“It was about half three or quarter to four in the night; a wet winter’s night.
Everyone was asleep in the village, except for the odd tomcat or two that were always roaming around at that unearthly hour.
He was sleeping away contentedly, so he was, next to his wife, and he was dreaming of a summer’s day.
At some point during the dream he heard a sound that wasn’t of the dream, but as it were, was coming from outside the dream.
He woke up, and he didn’t know where he was for a moment.
But then he could hear his wife breathing beside him.
As he was lying there looking up at the ceiling and over at the curtains with a little bit of streetlight coming in above them, he again heard the sound.
He looked around but couldn’t see anything.
It was an unusual sound.
What did it sound like, Teacher?
It sounded like an oversized wellington boot, Craig flapping against your shin as you are trying to walk through tall wet grass.
As he lay there, he again heard it.
Not wanting to wake his wife, for she needed her sleep, he very slowly and quietly eased himself out of the bed, and went out into the hallway.
He didn’t turn on any light.
Then, he stood still, at the top of the stairs, and listened.
He heard it again!
From the direction of the sound, he made out that it wasn’t coming up from downstairs.
It was coming from near by.
He slowly made his way towards . . .” From Outside A Dream
From Ireland: a mystical and beautiful isle of the north eastern Atlantic Ocean renowned for its mighty storytellers comes the first of ten original long stories for children aged 8-12, their parents, grandparents, and their teachers. These are imaginary stories told by an imaginary schoolteacher to imaginary students in an imaginary Irish countryside primary school.
Principal, Declan McGrath is highly respected by parents and greatly loved by his students not alone for the way he admirably teaches them but also for the marvellous lively-paced contemporary narratives he shares with them. In his voice is found a lovely natural rhythm and rhyme that is pure music to the ears of his students.
He has twenty-nine students in his classroom. In 4th class there is Amy, Brian, Ciara, Cormac, Craig, Heather, Laura, Martin, and Patrick; in 5th Anthony, Aoife, Ciaran, David, Gerard, Jennie, Julia, Mary, Natalia, Niamh, Sean, and Thomas, and in 6th Colin, Emily, Finbarr, Hugh, Natasha, Owen, Sophie, and Tara.
He uses storytelling very effectively to refine his awareness of the wellbeing of his students. Occasionally, they will say out things during a storytelling session that they would not say otherwise.
Although the stories have a local Irish setting or bearing they are not parochial; far from it for they aspire to and deal with universal themes and concerns in a way that a reader in any part of the world will be able to relate to and enjoy.
The world is ripe for the fresh voice and personal style found in these richly multi-layered story lines; stories which parents and teachers alike will find most appealing and indeed quite useful for their own storytelling times.
Approximate word count: 2,345
Principal McGrath’s marvellous stories always finish with:
“And that, Students is today’s story.
Thank you; thank you Teacher.
That was a great story.
We will be thinking about it and looking forward to next week’s one.
Me too; me too.”
_____
Note, in addition - a print edition containing all ten stories will be coming out in early to mid-November 2016 which will also be available here on Amazon. This would make an ideal Christmas gift.
Everyone was asleep in the village, except for the odd tomcat or two that were always roaming around at that unearthly hour.
He was sleeping away contentedly, so he was, next to his wife, and he was dreaming of a summer’s day.
At some point during the dream he heard a sound that wasn’t of the dream, but as it were, was coming from outside the dream.
He woke up, and he didn’t know where he was for a moment.
But then he could hear his wife breathing beside him.
As he was lying there looking up at the ceiling and over at the curtains with a little bit of streetlight coming in above them, he again heard the sound.
He looked around but couldn’t see anything.
It was an unusual sound.
What did it sound like, Teacher?
It sounded like an oversized wellington boot, Craig flapping against your shin as you are trying to walk through tall wet grass.
As he lay there, he again heard it.
Not wanting to wake his wife, for she needed her sleep, he very slowly and quietly eased himself out of the bed, and went out into the hallway.
He didn’t turn on any light.
Then, he stood still, at the top of the stairs, and listened.
He heard it again!
From the direction of the sound, he made out that it wasn’t coming up from downstairs.
It was coming from near by.
He slowly made his way towards . . .” From Outside A Dream
From Ireland: a mystical and beautiful isle of the north eastern Atlantic Ocean renowned for its mighty storytellers comes the first of ten original long stories for children aged 8-12, their parents, grandparents, and their teachers. These are imaginary stories told by an imaginary schoolteacher to imaginary students in an imaginary Irish countryside primary school.
Principal, Declan McGrath is highly respected by parents and greatly loved by his students not alone for the way he admirably teaches them but also for the marvellous lively-paced contemporary narratives he shares with them. In his voice is found a lovely natural rhythm and rhyme that is pure music to the ears of his students.
He has twenty-nine students in his classroom. In 4th class there is Amy, Brian, Ciara, Cormac, Craig, Heather, Laura, Martin, and Patrick; in 5th Anthony, Aoife, Ciaran, David, Gerard, Jennie, Julia, Mary, Natalia, Niamh, Sean, and Thomas, and in 6th Colin, Emily, Finbarr, Hugh, Natasha, Owen, Sophie, and Tara.
He uses storytelling very effectively to refine his awareness of the wellbeing of his students. Occasionally, they will say out things during a storytelling session that they would not say otherwise.
Although the stories have a local Irish setting or bearing they are not parochial; far from it for they aspire to and deal with universal themes and concerns in a way that a reader in any part of the world will be able to relate to and enjoy.
The world is ripe for the fresh voice and personal style found in these richly multi-layered story lines; stories which parents and teachers alike will find most appealing and indeed quite useful for their own storytelling times.
Approximate word count: 2,345
Principal McGrath’s marvellous stories always finish with:
“And that, Students is today’s story.
Thank you; thank you Teacher.
That was a great story.
We will be thinking about it and looking forward to next week’s one.
Me too; me too.”
_____
Note, in addition - a print edition containing all ten stories will be coming out in early to mid-November 2016 which will also be available here on Amazon. This would make an ideal Christmas gift.
