Sensory Stories

Boris the bumblebee is a children's story about a bee who interrupts a family's picnic. The accompanying activities give readers lots of ways of encouraging emerging communication in story experiencers.

Princess Esme* was co-authored by the Fantasy Realist author Gwendolen Benjamin and Joanna Grace. It is a children's story about a princess looking to escape from the rigours of palace life by spending time in the palace garden strawberry patch.

Woods* is told to a beat. Beat is absolutely fundamental to the development of communication and something everyone responds to. The story is about someone walking through a woodland who thinks they hear something behind them and begins to run, imagining what might be behind. Fear not, the story ends happily with a cup of tea.

Rockhoppers* is a fun tale about the goings-on in the lives of rockhopper penguins. Each line of the story ends with a repeating word making it a great option for readers who are looking to get story experiencers involved in telling the story.

Toys: The once and future king* is two sensory stories in one booklet, each told with the same sensory stimuli. One story is about the toys we play with through life, and how, although we may put them away as we grow older, they are always there for us to play with if we want to. The other story is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur. Telling the two stories together will give readers cause to reflect on the parallels.

Like* is not a story, it is a sensory sequence for using to get to know each other better. Through sharing the sequence we find out about each others' sensory likes and dislikes.

Naali is resourced using a multi-sensory room (MSR). Naali follows the journey of an arctic fox as he runs beneath the northern lights trying to reach the stars. Once you have finished your adventures in your MSR you are invited to follow your own Naali out into the world for more sensory adventures. The story booklet has insight from the research into the use of MSRs within it.

Ein wattspaziergang is a sensory story told in English and German. A walker crossing marshland has their walk interrupted by a dense fog and has to rely on senses other than sight to find their way to safety.

Ein Wattspaziergang is co authored by Joanna Grace, Sonka and Inga Reimers, with additional help from Ute Caspers, Katharina Delius and Kate Andrew-Simpson.

White kite is based on the history of Victorian feminism but can be read simply as a story about a girl looking for somewhere to fly her kite. Its themes of struggling, striving and sharing will resonate with everyone.

Alice in a sensory wonderland* is a sensory retelling of the classic tale with lots and lots of scope for exploration of sensory wonders.

My-craft is a sensory exploration based on the game Minecraft. This is a story to be played rather than read.

My-craft is co authored by Joanna Grace and Thomas Antony Kilby.

Puddle* can be told in haiku or in plain text. It tells the story of a boy who dips his toe into a puddle on the pavement, and then dives in to have an adventure at sea. When he returns to the pavement there is a woman waiting; younger story experiencers may view this woman as a mother figure, whilst older story experiencers may consider her a love interest.

Tattoo is an ideal story for older story experiencer. It is the story of someone waiting for a loved one at a tattoo parlour. Although Tattoo does not come with a movement sequence there is a lot of opportunity for movement within the story; the story experiencer will spin and swing and dance.

When you were gone is a sensory story written to help you share a memory of a loved one who has died, with a person in a sensory way.

Dream is a very intimate story intended to be read by a parent to their baby (of any age) at bedtime. Dream is accompanied by suggestions for sensory explorations appropriate to individuals at the early stages of development.

Snow? is timeless tale of winter anticipation, that follows the journey of a snowflake as it falls from high in the air down onto the waiting tongue of a child anticipating more.

Sensory Stories: Making Narrative Accessible Through the Senses (£20)
This is the second edition of the globally successful Sensory Stories book. It contains updated content, as well as video content, the original five fantastic sensory stories with information about sensory stimulation and storytelling as well as a further four fantastic stories by guest authors: Pete Wells (from Inclusive Stories), Dr Nicola Grove (from Surviving through Story), Victoria Navin (from Rhyming Multisensory Stories) and most fantastic of all a sensory story co-authored by students with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities from National Star College.

Spike and Mole (£14)
This is a sensory story children's book with full-page colour illustrations.
Spike lives alone in the garden until one day the actions of a tenacious little Mole tempt him out of his hiding place. When disaster strikes Spike and Mole work together to save the day.