#Bardic Tradition

The Bardic Tradition

Historically, the name "bard" meant a poet who was also a musician. He across the country singing, reciting poetry and telling stories or bringing news while he accompanied himself on a musical instrument like a harp or a lyre.
These bards had amazing memories. They collected and then told the histories, stories, legends, songs and poetry of their people. Today, in the storytelling world, there are still those storytellers who combine stories, poetry and music—much to our delight.

Those are the tellers we'll be featuring in this program, those tellers who combine music and stories.

Featured storytellers:
Jacqueline Lynaugh (California)
The White Trout
David Vanadia (Oregon)
Sticky Stuff
Jeff Gere (Hawaii)
1st Day North Shore
Guerry Jameson McConnell (Tennessee)
Froggy Went A' Courtin'
Joe Keenan (Tennessee)
Hangman, Hold Your Rope
Sondra Singer (Colorado)
The Littlest Drum
Judith Wynhausen (Missouri)
Hey, Diddle Diddle!

#Love Stories

Love Stories

Ah, Love! Today's stories are about that wonderful, fascinating thing we call Love. Love stories are always delightful to listen to and especially at this time of year. But love comes in many guises and sometimes we’re not even aware that love is playing a role in the stories when we listen to them. So today’s stories are about all those different kinds of love.

Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy (California)
The Seven Ravens
Granny Sue (West Virginia)
Captain Wedderburn's Courtship; Pretty Saro
Erica Lann-Clark (California)
The Tale of Baram Gore
Kate Frankel (California)
The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy
Gudbrand on the Hillside

#Original &Personal Stories

Original and Personal Stories

This program celebrates those storytellers who write their own material, sometimes in longer format, who reach back into their pasts or their experiences to bring us true tales...well, some of them might raise our eyebrows a bit, but we'll believe in them, anyway.

Marni Gillard (New York)
My First High Dive
Joshus Searle-White (Pennsylvania)
An Amazing Competition
Marilyn Kinsella (Illinois)
The Last Punch

#Spindly-Legged Friends

The Adventures of Our Spindly-Legged Friends

More celebrating of the lives of some of our
co-inhabitants on this planet...our spindly-legged friends...
who hide in the corners of our lives and spin their magic webs.

Featured tellers:
Mike Lockett, the Normal Storyteller (Illinois)
How Anansi Got His Big Bottom
Sandra Weissinger (New York)
Why Anansi Has a Small Waist
Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna (Washington, D.C./Liberia)
at the Weddings Spider
Jackie Baldwin (California)
Anansi and Turtle; Anansi and Tiger
How Anansi Got His Eight Thin Legs
How Anansi Came to Own All the Stories in the World
Crystal Trutmann (New York)
The Story of Arachne
Rick Hall (California)
Ananzi and Turtle's Feast

#Feathered Friends

The Adventures of Our Feathered Friends

Today we continue celebrating the lives of some of our fellow travelers on this planet...our friends with feathers...
who flit and fly through our lives with grace and beauty.

Featured tellers:
Priscilla Howe (Kansas)
Poule and Blatte
Joe Keenan (Tennessee)
There Were 3 Crows
Kathy Hunter (Oregon)
Pretty Chicken
Bob Reiser (New York)
The Swan Tenor
Rosie Simon (New York)
Why Hens Scratch in the Dirt
Carrie Sue Ayvar (Florida)
Little Red Hen
Joe Wos (Pennsylvania)
Don on the Farm

#Furry and Hairy Friends

The Adventures of Our Furry and Hairy Friends

Our program today is a celebration of the lives of some of our co-inhabitants on this Earth...our friends with fur and hair...
who live in the natural world that surrounds us.

Featured tellers:
Bob Reiser (New York)
Bear and Chipmunk
Megan Hicks (Virginia)
The Three Groundhogs Gruff
William Thomas, Jr. (California)
The Rabbit on the Moon
Joe Wos (Pennsylvania)
The Unluckiest Rabbit
Priscilla Howe (Kansas)
Fox and Hedgehog
Grandbear the Storyteller (Colorado)
Coyote Comes to Dinner
Madeline Brumberg (New York)
Why Cats Wash Their Paws After Eating (European folktale)
Johnathan Reed (New York)
Why Dogs Chase Cats (African American folktale)

#How and Why

How and Why Stories

Our program today is about our world...how and why things happen.
Since the beginning of time, storytellers have made up stories to explain nature.
Here are a few of them.

Featured storytellers:
Joe Wos (Pennsylvania)
How the Elephant Got His Trunk
Kathy Hunter (Oregon)
Why the Dipper Bobs; Why the Skunk Stinks
Mike Lockett (Illinois)
How Lizard Beat Big Deer
Cris Reidel (New York)
Why Sun and Moon Live in the Sky; Why Possum Has a Naked Tail
Kate Frankel (California)
How the Camel Got His Hump
(another thanks to Rudyard Kipling and his Just So! stories)
Sam Harris (New York)
Why Baby Says Goo!
Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss (New York)
Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together

#Hope, Love and New Beginnings

Hope, Love and New Beginnings!

Our program today is about hope…and love…and new beginnings. We close out the old and move forward to the new. Stories have a great way of doing that. Closing down the old stuff and opening up the future.

Featured storytellers:
David Vanadia (Oregon)
Lion Mouse Truth Tracks
Carrie Sue Ayvar (Florida)
The Perfect Gift
Joe Keenan (Tennessee)
The Love Bird
Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy (California)
A Bed Just So
Steve Otto (Missouri)
Trouble Boxes and Blessing Bundles
Jackie Baldwin (California)
Iroquois Creation Legend

#Holiday Memories

Holiday Memories!

Today’s program includes stories not only about the holidays, but also about remembering families and family members who have been especially important to us in our lives. It’s those fond memories that we often talk about when we get together for the holidays…those people who helped shape and enrich our lives. And so this program is dedicated to them as well as the holidays.

Featured storytellers:
Yvonne Healy (Michigan)
The Healy Cross!
Glenda Bonin (Arizona)
Buddy and the Bear
John Lopez (California, Stagebridge Theatre, Oakland)
The Bomber Pilot Helps His Mother
Sue Black (Illinois)
Dancing With My Dad
Jackie Baldwin (California)
The Battle Between the Shoe and the Stocking

#100 Years Ago

100 Years Ago!

Here are some stories from just about 100 years ago, right after the turn of the 20th century. Story books from that era reveal what was read and told to our great grandparents as they were growing up, some of it very much like today, some of it much more innocent. Listen and draw your own conclusions.

Featured storyteller for the hour:
Jackie Baldwin (California)
A Christmas Wish
Gretchen's Christmas
The Frogs' Travels
Who Lives in the Skull?
Chicken Little
The Pumpkin Child
Rapunzel
How Doughnuts Came to be Made
The Stonecutter

#The Epics

The Epics

These epic tales or sagas from thousands of years ago passed down at first from generation to generation orally and then finally in writing about 150 years ago. These tales are as close as we will ever come to knowing how these early people lived, thought and dealt with one another and their world.

Featured master storyteller for the hour:
David Ponkey (California)
Stories from:
The Kalavala (Finland)
The Mabinogion (Wales)
The Ossian Cycle (Ireland)

#Tales from Asia

Tales from Asia

Tales of mystery, intrigue and wonder from Asia, long ago and far away. Told to us by a master teller who’s traveled to the Far East many times collecting tales for your pleasure. This is a live radio program.

Featured storyteller for the hour:
Cathryn Fairlee (California)
Stories from China

#Bilingual Stories

Bilingual Stories !

Today we’ve got a really special treat for you. It’s called bilingual storytelling. Our tellers bring you stories in both English and Spanish…at the same time. It’s so much fun for us to hear stories and rhymes that we’re familiar with told in another language. Hey, these stories are funny in both languages, but when they’re told bilingually, hold on to your hat!

Featured storytellers:
Carrie Sue Ayvar (Florida)
The Gluttonous Cat
The Little Ant
Why Rooster Crows in the Morning
Judith Wynhausen (Missouri)
Wee Willie Winkie
Michael Katz (California)
The Gift

#Personal Tales

Personal Tales!

Told by members of SAAC - Storytelling Association of Alta, California
San Francisco Bay Area
Today we’re again featuring storytellers who are members of SAAC, the Storytelling Association of Alta, California. It’s a regional group made up primarily of storytellers from all over the San Francisco Bay Area, but it also includes others who join just because they love the art of storytelling.

These stories come from the personal lives and observances of the SAAC tellers! They are funny, poignant and you just might shed a tear or two!

Featured storytellers:
Elaine Stanley
How I Learned Honesty
Jean Ellisen
Moving to the Country
Sally Holzman
My First Birthday Party
Laurie Pines
The Baker and the Farmer; Grandma Martha and Her Cookie Press
Dave Chittenden
Burma Shave
Minnie Bateman
War Bride

#Around the World

Around the World!

Told by members of SAAC: Storytelling Association of Alta, California
San Francisco Bay Area
This program features storytellers who are members of SAAC, the Storytelling Association of Alta, California. It’s a regional group made up primarily of storytellers from all over the San Francisco Bay Area, but it also includes others who join just because they love the art of storytelling.

Featured storytellers:
Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy
Teeny Tiny and the Witch Woman
Susan Ford
The Man Who Had a Tree Growing
Out of the Top of His Head
Kate Frankel
Uncle Bouki Rents a Horse
Jacqueline Lynaugh
Bedd Gellert
Laurie Pines
Archimedes and Germain
Michael Katz
Brother Sun, Brother Moon and the Pretty Girl
Cathryn Fairlee
The Perfect Dragon

#Sing-Along Stories

Sing-Along Stories

Here are some Sing Along Stories and Songs. These will get you to toe-tappin’, finger snappin’, hand clappin’ and just plain having fun and joining in as you listen. You’re in for a real treat with rare appearances by these nationally known storytellers!

Featured tellers:
Tales 'n Tunes (NY)
Carol Connolly and Don Darmer
(from Travelin' Down the Road CD)
The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle
The Cat and the Parrot
Lion Takes a Walk
Wide Mouth Frog

Margaret Read MacDonald (WA)
Cockroach Party
Pickin' Peas

#Halloween!

Halloween!

Whoooo-Whooo! BOO! Here you can hear lots of Halloween stories…stories that will make your skin crawl… the back of your neck rise up in terror… or at least give you a shiver or two! So get ready… you’re in for a treat and maybe a trick or two along with it!

Featured tellers:
Jeff Gere (Hawaii)
Old Rink Rank
Mitch Weiss (New York)
On a Dark and Stormy Night
Sandra Weissinger (New York)
The Golden Arm
Connie Regan-Blake (North Carolina)
Mr. Fox
Mary Grace Ketner (Texas)
La Llorona
Steve Otto (Missouri)
The Tell-Tale Heart–Edgar Allan Poe

#Mountain Lore

Mountain Lore

What really happens in them thar’ hills? You’ll find out when you hear these stories about everything from a lone encounter with an unpredictable bear to a voracious cat looking for its next meal! Well, just a word to the wise. Don’t believe everything you hear… on the other hand, maybe you should! You’ll have to decide for yourself!

Featured storytellers:
Sandy Farley
Alone
What happens when Sandy meets up with an unpredictable bear all alone in the Sierra Mountains? A first-person account of a scary encounter!
Charles Kiernan
Alma and the Graveyard
Henway
Uncle Willard's Catfish
These mountain tales will tickle your funny bone as well as stretch your imagination!
Mike Lockett, the Normal Storyteller
Telling us some hilarious Tales from the Hills is Mike, who calls himself the Normal Storyteller because he comes from a place called Normal, Illinois.
Old Dry Fry
The Preacher's Horse
The Cat's Tale

#Many Tricksters

Many Tricksters!

All tellers are from the San Antonio Storytellers Association
All over the world, tales are told of tricksters trying to get the best of each other in any devious scheme they can come up with. You’ll be amazed and delighted when you hear about just how clever these tricksters can be!

Featured storytellers:
Tim Tingle
The Buffalo Tug-of-War and How Rabbit Lost His Tail
Angela Klingler
Fox and Wolf and Fox and Geese
Mary Grace Ketner
Rabbit and Crocodile
Mano Coyote and the Wicked Snake
Mark Babino
The Three Little Possums
Straighten Up and Fly Right!
Ed Brown
Fox and Wolf
Mary Locke Croft
Br’er Rabbit Tricks Br’er Fox Again!

#An Enchanted Garden

An Enchanted Garden of Seeds and Stories!

Many stories and folktales include seeds and plants as an integral part of the tales. My book, An Enchanted Garden of Seeds and Stories! includes eight folktales that do just this and also the seeds that go with each story. You can find out more about this book at Story Lovers World This theme is continued throughout this whole program about seeds and stories.

Featured storytellers:
Martha Hamilton (New York)
Clytie
The ancient Greek myth about the water nymph Clytie and her all-consuming, romantic passion for the indifferent sun god Apollo who brings about a tragic transformation to the helpless girl.
Bob Reiser (New York)
A Pumpkin's Tale
Your heart will warm and beat a little faster when you listen to this wonderful story of a love affair between a pumpkin and a carrot that ends with a cosmic bang!
Tom and Sandy Farley (California)
The Sower
A wise gardener sows a large garden and observes the incredible secrets of the interdependence of all things on Earth.
Mikku and the Trees
A young woodcutter learns about the Earth’s wisdom and ecology when he tries to cut down forest trees in a more efficient way.
Jackie Baldwin (California)
The Giant Turnip
An age-old story told around the world about persistence, what it takes to accomplish difficult tasks, and how even the littlest participant can make a big difference in the outcome.
The Rabbit and the Crab
These unlikely best friends get along fine until it comes time to divide up the harvest of carrots; then the fights begin and are finally settled in a most unusual and unexpected way.
The Stolen Drum
In the deep dark jungles of Africa, a warrior hears magical music made by a lion playing a gourd drum. The warrior steals the drum to prove to his neighbors that the magic was indeed spellbinding and they fall under its spell forever.

#Tall Tales

Tall Tales — You gotta be kiddin’!

Don’t roll your eyes too soon because maybe, just maybe, one of these stories is actually true! Judge for yourself…
These storytellers stretch their tales until they squeal and almost break.
But oh, what fun you’ll have listening to them twist and turn!

Featured storytellers:
Richard Martin (Germany)
Jack Goes Hunting
An incredible English tall tale of a rift between a wife and her husband Jack and what misfortunes befall poor Jack when he leaves the house determined to do his wife’s bidding.
Jane Crouse (Virginia)
The Legend of Slappy Hooper
The tale of a painter who is just too talented for his own good. Retold by Jane with permission from an adaptation of a tall tale by Aaron Shepard.
Dave Chittenden (California)
The Pisquatica River Disaster
You’d never guess how much can happen on a simple river trip. Dave and his friend encounter unexpected troubles in their boat travels.
Steve Otto (Missouri)
Max and Margaret; Bass Fish and Walnut
All Max wants to do is take an airplane ride. His wife Margaret is dead set against it. You’ll learn what happens when they finally get up on the air.
If you’ve ever gone fishing, you’ll love hearing this tall tale about a huge bass fish who is a lot smarter than you’d think a fish could be!
Jackie Baldwin (California)
Pecos Bill and Slue-Foot Sue
Pecos Bill finally marries the gal of his dreams, but their life together is cut short by events beyond their control. Hang on to your hat for this wild tall tale.

#My Funny Bone

Tickle My Funny Bone! Double Dare Ya!

You’d better be sitting down for this hour or you’ll fall over laughing. Huge belly laughs and ironic humor come through these tales. Sit back and enjoy!

Featured storytellers:
Steve Otto (Missouri)
Wide Mouth Frog
The classic story of a curious, young frog who learns the hard way when to keep his mouth shut! Different versions of this popular tale are told all around the world.

Ruth Stotter (California)
The Shoes of Abu Kasan
An ancient tale from Persia. How his reluctance to part with a pair of old shoes leads a rich man into poverty and ridicule through many humorous misunderstandings.
Jeff Gere (Hawaii)
Dapper Dan
Sibling rivalry brings hilarious results to a boy, his younger brother and their dog.
Get On The Bus!
A young girl learns courage through facing her fears after going through both funny and scary adventures.