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This story is a selection from the best of super great kids stories.
We're releasing one popular story from our archive on the second Wednesday of each month.
This second story is The Owl Girls and the Witch.
It's a story from Argentina in South America.
And it's told by me.
Happy listening.
Welcome to super great kids stories, fun tales to make you laugh and cry with some of the best storytellers from around the world, recommended for ages 5 to 105.
I'm kim and i love stories.
Hello, story listeners everywhere, how are you doing?
The story I'm going to tell you this week is from Argentina.
It's all about two friends who turn into birds and fly off on an adventure to pick oranges.
I've got a friend called Zoa who grew up on an orange farm, but I don't think she can fly.
Well, maybe she can and she's keeping it a secret.
Time to say hello to some of you who've been getting in touch.
Hello to Bea in North London who is three and listens to us every week.
A big thank you to Morwen who is four and Elliot who is eight for donating your pocket money to us.
That is very kind of you and put a big smile on our faces all week.
If you'd like to support Super Great Kids Stories with a regular subscription of £3 a month, then you'll be able to access all our stories without the adverts.
Visit our Ko-fi page.
That's K-O-F-I at ko-fi.com forward slash Super Great Kids Stories.
And thanks to Annie from Byron Bay in Australia. she sent us the most beautiful picture on facebook of princess frankie and the frog oh and thanks to the hawk woman of bath for giving us a lovely review i wonder if you fly hawks or if you can fly like the friends in our story this week now it's time to hear our story which is about two friends from argentina Oh, and a good witch.
Are you ready?
Mouth open, story jump out.
Once long ago in the south of Argentina, there lived two girls, Martina and Rosa.
Rosa came from a rich family and Martina from a poor family.
But no matter, they were the best of friends.
And you know how it is when you have a best friend, you think you know everything about them.
But it turned out this was not quite true.
Martina had a marvellous secret.
Shall I tell you it?
Her grandmother was a witch.
Not a mean witch with warts on her nose who turns princes into frogs, but a good witch who can really help you when you get in a scrape.
Every night, Martina and her grandma would go out under the stars and sing.
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.
And caramba, the old woman and her granddaughter would turn into owls and oomph oomph oomph, oomph.
They would spread their wings and fly higher and higher and higher towards the stars.
They soared towards the northern lands where the orange trees grow and where the blossom smells like paradise.
One day, Martina gave Rosa a present.
A bowl of oranges, sweet and round and delicious.
Martina, how did you get these oranges when they grow so far away up in the north, asked Rosa's daddy one day when they'd finished sharing the last juicy orange.
My grandma gave them to me, said Martina, hoping nobody would ask her anything more.
But Rosa was a little bit used to getting what she wanted.
And what she wanted more than anything else was more of those delicious oranges.
And as soon as they'd finished them all, she started asking.
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, Martina.
Tell me, where can we get more oranges?
Well, the days passed and the weeks passed, and Martina tried really hard not to tell her friend the secret.
She really did.
But how can you keep such a secret that your grandma is a witch and has taught you a spell, so you know how to fly?
Now, Martina's abuela, her grandmother, was very wise.
She knew all about secrets.
She knew that secrets can burn you and sometimes turn on you.
So one night, after a wonderful flight, she called to Martina and she said, Martina, if ever you have trouble and you need help, You just call Caramba Ay Caramba and I will come.
And that was just as well, because only a few weeks later, Martina finally gave up trying and told Rosa her secret.
She and Rosa were eating sweetened milk out of a jar when Rosa said...
Martina, this dulce de leche is delicious, but what I really want more than anything else is more of those delicious oranges.
Where can we get them?
Please tell me your secret.
I promise I won't tell anyone else.
They come from the far north where the orange trees grow.
But who in your family could afford to go all the way to the far north to get oranges? asked Rosa.
And before the wind could blow once round the house, Martina had shared her secret.
All about her grandmother the witch and her flying spell.
And do you think Rosa was satisfied?
Well, of course not.
She immediately was thrown head over heels with excitement.
Martina, please, I want to fly like a bird too.
Take me to the orange orchards tonight and let's work your magic, please.
Now, Martina had never turned herself into a bird on her own before, but Rosa was a very, very good friend.
And it was a little bit more exciting than staying in and scrubbing the pots and pans.
So she agreed and they made a plan.
That night, as the moon shone softly in the street, two little girls tiptoed towards the woods.
Shh, shh, shh.
The birds were calling and the wind was moaning in the trees.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
There's just one thing I have to tell you, Martina whispered.
Do not, whatever happens, say the words Ave Maria Purissima, because that will break the spell, and then you'll freeze and your wings won't work and you'll fall to the ground and you won't be able to fly.
And Rosa agreed.
Of course, of course.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Let's go.
And Martina whispered.
Kukurukuku, kukurukuku, kukurukuku, kukurukuku, kukurukuku.
Ready?
And the two young friends grew great, wide wings and long, sharp talons, and their round yellow eyes shone with excitement as oomph oomph oomph, oomph.
Their wings took them higher and higher and higher, towards the stars and the lands in the north where the orange blossom smells like paradise.
Snap, plop, snap, plop, snap, plop.
One by one, the two girls plucked the juicy oranges in their beaks and plopped them into the basket below.
But you know how it is when two friends get excited, and they were all laughing and chattering as they flew from tree to tree until the basket was almost full and they were about to turn and begin the flight home when Oww.
A wolf watchdog raised the alarm and the farmer came running towards the orchard.
All the farmer's dogs ran round and round the tree and Rosa, poor Rosa, froze with fear.
She screamed and at that moment her wings froze and you know what happened, don't you?
That's right.
She fell to the ground like a stone.
Woo!
Bang!
The dogs run around in the dark sniffing and growling, and growling and sniffing, and looking for the bird who fell out of the tree.
Martina was flying round and around and around the orange tree in total panic.
She was just about to sink down and give herself up when she remembered something.
What was it?
That's right, the words her grandmother had told her.
What were they?
Would she remember?
Can you remember?
Caramba ay caramba, caramba ay, caramba and whoosh.
Her grandmother came silently swooping out of the darkness.
She came and landed on the lowest branch of the orange tree, her yellow eyes gleaming and her talons gripping on to the branch.
Abuela, you came Quick.
Martina said Abuela.
No time to lose.
You must distract the dogs while I grab Martina in my talons.
So, very bravely, Martina flew down towards the dogs who were snapping and growling and growling and snapping at her wings.
And whoosh!
Gently, the grandmother stretched out her talons and grabbed the little owl who sat under the tree with her useless wings.
Vamos, let's go!
Cuckoo-roo-coo-coo!
Cuckoo-roo-coo-coo! hooted the large owl.
And the farmer looked up to see the most extraordinary sight that night as he walked back towards his house.
Lit up in the moonlight, he saw a mother owl swooping over the orange trees, clutching one little owlet and another following behind.
And as for those two friends well, they never dared venture north again, but they did grow up to be orange farmers.
And if you ever go to Argentina and hear that sound at night, you'll know who it is, won't you?
And that's where that story ends.
That's it for this episode.
Thank you all for listening.
If you want to know more about Super Great Kids Stories, go to our website at supergreatkidsstoriescom, And if you enjoyed that story, you might like to know that it's one of the stories in our Super Great Kids Stories book, which will be released in autumn 2025.
Whatever you do, just keep telling your stories and singing your songs.
See you soon.
This podcast was produced at Wardour Studios in London.
