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- [00:14]
A
Hello and welcome to Super Great Kids Stories, Wise tales from storytellers around the world, which will make you laugh and sometimes cry. Recommended for ages 5 to 105. I'm Kim and I love stories. This week, to kick off our new theme of nature and the great outdoors, we have two stories. Thomas the Thatcher, told by Cara Silversmith, and the Land, told by Nick Hennessey. Two thoughtful stories encouraging respect for the world. About Us how are you Super Great kids? I wonder if you enjoyed watching the World Cup. Soccer is super popular over here in the uk. Very entertaining to see people from all over the world uniting over something they love. A bit like international storytelling festivals. I'm very happy because everything around me in the woods and in my garden is blooming and jumping for joy. There's a big bird bath in my garden and the little birds have been splashing up a storm. And another reason to be cheerful is starting a new theme this week of nature stories, all about the remarkable world outdoors. Talking of which, here's a little game for you to play while we have a quick word with the grown ups. I wonder how many bugs or insects you can think of. Here's a couple to get you started. Ladybirds and centipedes. Are you ready, bugs? Off you go. Hello, Super Great kids.
- [02:14]
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I'm back.
- [02:15]
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Did you think of some bugs? I got caterpillars, woodlice beetles, snails, slugs, ants, bees, wasps, mayflies, bluebottles, stag beetles, moths, butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers and spiders. It was a bit easier than I thought. Give yourself a pat on the back if you got close to 10. When I was in Vietnam recently, we saw the most amazing butterflies and brightly coloured beetles. There are two stories this week and there are some insects. In this first story, it's called Thomas the Thatcher. Are you sitting comfortably? Am I sitting comfortably? Then let's give a warm welcome to Scottish storyteller Cara Silversmith.
- [03:12]
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Thomas was a thatcher. Do you know what a thatcher is? A thatcher is someone who takes natural materials like heather or bracken or rushes and straw and makes them into nice neat roofs on old buildings. Thomas was an excellent thatcher. He knew just how to cut all the materials and store them so that they were straight and dry and didn't rotate. And then he would pack them tightly onto the roofs of buildings and make sure that not a single drop of rain or bits of wind would stir them. Thomas lived in a beautiful little village. It was full of little white cottages with thatched roofs. And as you might have guessed, Thomas was the one who'd thatched them all. People were very proud of their village and their gardens were neat and tidy and people would come from all over, see these beautiful buildings, and of course they asked who made the roofs, and of course it was Thomas. So Thomas became very popular and he would be asked to travel here and there, fixing people's roofs and making them beautiful. And so, well, his neighbors ignored the problem for a while because, you see, there was a problem. One of the houses in the village was not neat and tidy. Its roof was a mess. There were bits of bracken and heather and straw everywhere. It was a patchwork of materials, not neat and tidy like all the other ones. There was stuff sticking up at odd angles and every time the wind blew, bits of it would blow off and roll down the street. Well, the biggest problem was this was Thomas's own house, so it wasn't as if he couldn't fix the roof if he wanted to. In fact, he was up there every couple of weeks sorting and patching things. But it never seemed to make a difference. It was always messy. One morning, after a particularly windy night, Thomas's neighbour came out and there was straw all over his garden, all over his prize vegetables and flowers, and he was not happy. He marched straight down to the justice of the Peace's office, the magistrate or the judge in those days, and he filed a complaint. Now, the justice of the Peace traveled all over the country at that point, listening to people's complaints. So it was a while before he came back, and by that point most of the village had joined in complaining about Thomas and his messy house. The justice of the Peace took his horse and carriage past Thomas's cottage to see if it really was as bad as everybody said. And indeed it was. The garden was overgrown, a mess of weeds and piles of things here and there. The roof was a scruffy, patched mess. And was that flowers growing out of one corner of the roof? Ridiculous, honestly. So by the time the justice of the Peace got to the village hall, it was full of villagers waiting to hear what would be said. And Thomas came in and the justice of the Peace asked him to explain himself. Why was his house such a mess when everyone else managed to keep theirs neat and tidy? Thomas took off his cap and he looked at his neighbors and his friends and he shook his head and he said, well, you see, my house is a mess so that yours don't have to be. I keep your houses all neat and tidy. I would never let the rain come in or the wind move them. But, you see, when they're all too neat and tidy. The swifts and the swallows don't have anywhere to hide. The house martins can't build their nests. The bees, well, the bees find a home in my roof, which means that they can come and pollinate your flowers. If it wasn't for the insects, well, your gardens wouldn't bloom. And the sparrows find their nesting materials in my roof as well as the rest of the songbirds. If it wasn't for my roof, the dong chorus wouldn't be so loud. And my roof provides shelter from the hawks and your cats for the squirrels and all the birds that need to hide there from time to time. If it wasn't for this, where would the birdies go? When we make our homes and gardens too neat and tidy, there's no home for other creatures. And long ago we promised all the creatures that we would always let them have a home with us. And I'm just trying to remember my promise. And the magistrate looked at Thomas in surprise. He'd never thought of such things before. If our homes and gardens were too neat and tidy, where would all the birds and the other animals live? And the magistrate, well, he loved the Don chorus. So he thought about it for a minute, and then he turned to the villagers and said, right, I think what we need to decide is, does Thomas get to keep his house the way it is, or do you all have to have your houses like this? And the villagers agreed that actually things were perfect just the way they were. And the justice of the Peace asked Thomas to come out and fix one of his barns in the messy style so that he could enjoy the dawn chorus every single day. Sometimes it's the messy spaces or the places that we leave to go a little bit wild that are best for the plants, the animals, the birds, and all the creatures that we share the with. Thomas remembered that.
- [09:37]
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Oh, thanks very much, Cara, for that story. I love the idea that untidy wild gardens are really good for the animals and insects. That's a great message for all of us who don't get to tend to our garden or allotment quite as much as we would like to. I wonder if you could draw a picture of a house with a thatched roof with flowers growing from it and happy insects buzzing all around it. And here's another short story told this time by Nick Hennessey, who told you Molly and the Skeleton. This one isn't scary. It's a kind of fable, which is a story to make us think. It's called the Land
- [10:26]
C
There was Once a valley. A wide, gentle valley. At its heart a river, sky bright and murmuring with dippers and divers nesting in the banks, willows and rushes whispering in the soft wind. Swallows, swifts scything the air, and birds chiming like bells from the treetops. It was a living valley. And beside that river there was a field. And on each side of the field a house. And in each house there lived a man. One day, each man rose from his bed, pulled on his boots and crossed the field until they met in the middle, face to face, eye to eye. Get off this field, said one. It's mine. You get off this field, said the other. It's mine. Nonsense. This field belongs to me, said the first. Poppycock, said the second. This field was my father's and my father's father's. It's mine, I tell you. Your father's father stole it from my father's father. It belongs to me. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. Back and forth they went. And their anger turned to rage. Their rage turned to fury. Then suddenly, one grabbed the other by the collar to throw him to the ground. But the other grabbed him back to throw him to the ground. But you see, each was as strong as the other, and neither could be thrown. So they just stood there, struggling, grappling, tussling, locked in each other's grip. The sun passed quietly above and then set in glorious reds and yellows. The moon rose, pale and gentle. An owl, wide eyed, hunted through the woods. And the river murmured. At first light of the next day, they were still there, the two men. The dew on their noses gleaming in the morning sun. But still stuck in their struggle, trapped in their rage. Later that morning, along the road, at the edge of the field, there came an old woman. She stopped when she saw them. She watched them where they stood, the two men. Then she climbed the wall and crossed the field until she came to them. And she just stared. Look, said one through gritted teeth, there's an old woman standing beside us. What does she want? Said the other. Well, I don't know, said the first. Why don't you ask her? Oh no, I'm not going to do that. Because as soon as I let go, you'll throw me to the ground. You ask her What? And have you throw me to the ground? I don't think so. Ok, let's do it together then. Agreed? Agreed. On the count of three. One. Two. Three. They loosened their holds and turned to the Old woman, what do you want? They said to her. Me? Well, I was wondering if I could help, she said. You see, you look like you need help. What's the problem? The problem is, said one, this fool claims this piece of land is his. But it isn't. It's mine. It is mine. No, it's not. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. They grabbed each other again, grappling, struggling, tingling, tussling. The old woman looked at them both and she looked all around at the valley, at the river, at the sky. Then slowly, carefully, she lowered herself down onto her hands and knees and she put her ear to the ground. What's she doing? Asked one. How do I know? Ask her yourself. You ask her yourself. All right, then. Together. Agreed? Agreed. One, two, three. They let go of each other and turned to her old woman, they said, what are you doing? Slowly, the old woman got to her feet. Well, I've listened to each of you, she said, listened to what each of you has to say. And then I listened to the land. And the land says it owns you.
- [15:09]
A
Oh, thanks very much to Nick Hennessey for sharing that little gem. I wonder what happened next in the story. Do you think maybe the two men became friends? And here's my question. Do you think the land is a living thing? Can it talk to us? And if it can, what sorts of things do you think it would be saying? See what your grown ups think if you like that story. Nick Hennessey has recently started a podcast. It's aimed at grown ups and children over 12, and it's called A word in your ear Audio Cafe. It's all about storytelling and in addition to stories, there are interviews with storytellers and musicians, all accompanied with beautifully mixed sound music and stories. You'll find it on Patreon. Happy listening. And now it's time to flip, flap, fly around the world with Story Owl to say hello and thank you to the owlets who've recently hopped into our nest and joined us to storytelling club. Let's start in Dubai, where Archie turned 5 recently. Hope you had a happy day, Archie. His favorite story is one from Hawaii about a mean shark, Punia and Kai Ali Ali. He sent us a beautiful picture of Punia, the boy diving under the sea to catch lobsters for his mum. You can see that picture on Our Facebook page, facebook.com supergreatkidstories let's fly west now, across the Middle east and most of Europe, all the way to the UK to say hello to Magnus, who's seven and lives in Rothwell in Northamptonshire. Magnus likes Brer rabbit stories and anything not too scary. I agree, Magnus and staying in the uk, let's say hello to Rio, who's eight and Malawi who's six. They live in North London and love the Anansi stories, especially Anansi and the hot pepper soup, eggshell soup and Butterball, which makes them all laugh. They're looking forward to listening to more stories during road trips that their family has planned for this summer. And let's keep hovering over London and say hello to 6 year old Gaia and Gaspi who's 3. They listen on the way to school and their favourite story is the Rain Bird from Southern Africa, A short flight down to the south coast of England. Now to say hello to Jackson, who's 8 and lives in Brighton. Lucky you, Jackson. Being so close to the sea. Jackson says that his favourite is the Boy and the Snow Wolf. But he loves all of the stories. He's read every single tale in the super great kids stories book. Well done Jackson. That does make me happy. And a long flight west across the Atlantic Ocean now to Toronto in Canada to say hello to Cece, who became an owlet for her seventh birthday. Her favorite story is Bonita, the Tricky Sheep. She's also keen on everything told by the great Jason Buck. South across the US border now to North Kingstowne, Rhode island to say hello to 8 year old Marlow and her family who I met earlier this summer when they were visiting London. Marlow is a very good artist, like her mum who paints at weddings, kind of like a photographer, but she paints the pictures of the people attending and more. Marlow says it's very difficult to pick a favorite story, but she loves the Baba Yaga stories and Stick Woman and anything told by Tupi Tup Tup. And now I'm not sure where to fly first because I want to say hello to two listeners who are both called Iris and they live on either side of the US North East Coast. Iris recently turned 5 and lives in the Bronx in New York and loves Anansi stories and scary stories. She listens mostly on car rides and north west coast. Iris, who's seven, she lives in Seattle. She's been listening since she was four and she especially likes Baba Yaga stories and Mama Draga. Good choices. And over to Denver, Colorado now to greet Oliver, who's 10, and Mia, who's 7. Their favourites are anything spooky, especially the Ghost of the Bloody Finger. Now let's fly all the way across the Pacific to Christchurch, New Zealand to say hello to bear, who's 6 and 5 year old Maddox. They say they can't get enough of the Anansi stories and especially enjoy Anansi and the talking watermelon. And finally we'll head across to Australia to greet nine year old Owlet Iyari, who lives in Lenox Head. She loves stories and listens as soon as she gets home from school while she draws and before school. Iyari is a seriously talented artist. If you'd like to see her drawings, look on our Facebook page or on our website. And our picture of the week is drawn by 8 year old Rex who was inspired by the Sicilian story Mama Draga. I really like the way you've included so many imaginative details, like Rosetta's very grand house contrasted with Angelina's very little house. I also like your Mama Draga with her wild hair and stinky breath sitting smoking her pipe.
- [21:48]
C
Yikes.
- [21:50]
A
Not a good idea. Thanks for sending us your beautifully drawn picture Rex. And thanks to all you owlets for your super great support. It's because of you that we can keep finding new stories and storytellers in different countries. If you'd like to support us on Patreon or on Apple Podcasts, we'll say hello to you on the show. You can hear our stories advert free and you'll have access to all the stories in our super great archive plus 50 super great scary stories and depending on your level of subscription, over 60 bonus stories. Plus you'll get access to to our super great kids Stories express with short introductions, no adverts, purely story great for listening back to back. Visit our website for more details. Supergreatkidstories.com if you like these stories, do think about supporting us, even if it's just for one month. It costs $4.50 a month. That's about £3.40 for a level one owlet on Patreon. And every little helps. Or as an American poet puts it, little drops of water make a mighty ocean Happy listening and telling. This podcast was produced by Kim Normanton and David Smith at Wardour Studios in fabulous Fitzrovia in London.
- [23:25]
C
Sam.