MA

RY TERESE DONZE, A.S.C., has been a storyteller most

of her life. During her 35 years as an elementary and secondary

school teacher, storytelling was one of her most natural and ef-

fective tools. In "retirement" she has turned to this well-honed

skill to build a successful writing career. Among her "story

books" are The Kingdom Lost and Found (Ave Maria Press,

1982), Teresa of Avila (Paulist, 1982) and Down Gospel Byways

(Liguori, 1984).

Her expertise, her enthusiasm and her experience are all

brought into sharp focus in Touching a Child s Heart, where she

invites and inspires teachers (and parents) to make use of stories

as part of their regular means of conveying the truths they

teach.

She directs this book primarily to teachers of religion, en-

couraging them to use stories as a regular method of teaching

children about God. She encourages storytellers to approach

their stories with acceptance and reverence, allowing their own

hearts to be changed before attempting to help change others.

Touching a Child s Heart includes hints and techniques for

storytelling, sample types of stories, and suggests the broaden-

ing of the story concept to include poetry and song. Not only

will readers find practical advice here, they will find a taste of

the freedom of spirit that makes the storyteller a worthy messen-

ger for spreading the good news.