Amanda Kane-Smith
Storyteller
Merry-go-Round Storytelling
Testimonials
Schools
"Thank you for a wonderful workshop Amanda. Our Year 1 children absolutely loved the workshop and it was lovely to see them all so engaged and animated in their drama and storytelling. The adults also had a brilliant morning, and all commented on how fantastic it was. Amanda was engaging, warm, friendly, enthusiastic and delivered such a brilliant start to our fairy tales topic. I would highly recommend her and we will be booking again for next year."
Fleet Infant School
"Thank you so much for your fantastic sessions on WBD for us! The children were buzzing and the adults enjoyed it too!"
Anton Infant School, Hampshire
​ "The workshop was fantastic. Rave reviews from the Head, the teachers and parents."
Camelsdale Primary School, Surrey
"I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all your brilliance yesterday. You were fabulous and the children all had a really great time.
All the feedback has been hugely positive. The level of engagement that you inspired from the children was fantastic and we really appreciate your hard work.
I know that working with children with severe learning disabilities can seem daunting and I’ll bet you were exhausted by the end of the day! But you bought a lot of joy to the children whilst at the same time honing their attention and engagement skills; as well as helping to develop their imagination.
So it’s a BIG Larkrise THANK YOU from us!"
Larkrise School
"Thank you so much for such a fabulous day! I had brilliant feedback from children and teachers. They all had so much fun!! We have gone junk model crazy in my classroom!!"
Farleigh School, Hampshire
"The children and staff really enjoyed your visit. We would definitely like to book some more!"
Twyford School, Hampshire
"Thank you so much for an absolutely fantastic day last Thursday — the children got so much out of it, and your energy and enthusiasm were truly appreciated by everyone. It was such a treat to have you with us!
I’d love to go ahead and confirm a booking for next year’s World Book Day— please could you reserve the day for us? We wouldn’t want to miss out!
Thanks again for making the day so special. We hope to see you again next year!"
St Neot’s Preparatory School
"Huge huge thanks for making our festival so special.
Your storytelling sessions were very much loved.
Hopefully see you back here again one day soon."
Zoe Greenfield School Festival, Woking
"Thank you Amanda! The children (and staff!) really enjoyed the workshops on Friday. They were engaging and totally age appropriate."
Wolverdene Special School
"Thank-you Amanda. It is lovely to see the way the children's faces light up when you tell them stories."
Charlton and District Pre-School
"The children loved The Three Billy Goats Gruff, as did the adults! We have had some brilliant role play happening today outside, using the same language and singing the songs you taught them. We will certainly be in touch next time."
Knights Enham Infant School
Events
“Test Valley Borough Council have used Merry Go Round Storytelling for a number of years now. We have programmed Amanda to run storytelling sessions for our outdoor arts event in Andover, Four Fun Fridays. Amanda always provides ideas and contributions to fit into our themes and delivers exciting, interactive and highly engaging storytelling for families. Our audiences come back year after year to see Amanda's stories.
This year Amanda co-created a Parklet for Andover which was perfect for sharing more stories about our local heritage, please see attached image. Five stars!!"
Faye Perkins, Arts Officer, Test Valley Borough Council
"Amanda visited us in Wimborne Dorset to entertain a wide age group of children many with SEND. She was fantastic! All the children sat spellbound for an hour at a time, and they thoroughly enjoyed the craft activities. Amanda was super easy to work with and a delight to see in action."
Tracy Whittam – Cultural Services, Dorset Council
"Amanda joined us for our music festival and was a superb addition to our kidzone. We’ve previously struggled to cater for the younger audience members and Amanda suited the brief beautifully. Not only did she enthuse the younger audience, teenagers also engaged and participated in the storytelling which was amazing. Story’s chosen were suitable for the audience present and Amanda also on occasion took requests which she coped with effortlessly. I highly recommend Merry-go-round storytelling and would welcome her back at a later event!"
Danielle Hardy- Minety Festival
"The workshops were very well received from our side – visitors loved them and it was a great addition to our Summer offer. We really enjoyed working with you and the quality of your offer was very high."
Jolif Guest, Mottisfont, National Trust
"A small note to say a massive thank you for joining us at Four Fun Fridays this year. It’s such a great addition to have your live storytelling and hope we can continue it in future years."
Test Valley Borough Council
"We had lovely feedback so thank you so much for all your hard work putting it together and working with me to create ‘the vision’."
Tom Morath. Events Manager, The Hawk Conservancy Trust
"A huge thanks for attending the event last Saturday – it was a great success and your stories were fab!"
Ellen Doubooni Communications Officer TV BC
“You were a very magical touch to our children’s events!"
Melanie Myers, Garsons
"Thank you so much for all your hard work with this. It’s exactly what I was hoping for. …. You’ve included some really lovely ideas about how to make it sensory and playful as well as igniting an interest in the original story book. I’m looking forward to getting going with this now. Thanks so much!"
Sasha Morris-Bhatia - Shropshire Council
"Despite the very wet and windy weather, the stories were amazing and kept us all entertained."
Sian Manning - Whitehall and Bordon Community Trust
"Amanda came to dads club and as per always she was amazing. The kids and bigger kids loved it. Thank you Amanda for supporting the club for all these years. You are amazing."
Me and My Dad Club
"I just wanted to share a lovely email we had in our inbox this morning:
'Just to say how much my son and I enjoyed the storytelling session yesterday with Amanda. It was so engaging for the children, educational, and we would love to return for future events with her.'"
Stephanie Johnson, Gallery Manager THE BASE, GREENHAM’
Reviews
"I have been to many events over the years hosted by Amanda and she is very inspirational. She holds the children’s interest, involving them in very creative ways to really bring the stories to life. She comes across as very friendly yet professional and always seems to be creating new material to use but with the familiar introductions from Fred the Cat that the children know and love."
Jennie Butler
"We had a lovely experience at the SEND storytelling. Great atmosphere and the children were so engaged. Can’t wait to attend another event soon."
Jenny Watts
"Amanda made Ada's 5th birthday incredibly special. Ada was the centre of the story and all her friends were swept up in the magic. Plenty of movement and dance to get them involved and keep them engaged. It was a joy to watch!"
Sarah Ewing
"We have been to many events run by Merry-go-Round Storytelling and each one has been as wonderful as the last.
Amanda is so engaging and enthusiastic and I am always amazed at how she is able to hold the attention of even the smallest children, They all have so much fun.
We have recently had a Zoom Birthday Party for my daughter who was 5 with more than 30 of her friends online, which was absolutely wonderful.
An engaging story with music, songs and actions. Thank you Amanda."
K.Morriss
"Amanda is fantastic, my child is on the younger scale but he engages with this. I love how comfortable and relaxed it is. I highly recommend."
Alysia Conlon
"I would highly recommend Amanda from Merry go round storytelling to anyone with little ones. Me and my little girl have seen Amanda at a few different events over the years and always really enjoyed her playful, interactive and fun way of storytelling. She really does bring the stories to life!"
Gemma Donegan
"​ Happy & Friendly, great getting the children interacting, tells story with great enthusiasm and real passion which the children just absolutely love. Highly recommend any of the activities you see advertised by Amanda & Fred the cat"
Tina Lynch
"Merry-go-Round should be part of every young child's learning journey. Definitely the Best story teller around"
Zenda Smale
"Just wanted to thank you for running such a wonderful group. You bring to life everyone's sense of wonder and fun (including the grown-ups!)"
“Anyone thinking of booking a party please do, Amanda is amazing and the kids will love it.”
"I just wanted to say, a very big thank you for Saturday. Liv and all her friends had so much fun and we all (parents) thought you were amazing!! Your story held the kids attention and kept them enthralled. We loved the music, props and interaction — a great combination”
We recently booked Amanda for a birthday party too and it was amazing. She created a unique story just for the birthday girl including all her favourite things. It really was very special. All the guests enjoyed the interactivity of the party and said how different it was to other parties they'd been to. With one of the guests saying it was the best party she'd ever been to!Thanks so much Amanda x
“Just wanted to say thank you so much again for today. Seeing Chloe’s face light up. She loved every second!!! Everyone said how brilliant you were. Thank you for making it so personal to her.”
“It was amazing! Asked George what his favourite part of his party was and the answer was “Amanda!” Thank you so much for such a great party—he absolutely loved it”
‘Amanda is the best storyteller in the World’
Poppy - aged 5!
Press
