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.
Today's story is Monkey Liver Soup.
It's from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
And how are you, Super Great Story fans?
I hope you had a happy week.
Here are two reasons to be cheerful.
News just in.
We're going to have a live storytelling performance in Hammersmith's Irish Cultural Centre in London to celebrate our fifth birthday.
Hurrah!
It'll be on Saturday, September the 20th.
More details still to come.
They'll be on our website, supergreatkidstories.com, under the news section very soon.
And for those of you around the world who don't live anywhere near London, Amy Douglas and Jason Buck are putting on a Super Great Kids Stories online show.
On Saturday, September the 14th me, amy and jason will be telling stories on zoom tickets per family watching cost 12 pounds 50.
That's about 16 and a half us dollars and 23 canadian dollars.
That's for everyone watching, including your pets.
There are some reduced tickets and discounts for our subscriber families.
You can buy tickets for that now in the news section of our website, supergreatkidsstoriescom.
The story today is a trickster story and it's told by Wendy Shearer, whose stories are inspired by her family's African Caribbean background.
She told us how Leopard got its spots and a Nancy and the Unknown challenge.
Her story today is called Monkey Liver Soup and it's a teeny bit scary, but not very.
And just before we settle down to hear her tale, I have a little challenge for you.
Last week's story was about a monster which was described as being hairy with green skin, big, snotty nose, long clawed with green legs and red eyes.
If you were telling that story, how would you describe your monster?
Have a go.
Ready?
Off you go.
Hello, super great grownups.
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Hello, super great kids.
I'm back.
What kind of a monster did you come up with?
Mine had purple fur and a huge mouth and three heads and three red eyes.
Maybe you could send us a picture of your monster.
But right now, it's time to give a very warm welcome to storyteller Wendy Shearer.
Hello super great kids.
My name is Wendy Shearer and I am a storyteller from North London.
I am so excited today to tell you one of my favourite trickster stories.
This is called Monkey Liver Soup and it comes from the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
Our story begins in a dark, muddy swamp along the Nereva River.
This is where Crocodile spent his time gliding sneakily through the water, waiting for someone to bite.
But on this particular day, Crocodile wasn't feeling so good.
He lay slumped on the edge of the bank, moaning and groaning.
Oh, oh, my stomach.
Dr. Snake came slithering by and wanted to know what all the fuss was about.
What's wrong with you, Crocky?
Why are you making so So much noise!
Crocodile explained how bad he was feeling, how his stomach was aching and he didn't know what to do.
Well, Dr Snake had an idea.
Sounds to me like you have swamp flu and I know just what you need to do.
Follow my words carefully and catch yourself a fine monkey.
What you need is monkey liver soup.
Do you hear me?
Monkey liver soup.
What? yelled Crocodile.
Monkey liver soup?
Are you sure?
How will I make monkey liver soup?
I know, I know it's tricky to find a cure for swamp flu, but that is what you need to do, hissed Dr Snake.
Monkey liver soup is the best for this sickness, believe me.
Well, Crocodile had no idea how he was going to catch a monkey and get hold of his liver, but he was going to give it a try.
So the next day, he made his way out of the muddy swamp and glided along the river.
He was so busy glancing up at the trees, hoping to see a monkey, that he didn't notice Manatee, the large sea cow, swimming towards him.
Oops, sorry Crocky, I didn't see you there.
What are you doing out of your swamp? asked Manatee. splashing about with his large body.
Oh, I'm just taking a swim, looking to see if anyone new is about, said Crocodile slyly.
He had no intention of telling Manatee what he was really up to.
Manatee was finding it hard to keep his large body still.
He needed to just keep moving.
Everyone hangs out by Manzilla Bay these days.
I hear that's where the best fruit is, said Manatee before slowly swimming away.
Now that sounded like a good place to look for monkeys, thought Crocodile.
So he headed out into the wide river.
It wasn't long before he reached the bank by Manzilla Bay.
He lowered his long, heavy tail and kept his beady eyes just above the water, not wanting to be seen.
Suddenly he felt something pelt him on the head.
Ouch!
Before he could open his eyes, he felt something hard land on his tail.
He looked up and saw a monkey hanging from a belata tree.
Watch where you're throwing those shells, monkey, yelled Crocodile.
Ah, sorry, Crocky, giggled Monkey.
I didn't see you there.
You sneaked up so quietly.
Hmm, I'm just gliding along.
Crocodile could barely hide his joy at having found a monkey.
So what brings you upstream, Crocky? asked Monkey as he removed the pips from his belata fruit.
I'm just taking a break from the party down by the lagoon.
Monkey sat straight up and stopped peeling his fruit.
He loved parties.
There's a party down by the lagoon, he asked.
What fun?
How come I didn't hear about it?
Crocodile tried to sound casual.
I'm surprised you didn't know.
Everyone is there.
You should come.
Come on, Crocky Man.
You know I can't swim.
How would I get across to the lagoon, huffed Monkey.
Well, Crocodile swam right up to the bank and lifted his long tail under the belata tree.
You don't have to worry about swimming.
I am a great swimmer.
You can ride on my back, offered Crocodile with the most sincere smile he could muster.
Monkey tried not to be put off by Crocodile's pointy, sharp teeth that were beaming back at him.
Instead, he imagined the party and how much fun it would be.
Is there music? he asked.
Oh yes, said Crocodile.
The toucans are playing their steel pan drums.
There's lots of music and singing.
What about fruit trees?
Are there plenty of fruit trees?
Of course, Monkey.
That's why the party is there.
Lots of the sweetest fruit trees grow around that lagoon.
Monkey hesitated.
I don't know, Crocky.
Monkeys and water don't mix.
If I fall in the water, I will surely drown.
I think I'll just stay up here in my tree.
Crocodile tried to hide his disappointment.
Well, suit yourself.
You'll miss out on all the fun.
Crocodile turned around slowly to head back into the water.
Hold on!
Hold on!
Wait up!
Monkey jumped down from the tree and stood at the edge of the riverbank.
He stroked his white beard and thought for a moment.
I'll ride on your back if you promise to move really slowly.
Of course, I'm a natural born swimmer, said Crocodile.
His long teeth sank just beneath the water to hide his smile.
He was so pleased at how his plan was coming together.
Monkey stepped onto Crocodile's back and sat on his rough scales.
They made their way downstream, twisting and turning as the river snaked along towards the lagoon.
Monkey sat very still whilst they swam past the red mangroves.
He was so worried about falling into the water that he didn't even try to grab any juicy red pomerak fruit from the overhanging trees.
Crocodile was silent for a long time, with only the slits of his eyes and his nostrils above the water.
Hey!
Crocky!
Crocky!
Are you awake?
Don't fall asleep, man.
This is serious business.
I can't fall into the water.
You hear me?
Monkey was on his feet now, his face twitching from left to right, eyeing up the water either side of him.
Crocodile lifted his long jaws out of the water and gritted his teeth.
Of course I'm awake, monkey.
Just sit down and enjoy the ride.
They came to a fork in the river, where one way leads to the swamp and the other way leads to the lagoon.
Crocodile took the left fork towards the swamp and monkey noticed immediately.
Hey, Crocky, where are you going, man?
This isn't the way to the lagoon.
I'm sorry, Monkey, but I lied to you.
We aren't going to the lagoon.
We're going to my home in the swamp.
Monkey was so shocked at what he'd heard, he nearly fell into the water.
What do you mean?
What do you mean? he asked, fearing the worst.
Well, I've been feeling unwell with swamp flu and Dr Snake said that a bowl of monkey liver soup will make me feel better.
I'm sorry I tried to trick you.
Monkey liver soup, shouted Monkey.
You want my liver?
Monkey tried to settle himself down and find a way to get out of the situation.
Uh, uh, Crocky, you should have told me that you need my liver.
I would happily give it to you.
No problem.
Crocodile couldn't believe his ears.
You'll give me your liver? he asked in disbelief.
Well, yes, yes, but I don't have it on me right now, said Monkey.
What do you mean?
Where is your liver? asked Crocodile.
Well, I wasn't feeling too well myself, so I took out my liver this morning to give it a bit of a clean.
I left it hanging on my tree to dry out.
Crocodile wasn't too sure about this explanation.
I didn't know you could take out your own liver.
Of course, Crocky.
How do you think I stay so lively?
I always give it a good clean every now and then.
Let's go back to my tree and I can get it for you. said Monkey.
Crocodile was so relieved.
He didn't need to trick Monkey anymore.
He was starting to feel quite guilty about that, and this was going to be much easier than he thought.
Crocodile slowly turned his heavy body around and glided back in the direction of the bay where he'd found Monkey.
In no time at all they'd reached the riverbank where the Crocodile swam up to the water's edge.
A monkey hopped off his back.
He sprang up into the tree and started cracking open balassa fruit.
He was chomping and slurping quite loudly.
Do you think you can chomp and slurp like a monkey?
Well, crocodile grew tired of waiting.
Monkey, hurry up, man.
I haven't got all day.
Bring down your liver.
But Monkey ignored him and carried on eating his fruit.
Here we go, everyone.
Monkey, get down here now.
Crocodile growled again.
No way!
Monkey giggled loudly.
I don't need to give you my liver.
Listen up carefully.
It sounds to me like Dr. Snake is tricking you.
That's not the cure for swamp flu.
All you need to do is drink a bit of clear water from the creek.
He turned around and waved his pink bottom at Crocodile before swinging away in the trees.
Crocodile soon realised that there'd been a lot of tricking going on.
Dr Snake had tricked Crocodile and Crocodile had tricked Monkey and now Monkey had tricked Crocodile.
So all Crocodile could do was swim over to the creek and drink a few gallons of fresh creek water.
And you know, in no time at all, he was feeling so much better.
The wire bend and that's the way the story ends.
Oh, thank you so much, Wendy, for sharing that story.
I was very surprised that Monkey stayed so calm when Crocky told him he wanted to put his liver in the soup.
Eek!
I'm not sure I'd have kept calm.
It's a good thing to do to keep calm in a crisis.
How do you think you would have reacted?
Would you have hit the roof, jumped up and down, had steam coming out of your ears and nose?
Or would you have said, Oh, really, Crocky?
That's interesting.
You'd like to eat my liver.
What a shame.
I left it at home today.
Ask your grown-up how they think they'd have reacted or how they might have tricked Crocodile into letting them go.
Maybe you could draw us a picture of Monkey travelling down the river on the back of Crocodile.
Or maybe you could tell us your own version of that story to someone.
Send us your crocodile pictures for Story Owl to post and you might even get a mention on the podcast as the artist who drew picture of the week.
And we'll post all pictures on our Facebook and Instagram picture gallery.
Send it to facebookcom, forward slash super great kids stories or to our website, supergreatkidsstoriescom.
Now it's time to say hello to some owlets who've recently joined our storytelling club, so let's spread our wings and fly around the world with Story Owl to meet them.
Starting here in the UK, let's fly up to beautiful Sheffield where Alfie, who is seven, became an owlet so that he could listen to all the super great, scary stories.
Alfie says he loves them, so long as they're not too scary.
And up to glorious Scotland.
Now to greet Owlets Sarah and Felipe, who are lucky enough to have a family that spans the whole of Europe.
Mum is from Romania and Dad is from Portugal.
Sarah loves the Chistu Rabbit story and Felipe is a big fan of The Gingerbread Man told by Jason Buck and across to saint thomas in the us virgin islands in the caribbean.
Now to the land of two-headed giants, to greet cora, who is six.
Cora listens every night before going to sleep and every day on the way home from school.
Her favorite story is how the mosquitoes became.
And up to the US next to say hello to Ira, who is five and lives in Bellingham in the US state of Washington.
Ira loves the Anansi stories.
And just across the Canadian border in Penticton in British Columbia is Annabel who is five.
She listens with her little sister Maisie.
Annabel's favourite story is The Rain Bird from Southern Africa.
To Shreveport in Louisiana now, where Maggie, who is seven, and four-year-old Leo listen every time they're in the car.
Their favourite story is The Cheeky Cockerel from Romania.
And let's flip-flap-fly up to Mason in the US state of Ohio to greet Virgil, who is six.
He especially likes The Boy and the Snow Wolf and Buckle and the Dragon.
He also likes hearing other listeners' recommendations.
And in the next door state of Indiana is Leo, who is eight and lives in Indianapolis.
Like Ira, his favourites are the Anansi stories.
And heading back to Scotland, in the UK.
Now let's greet Roomie, who is nine and listens almost every night at home in the Scottish Borders here in the UK, along with other members of her family, including their dog Willow.
Ah, hello, Willow.
I do love dogs.
Rumi is another fan of Anansi stories and any stories that feature animals.
She loves stories told by Toop as well.
Staying in the UK, let's head to Sevenoaks in Kent.
I told stories in a school there on Friday.
To greet Talia, who's nine and has become an owlet thanks to a birthday gift from her uncle.
What a lovely present.
She and her little brother Callum listen every Friday on the way home from school.
They still call our podcast by the name Talia gave them when she first started listening aged five.
She calls them the Clap Clap Stories.
Lovely Talia.
Her favourites are the How and Why Stories and anything with mythical creatures in them.
And back to the US now to greet Kuratelan Amin and her brother Sahir, who live in Los Angeles and love listening in the car and before bed.
Their favourites are The Ghost of the Bloody Finger, The Lady in the Vinegar Bottle, The Slippers That Make No Noise and Medio Pollito.
And flying to Northern California.
Now to Sebastopol, let's say hoo hoo hoo, hoo hoo to Wiley, who is four, and Kinga, who's two.
Wiley tells her own stories to her little brother.
How brilliant is that?
They both love Anansi's stories too.
Wiley also enjoys the scary stories, especially The Headless Body and Molly and the Skeleton.
What a brave owlet you are, Wiley.
That takes a lot of courage to listen to.
And let's take off now for Australia, to the beautiful Adelaide Hills, to say hello to Owlets Valley, who is five, and baby brother Marlow.
Valley's favourites are The Two Silly Witches and all of the Baba Yaga stories.
Ah, Valley, you must be a big witchy fan.
Me too.
And finally, let's fly back to the UK to say hello to Bebe, who is eight and listens every night at her home in Leicester.
Bebe loves animals and looking after plants, and her favourite storyteller is Toot.
And that's it for Owlet Welcomes this week.
We really appreciate your support.
More Owlet Shoutouts next week.
And our Pig of the Week picture goes to eight-year-old Mensay, who lives in Hong Kong, who drew a picture of some amazing mountains while on holiday in China.
Your picture is inspiring, Mensay.
I wonder what kinds of story creatures live in those mountains you've drawn.
Mensay's mum is from Hong Kong and his dad is from the Spanish Canary Islands.
His name means king in the language spoken by the Guanche people who lived in Tenerife before the Spanish came.
Mensae loves listening to stories before bed and his favourite story is Buki Dances the Kokiyoko told by Toop.
That is an excellent story, Mensae.
Thank you for your picture.
And thanks to all of you who are subscribing to our podcast.
We really appreciate those of you who feel you can support us.
If you subscribe on Patreon, you get a choice of two tiers Three pounds a month.
That's less than four US dollars or six pounds a month.
That's about eight US dollars.
And for that you'll get a shout out plus advert free, plus over 50 bonus stories and all the super great scary stories.
Plus, you'll get access to our super great kids stories express, which cuts straight to the story.
Great for listening to stories back to back.
If you subscribe on apple, it's six pounds a month and you get all the perks.
Visit our website for more details at supergreatkidsstoriescom.
That's it for now.
Remember you'll get a discount on our super great book if you pre-order before september the 11th.
Go to our website and look for the link in the news section.
The book is hardback.
It has over 30 stories in it with lots of beautiful illustrations from artists all over the world.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Keep telling those stories and singing those songs.
Have a happy week.
This podcast was produced by Kim Normanton and David Smith at Wardour Studios in fabulous Fitzrovia in London.
