Tell Me a Story

Los Angeles is a city of a million stories--unnerving tales of transient hat-wearing felines, cliffhangers about civilizations faced with mass destruction, and Dali-esque vignettes describing creatures from the gilded rim of imagination. And that’s just Dr. Seuss. There’s also the Miss Spider oeuvre, that dirty dog Harry, the world of Maurice Sendak, and “Goodnight Moon” and Beatrix Potter and, and, and--it’s a small world but you’d hate to have to illustrate it.

For every one of these books there’s a kid who wants to hear it. Again. And again. And again. There are 2 million kids in Los Angeles County. Perhaps one or several of them are yours. Perhaps you love reading to your child but have developed a sudden case of laryngitis. Perhaps you think it would be stimulating for your tot to be among peers, to experience story hour in a group setting.

Or perhaps you absolutely have got to get out of this house and you mean now and furthermore if you have to read “Guess How Much I Love You?” one more time, well, that screeching edge in your voice might be sending a few mixed messages, mightn’t it?

Fortunately, this weekend is the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at UCLA, where a panoply of readings and storytelling will occupy three stages all day Saturday and Sunday. Highlights include author David Kirk (“Nova’s Ark”), actress-author Jane Seymour (“Yumi!” and “Splat!”), actor-author Dom DeLuise (“Eat This Too: It’ll Also Make You Feel Better”), singer-author Jose-Luis Orozco (“De Colores”) and country music star/author Naomi Judd (“Love Can Build a Bridge”), who will read their own works, and official Pooh actor Peter Dennis, who will read from A.A. Milne. For preteens and teens, R.L. Stine of “Goosebumps” fame, Dodger and Galaxy players and other cool folk will read and sign and chat on the Etc. Stage.

The Book Festival may be an annual event, but at any given time, on any given day, there are story hours all over the city. Hear that gentle hum in the air? That’s not the freeway, that’s a hundred cheerful staff members, at your local library, bookstore or museum, entertaining a group of rapt children that could, with minimal effort, include your own.

The library is the obvious place to start--in Los Angeles, the children’s staffs are not so much librarians as literacy warriors. Entering the magical muraled world of the children’s room at the Central Library, one is made aware of the Grandparents and Books Program, the Read to Me L.A. program as well as the weekly storytelling hour, held in the KLOS Story Theater Saturdays at 2 p.m. (and occasionally in the Mark Taper Auditorium, same day, same time).

On one recent Saturday, all 40 of the kid-sized seats were taken well before 2, and kids of all ages and varying degrees of high spirits bounced cross-legged on the floor, filling the room all the way to the gorgeously colorful ceiling with exclamatory babble. But when storyteller Michael Katz launched into his first tale, that of Joseph the Tailor, silence reigned (except for regular bursts of called-upon audience participation).

Katz, a versatile performer and wonderful storyteller, made sure the kids knew, at the end of each story, that it could be found in a book. That they could read it themselves, or have their parents read it to them, from a book. That there were many other wonderful books right here in this very library. Point taken.

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Libraries Aren’t the Only Game in Town

Although the Central Library is the jewel in the crown, most other branches have a story hour or two. Consider these, for example: Eagle Rock has a pajama story time at 7 p.m. on Mondays; El Sereno has preschool storytelling at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays; Pio Pico-Koreatown has family story time at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays; Westchester at 10:30 a.m. on Fridays. For more information, you can either call your local library or pick up a schedule of library events from any branch.

The library, however, is by no means the only game in town. L.A.’s bookstore boom has length ened the children’s hour into a 24-hour opportunity. Add to that the number of struggling actors in town, many with the requisite background in children’s theater, and you’ve got a lot of really great performance-lit. Local children’s bookstores offer a wide range of events--from cozy staff readings to full-on celebrity signings and art blowouts.

At Pages Books for Children and Young Adults in Tarzana, the offerings are so prolific you might want to call first: On the first and third Wednesdays of the month there are story hours for 2- and 3-year-olds; on the first Saturday, Tales and Tunes for 2- to 5-year-olds; on the remaining Saturdays is story hour for 3- to 8-year-olds and there is often a special event thrown in, so you see why calling would be wise.

Storyopolis in Beverly Hills is special-event central, and all very high-end. Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. is the regular story hour, but what story read by whom changes weekly--famous children’s authors, storytellers, illustrators and general celebrities fill the schedule every month. (This Saturday and Sunday, however, Storyopolis will have a booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, in lieu of story hour.)

Children’s Book World in West L.A. keeps it a bit more consistent. A troupe of local storytellers divides up the Storytelling Series, interpreting various kids books at 10:30 a.m. every Saturday. But there are also occasional author readings/signings, some singing and other swell stuff, depending on who’s in town and up for what.

These are just three examples; if you see a children’s bookstore in passing, chances are it will offer some sort of story hour. And most, like these three stores, have mailing lists to keep you apprised of their schedules.

Bookstores Offer Something for Kiddies

In fact, bookstore schedules have become the latest Dayrunner tuckable, which brings us to the next and truly ubiquitous source of juvenile interpretive art (i.e. storytelling). There was much squawking from local independents when the BNB bookstore behemoths--that would be Barnes & Noble and Borders--tromped into town and hunkered down on some prime consumer real estate (Third Street Promenade, Westwood, Old Town Pasadena) often within spitting distance of one another. Quickly it became clear that they each viewed themselves as so much more than a bookstore. First came the comfy chairs and study tables; then the cafes; the live music (a questionable venture); the, oh yeah, author readings. All of which contributes to a student-union meets town-square atmosphere, so it’s not surprising that there’s something for the kiddies.

In both chains there is a sizable children’s section, decorated in Merchandising Modern, with wee tables and benches, stuffed literary animals and baskets of well-thumbed books--board books and bath books, touch-and-feel books and squeaky books, and even a few of the regular kind. And it works. Perched on the tiny chairs, wedged into corners, parents and children sit reading with and to each other.

But neither chain is content to leave it at that. At Borders, the staff offers Bookpals Storytime at various hours depending on the store--in Santa Monica it’s 11 a.m. Saturday, and in Glendale at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Barnes & Noble “newsletter,” available for and in each store, lists, among other things, First Book Storytime, Tales for Tots, Pajama Parties, Kindermusik and other child-friendly adventures. Days and times vary from store to store: On the Third Street Promenade, for example, First Book is Saturday at 10:30 a.m.; in Pasadena, First Book is Saturday at 11 a.m., and Tales for Tots, Tuesdays at 10 a.m.; on Pico Boulevard in Westwood, storytelling is also on Tuesdays and Saturdays, both at 10:30 a.m.

For the most part, these readings are done by staff members who, like the rest of the population, possess varying degrees of dramatic talent. Some are splendid, some so-so. Just keep your expectations below the Julie Harris/George C. Scott range; remember, it’s a bookstore.

A few other booksellers, including Book Soup on Sunset in West Hollywood and Dutton’s in Brentwood, while not offering a regular story hour, do have special author appearances. The latest such event at Book Soup was so popular--the author and the illustrator of “King the King of Skittledeedoo”--says owner Trey Giles, that he is considering organizing a children’s feature on a regular basis. And, of course, schedules are available.

A wide assortment of venues have long used storytelling to help little people grasp bigger concepts. At many museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Getty, storytellers use myth and folklore to help children relate to the art (and to allow parents to actually see some), LACMA with monthly family days and the Getty with storytelling sessions every Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

Literacy Has Become A Hot-Button Issue

All of which adds up to an awful lot of readin’ going on. Consider it the sonic boom following the blastoff of children’s books in the last five or six years. What gives? Well, a citywide panic over low test scores and poor English skills of first-generation and immigrant children have made literacy a hot-button issue. A more universal, noncontroversial cause you will never find--who would argue with the benefits of reading to kids?

And so many baby boomer babies are growing up, with well-educated, economically thriving and slightly older parents encouraging them to read, read, read (so much easier on those mid-40s backs and knees than, say, skateboarding or soccer).

“There’s so much more stuff available for kids than there was 10 years ago,” says storyteller Jennifer Brandt, who performs at Children’s Book World. “And particularly on the Westside, the parents have more money and more leisure and they want to expose their children to literature.”

But, warns store owner Sharon Hearn, some parents can be too enthusiastic, pushing for academic development practically prenatally.

“You shouldn’t force a kid to read, or even listen,” Hearn says. “Just make it available. The rest will happen naturally, and as it should.”

More Chapter and Verse

* Books on your weekend Itinerary. Page 7.

* Aimee Bender’s favorite weekend. Page 7.

* How authors get their inspiration. Page 8.

* A treasury of illustrators’ art. Page 41.