How is it possible to embrace an illness like this, yet make the father the hero his son needs him to be? That was the task when this story was created. I wanted the father himself to feel empowered, and to give him, the mother, and the child new language – even in the father’s weakness - to empower them as a family.

In situations like this it is sometimes helpful to bring in angelic helpers. When I told this story, I knew that these helpful beings would be a sign of comfort, love, and strength to this family. But not everyone likes angels. If you have an illness or a difficult situation, look within for the message you would like your child to receive. Find characters and places that speak to you. The angels in this story could just as easily appear in the form of helpful animals or friends that enter and offer help. The illness itself can be represented as a heavy object that has to be carried over a steep mountain. In carrying it, the hero becomes stronger – even when he appears weaker to the outside world.

The Sun Warrior

Once long ago in a starry kingdom among the heavens, the guardian angel of all brave souls was looking for someone who would take on a most challenging task - the path of the sun warrior on earth. Many souls stepped forward, envisioning strong bodies, shields, and weapons, ready to fight the battle on earth.

The guardian angel asked them to listen to the task at hand, for he saw that he was easily misunderstood. The most eager ones crowded to the front rows, ready to be chosen, while far in the back there was a quiet angel. He had seen many lifetimes and knew that this would be a difficult journey that not many would be willing to endure.

The guardian angel explained that the sun warrior would have to be willing to walk in a body that would be at times frail and sick and therefore the strength of the warrior would have to be that of an invisible sword within the core of his being. He would have to be able to walk among the ones with strong muscular bodies and continue to remember the strength he had within.

“If you can do this task, you shall help to heal many people on earth, who struggle with real pain in their physical bodies,” the guardian angel said. When he had finished his talk, he looked over the crowd. Slowly the band of eager little angels disappeared till only the quiet one in the back was left. He sat still and looked the guardian in the eye. At last he spoke, “I will do it,” he said, “but I will need the help of other angels by my side.”

One eager girl jumped up and said, “With all the love of my heart.” Soon after, the echo of two more angels sounded from afar. “We will come too.”

“It won’t be easy,” said the boy angel.

“I’ll help you,” said the girl. “The four of us will be strong together!”

The brave quiet angel took form and became Brian the Sun Warrior. He walked the earth and lived many beautiful days, but he also learned to walk during the days of sickness with an inner strength that was like an invisible sword. The girl angel, the love of his life, joined him and she was always able to see the warrior in him even in the most challenging times. The two knew that together they held an invisible sword of light.

In time their strength became great. The echoes of the other two angels became the joyous laughter of children on earth – first a little boy, then a little girl. Sometimes when Brian the Sun Warrior had to fight his battle, the boy just wanted to see his father in a blazing sword and shield battling dragons like all the other dads. He needed to be reminded of his father’s inner strength.

The boy too became a warrior and learned to walk with the invisible sword of light. But this was not always easy. Sometimes he thought he did not want to be that kind of warrior. He even got angry that his father had chosen the path of the sun warrior. Why could he not be like other dads?

Eventually the boy came to school, where he learned a song that helped him remember to call on the help of St. Michael the Archangel (this was a song the boy knew from school). Michael reminded him that the guardian angel was always near and could help if he was called upon.

A knight will I become

A warrior strong and pure

That to the good on Earth

My victory be sure

Who shall be my example

Whose arm is swift and strong

The image in my shield

Does to Michael belong

He’s overcome the dragon

Through cloud and smoke he’s come

Let him be carried onward

As warrior of the sun.

Whenever the boy sang this song, St. Michael stood beside his father, Brian the Sun Warrior, and helped him fight the dragon that had disguised itself as an illness. Brian’s son became a warrior too and helped his father by singing his songs and praying for help from the angels. He too became strong, and they learned to fight the dragon together.

Brian the Sun Warrior had a strong family, and the girl angels stood by his side giving him all the love he needed to find the courage and strength to move forward. He and his son became great warriors who together learned to carry the invisible sword of light.

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“Unreal beliefs in unseen forces…are much more likely to motivate action than are modestly real beliefs.” – Brian Boyd, On the Origin of Stories

“This is boring,” Kylie said.

I was introducing fractions to my 1st and 2nd graders, something that was brand new to Kylie and the rest of us. As she indicated, I was doing a terrible job of it. Some teachers might get annoyed at a statement like hers. Me too, but I knew there was something underneath what she was saying. “Alright,” I said, then erased the chalkboard.

“Did I ever tell you about Farmer Bill?”

“No.”

“Well one morning he woke up, and you know what he heard?”

“What?”

“Moo-ooo-oo…” I gave my best impression of a 60’s era jazz singer. The kids laughed.

“It was Betsy,” I said. “Farmer Bill loved Betsy because…well…moo-ooo-ooo-oo…” Again, the kids laughed. It was clear they enjoyed her soulful ballad as much as Farmer Bill did.

I went on to describe how Betsy sang so lovely when she, you know, felt the need… Those udders don’t milk themselves. So Farmer Bill milked Betsy and got one gallon. He had a nosy neighbor who was always peeking over the fence, so Farmer Bill divided the gallon in half to give to his neighbor, who then happily walked home.

I drew a gallon jug on the board, then two half-gallons. The nosy neighbor divided his half-gallon into quarts (or fourths), and I drew the symbols ½ and ¼ next to each bottle.

Then Farmer Bill heard another sound. I gave a gruff, throaty, “MoOoOo!” It was Froggy. Time for milking. Farmer Bill milked Froggy, got another gallon of milk, then got a call from his brother. He had three brothers, actually, and each one asked for milk. “Well shucks,” said Farmer Bill, “I’ve only got a gallon left, but I’ll divide it into thirds.”

I drew it out on the board, trying to get my bottles to look like three of them would equal the original gallon. Hardly mattered. Next to each one I wrote 1/3.

Well shoot, Farmer Bill had eight sisters and two more cows. By the end of the story, we had laid out the basic notation and language of fractions. We we’re laughing and singing, everyone interrupting with a soulful moo or a hoarse moo. Honestly, it’s hard to say the word “moo” and not smile. It was as if the cows were now our good friends. They sorta were.

The next day, the kids asked me to tell the story again. They really liked Betsy. Froggy startled everyone but made us giggle. Once again we tackled the fractions, but now it wasn’t boring - it was something the kids sought after.

Storytelling is a cognitive skill humans evolved ages ago to attract and retain someone’s attention. It’s a way to share information and keep people interested in what you’re talking about. It’s not strange that a bunch of six- and seven-year-olds found fractions cumbersome. So do most adults. By turning the subject into a story, we unlocked joyfulness in our minds so that the useful knowledge was more easily received.

Try it with your own kids. The possibilities are endless.

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Author’s Update

This short blog post was written in December of 2019. At the time, I was an aspiring teacher and author. I knew that what I was sharing, both with my students and readers, was authentic and true. But I was also just running with it.

As I write this note many years later, those same kids have recently graduated 8^th grade. I taught them in my forest school for eight years, during which we learned how to reduce, multiply, and divide fractions, decimals, negative numbers, algebra, geometry, and much more (I’m an engineer). Storytelling was always with us. History, biology, creative writing, sign language, chemistry, critical reading – there was hardly a subject we didn’t tackle. There was hardly a subject we didn’t tell stories about.

Storytelling was not just useful, it became indispensable. Today, I work with other teachers, organizations, and parent-groups seeking alternative paths to education. One of the reasons I’m able to reach diverse ages and wide audiences is the ability to turn information into stories.

You have this skill.

I write in first person, but what I’m describing isn’t something that belongs to me. It belongs to all of us. Stories grip us. They entertain us. They give us characters and actions to follow in our imaginations. Everyone, every human on the planet, is a storyteller, including you. Sometimes it takes practice to find one’s voice and grow comfortable with it, just like it takes practice to drive a car and get comfortable behind the driver’s seat. It’s something we can all learn to do, and do well.

Using storytelling to teach is such a rich subject that an entire chapter of How to Tell Stories to Children is dedicated to it. But teaching isn’t merely about classrooms, fractions, or biology. Teaching involves any information or skill we want to pass on to another human: brushing teeth, cooking dinner, getting to bed on time, doing your taxes.

Consider: Do you respond well to commands? What about commands when you don’t yet know how to do what’s being asked? Why would a child would enjoy that?

My experience is that humans like being wrapped in comfort, intimacy, and care. They like feeling seen, acknowledged, curious and bright. Rather than telling a child to brush their teeth, consider enticing them with a story about a beaver who brushes his big ol’ toothers. If the story involves a toothbrush, I guarantee that child will have a newfound appreciation of the very real thing in their hand: a toothbrush! Tasks become games. Toothbrushes become toys and memories. This intimacy and wonder is ripe for discovery in every household.

Here’s another fun part - no one, including me, needs to tell you how to do it! Modest instruction and examples can help, but what we need more than anything at all is a willingness to try. Because it’s your voice you’re developing, your stories, not mine.

It’s like walking. It truly does go that deep. No one needs to teach a person how to walk. We need to practice and learn, but that learning comes from the inside out. Storytelling is the same. If you are not already comfortable with storytelling, all you need do is try. Then try again. Your own practice will be the teacher.

Allow mistakes. Laugh at them. Let your kids know it’s okay. Then keep going.

Teaching with story. If you have ever found yourself struggling to share something important with a child, whether as a parent or a teacher, and find that your child is resisting it - try sharing the information in the form of a story. It can be as simple as describing a character who does the thing you want your child to do. Cow fractions, for example. Just saying the words “cow fractions” brings a levity to the surface that helps all of us take it on a bit more easily, a bit more seriously. “Let’s cow it up!”

Storytelling works amazingly with children. It works with adults too. Once you unlock the power of your storytelling voice, you possess an incomparable tool, one that is unique to you yet universal. It is as vital today as it was 500 years ago.

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Joseph Sarosy is the author and writer of How to Tell Stories to Children (now in 22 languages), Off Grid Kids, and Juniper Heartwood. He is the creator of the Juniper School, a forest school in northern New Mexico, a founder in the VELA Network, and an innovator of Indie Education for over 10 years. He works with teachers and parents who want to develop alternative routes to education. Join him in Play Ground, a WhatsApp group for adults who want to re-awaken playfulness in daily life. You can also find him in Parenting with Depression, a group for parents who want to explore the depth of feeling involved in healing trauma without dragging their kids into a codependent slop.

In 2026, I am relaunching the newsletter and podcast here on Substack, and I want to make it fresh and new. I will be supplementing the original material with updated and contemporary resources. Today, I am publishing the first story prompt. It being July 4th weekend in the United States, I’ve begun a story related to fireworks and community gathering.

I invite you to listen to this story together, then finish it with your child at home. It’s about a boy who goes to the beach to watch fireworks with his mom and dad, then watches as the fireworks turn into dragonflies, birds, and trees. At one point, he goes to see the people setting the fireworks off…and learns something.

You always have permission to use this story, edit it, change it, or whatever. Cultures all over the world use fireworks, and you can create a different setting of your own. It’s even something you and your child can tell together.

If telling a story or finishing a story has you feeling stumped, see what happens if you just talk about it. Explore the characters with your child, the setting, the sensory experiences. Does any of it relate to recent activities? Your own fireworks?

As you do, you can sort of chit-chat a story together, almost like stitching cloth. Consider what the characters might do next, where they come from, or what you might like to see them do. Pay special attention to what interests your child, and see if you can follow that.

The intimacy of storytelling isn’t really about producing a perfect story. It’s about spending time together. Meaningful experiences often arise out of these very simple moments of shared imagination.

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Joseph Sarosy is the author of How to Tell Stories to Children, Off Grid Kids, and Juniper Heartwood. He is the creator of the Juniper School, a forest school in northern New Mexico, a founder in the VELA Network, and an innovator of Indie Education. He is currently facilitating a project called Play Ground, a free WhatsApp group for adults who want to reawaken playfulness in their daily lives.

I am the author of How to Tell Stories to Children, and if you’ve ever thought about telling stories to your kids, but didn’t – this is for you. It’s also for grandparents, teachers, and anyone interested in a lasting relationship with children.

Author’s Note: This article was written in 2019, shortly before the self-published version of How to Tell Stories to Children was purchased by Houghton-Mifflin. The book is currently available in 22 languages around the world, and now an imprint of Harper Collins. In the summer of 2026, I am republishing the blog and podcast that supplemented the publication of How to Tell Stories to Children here on Substack (so it’s easier to read).

Subscribe now to follow that original journey, receive new storytelling tips and prompts, and learn how to reclaim your birthright as a storyteller.

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There’s a lot of excellent science on the subject of storytelling, and by the end of this article I will have shared a good bit of it. I will also describe a key tool to help you begin telling stories with your children, something I call the Storytelling Loop. Lastly, I will speak briefly about why storytelling, diverse and intimate storytelling, is still uniquely useful in the modern world.

Before I do, let me tell you a little more about me so you understand where I’m coming from. I am a teacher, a father, and a freelance writer for Fatherly, an online magazine helping dads connect with their kids. In 2019, I published a book called A Father’s Life, a collection of stories about my time with kids as a forest school teacher. I’ve written frequently on parenting topics, and in 2018 I initiated a project called the #GreatDad Campaign to highlight all kinds of different dads around the country.

I do this because I believe the relationship between parent and child is critical to the success of our species, and that mothers mostly have this figured out. Dads sometimes need more encouragement. My goal with storytelling, and other projects, is to share simple no-cost ways to help dads and all parents connect with kids.

Most recently, I wrote a book based on my work teaching and storytelling with Silke Rose West titled How to Tell Stories to Children. That book turned out to be a gem. Jane Goodall has endorsed it, as have many New York Times bestselling authors and parenting guides. It has been translated into 22 languages and is available in most corners of the world today.

“This book will help to promote storytelling as a key educational tool."

- Dr. Jane Goodall

I tell stories every day, whether at home or at school, and I’m respected for this talent. But I’m not a professional storyteller, and this is important. My focus is on regular people like you and me sharing regular stories with regular children. Regular spectacular children.

Storytelling isn’t about writing or telling the next blockbuster. That is a distraction, and it’s unnecessary. If you’re like me, and you tell stories at home with your kids, you begin to see that storytelling is about something much more than the story itself. It is about the relationship between the two of you, the four of you, or the eighteen of you (if you’re a teacher). You quickly realize that this is a tool for everyone, not just experts.

Let’s dive into that. A number of psychologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary theorists have begun to paint a very interesting picture for us of storytelling’s place in human development. Put briefly, storytelling isn’t just about make-believe or entertainment. It is a cognitive tool that helps people:

1. share information

2. retain attention

3. build trust

There are many studies that demonstrate how people remember information better when it is told within a story. Numbers vary, but a modest figure is about 600%. That means that kids remember six times as much information from stories as from, say, a formal lesson. That’s a number worth paying attention to.

But here’s what’s more interesting. If we go way, way back and place storytelling within the evolutionary framework of human development (precisely what Brian Boyd does in his groundbreaking On the Origin of Stories), it helps us see that storytelling is a social tool. Yes, it helps us remember information, but more importantly it helps us get someone’s attention and gain their trust. These are critical skills for social creatures like you and me.

Consider, briefly, the importance of these early social skills. Because of our tendency to form huge social networks, including national and international social structures, some scientists even label our species “super-social.” Ants are social, as are birds and many other animals. But none of them communicate with ants or birds on the other side of the planet. We do. That’s what makes us super-social.

So, if we’re super-social (and this is a weird super power we have), what are the tools we use to create that massive social structure? Storytelling turns out to be one of the most important, and we see it everywhere: in our religions, nations, ideologies, and just the stories of the neighborhood, the music scene, at school, or in the family.

In his book The Storytelling Animal, Jonathan Gottschall writes that fiction, “will make you more empathic and better able to navigate life’s dilemmas.” Stories, he says, are like dress rehearsals for real life. He quotes Marco Iacoboni, a pioneering neuroscientist at UCLA who studies mirror neurons: “We have empathy for fictional characters,” Iacoboni says, “because we literally experience the same feelings ourselves.”

Test it for yourself right now - are you more likely to remember a bunch of random facts or a story? Notice that if we embed facts, or certain social values (like “thou shalt not…) into a gripping story, we are more likely to retain that info and support the cultural ethic in which the story was told.

Uri Hasson, another neuroscientist (this time at Princeton) gives an incredible TED Talk in which he describes a series of innovative experiments. What he demonstrates is mind-blowing: as a person listens to someone tell a story, the brain waves of the listener synchronize with those of the storyteller. We’re literally sharing minds.

Storytelling is not an evolutionary glitch, Gottschall concludes. “Fiction,” he says, “is…good for us.”

Let me put it another way: storytelling is a human trait. It’s like walking on two feet or grasping something in your hands. Not using storytelling is like choosing not to walk or use your fingers. It goes that deep. It’s something we are designed to do. In fact, most of the time when we’re talking with friends and family, we’re doing it by sharing stories. We may not think of it that way, but most family or neighborhood news is told (and listened to) in the form of a story.

In the modern world we give our children lots of stories, often through books, movies, and video games. That’s welcome. This is not a commentary on screen time, or needless criticism to feel bad about. It’s simply that those stories usually aren’t building social connection, something that many of us want more of with our children and loved ones, something that storytelling was originally designed to do. We can enjoy good movies and books AND use storytelling where it rightfully belongs – between parent and child.

This is why I said earlier that storytelling isn’t about telling the next blockbuster. That ends up being a complete distraction. Storytelling belongs to everyone, particularly to you and your child. Your community. Your loved ones. Best of all it’s free, and it comes hardwired with the package at birth.

Still, even if we believe in the value of storytelling, and most of us do, many parents are nervous when it comes to telling stories. We feel out of practice, or maybe not good enough, too busy or nervous. That’s why it helps to have a method at first, what I call the Storytelling Loop. It’s something I picked up from telling stories everyday in the forest with my co-teacher Silke. I use it every time I tell a story, which is pretty much every day, and as you’ll see it leads to all sorts of benefits.

It starts by identifying one or two real and concrete things in your child’s environment. This could be a toy, a snack, a game, even an event. It can be a dryer sheet or a hole in the wall. Anything, so long as your child will recognize it. Then, you take this thing, this very real and recognizable thing, and tell a story about it. Two minutes is often enough. When the story ends, your child will have a new perspective on this thing, this real and concrete thing. In many cases, she will pick up the story for herself and find new expressions for play and creativity, often by thinking about or playing with the real thing. This is precisely what’s happening with children and dolls or action figures. The plastic toy in their hand brings up a potent story they love to immerse themselves in.

This is the storytelling loop. If we threaded a needle and took it with us, we might think of it as a stitch between reality and imagination. A practiced storyteller has made many such stitches, weaving together a dense fabric of reality and imagination, helping to fill her child’s world with all sorts of outlets for play and creative exploration on both sides: reality and imagination. I use it for teaching too, and it’s a very effective tool for soothing upset children, resolving conflict, or deriving meaning from difficult life events.

Let’s give an example. A mother and her son are eating macaroni and cheese. At some point during the meal, the mother tells the boy that when she was a girl she accidentally spilled a box of macaroni all over the floor. She tried to clean it up, but it was late and she didn’t do it well. The next morning, when she woke up, a friendly spider told her about how he went sliding down the macaroni tubes all night, jumping from one to the next, and had so much fun. “Uh oh,” she said, “I have to clean it up or my dad will be upset.” But she gave the spider one of the macaroni tubes to keep. He dragged it to the bathtub, where he went sailing, then turned it into a submarine. It was a great adventure.

I guarantee you that after this story, both mother and son will have a new relationship to the noodles on their plates.

This is the storytelling loop. We have a reality, a concrete something. Then we tell a story about it. Afterward, we have a new relationship to that very real thing.

This is pretty cool in and of itself, but what’s even more interesting is the intimacy and trust that grows between parent and child through the shared experience of storytelling. This example is whimsical, which is where most parents will start. It’s just fun. But in time, you can use this storytelling relationship to help make meaning of all sorts of experiences in life.

Let me share two moments from just this past week. In one story, which was literally about vowels, one little girl was crying at the end of the story. Her classmates ogled her curiously, and one little boy finally said out loud, “Why are you crying? It wasn’t that scary.” Admittedly, there had a been a dragon, and one of the characters had been burned. When he healed, he sang a song in gratitude to his friend, which ended up being A E I O U (like, Ayee I owe you). Admittedly Ayee is a weird name, but I’m long past regretting my oddities.

“I’m not crying because I’m scared,” the little girl said, “I’m crying because it was so sweet.” She meant the friends in the story, the other of which was named P-tip because he was a beatbox champion. My heart just burst open. That’s the power of storytelling, and every one of us felt it in the room. It was palpable. (Author’s Note: six years after I wrote this article, those same kids still ask me to retell this story. They’re fourteen now, writing stories of their own).

Honestly, the story wasn’t even all that good. But when you have the trust and intimacy we’ve created – I’ve known most of these kids for three years or more – then you can draw upon very simple stories and events to create moments that no one will ever forget. What’s more, every one of these kids now has a fun and intimate connection to the vowels – A E I O U.

Here’s another example. The very next day, we were outside. We live in New Mexico, and it’s very wild and beautiful here. We were in a little canyon, under a large juniper tree, and we had just finished lunch. This is normal for us, so the kids were bedding down in preparation for story time like we always do. Honestly, most of the time my stories are wimpy. They’re duds. But it doesn’t matter, because I’m not trying to tell hits. I’m just trying to pay attention to our relationship. What’s happening for the kids? What’s something they’ll remember from the day?

This story happened to grab the moment perfectly. A flock of blue jays had flown over us during lunch, which was loud and noticeable. I used that as a bridge into my story, which ended up being about two blue jays falling in love, building a nest, and the bobcat that roamed nearby looking for an easy meal.

Earlier that day, one of the kids had made a little craft spider out of sticks and yarn, and I tied that into the story (the “real” thing), by telling how another kid at another time had made some such thing and left it behind. The blue jays had found it, thinking it was just twigs, and built it into their nest. The story ends with the bobcat peering dangerously over the unprotected nestlings while mom and dad are out looking for food, when the craft spider, silent and invisible all this time, suddenly opens its eyes and shouts, “Boo!”

The kids laughed their faces off, watching the bobcat turn tail and run in their minds. Once again, the story was just fine. It wasn’t exceptional in its own right – but it just happened to catch the moment, weaving together our reality with our imaginations in a little canyon all to our own. I want you to have experiences like this with your own kids. These are precious moments the two of you will remember forever.

Okay. So, we’ve tackled some of the science, and I hope I’ve given you some insight into how to use the storytelling loop. Now, I’d like to share why storytelling is still uniquely useful in our modern lives.

Check this out. Last year, at the same World Economic Forum in Switzerland where Greta Thunberg ignited a powerful social movement, Dr. Jane Goodall made an important speech. When asked how to speak effectively on the subject of climate change with political and business leaders, she said, “What you have to do is get into the heart. And how do you get into the heart? With stories.”

Isn’t that great? I’m not trying to steer this into a conversation around climate change. I respect everyone’s views and calm communication. All I want to do is point out how Goodall’s statement reveals something of crucial importance about the role of storytelling in our lives. Stories attract us. They warm us up, so that we’re more likely to listen.

Remember what we said at the beginning? People remember 600% more information when it’s told within a story. Why? It has to do with how we give our attention. If someone is shouting facts in our face, upset about this and that, we tend to close the doors of our mind. We’ve all been there. But when the same information is shared in a sympathetic and engaging story, we listen better. We focus more. This turns out to have major consequences both at home and on the global stage.

Storytelling, and the relationship of trust that it builds, is useful to people of every creed, color, or politic. It builds empathy, mutual understanding, and it can be shaped to express any values you want to pass on. It doesn’t solve your problems, but it does help you talk about them.

Consider, stories are a principle part of every world religion and nationality. It’s behind every major holiday and social institution we have. Why? Because it’s about forming relationships and passing on cultural values.

And what’s the foundation of all relationships? Parent and child. Every parent – conservative, liberal, rich, poor, black, white, immigrant, celebrity – every parent can use storytelling to create healthy relationships with their kids at an early age.

Let’s go back to Jane Goodall. Here’s the full quote. “So often,” she said, “I see activists and they come face-to-face with a CEO and they immediately become very aggressive. So, the person that they’re attacking is immediately defensive. It’s no good when you meet somebody like that. What you have to do is get into the heart. And how do you get into the heart? With stories.”

I want to live in a world where activists and CEO’s both have this skill. I want everyone to have it. It’s a diplomatic skill, compassionate and skillful. No matter where we stand on the issue of climate change (or anything else), it’s clear to many of us that our children will face critical challenges of some sort in the future. Our children will do that best if they are able to meet those challenges (and each other) with empathy. Storytelling builds empathy, is arguably the most effective tool we have for sharing information, and invites the listener into a relationship of trust. And it’s absolutely free.

So, we’ve tackled our three main objectives:

1. a little bit on the science of storytelling

2. a simple method to help you get started at home (The Storytelling Loop)

3. why storytelling is relevant to everyone on the global stage

I’d like to leave you with one last example, a very simple one that gives a little insight into all three of these goals. It’s about a little boy. This little boy frequently leaves his jacket behind, whether at school, in the park, at a friend’s house, and on and on. It’s easy to get frustrated with him. His mother does her best, but she can’t help but nag him sometimes. He sheepishly promises to do better, but he never does, and it begins to be a sore point between parent and child.

One day, after the boy once again left his jacket at a friend’s house, mom gets pissed off, but then she drops the tension and instead of reprimanding him she tells a story. It’s about a bear who went swimming and unzipped his fur coat. He left it on the shore, then forgot, and was embarrassed when he got home all naked. Winter came and he had to go on a great search, only to find that a few squirrels and a rabbit had made a tent out of it.

The boy laughed with his mother as they imagined the characters in the story. As they listened, the story gently but effectively sent home the message, and it did so without singling the child out for criticism and putting him on the defensive.

I’ll let you in on a secret: the jacket still got left behind. But now mom had a literary device that defused the tension. “Hey! Don’t be a naked bear!” became a funny, kind way to remind the boy to get his jacket. Stories like this bring parent and child together, rather than dividing them into a problem and a criticizer.

This is how storytelling can be harnessed to bring you and your child together. That is its ultimate function. It is something your ancestors worked out over thousands of years, and it’s available right now at the tip of your tongue. You don’t need to know any of the science or jargon. You do not need to spend one cent. It belongs to you. It belongs to me. Storytelling belongs to everyone.

How to Tell Stories To Children was published as a podcast and email newsletter from 2019-2022. It has been read by over 60,000 people worldwide. The book, also titled How to Tell Stories to Children, is now available in 22 languages. In the summer of 2026, Joseph Sarosy is republishing the newsletter and podcast on Substack to make it more accessible and navigable, along with contemporary storytelling tips, story prompts to try at home, and further ways to connect with the children in your life.

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Joseph Sarosy is the author of Off Grid Kids, Juniper Heartwood, and How to Tell Stories to Children. He is the creator of the Juniper School, a forest school in northern New Mexico, a founder in the VELA Network, and an innovator of Indie Education. He is currently facilitating a project called Play Ground, a no-cost WhatsApp group for adults who want to reawaken playfulness in their daily lives.