Kamishibai Storytelling PO

Kamishibai Storytelling
Kami means paper and shibai means play. A paper play has the scenes of a story drawn on eight or ten large cards which are placed in order of the events that happen in the story. The story itself is written on the back of the cards so that the person reading or telling the story can hold up the stack of pictures and read the story at the same time. The story for picture one would be written on the back of the last picture, the story of number two would be written on the back of number one and so on. After reading each scene, the story teller places the picture of it at the back of the stack. The cards are usually made of poster board but large construction paper or butcher paper may also be used.

* Picture Source - The Origin of Manga: Storytelling Man

Kamishibai Man by Allen Say

An elderly kamishibai (paper theater) man decides to return to the city and spend the day on his former rounds. His wife makes candies for him, just as in the past, and he sets off on his bicycle. Things have changed–there's traffic with honking horns and he wonders, Who needs to buy so many things and eat so many different foods? when he sees the shops and restaurants replacing beautiful trees that have been cut. He sets up his theater and begins to tell his personal story of being a kamishibai man in a flashback sequence. Soon he is surrounded by adults who remember him and his stories from their youth. Ironically, that night he is featured on the news on television–the very technology that replaced him. (Excerpt School Library Journal)

Kamishibai Story Theater by Dianne de Las Casas

De Las Casas has adapted 25 folktales from across Asia for whole classroom use, borrowing a Japanese method of storytelling through pictures. Kamishibai theater harkens back to itinerant storytellers (Kamishibai Men) who conveyed their tales by means of illustrated cards slid into slots in wooden stages built on the back of their bicycles. This book includes an introductory chapter describing in detail the methods to use in coaching students in the art of Kamishibai Story Theater. It offers tips on rehearsing, and detailed discussion and background of the Kamishibai processes, and it describes how to coordinate grade-level story presentations. Reproducible tales can be distributed to each member of the class to aide in creating illustrations. Spot illustrations for each tale give students an idea of the flavor of their drawings for that story. The stories in Kamishibai Story Theater will delight children in grades 2-6, enticing them to participate in their own story fest. (Amazon)

RESOURCES:

The origin of manga: Storytelling Man
Lesson Link - University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center
Kamishibai for Kids: www.kamishibai.com
Background on kamishibai, with complete unit plan to create your own with music and ideas for using Japanese storytelling. Order kamishibai stories.
Kamishibai Play: www.indiana.edu/~japan/kamishibai/index.html
A play in English and Japanese complete with sound. Teacher guide for creating kamishibai links to Japanese writing.
Integrating Japanese Folk Tales: www.smith.edu/fcceas/curriculum/peet.htm
Detailed guide with resources, web links and assessment rubric for original kamishibai stories.