Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola

Season 1

The show featured children's book author Tomie dePaola and his Muppet friend Gabe the squirrel, encouraging children to make their own stories in a variety of media. In each episode, Tomie told a story featuring his storybook characters Strega Nona, Big Anthony and Bambolona. Gabe visited The Animal Band, a group of woodland creatures, including a rabbit on drums, a weasel on guitar, a penguin on bass, and a raccoon on keytar. Each episode also featured a visit with a guest storyteller or two (often people connected to the Jim Henson Company). The final segment of each episode included a child actor playing Tomie enacting stories from his book "26 Fairmount Avenue."

Where to Watch Season 1

26 Episodes

Tales Around the Table
E1
Tales Around the TableEpisode 1
Where Do You Get Ideas?
E2
Where Do You Get Ideas?Episode 2
What's a Story?
E3
What's a Story?Episode 3
Stories for Myself
E4
Stories for MyselfEpisode 4
Food as Storytelling
E5
Food as StorytellingEpisode 5
That's a Story?!
E6
That's a Story?!Episode 6
Getting Started
E7
Getting StartedEpisode 7
Character
E8
CharacterEpisode 8
Setting
E9
SettingEpisode 9
Point of View
E10
Point of ViewEpisode 10
Performance as Storytelling
E11
Performance as StorytellingEpisode 11
Every Picture Tells a Story
E12
Every Picture Tells a StoryEpisode 12
Making Sense of Our World Through Stories
E13
Making Sense of Our World Through StoriesEpisode 13
Taking a Chance
E14
Taking a ChanceEpisode 14
Finding Your Audience
E15
Finding Your AudienceEpisode 15
Funny
E16
FunnyEpisode 16
Scary
E17
ScaryEpisode 17
Moods: Happy/Sad
E18
Moods: Happy/SadEpisode 18
History
E19
HistoryEpisode 19
Music
E20
MusicEpisode 20
Make Believe Stories
E21
Make Believe StoriesEpisode 21
Real Stories
E22
Real StoriesEpisode 22
More Than One Way to Tell a Tale - Versions
E23
More Than One Way to Tell a Tale - VersionsEpisode 23
More Than One Way to Tell a Tale - Techniques
E24
More Than One Way to Tell a Tale - TechniquesEpisode 24
Putting Heart Into Your Story
E25
Putting Heart Into Your StoryEpisode 25
Collaboration
E26
CollaborationEpisode 26