Rona Leventhal, a movement storyteller, visited the Wareham Free Library on Thursday, June 6 to tell interactive folk tales. For Leventhal, storytelling is more than just entertainment: it’s a form of literacy.

“[Storytelling] engages the imagination and the development of what I call the ‘imagination muscle,’” she said.

The “imagination muscle” is underused and underappreciated, said Leventhal. By strengthening it, people are better able to develop academic skills, like writing and speaking.

Along with the mind-building benefits of storytelling, it’s also fun.

Carmen Dwyer attended the event with her grandaughter Avaeh, 7. Both participants danced and sang their way through Leventhal’s fables about different creatures, such as a story about a turtle who tried to fly south for the winter.

“[I enjoyed] having the kids interact with each other and themselves,” said Dwyer. “I had a great time. We adults need to move too.”

There was a lot of movement throughout the interactive stories that encouraged the children to create sounds to go along with the tales through clapping and creating monster noises. Leventhal also led a “freeze-dance” using a shekere, a West-African percussion instrument.

Following the stories and movement activities, Leventhal presented a gift of seeds to the audience and encouraged them to go home and tell one of the stories to plant the seed of imagination.

“When you tell a story to someone, you plant a story in their head, in their souls and in their hearts,” she said.