The Perspective From Within: Drama and Children’s Literature

This article examines how drama education strategies enrich children’s understanding and excitement of a story before they read, preparing them for a deeper exploration and appreciation of the story. Following a book’s basic storyline, drama strategies guide children through an honest, spontaneous enactment of a story’s key events without slavishly recreating them. Children become engaged in a character’s plight by making it their own, facing each situation with a similar sense of surprise and excitement. Afterwards, the children have a rich, parallel experience from which they then approach reading the book.