Home Location: Toronto
Creator Type: Storyteller
Tour Region: Ontario: Greater Toronto Area / Durham Region / York Region
Target Audience: Preschool – Grade 12
Cost: $300* (for one 60-minute presentation)
*(The storyteller collects $250 of the fee and $50 of the fee covers The Canadian Children's Book Centre's administration fees for coordinating Book Week).
Taxes charged on presentations: NO
BIOGRAPHY
Sarah Abusarar comes from a long line of storytellers on her paternal side. She tells stories to both adults and children. Sarah has told stories both nationally and internationally at festivals in Canada, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Tunisia, Morocco and United Arab Emirates. Because Sarah grew up in several countries she tells stories from all over the world with the focus on Palestinian and Croatian stories where her roots lie. Her favourite stories are ones that promote social change. Sarah has also used stories in a therapeutic way with children in refugee camps and refugee children in Toronto, as part of their therapy. She works at the Parent Child Mother Goose Program using traditional storytelling to encourage parent child bonding. Sarah belongs to a collective called "Musical Story Studio" where stories and music are combined. Sarah tells stories so that she may go deep inside of the tales and find herself in far away magical places that she remembers, from long, long ago.
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
A Sea of Stories from my Childhood
A mixture of original stories and traditional stories (45 minutes)
Target audience: Grades 1 - 4
Group size: any size
Sarah Abusarar invites you to sail the sea of stories from the many lands of her childhood! From the Middle East to the Balkans and back to Canada. All aboard! Through stories of lost teddy bears and adventures by the sea we get a glimpse of what childhood migration looks like. Within these stories of wonder we find that beauty shines from the inside.
Humorous Palestinian Stories
(1 hour)
Target audience: Grades 1 – 12
Group size: any size
They say that laughter is the best medicine and so it is no surprise that Palestinian traditional stories are so full of humour. Humour is the power of the oppressed. It helps humans build report, empathy and understanding with those around us. Because humour is universal, it is a bridge towards peace. While the world watches the latest events in Palestine unfold it is important for the children to take a break from those images and instead hear humorous stories from that tradition. When we laugh together, we are united in that laughter, the differences between us fade and we remain one thing and one thing only: Human.
Come enjoy an hour of Palestinian traditional stories filled with humour and magic! From talking cooking pots to perfumed farts, expect to laugh all the way through!
Times Were Different Then
(1 hour)
Target audience: Grades 8 – 12
Group size: any size
A collection of original stories told to the Storyteller by her father. His childhood stories about growing up in Palestine at the start of the occupation are stories of child poverty, childhood resistance, and refugees. These stories of school yard resistance span from 1948-1967. “While my mother told me fairy tales, my father told me real life stories that also contained kings, brave young men, and monsters.”
"Kan Ya Ma Kan"- Stories my Grandmothers Told
(1 hour)
Target audience: Grades 8 – 12
Group size: any size
In Palestinian villages traditional stories have historically been passed down by the women. "Kan Ya Ma Kan" (Once Upon a Time) invites the audience into the traditional circle of women where stories would have been told each night. The traditional stories are framed by Sarah's family story of the Storyteller women in her family and her father's experience in their circle as a young boy during a time of great changes in Palestine.
How Quest Went in Search of Truth
(1 hour)
Target audience: Grades 5 – 9
Group size: any size
“How Quest Went in Search of Truth” is a philosophical tale about an old man named Witting, who is left alone to care for his three grandsons. While, in the dark forest, the boys long for light so they sing a song, inviting Svarozic (God of Sacred Fire). Svarozic, tells the boys what they need to do to be happy, “stay with your grandfather, never leave his side and give him back the love that he gave you”. The boys in shock from the experience immediately forget what he had asked them. When the grandfather asks the boys what Svarozic told them, the first two are persuaded by two Bijes demons to lie. However, the youngest brother’s desire for truth is so profound that even the most powerful Bijes demon cannot persuade him. He decides to journey until he can bring truth to his grandfather.
This fairy-tale borrows from ancient Slavic Mythology. Since Slavic Mythology existed long before writing, we are very fortunate to find fairy tales with Slavic mythical creatures. Sometimes they mention creatures that otherwise may be forgotten and yet were crucial to the beliefs of ancient Slavs.
This version of the story has been translated from Croatian into English by the Storyteller, Sarah Abusarar whose first language was Croatian. Ivana Brlić Mažuranić was one of Croatia's most acclaimed children's literature writers. She was nominated four times for the Noble prize and often called by critics as the Croatia’s Hans Christian Anderson.
Stories from Mountainous Lands
(1 hour)
Target audience: Grades 2 – 11
Group size: any size
From the Balkans to Palestine the Storyteller honours her two heritages by sharing traditional stories from the mountainous lands which she is from and grew up in. Historically, Croatians sailed into the Levantine countries to do trade. They traded silks, perfumes, spices and because humans are social animals, they also exchanged stories. As a result of this history as well as a common Ottoman Empire there are similar motifs in the stories of these cultures. This will be an hour filled with Eastern stories ranging from the Levantine (Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan) to the Balkans (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia).
Stories of Friendship and Kindness
(30 minutes)
Target audience: Preschool / Kindergarten
Group size: 7- 15 children
This is a multicultural program for children under the age of four. Children will be exposed to traditional stories from various cultures. Rhymes and songs will be done in different languages, in order to expose the children to different sounds and different rhythms.