Storyteller Pati Kachel
of The Parable Fund
Literary & Educational Programs
When founding The Parable Fund our intent was to partner with elementary classroom teachers and homeschool educators to enrich the learning experiences of their students. Pati has presented the following story programs in large assemblies held in school auditoriums and gymnasiums. They also have been well received in more intimate settings within libraries, classrooms, and living rooms.
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
An inspiring and educational program about Lucy Maud Montgomery, the Canadian author of the charming Anne of Green Gables book series. Dressed in vintage Victorian costume, Pati will invite you on a little journey to Prince Edward Island. Enjoy the humor and wisdom of that unforgettable literary character, Anne Shirley. A collection of antiques, PEI artifacts, books, and photographs are also displayed for the audience's viewing enjoyment.
Meet Miss Beatrix Potter
Well-loved children’s book author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter is illuminated through this colorful presentation. In Meet Miss Potter, Pati authentically portrays this interesting watercolor artist and conservationist in Victorian costume and with a British accent. She tells her life story and the inspiration for her bestselling book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter’s illustrations, photos, vintage artifacts, and clothing are displayed for viewers to have a window into her creative world.
Jane Austen
An informative and insightful program about the beloved English novelist, Miss Jane Austen. She was a pioneer of women making their living through writing. Austen penned seven of the best-selling books of all time, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma.
Dressed in Regency period costume, Pati shares about the life and times of this gifted author. Austen memorabilia and British artifacts are displayed to enrich the learning experience.
Because of the recent film adaptations of Jane Austen's works, many high school students have a new appreciation for English literature. Serving as a guest presenter, Pati shares creative resources with teachers and their students to help make learning about cultural history an enjoyable experience.
A Story Portrait of Maud Lindsay - American Educator & Author
Maud McKnight Lindsay was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1874. During her lifetime she was a best-selling author of 14 popular children's storybooks and a beloved kindergarten teacher. She dedicated her entire life to her young students by igniting their love for learning. Maud incorporated creative play, music, songs, poetry and storytelling into her lesson plans. Her children's stories were reprinted in over 60 elementary school textbooks that were read by teachers and parents across the country. Many of her books were translated into other languages. She was a childhood playmate and a close lifelong friend of Helen Keller. This is an inspirational program written especially for anyone who works in early childhood learning or elementary education. This presentation premiered in May 2019 for the Delta Kappa Gamma Society of Women Educators of Iowa. This audience thoroughly enjoyed learning about this interesting and outstanding teacher. They also laughed a lot as they listened to some of Maud’s classic stories, told by Pati with an authentic Alabaman accent. A colorful tabletop exhibit featuring vintage photographs, copies of many of her popular books, and her lesson plans are artfully displayed. This program is sure to delight and enrich everyone who hears it!
I Love to Tell the Stories...And You Can Too!
This is an equipping workshop (or fun shop) designed to introduce participants to the oral tradition of storytelling. With helpful handouts and small group exercises, begin learning how to share your own stories. These same skills can be applied to tell unforgettable Bible stories. Listen, learn and take the leap into the welcoming world of wonderful storytellers.
A Story Portrait of Hans Dahl
In the late 1880s, a renowned artist named Carl Larrson began enchanting us with his paintings of everyday family life set in the rural Swedish countryside. At that same time in history, over in Norway, there was an artist named Hans Dahl who was painting the everyday life scenes of Norwegians. His brushes captured the rugged beauty of Norway's mountains and fjords and those who lived among them. This is a “SHOW and TELL” program of the life and works of this accomplished and beloved Norwegian painter. This program will feature a projected photographic display of many of his paintings and commentary about what inspired him, set to the music of Norwegian composer Edvard Greig's Peer Gynt. This program also includes lovely display boards featuring many colorful prints from his prolific portfolio of paintings.
A Story Portrait of Rønnaug Petterssen
This is an informative "Show & Tell" presentation about an internationally awarded Norwegian Doll Maker. For 40 years Petterssen worked in her studio in Oslo designing and crafting her charming dolls dressed in bunads (regional folk costumes). Her superb artistry and attention to detail make her dolls, gnomes, and nisse extremely collectible and valuable today. Pati brings along a colorful table display featuring her vintage doll collection to help tell Rønnaug's interesting life story. She also uses a Powerpoint projected slide show chronicling Petterssen's personal life from 1901-1979.
A Story Portrait of Hans Nielsen Hauge
told through the voice of Sara Oust
Hans Nielsen Hauge( 1771-1824) had a profound influence on both secular and religious history in Norway. Traveling on foot to remote villages and populated cities, Hauge was a lay minister who simply invited people to return to God and to church. His spoken words and bestselling books sparked a spiritual renewal within the Lutheran churches of Norway. During a period of extreme economic crisis, Hauge taught that the path to prosperity was possible for anyone with initiative. Hauge combined economics and the Christian morals of modesty, honesty, and hard work to help people lift themselves out of poverty. As an entrepreneurial industrialist, Hauge founded numerous factories, mills, and printing houses around the country employing laborers motivated by their faith. Norwegians who embraced his teachings became an informal network, known as The Haugean Movement. Both men women played a central role in this spiritual revival and economic revitalization throughout Norway. The first female preacher of the Haugean Movement was Sara Oust In this inspiring presentation, Pati Kachel portrays Sara Oust. Through the narrative of Sara’s voice, listeners will learn about the impact of Hans Nielsen Hauge’s lasting legacy in Norway. An artful tabletop exhibit of portraits, photographs, and vintage Nordic artifacts will enrich this educational experience.
That My Children May Know
In 2025 the bicentennial of the first Norwegian immigrants coming to America will be celebrated wherever large communities of Norsk settlers were established. In anticipation of this commemoration of our country's past, Pati has researched and discovered the stories of her own family’s immigration history. In this presentation, Pati authentically portrays her paternal Great-Grandmother, Ane Marie (Andersdatter/Jakobson) Anderson (1861-1936). She tells Ane's true life story in the first person narrative voice with a Norwegian accent. The setting is the year 1915, when Ane was then 54 years old. She is dressed in costume of the common folk of her day. This program is based on facts found it immigration documents, letters, newspaper clippings and remembrances recorded and transcribed from past family reunions. For this presentation, Pati brings along an artistic tabletop exhibit of artifacts from her family's farmstead - including a handmade spinning wheel, rocking chair, hand-sewn quilts, crockery, the family's Bible, a rosemaled tine box and vintage photographs to help her listeners step into the story with her. This program runs approximately 55-minutes.
A Cup of Kindness - Encouragement for Caregivers
In recent years, Pati has been through some significant health challenges and knows firsthand the importance of the supportive presence of others to help us get through to the other side of the mountain. She has carefully crafted a collection of gentle stories, tender songs, and scriptures to strengthen and affirm those who serve as caregivers to others.