This paper presents excerpts from the author's diary describing the experiences encountered while conducting the Theater Workshop Project, a project designed for enhancing the literacy of homeless mothers and children. The project's objectives and techniques are to: (1) use storytelling in the shelters as an entertaining vehicle to begin to build the aural foundations of literacy (attention span, imagination, translation of sound to image, knowledge of narrative forms of literature, contact with the special language of literature, and building cultural pride and critical thinking skills through comparison of cultures and the folk genres that spring from them); (2) use acting as a vehicle for the children to express themselves in their own words, using narrative forms; and (3) run a simultaneous reading, writing, critical thinking laboratory for mothers, which combines study of children's literature and child development with the study of folklore and adult literature from the African American tradition to achieve an intergenerational literacy program. The workshops cover issues related to child development and reading behaviors that the mothers can use to get their children to enjoy reading. (GLR)