Folktales, Fables, Fairytales & Trickster stories are a great place to start. Here are a few of my favorites that you might consider:

• The Tortoise and the Hare (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• The Little Red Hen (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• The Three Billy Goats Gruff (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Stone Soup (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• The Ugly Duckling

• The Three Little Pigs (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Jack and the Beanstalk

• The Gingerbread Man (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Hansel & Gretel (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• The Elves and the Shoemaker

• The Little Red Riding Hood (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Rapunzel

• The Bremen Town Musicians (EPIC library code tgb5881 then choose a class)

• Tops and Bottoms

• Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

Preparation:
Once you settle on a story, you will want to spend plenty of time with it. It will take a considerable period of time and a number of tellings before a new story becomes your own.

Read the story several times, first for pleasure, then with concentration.

Analyze its appeal, the word pictures you want your listeners to see, and the mood you wish to create.

Live with your story until the characters and setting become as real to you as people and places you know.

Visualize it! Imagine sounds, tastes, scents, colors. Only when you see the story vividly yourself can you make your audience see it!