I really need to write this.
There are storybooks that are so delicious to read to a group of children; and there are those that are just better read to a child.
You see the difference?
Reading to a big group of children — “big” being a relative word — entails careful selection of a story in which the text are not long and verbose. The story needs to be entertaining with the pace fast enough to render the children excited, but slow enough to entice them to listen.
I know the difference between reading to a child and reading to a group of children. I’ve been reading to children since I was a child myself so I have learned the art of selecting the appropriate of storybooks depending on: (1) age of the participants; and (2) the storytelling venue. This, however, is not an assurance that I do not commit mistakes. I just make a few of them. Unintentionally.
One of my go-to storybooks in this “department” is written by Filipino-Australian actress/celebrity Anne Curtis-Smith. The book dntitled “Anita: The Duckling Diva,” is published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). Anne is a Unicef ambassador.
The book tells the journey of Anita on gaining that self-confidence. Throughout the entire story, Anita was faced with various challenges including facing her fear of performing in a crowd. Her difficulties are aggravated by the presence of the bully frog, Helga. This is a fun narrative of how Anita found courage deep within her to rise up above her fears to become a singing diva.
I remember reading this story during the fifth anniversary of the Basadours (a non-profit group composed of volunteer storytellers) in a huge space that was the Sinulog Hall of the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum. There were ONLY 30 children. I had to emphasize the word “only” because that is small group for the Basadours as we are often faced with a crowd of as many as 250 children.
Back to the storytelling session at Sinulog Hall in 2017…
I wore a black gown designed by Cebuano designer Griffins Malazarte and introduced the story from the perspective of Helga. You should have seen the faces of the children. They were both amused and intimidated.
Later this year, I created a module that focused on cultivating self-confidence using the book as anchor story. I rolled it out to public high school students and to a group consisting of vulnerable youth, who are mostly neglected and abused individuals. The results were very encouraging as I was updated of their improvements in facing interviews and preparing their resumes. 
The narrative may be too long for children between the ages of three and five — and for a moment, the attention of children of this age range will go somewhere else. But attention can be retained with props such as huge stick puppets. Be sure to wear a costume and get animated.
I remember buying a copy of the book in July 2016 at P100 in a National Bookstore branch in SM Consolacion. Not sure if the price is the same this year as I noticed an increase in the prices of storybooks on the NBS shelves as of late.
Quick tip: I am fond of reading bedtime stories to my children but DO NOT read this one to them when they are going to bed.
The story should be read when they are awake as the lessons in this book need to be absorbed with eyes wide open.
