Stories....we're surrounded by stories. Stories are how we make sense of the world we live in, they engage our curiosity, emotions and imagination. And very often, especially for children, stories can be magical - whisking them off to weird and wonderful places, with strange, mystical creatures and colourful, larger-than-life characters.
Having said that, a story doesn't have to be based on fantasy to be magical. A story well-told, tailored to its audience and brought to life via a narrator, can be about something very normal, but still be magical to the ears of a child. Why? Because the child can relate to the story, to its characters and imagine their place in the story. They can feel what the character feels and think "wow, yeah, me too!".
Well narrated and produced audio stories and books are particularly brilliant for sparking magic in stories, via cadence, changes in tempo, character voices, the use of music and sound effects. They can excite and energise you, scare you, surprise you and even make you roll around with laughter.
What story will you tell that's simply magical?