The Magic of Storytelling: Never Silence Children’s giggling

The Magic of Storytelling: Never Silence Children’s giggling

Discover the magic of storytelling through children’s laughter and imagination. An artist and educator reflects on the power of stories, creative growth, and publishing young authors’ voices.

One of the sounds I cherish most in the world is children’s laughter. The carefree joy in their voices rings out as beautifully as birdsong. When children laugh because they are truly happy, that joy is contagious—it brightens the hearts of everyone around them. Most of all, children laugh the loudest when they are telling stories in the worlds they create themselves. In those moments, they are at their happiest.

As a parent and an artist, I have come to understand the deep importance of storytelling. Creating a story and immersing oneself in it is a rare privilege of childhood, a unique form of happiness that belongs to that stage of life. To take away a child’s time for storytelling and imagination, while at the same time speaking of “creativity,” is a contradiction. Children who imagine freely are the ones who draw with greater richness and variety, and when they write, their words carry something truly original and delightful. I love discovering these stories that come from children’s own voices.

This passion eventually led me to graduate school. I was torn between two paths: to pursue fine art more deeply, or to follow my love for education and storytelling. Many artists refine their practice through an MFA, but I longed for something different. I wanted to continue as an artist while also moving closer to education and social contribution.

I was fortunate to find a program at Adelphi University that focused on storytelling as its core, with professors who supported me fully in the direction I wanted to explore. There, I gained much more than a degree. Learning about the magic of storytelling—both in theory and in practice—became a turning point in my journey.
This exploration has since carried me into publishing on Amazon, where I help children bring their own stories to life in book form. Whenever I work with young authors, I witness their joy as they share stories with one another, laugh in the process, and later feel proud when they hold the finished book in their hands. I hope as many children as possible can experience the wonder of seeing their own stories published.

What makes children’s stories so special is that they are fundamentally different from stories adults invent about children. In children’s writing, we see how they imagine, how they experience happiness, and what kinds of worlds they dream of. And through this process, children grow—not only as storytellers but as individuals.
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I want to continue supporting children so they can laugh, imagine, and fully inhabit the worlds they create. To keep their laughter alive, I will keep telling and sharing stories with them.