Anne ShimojimaMorton Grove, IL 60053 • 847.967.2361 • ashimojima@comcast.net

 

 

Anne has delighted youth and adult audiences of all sizes with her graceful and spirited tellings of folktales from her Asian heritage and around the world. Her thirty-plus years as a school library media specialist have given her a rich knowledge of story and a keen ear for performance. Anne has also taught graduate courses in storytelling and for seven years was on the Board of Directors of the Wild Onion Storytelling Celebration in Chicago.

 

Workshops

 

Storytelling Goes To School

Looking for a way to get your students’ attention, have fun, and meet the educational standards? Anne’s workshop for teachers, librarians, and anyone interested in using stories with children is a highly practical session that describes activities that extend the storytelling experience through creative drama, drawing, rewriting stories, charts, story maps, creating picture books and videos, listening activities, and teaching students to tell stories. A handout includes lists of tried and true stories for each activity. Telling stories to your students will impact powerfully on your relationship with them – Anne guarantees it!

 

Hidden Memory: One Family's Journey During World War II
In 2006, Anne interviewed her 91-year-old aunt, who experienced the difficult days of the war and living in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans. This grew into a family history project and a story for performance. The story Hidden Memory is now available on the Racebridges for Schools website in text and audio files with free lesson plans and discussion questions. Anne also gives workshops on her family history project and the creation of her family photobook, a DVD of slide shows, and the performance piece so that others can learn how to share the gift of their family histories.

 

 

Selected Performances:

Selected Workshop Presentations:

Publications:

 

“From the Library Media Center: Storytelling Through the Grades”

The Storytelling Classroom; Applications Across the Curriculum by Sherry Norfolk, Jane Stenson, and Diane Williams, Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

 

“Storytelling Goes to School”

Storytelling Magazine. Vol. 16, Issue 1. January/February 2004

 

“Anne Shimojima – The Magic of a Storyteller”

ISLMA News. Vol. 15, No. 3. January/February 2003.
Newsletter of the Illinois School Library Media Association

 

“Storytelling in the School Library Media Center”

Story: From Fireplace to Cyberspace; Connecting Children and Narrative.
By Betsy Hearne, Janice M. Del Negro, Christine Jenkins, and Deborah Stevenson, editors
The University of Illinois, 1998.

 

What other have said:


One of the most compelling storytellers to be heard anywhere, Anne Shimojima is mesmerizing! Like a gifted sculptor, Anne has a talent tor cutting away all that is extraneous, leaving only the essential story in all its glistening beauty behind.

Rives Collins, McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

Dept. of Theatre, Northwestern University

 

Anne is considered a "storyteller's storyteller" by her colleagues in the Chicago storytelling community, for her simple, elegant style -- always allowing the story to pass through her as a beautiful musical instrument creates the melody without distraction.

Jim May, Storyteller and Co-Founder of the Illinois Storytelling Festival

 

Anne Shimojima is an eloquent and elegant story weaver. When she tells stories, her words shimmer in the air and fall gently into the listeners’ ears. You can’t help but feel inspired and alive when she spins her story magic.

Dianne de Las Casas, Author and Award-winning Storyteller

 

When I first heard you tell at ALA in Chicago, I thought, “I have to bring her to Pittsburgh. They’d love her!” I was right! Your name is frequently mentioned by people calling, writing and filling out feedback forms as a highlight of the festival. You are as wonderful at telling to seniors as to children – a rare combination.

Mary Morgan Smith Director

Three Rivers Storytelling Festival

 

We all admire your beautifully polished stories. A pleasure to listen! Thank you for taking part in our first festival. Your professionalism made us shine.

Helen Fink, Director
A Tale for Two Cities

 

Your story for the Sunday morning finale was beautiful. As I watched the audience, I could tell that you had captured them and then you took them safely back in time to “be in the moment” of the story with you. That’s magic!

Linda Gorham, Storyteller

 

Who would have thought that members of the video generation could sit and listen so attentively? (Of course, it helps when the person you’re listening to is as gifted as you are.)

Jean M. Fujiu, Executive Director

Japanese American Service Committee

 

Anne has presented workshops in Baton Rouge to enable educators to use storytelling with their students. She brings a wealth of knowledge from her experiences working with students and adults. Her professional presentations are rich and expressive and are filled with enthusiasm. They evoke high standards for storytelling.

Evelyn Conerly, Director, Library Power

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

I never knew a story could have so much impact on me.

Eighth grader, Bell School, Chicago

 

When I told my mom the story about the crane, she had watery eyes. If you could have told it instead of me, she would have used a whole box of tissue.

Seventh grader, Bell School, Chicago