A storytelling and cycling adventure

General Press - November 2010

Spoke ‘N Word – a storytelling and cycling adventure from Waiheke to Wellington

Imagine a world of stories about cycling, travelling on two wheels!

Performance storyteller and children’s author Tanya Batt has married her loves of cycling and storytelling to create a pedal-powered adventure from her Waiheke Island home to Wellington.

While working in Japan, Tanya researched kamishibai, a form of storytelling once popular there. A kamishibai storyteller has a miniature collapsible stage fixed to their bicycle. Traditionally they sold sweets and snacks to their audience. The stories they told were illustrated by a series of pictures that were revealed using the miniature theatre.

Tanya has replicated a kamishibai theatre. She plans to use it to share cycling stories and encourage children to tell their own, which she’ll compile into a book about cycling history, recreation and safety. Her project aims to encourage cycling among children. It will also raise awareness of and funds for Waiheke’s Once upon an island Charitable Trust, which develops human potential through storytelling and story making.

The project starts in February 2011 to coincide with Bike Wise Month. With help from cycling author, Jonathan Kennett, and others, Tanya has plotted a route down the west coast of the North Island and through the Wairarapa. She’ll treat children to storytelling workshops using her kamishibai theatre at schools along the way.

The idea crystallized as Tanya pedaled around Europe and the UK last year. She says, ‘I come from a family of recreational cyclists. From a young age, we all had bikes for getting to school and for play. I’d love to see more children experience the joy and freedom of cycling.”

Tanya hopes that the people in the communities she passes through will feel inspired to jump on their bikes and join her.

To join Tanya or support the project, visit http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/onceuponanisland/
or email
OnceUponAnIsland@gmail.com

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