Odile DeWinne, a visitor from Belgium to San Antonio in 1940, tells her nephew, Roland, some European stories. The newspaper article accompanying the picture noted that “…while Miss DeWinne's nieces and nephews (of San Antonio's Belgian community) still wear wooden shoes and keep many Belgian customs, she had much difficulty telling Roland and his sister Belgian stories. They understand nothing but English!" The San Antonio Light Collection (published March 6, 1940) Institute of Texan Cultures—2408-A

Storytelling involves narrative, myth, history, education, folklore, journalism, propaganda, therapy, excitement, memory, pathos…and a great deal of old-fashioned magic.

Storytelling is notoriously hard to define, but everyone knows it happens when a person presents an oral tale to an audience at a particular time and place and for many reasons.

Stories amuse or educate, justify or explain, raise questions or satisfy curiosities people carry in their minds. Storytelling can happen as part of a ritual in Bolzenia, during a church service in Seguin, at a folk festival in San Antonio, or on a grandparent's back porch in Muleshoe.

The texts, illustrations, and examples at this site discuss what storytelling is and what kinds of tellers tell. The “What Is Storytelling?” site closes with references and other Web sites useful to teachers or anyone who is curious.