it’s story time settle back and I’ll
begin once upon a time a mother ducks up
patiently on her nest of eggs waiting
for them to hatch and then one day she
felt something moved beneath her crack
crack filled with happiness she watched
her eggs hatched one by one I don’t know
about you but when I was little story
time was always one of my favorite parts
of the day and I loved reading to my two
sons when they were small too it’s that
special time when a parent and child can
be totally absorbed together in mystical
kingdoms fantastical beasties or scruffy
little ducks that turn out to be swans
well that’s how it is for some children
but for other children there isn’t a
parent around to read to them I’d like
to tell you about Sophie Sophie’s five
years old and lives with her parents one
day there’s a bang at the door sophie
has lots of shouting her mum’s crying
she sees the police dragging her father
away Sophie’s afraid she starts crying
two weeks go by Sophie doesn’t know
what’s happened to her dad when she asks
her mum her mum gets upset so she stops
asking Sophie weights she really misses
her dad every day she hurries home from
school in case he’s coming back on many
nights she cries herself to sleep
children at school start to tease her
they call her names somebody’s mum has
heard that Sophie’s dad is in prison
Sophie pretends to be ill so she doesn’t
have to go to school and her teacher
can’t understand why she’s so far behind
with her schoolwork after what seems a
long long time – Sophie a letter arrives
it’s from her dad the writing is very
messy the letter makes her mum cry but
she reads a little out – Sophie he says
that he’s okay and that he’s
missing them it’s a short letter Sophie
says she’d like to go and see her dad
wherever he is
but her mum says it’s too far away and
they can’t afford the journey then one
day the phone rings Sophie come speak to
Daddy that sounds different far away he
says he can’t talk for very long and
anyway it’s very noisy wherever he is
and Sophie doesn’t know what to say to
him well the stories go that’s not a
very nice one but every year in the
United Kingdom 200,000 children
experience the shame and isolation of a
parent in prison 200,000 that’s more
than the number of children each year
who are affected by their parents
divorcing and it can affect the children
of prisoners very deeply there can be
problems at school and they’re three
times more likely to suffer from mental
health issues in so many ways children
are the unintended victims of their
parents crimes in so many ways children
are the overlooked victims of their
parents crimes until last November I was
a serving prisoner imprisoned for fraud
I was dishonest and I paid the penalty
before that I’d been a practicing
solicitor for 30 years I’d had a happy
and stable upbringing a good education a
happy marriage which I’m pleased to say
continues I have two adult sons when
they were growing up I did my best to be
around for them as much as I could and I
took a careful interest in what they did
I read to my boys every night and
ironically our favorite story was
but when I got to prison it soon became
apparent that my background was very
different to that of most other
prisoners few of the men that I met had
had a decent education indeed many
associated education with humiliation
and failure the average literacy age of
prisoners is that of a nine year old
most have not been read to as children
nor have they read to their own children
I can tell you firsthand that prison is
dehumanizing prisoners hard enough they
shut down the close in just to survive
and this can be devastating for families
in fact maintaining contact with your
family from prison can be very difficult
indeed and if a child does get to see
their parents in prison they have to go
through the same pat-down searches as
the adults they walk through the same
detector frames they’re sniffed by the
same sniffer dogs but all because some
children have been the unwitting
carriers of drugs and mobile phones and
when they get through to see their
parents they may be tired from a long
journey shy tongue-tied even upset and
it isn’t easy for the parents who may
not be getting along for many reasons
not just these over half of prisoners
lose contact with their children and
families but what we know is that those
who maintain contact are six times less
likely to reoffending prisoners to stay
in contact with their children and
families has a clear benefit for society
as a whole how can we help prisoners to
stay in contact with their families when
I was a prisoner at challenge wood
prison I began working for a charity
called storybook Dan’s storybook Dan’s
began in 2003 when Sharon Barry a
civilian worker in a prison realized
just how much many prisoners wanted to
stay in contact with their children and
so armed with a few story books she
began to help prisoners to read and
records
Dorries to send home to their children
it wasn’t a new idea of few ideas like
this are new they’re great ideas but it
was an instant success you may wonder
how does the recording of the stories
work in prison is it difficult for
prisoners can it be challenging well the
process of choosing reading and
recording the story can be challenging
for prisoners prison is tough and
prisoners can’t afford to show any signs
of weakness or vulnerability but this
this recording process this can be
uncomfortable upsetting sometimes all
just a bit too much and prisoners often
cry they cry because they regret missing
out on their children’s lives they cry
because they’re ashamed that they’ve let
their families down they cry because
they don’t know how to go about reading
to their children but because when they
come to us we offer a private space
one-to-one prisoners don’t need to be
tough anymore and they can use their
vulnerability as a strength when
contacting with their children I
remember one prisoner who came to record
he was a big hard man with a reputation
for being tough he came along as
implacable as ever but when the door of
the recording room closed behind him
that facade began to crumble from his
pocket he took a screwed-up piece of
paper and quietly began to read the
words which he’d written as a message
for his two little ones his hands were
shaking and then in a surprisingly quiet
voice he began to sing their favorite
lullaby you see there wasn’t much that
he could do from behind bars to show his
children that he missed and loved them
once the recording is made it’s sent to
the storybook dance production unit at
Channing’s wood prison in Devon and
that’s where I worked I was trained
along with other prisoners to edit and
produce recording sent in from prisons
all over the United Kingdom using audio
and video software the recordings have
the mistakes taken out and sound effects
and music added in and the experience
and skill which the prison editors gain
once the recording is finalized its
transferred to a CD or a DVD and sent
out to the families so that the children
can watch them whenever they feel the
need and they listen to these recordings
and watch them a lot at bedtime in the
car some even take them to school to
show their friends these recordings they
show the children that they’re loved
amidst and they show the prisoner that
they can do something for their child as
a parent I’d remember Sophie well one
day just before Christmas a parcel
arrived and this is what was in it let’s
listen to a little of it together on
Cupid on Donner and Blitzen
it is his Rangers yeah up higher and
higher they flew across land across
oceans they sped through the magical
Northern Lights they passed I’d love to
see them all
I think you probably look a little bit
like that snowman’s baby
[Music]
that’s a cool snowman they visited all
the children in the world and left
presents for each and every one in the
tree Sophia term um listen to that three
times and they haven’t laughed so much
in a long time they can see that he’s
alright they can see that he loves them
and the next time he rings Sophie’s got
plenty to talk about
what does Charlie the chimp eat will
daddy they’ve another story very soon
since it began in 2003 storybook dance
has grown and grown it now operates a
storybook dance and storybook mums in
more than a hundred prisons in the
United Kingdom ninety-eight percent of
the prisoners who take part say that
it’s improved their relationship with
their child and since 2003 over 60,000
DVDs and CDs have been sent out to the
children of prisoners for Sophie’s
family and for thousands of families
like them storybook dance has been a
lifeline some prisoners say that it’s
the first time that they’ve begun to
build a relationship with their child
and some poor readers have been so
inspired by what they’ve been able to
achieve that they’ve gone to education
classes to improve their own reading
skills let’s go back to the story of the
ugly duckling but this time I’d like to
play you a recording made by a prisoner
because it encapsulates the power of
what we do the prisoner was an Irish
traveler who couldn’t read
and he wanted to send a story home to
his daughter for her birthday with the
help of a mentor and some clever editing
something magical happened this is an
extract from the raw recording where the
prisoner is reading the story by
repeating it phrase at a time he had
he run until he committed a great mass
where the wild dogs lived this is a
recording of an excerpt of the recording
with the mentors voice taken out and
sound effects and music added in he had
nowhere to hide then one day he run away
they run until he come to the great
Marsh where the wild dogs lived and he
laid in rushes for two weeks
[Music]
some wild dogs and geese come to look at
him you’re very ugly they said and they
laughed at him the ugly duckling run
away from the great Marsh and this is
how he finished the story he wasn’t an
ugly duckling at all during the winter
he had grown into the beautiful white
swamp the other swans has looked at him
and thought how beautiful he was come
with us they say
and he did well tiara I hope you have
enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed
reading the story to you I cannot wait
to be with you again and hold you in my
arms or my love your dad a poet lots of
love I miss you with all my heart
goodbye for now a life bye-bye when he
listened to that recording in his cell
before it was sent out to his daughter
he cried and that’s a pretty common
reaction from prisoners as they realize
for the first time they’ve been able to
do something for their child which they
never thought they could they’ve
connected in the most fundamental way
through the medium of storytelling and
that’s for Sophie she wants the Gruffalo next time
begin once upon a time a mother ducks up
patiently on her nest of eggs waiting
for them to hatch and then one day she
felt something moved beneath her crack
crack filled with happiness she watched
her eggs hatched one by one I don’t know
about you but when I was little story
time was always one of my favorite parts
of the day and I loved reading to my two
sons when they were small too it’s that
special time when a parent and child can
be totally absorbed together in mystical
kingdoms fantastical beasties or scruffy
little ducks that turn out to be swans
well that’s how it is for some children
but for other children there isn’t a
parent around to read to them I’d like
to tell you about Sophie Sophie’s five
years old and lives with her parents one
day there’s a bang at the door sophie
has lots of shouting her mum’s crying
she sees the police dragging her father
away Sophie’s afraid she starts crying
two weeks go by Sophie doesn’t know
what’s happened to her dad when she asks
her mum her mum gets upset so she stops
asking Sophie weights she really misses
her dad every day she hurries home from
school in case he’s coming back on many
nights she cries herself to sleep
children at school start to tease her
they call her names somebody’s mum has
heard that Sophie’s dad is in prison
Sophie pretends to be ill so she doesn’t
have to go to school and her teacher
can’t understand why she’s so far behind
with her schoolwork after what seems a
long long time – Sophie a letter arrives
it’s from her dad the writing is very
messy the letter makes her mum cry but
she reads a little out – Sophie he says
that he’s okay and that he’s
missing them it’s a short letter Sophie
says she’d like to go and see her dad
wherever he is
but her mum says it’s too far away and
they can’t afford the journey then one
day the phone rings Sophie come speak to
Daddy that sounds different far away he
says he can’t talk for very long and
anyway it’s very noisy wherever he is
and Sophie doesn’t know what to say to
him well the stories go that’s not a
very nice one but every year in the
United Kingdom 200,000 children
experience the shame and isolation of a
parent in prison 200,000 that’s more
than the number of children each year
who are affected by their parents
divorcing and it can affect the children
of prisoners very deeply there can be
problems at school and they’re three
times more likely to suffer from mental
health issues in so many ways children
are the unintended victims of their
parents crimes in so many ways children
are the overlooked victims of their
parents crimes until last November I was
a serving prisoner imprisoned for fraud
I was dishonest and I paid the penalty
before that I’d been a practicing
solicitor for 30 years I’d had a happy
and stable upbringing a good education a
happy marriage which I’m pleased to say
continues I have two adult sons when
they were growing up I did my best to be
around for them as much as I could and I
took a careful interest in what they did
I read to my boys every night and
ironically our favorite story was
but when I got to prison it soon became
apparent that my background was very
different to that of most other
prisoners few of the men that I met had
had a decent education indeed many
associated education with humiliation
and failure the average literacy age of
prisoners is that of a nine year old
most have not been read to as children
nor have they read to their own children
I can tell you firsthand that prison is
dehumanizing prisoners hard enough they
shut down the close in just to survive
and this can be devastating for families
in fact maintaining contact with your
family from prison can be very difficult
indeed and if a child does get to see
their parents in prison they have to go
through the same pat-down searches as
the adults they walk through the same
detector frames they’re sniffed by the
same sniffer dogs but all because some
children have been the unwitting
carriers of drugs and mobile phones and
when they get through to see their
parents they may be tired from a long
journey shy tongue-tied even upset and
it isn’t easy for the parents who may
not be getting along for many reasons
not just these over half of prisoners
lose contact with their children and
families but what we know is that those
who maintain contact are six times less
likely to reoffending prisoners to stay
in contact with their children and
families has a clear benefit for society
as a whole how can we help prisoners to
stay in contact with their families when
I was a prisoner at challenge wood
prison I began working for a charity
called storybook Dan’s storybook Dan’s
began in 2003 when Sharon Barry a
civilian worker in a prison realized
just how much many prisoners wanted to
stay in contact with their children and
so armed with a few story books she
began to help prisoners to read and
records
Dorries to send home to their children
it wasn’t a new idea of few ideas like
this are new they’re great ideas but it
was an instant success you may wonder
how does the recording of the stories
work in prison is it difficult for
prisoners can it be challenging well the
process of choosing reading and
recording the story can be challenging
for prisoners prison is tough and
prisoners can’t afford to show any signs
of weakness or vulnerability but this
this recording process this can be
uncomfortable upsetting sometimes all
just a bit too much and prisoners often
cry they cry because they regret missing
out on their children’s lives they cry
because they’re ashamed that they’ve let
their families down they cry because
they don’t know how to go about reading
to their children but because when they
come to us we offer a private space
one-to-one prisoners don’t need to be
tough anymore and they can use their
vulnerability as a strength when
contacting with their children I
remember one prisoner who came to record
he was a big hard man with a reputation
for being tough he came along as
implacable as ever but when the door of
the recording room closed behind him
that facade began to crumble from his
pocket he took a screwed-up piece of
paper and quietly began to read the
words which he’d written as a message
for his two little ones his hands were
shaking and then in a surprisingly quiet
voice he began to sing their favorite
lullaby you see there wasn’t much that
he could do from behind bars to show his
children that he missed and loved them
once the recording is made it’s sent to
the storybook dance production unit at
Channing’s wood prison in Devon and
that’s where I worked I was trained
along with other prisoners to edit and
produce recording sent in from prisons
all over the United Kingdom using audio
and video software the recordings have
the mistakes taken out and sound effects
and music added in and the experience
and skill which the prison editors gain
once the recording is finalized its
transferred to a CD or a DVD and sent
out to the families so that the children
can watch them whenever they feel the
need and they listen to these recordings
and watch them a lot at bedtime in the
car some even take them to school to
show their friends these recordings they
show the children that they’re loved
amidst and they show the prisoner that
they can do something for their child as
a parent I’d remember Sophie well one
day just before Christmas a parcel
arrived and this is what was in it let’s
listen to a little of it together on
Cupid on Donner and Blitzen
it is his Rangers yeah up higher and
higher they flew across land across
oceans they sped through the magical
Northern Lights they passed I’d love to
see them all
I think you probably look a little bit
like that snowman’s baby
[Music]
that’s a cool snowman they visited all
the children in the world and left
presents for each and every one in the
tree Sophia term um listen to that three
times and they haven’t laughed so much
in a long time they can see that he’s
alright they can see that he loves them
and the next time he rings Sophie’s got
plenty to talk about
what does Charlie the chimp eat will
daddy they’ve another story very soon
since it began in 2003 storybook dance
has grown and grown it now operates a
storybook dance and storybook mums in
more than a hundred prisons in the
United Kingdom ninety-eight percent of
the prisoners who take part say that
it’s improved their relationship with
their child and since 2003 over 60,000
DVDs and CDs have been sent out to the
children of prisoners for Sophie’s
family and for thousands of families
like them storybook dance has been a
lifeline some prisoners say that it’s
the first time that they’ve begun to
build a relationship with their child
and some poor readers have been so
inspired by what they’ve been able to
achieve that they’ve gone to education
classes to improve their own reading
skills let’s go back to the story of the
ugly duckling but this time I’d like to
play you a recording made by a prisoner
because it encapsulates the power of
what we do the prisoner was an Irish
traveler who couldn’t read
and he wanted to send a story home to
his daughter for her birthday with the
help of a mentor and some clever editing
something magical happened this is an
extract from the raw recording where the
prisoner is reading the story by
repeating it phrase at a time he had
he run until he committed a great mass
where the wild dogs lived this is a
recording of an excerpt of the recording
with the mentors voice taken out and
sound effects and music added in he had
nowhere to hide then one day he run away
they run until he come to the great
Marsh where the wild dogs lived and he
laid in rushes for two weeks
[Music]
some wild dogs and geese come to look at
him you’re very ugly they said and they
laughed at him the ugly duckling run
away from the great Marsh and this is
how he finished the story he wasn’t an
ugly duckling at all during the winter
he had grown into the beautiful white
swamp the other swans has looked at him
and thought how beautiful he was come
with us they say
and he did well tiara I hope you have
enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed
reading the story to you I cannot wait
to be with you again and hold you in my
arms or my love your dad a poet lots of
love I miss you with all my heart
goodbye for now a life bye-bye when he
listened to that recording in his cell
before it was sent out to his daughter
he cried and that’s a pretty common
reaction from prisoners as they realize
for the first time they’ve been able to
do something for their child which they
never thought they could they’ve
connected in the most fundamental way
through the medium of storytelling and
that’s for Sophie she wants the Gruffalo next time
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