The Role of Fear in Traditional Storytelling Earlier in June, I spent three days telling stories at a children's eco festival. Each day we gathered beneath the broad canopy of an ancient oak whose branches stretched generously across a meadow of long summer grass. Throughout those days we wandered through stories of swallows, nettles, hares and trees; tales that invited children to notice the landscape around them with a little more care and a little more curiosity. On the second afternoon, a...

The real question raised by the social media ban is not whether children should spend less time online. It is whether we are willing to create a world that offers them something better.

Recently, I began noticing something unexpected. Each week I share an orally told nature story online. They are simple stories, really — stories about dandelions, blackbirds, forgotten folklore, old trees, childhood wonder, and the small sacred details hidden inside ordinary life. At first, I thought people simply enjoyed listening. But over time, more and more older listeners began writing to me, and the messages carried a depth of feeling I had not anticipated. The messages were not only...