Dr Giuliana Fenech (PhD N'Cle):

I am a Children’s Literature expert and storytelling trainer. 

I have been researching and teaching Children’s Literature and storytelling for over 20 years. My academic work includes mentoring University students at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Malta, as well as consultancy for cultural and educational institutions and train the trainer programmes. I wrote a PhD (N’Cle, UK) on the impact that digital technology has on literature for children and adolescents. I have published and produced work on narrative creation and production, as well as digital literacy and learning through play.

Throughout my career, I have managed and run storytelling projects that allow various communities to connect to other people and the world around them more deeply. You can read more about these at www.ligninstories.com. 

I have a special interest in working with children and adolescents but have now chosen to support parents of 5 – 10 year old children. 

Each time I run a workshop or longer term project with children, the parents always ask for my help to continue developing their children’s interest in storytelling. They recognise the focus and determination stories give them. They notice that restless or anxious children are able to engage and feel empowered. They realise that stories help them to work through difficult emotions and situations with their children. Family communication improves, making life easier for everyone.

I searched all over for a programme that I could recommend to parents who wanted to learn, to grow alongside their children. I couldn’t find one. And so, together with a team of researchers, storytellers, writers, and child development specialists, I created what is now our flagship programme, The Story Solution for Parents. The main aim of this programme is to replace parent overwhelm and guilt with deeper connection and a touch of magic. 

Storytelling has had a tremendous impact on my life, both professionally and personally. But perhaps the most significant difference it made has been to my parenting. Being a parent is exceptionally hard and it never ends! The difficulties are numerous but what I found to be unbearable was the sense of being alone. 

The 3am cold sweats trying to figure out whether I had handled a situation with my children well. Or the hours long searches trying to find a way to repair the damage I may have done because instead of listening and making my child feel valued, I turned away to deal with the hundred things on my to do list. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be a good parent. It was just that I had a lot on my plate and I was exhausted. 

Plus, I had no prior experience or training in being a parent!

My twins are now teenagers and more than ever I am grateful for the stories we shared as they were growing up. Firstly, because having shared stories means having shared memories and that forms a lifelong bond. And, secondly, because the stories we tell become the lives that we live. I realised just in time that I needed to shift our negative stories into more curious and courageous ones. 

I believe parents are a force that has not yet been reckoned with. They are also the most unsupported group of service providers that exists in all communities around the world. I would like to do my part to change that.

Let’s create a parenting revolution. No more parenting alone. No more guilt. No more negative stories. 

But none of us can do it alone. 

We need each other.

While my core interest is in working with parents and teachers, I have also done work with educational, cultural, and corporate organisations to introduce storytelling as a tool for increased connection and better communication.

The Secret Garden (Valletta Cultural Agency, July 2021) 

Winner of the Malta Arts Council National Prize for Best Work for Children and Young Adults

‘Maltese Folktales and Legends’, Presentation (Bakul Foundation, India, 2020)

 ‘The Day the Sleeping Lady Woke’, Presentation (Radio Cavolo, Italy, 2020)

‘The Story Solution, Storytelling Support Programmes for Parents and Teachers’, Online Course (2019-2021)

When parents sign up for this coaching programme they subscribe for three parts (Starter/ Deep Dive/ Deluxe). 

Each bundle includes coaching modules for parents and story resources for children. 

Starter 

The first part aims to give parents the basic knowledge and tools that they need to introduce storytelling into their family lives. It replaces parenting guilt with easy to use solutions, delivered in a step-by-step guide with my support all along.

Bonus: Library of 21 stories with printable text and audio (having a library of 21 stories readily available makes it easier for parents to introduce storytelling in their family life).

Deep Dive 

The second part teaches parents how to understand feelings better and provides resources to help children with particular emotions. We take the most common problems parents face and are address them through stories. The result? Less conflict in your family, more cooperation and understanding between all your family members.

Deluxe 

During this final part, parents will create a memory box for their children. Now they have understood how storytelling works and they understand their children’s preferences better so we help them to create a bespoke memory box for their children to treasure forever. Parents get to choose the items that they want to include in the memory box, amongst which an original artwork depicting their child with their favourite story character, handmade journals, story dice and many more. This semester makes your dream come true – it gives you control over your parenting journey, it allows you to give your very best to you child through the creation of a special momento that lasts forever.

 ‘How Stories Can Help Me Parent’, Interview (Jai Institute for Parenting, US, 2020)

At Lignin Stories we use a simple three step method. First, we clear space in our family lives for more open communication. We work on a physical space for sharing as this leads us to clearing space emotionally. In this part of the process, we support parents to become more aware of how communication works in their family.

Once this is ongoing, we begin work on making our feelings and those of our children more visible. Young children do not always know how to identify emotions or talk about them. Unless we find effective ways of observing our children’s experiences and understanding how outward behaviour stems from inner processing of emotion, we will not be able to understand and support our children calmly and confidently. In the second part of our storytelling method, we show parents how stories can help children associate their own experiences with that of story characters, making the expression of their feelings easier to handle.

In the final step of our method, we share different ways of working through the story values and behaviours that we want to encourage in the children, through play. We provide the stories themselves plus a whole lot of step-by-step activities. Parents share their experience of telling these stories to their children with the rest of the community in our warm virtual parent pods.

Together with the parents who work with us, we build community spaces through which no-one has to parent alone anymore. Having support makes all the difference to how we bring up our children.

 ‘Creative SDGs, Researching and Writing a Virtual Compendium of Science and Girls Stories’ (Esplora Science Center, Malta, and Seven Stories, Newcastle, UK, 2018-2022)

Stories work by association. If we have been through the experience narrated we feel validated, if not the stories teach us empathy – the ability to see the world through the eyes of another. They also showcase types of human behaviour for us, we learn what works and what doesn’t in a safe space – we understand our place in the bigger picture. All human civilisation, from the very start, is founded on stories. Stories give us our identity and show us where we belong.

Stories are holders of ancient wisdom, they are older than any of us alive (and goodness knows we could all do with a bit of guidance sometimes). They offer deep truths that weed out the more superficial stories in mainstream culture. The characters in traditional stories have to work hard on themselves to reach the resolution to their problem. When we witness this work as children, we begin to understand how curiosity, courage, determination, and integrity are essential to living fulfilled lives. There’s no magic wand but there is magical awareness.

Additionally, stories allow us to manifest the lives that we want. If we want to align our children to our values and dreams we have to share the same stories.

‘Teaching Science through Storytelling’, Teacher Training (Esplora Science Center and the Malta Arts Council, 2018-2021)

‘Here, Where I Belong’, A Storytelling Weekend for Adults (Federation for European Storytelling Tradition and the Malta Arts Council, 2018 – 2020)

‘Sansuna and the Carob Tree’, A Contemporary Maltese Fairy Tale, Performance (Ziguzajg Festival with St James Cavalier and the Malta Arts Council, 2018)

Often, as parents, teachers, and caregivers, we are so focused on our children that we forget to nurture ourselves. We get caught up in doing things FOR our children instead of doing things WITH them. This creates distance and disconnection so that we end up feeling like we are living in two separate worlds, sometimes even speaking two separate languages. 

If you want to enjoy a healthy and happy relationship with your children, you need to take responsibility for your own personal growth too. How? By reaching out for support.

Human beings are not wired to grow in isolation. When left to our own devices we spiral into self-judgement and shame. 

It is easy to feel helpless and frustrated because the solutions to everyday difficulties seem to be inaccessible to you. And then there is also the Law of Diminishing Intent. Have you heard of it? If The Story Solution for Parents has called to you, probably you are also facing resistance – a voice in your head telling you that you don’t have time, money, energy for this even though your heart is pulling you closer.

The longer you listen to your voice, the weaker your determination to make the changes that your family needs becomes.

It’s not your fault. It’s just the way humans are wired.

My advice? Listen to your heart, it always knows best.

‘Points of Contact’, A Storytelling Course for Adults (Victor Pasmore Gallery and Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, 2017-2018)

‘Of Fairy Tales and You’, A Storytelling Workshop for Children (Ziguzajg Festival with St James Cavalier, Malta, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh and Centro di Storie, Portico di Romagna, Italy, 2017)

 ‘The Science of Christmas through Storytelling’, A Storytelling Workshop for Children (Esplora Science Center, 2017)

‘Parallel Universe’, Teaching Science through Stories (Malta Arts Council and Esplora Science Center, 2017-2019)

 ‘Grandma’s Got Steam’, Long Term Intergenerational Storytelling Project (President’s Award for Creativity, Agenzija Zaghzagh and Esplora Science Center 2017-2018)