The Noisy House
Two versions of an old tale, one for children, one for adults – and both are for every age
Videos not yet publicly available
This tale has been recorded (twice) and will soon be uploaded to the video gallery, where it will be available to watch for free – together with many, many other tales.
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This version which works well with children – lots of scope for participation
A Jewish wisdom tale
There are many versions of this story, often associated with Yiddish culture in Poland.
The reason for recording the two variants is that I used them as part of a 2024 storytelling workshop for librarians in Lithuania. As well as the participants telling their own version, I included these suggestions for follow-up activities:
- Extend the story: what further animals/noisy objects could the rabbi tell the man to bring into the house?
- Partners create pictures of various rooms filled with these.
- Discussion: What makes a good house?
Telling it with children, they can suggest which animals are added, as well as joining in making all the sounds. A high-energy activity!
I first met the story when it was posted years ago on the Storytell listserv, possibly by Allan Davies.
Disclaimer
The video clips here are all amateur quality, shot in various theatres, or as here, in my home studio.
Their intention is just to show the range of my storytelling and give a flavour of a live performance.
Permission is granted for use in non-commercial educational contexts.
The videos are © Richard Martin.
Professionally recorded CDs and DVDs are available here.
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For those who are teachers: Telling stories in the classroom: basing language teaching on storytelling