Bring a tale
into your classroom

Storytelling session at Dudelange library

Through The Tales of Zoufftgen, I offer storytelling visits to schools, libraries and after-school centres across Lorraine and Luxembourg.

My stories take place in a village that really exists, right on the border. Children discover that the old oak, the forester’s house and the paths of the tale are only a few kilometres from their school — and they leave wanting to look differently at the trees they walk past every day.

Who it is for

A whole class, from age 4 to 11.

Two formats

The storytelling session, 45 min to 1 hour.
The workshops, 2 to 2½ hours.

Travel

Included within 30 km of Zoufftgen, at no extra cost.

After the visit

Every child takes their own kit home. The class keeps a signed copy of the book, and the poem from the tale, for the children to learn over the following days.

A singular approach

The stories take place in Zoufftgen, a real village. During a visit, children discover that the places named in the tales genuinely exist: an old tree, a forester’s house, a dirt path, a corner of the forest.

This link between imagination and local heritage anchors the stories in something tangible, and invites everyone to look afresh at the nature, the landscapes and the familiar places we sometimes stop seeing altogether.

Two formats

The storytelling session

45 min to 1 hour · from age 4 to 10

A visit is far more than a reading. The tale itself lasts ten to fifteen minutes; for the rest of the hour we look at photographs of the places that really exist, we work through the step-by-step drawing the book offers, and we talk about the animals of the forest and the words for naming them.

The children leave with a kit; the teacher keeps the signed book and a poem, which the class can learn over the following days. Two groups can follow one another within the same half-day.

The workshop

2 to 2½ hours · from age 6 to 11

The reading, extended by a time for making. Each tale has its own: they are described below, with the book they belong to.

The full outline of a visit is available on request.

Three tales, three visits

Meeting the Petit Zouffarceur

The tale of the little creature who lives in the forest of Zoufftgen, a conversation about the character, and the discovery of his world.

Every child leaves with the “hazelnut ritual” kit: an illustrated card and a small pouch of hazelnuts to place on the windowsill, inviting the Petit Zouffarceur to pay a visit.

Workshop “How is a book made?” — the journey of a picture book, from the first idea to the printed copy: the writing, the drawings, the layout, the printing.

La Maison du Petit Zouffarceur

The old oak of the Vogelsang farm, nature, slow time and shelter: where do those we never see actually live?

Every child leaves with the “a house to plant” kit: an illustrated card together with a real acorn, which the child can plant at home.

Workshop “Make a mini-book” — each child cuts and folds a pre-printed sheet into a real little book, finds a title for it, then writes and illustrates a story across three or four pages.

Papa Sanglier et sa dent en or

How wild boar live and the words to talk about them — the sow, the piglet, the den, the tusk —, a look at a real tusk, and a conversation about wildlife and respect for the forest.

Every child leaves with the “tracks of the forest” kit: an illustrated card showing a boar’s footprint, to be recognised later on a walk.

Workshop “Become an illustrator” — building a character and placing it in its setting, with the illustrator’s own gestures and tools.

The Words of the Border

At the end of a visit, the children discover eight key words from the story in the language of the neighbouring country. A very simple opening onto the other side of the border, a few kilometres from their school.

A sensitive experience

The stories often grow out of simple moments, like the ones we tell in a quiet voice at bedtime. During a visit I take care to preserve that quality: one voice, a calm moment, shared attention.

A space where we listen, where we imagine, and where stories are given the time to exist.

They have welcomed me

Dudelange library (Luxembourg) · Soetrich after-school centre (Hettange-Grande) · Volmerange-les-Mines · Zoufftgen.

In the press: Le Républicain Lorrain — an article in December 2023, and a front page in December 2025.

Arranging a visit

Dates are set to suit your own project, and the visit adapts both to the age of the group and to the way your school or venue works.

Formats, group sizes and fees are available on request.

To imagine a visit or talk through a project: get in touch.