For over a half century, Morton Schindel and Weston Woods Studios have
turned beloved children's books into short films. Their work
can inspire your students to explore how to make stories come to life.
Weston Woods Lesson Plan >
The team at Weston Woods honed the craft of storytelling
in a wide variety of films. They knew that good stories, from folktales
to tall tales to everything in between, all share some common
elements. Explore how setting, tone, and point of view and more all work
to tell a good story.
Morton Schindel knew a good story has its audience
demanding, “What happened next?” Understanding the role of sequence in storytelling (what comes first, second, next, last) and learning how to put actions in chronological order, are important concepts in early childhood curricula.
Georgie, Mike Mulligan, Ping, those adorable ducklings
for whom we’re delighted to make way -- all come to life in Weston Woods’ timeless films. Perhaps no other component is as important to telling, understanding and loving a story as characters about whom readers and listeners will care.
Weston Woods knew that imagery was perhaps the most
affecting element in storytelling. Words and pictures, alone
or together (especially together) can do so much to conjure up
a setting, a mood, actions, feelings -- all the things that help a storyteller
create an entire world for the audience.
With a respect and love of great storytelling, in 1953 Morton Schindel founded Weston Woods, a company dedicated to developing films based on beloved children’s books.
Named after the woods near his home in Weston, Connecticut, Morton Schindel became fascinated with the power good picture books had to keep children mesmerized with their synergistic blend of text and pictures. Weston Woods’ mission was “ to create audiovisual adaptations that are faithful reflections of the books themselves.” They sought to adapt great picture books from all over the
world “in such a way as to preserve the integrity of the original.” This mission is as resonant today as it was 50 years ago. In 1996 Scholastic Inc., the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, partnered with Weston Woods to continue and expand their shared commitment to helping educators instill in children a lifelong love of books and reading.
Mort Schindel
and his daughters