The Mario Blog

At a time when our industry contemplates how to tell stories in a multiplatform environment, in a 24/7 news cycle, we can draw inspiration from the fables.
I have been a fan of the Aesop Fables for years. In fact, my book Pure Design follows the simple style of the fables: short takes that teach us a lesson.

Of course, that is where the comparison stops. The fables are stories about foxes, lions and wolves, who react in ways similar to humans. The fables contain morals and teachings about the human condition, as relevant today as they were in ancient Greece.

During the past two weeks, as I undertook the role of nurturing grandfather to assist my daughter Elena with her children as she welcomed a new baby into the family, I rediscovered the power of storytelling. I have to admit that I realized that my grandson, Danny (4), was not easily entertained by many of the stories in the books on his shelf. So, with a little imagination——-and trying to make sure that I kept this peripatetic typical boy quiet and still for more than 10 minutes——I would create stories of my own. No book. No reading of lines, just me acting out the parts, and repeating the same story dozens of times. At the end, no matter how many times the story was told, Danny would say: Abo, can I hear it again?

By the end of this week, Danny could complete my sentences without missing a word. I would be driving him to school, and he would sit in the back. Each time, I would recite the words: Once upon a time there was a turtle named……..

“Jennie,” would shout Danny, as if acting for an audience of hundreds.

Then I would say: She had an alligator friend named…..

“Sammy,” he would scream even louder.

This was his favorite story, which I titled : Sammy The Alligator. I guess this has become part of the River Adventures Series during these two weeks.

Sammy is this fictitious alligator who lives in the HIllsborough River, right behind my house (where we do have real alligators less friendly than Sammy). In my story, Sammy is good friends with a turtle named Jennie, who also lives in the preserved swampy area that is my backyard. Indeed, there are many turtles behind my house, which is why we called the house Villa Tortuga when we built it 24 years ago. In real life, turtles don’t get near alligators.

But, alas, in the world of storytelling, anything is possible, so I have created Sammy, who is now larger than life, and bigger than the real 9-foot long gators we can sometimes spot from the deck behind my place. Danny loves the fact that Sammy tosses a football in the air with his jaw.

As my time with the kids as full time grandpa in residence is coming to an end, and I must travel again soon, I have now put the Sammy the Alligator story down, complete with my own primitive illustrations of the characters, so that my daughter Elena can read Danny the story each night when I am gone.

Aesop would probably draw a moral from this story, so I do the same: everyone loves a story. No matter how much technology advances, and regardless of how we get these stories in the future, the story is what it is all about.

And, yes, I now tease Danny that next in the River Adventure Series, Sammy the alligator meets Rufus—-a monkey who only eats green bananas. I need time to come up with the rest of that story.

The journalist in me is happy to know that what I trained to do 40 years ago still serves me well today. It is all about the story.

The grandpa in me rejoices when I see the look in Danny’s face as we approach the end of the story, and Jennie the turtle kisses Sammy the alligator on the cheek.
Moral of the story: It does not get better than that!

http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/
For kids:
http://www.wildfirepublishing.com/personalized-aesops-fables.aspx?gclid=CKW2z-fqkZcCFQhdswodhzMbnw