he`s doing. He doesn`t want them to think 'I`d love to be able to tell stories, but I haven`t got a spangly cloak and I can`t play the guitar....'
It`s just him and the stories, and you only have to read some of the unsolicited quotes from schools to realise it works.
He never tells the same story twice in one day (unless he`s asked to, of course) but he does ask each of his audiences to tell one of the stories they`ve heard to someone else before they get to bed that night. This leads to impromtu storytelling sessions in the playground or classroom and, judging by the feedback we`ve had, hundreds of parents get a story at bedtime after one of John`s visits!