There are many different types of stories. The most important consideration when choosing a tale to tell is whether you like it enough to tell it with enthusiasm. Stories should communicate to you a need to be told. Some of the different categories of stories available to storytellers are: --

Fable - a short moral story not based on fact, using animals as characters, such as, Aesop's Fables - The Fox and the Grapes, Lion and the mouse and others.

Fairytale - The best-known would be Grimm's fairytales about imaginary folk, such as elves, giants, witches, gnomes, and fairies. Closer to home is Mary and the Leprechaun, by Irish-Australian writer John Kelly.

Folk tale - a traditional story, in which ordinary people gain special insight, transforming them and enabling them to overcome extraordinary obstacles. See The Magic Orange Tree & other Haitian Folktales by Diane Wolkstein.

Legend - a story based on the life of a real person in which events are depicted larger than life, for example, The Stories of Robin Hood, or King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Myth - a story about gods and heroes, explaining the workings of nature and human nature. See Psyche and Eros or Inanna by Diane Wolkstein.

Parable - a fictitious story told to point to a moral, for example, The Sower and the Seed from the New Testament of the Bible.

Personal story - a life story from your own or your family's experience, such as, Streets and Alleys by Syd Lieberman.

Religious story - an historical and philosophical story based on a particular culture and religious persuasion, for example, The Story of Lazarus from the Bible.

Tall tale - an exaggerated story, often humorous. Fishing stories, Australian Bush stories, see The Loaded Dog by Henry Lawson.

Traditional tale - a story handed down orally from generation to generation, such as the Polynesian stories - Maui, and The Coming of the Maori.

From About Storytelling - Published by Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, Australia -- ISBN 0 86806 593 5 - by Helen McKay and Berice Dudley © 1996