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.
Happy Thanksgiving Super Great Kids if you're in North America and celebrating.
Today we have a funny trickster tale from Norway about a clever young girl and a show-off rich landowner.
And for Owlets.
It's the end of the month, so we've got a bonus story from Australia called The Wishing Tree and a scary story from Ukraine and Russia called Baba Yaga's Bubble Bath.
Did you have a happy week, Supergrade Kids?
I went swimming under a big sky.
It was pouring with rain but that didn't matter because I was going to get wet anyway.
We have a saying here in rainy England, feel the rain and do it anyway.
The next day it was golden sunshine and blue sky, so I got to go for a muddy walk through the last of the autumn leaves.
Another thing which made my tail wag this week is I was passing a bookshop in London.
I didn't really think they'd have our super great book in the window because well, there's lots of brilliant books around.
But would you believe it?
Their pride of place slap bang in the middle of the window was our book.
Oh, happy day.
Thanks to those of you who've got a copy.
And thanks too to those of you who've gone the extra mile and written a little review about the book on Amazon.
Our book will be available from next week in Australia and New Zealand.
You can buy our Super Great Kids Stories book online or in bookshops, particularly Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.
Now, just before we begin this week's story, I have a little challenge for you.
Since we're right at the tail end of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, here's a little autumn puzzle.
Or if you're in the south of the world, you can make it a springtime puzzle instead.
How many words can you think of which make you think of autumn or spring?
See if you can manage five or maybe even get up to ten if you're feeling super together and sorted.
Here's two words to get you started.
Ready? leaves and nuts, while we have a quick word with the grown-ups.
Ready with those autumn words?
Off you go!
Hello!
Did you know?
The Super Great Kids Stories book is available in bookshops and online around the world.
Our stories are designed to inspire families to leave their screens, learn about the world together and be entertained and awed.
We're delighted that our first book of 30 of our best stories has been published by Bloomsbury.
It's beautifully illustrated by artists from across the globe.
The characters you'll meet include a Nancy eating hot pepper soup, Baba Yaga, the bony Russian witch, Molly and the Leprechaun and, of course, the Ghost of the Bloody Finger.
Our book will make a memorable Christmas or birthday gift for you to read and enjoy as a family.
Available worldwide, online and in bookshops.
Go to our website, supergreatkidstories.com, for details.
Snip, snap, snout, our super great book is out.
Hello, super great kids, I'm back.
How many words did you think of?
I just tried it and I thought of, well, more than 10.
I wonder if you've got any of the same words as me.
Pumpkins leaves yellow orange red moon harvest squirrels nuts owls, hot chocolate smoke fire, Halloween and, of course stories, especially the scary ones.
I think that might even be more than 10.
Give yourself a pat on the back if you got five and a double pat on the back if you got ten.
And now it's time for our story.
It's told by the witty storyteller, Sarah Lisa Wilkinson, who told you The Witch's Stone and Hecate, Queen of the Witches.
Sarah Lisa lives in London.
Her mum is from Finland, so she was brought up speaking Finnish, and she often tells stories from Nordic countries in the north of Europe.
Are you ready?
Let's give a warm welcome to Sarah Lisa.
Hello, super great kids.
This is Sarah Lisa.
I'm going to be telling you a story from Norway.
And it's a story called The Squire's Bride.
Now a squire in this story means a very rich man who owns a lot of land.
And I'm just saying that at the beginning, because I told this story recently in the Netherlands and somebody thought that I said squirrel.
So they had a really different experience of this story than I did.
I actually think The Squirrel's Bride would be a really cool story.
But perhaps that will be for another day.
But for now, once upon a time there was a squire.
Not a squirrel, a squire.
And he was the richest man in his village.
The most important man for miles around.
And one day this squire realised that he was in love. with himself.
I mean, he'd always been fond of himself.
But little by little that feeling had deepened and blossomed until it was the real deal.
You know how sometimes that special someone is right there in front of you, in the mirror?
Oh, he just loved everything about himself.
He loved his big house with all of his servants that had to do exactly what he told them to do.
He loved his neighbours, because they all had to pay him a lot of money to live on his land, and he particularly loved his ruddy red complexion and his big, bristly moustache.
So he was a very happy man.
But even as he stood there, you know, full of this good feeling, the squire became aware of a different feeling, This sort of griping, this sort of strange empty feeling.
It reminded him a little bit of when he'd had a meal that hadn't quite been up to scratch.
You know those terrible times when the roast duck hasn't been cooked to perfection or the cheese course isn't sufficiently smelly.
But that can't have been the case that day because all twelve of his meals had been really good.
And then he realised.
He understood.
He knew where this feeling, this strange empty feeling was coming from.
He had no wife.
A chap should have a wife.
His mother, his dear mama, had always said so.
So the squire stepped out of his house and he began to look around for various you know potential bridal candidates.
And, as luck would have it, he saw right away a young woman, the daughter of one of his neighbours, who came in to do a bit of work for him occasionally.
Now, he didn't know too much about her, but he didn't think that that mattered, and so he wasted no time in giving her the good news.
Well, he let her finish her jobs first.
But when she was finished and ready to go, the squire stopped the young woman at the gate and he said in his most romantic voice
Young lady, I have been thinking.
Oh, said the young woman.
Good for you, sir.
That is progress.
What's that?
I said of your thoughts, a humble girl like me could only guess.
Well, there's no need for you to guess, because I shall reveal all.
I have been thinking that it's time for me to settle down.
Well, if you don't mind me saying so, sir, you look like you could use an early night or two.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, my simple sweeting.
I mean, it's time for me to settle down with a woman.
It's time for me to take a wife.
What do you think of that?
I think, said the young woman, a man can have many thoughts.
And as long as they remain safely in his head, then I can rest easy.
And she turned to go, but the squire stopped her again and said, Wait, wait, wait!
I haven't got to the best bit.
The wife that I am taking is you!
Now the squire had rehearsed this proposal lots of times, which is why it was... so good.
And when he'd been doing his rehearsing, he'd imagined the young woman's reaction.
You know, he'd seen the various expressions across her face.
The surprise, the excitement, the joy, the awe.
But her face looked really different to how it had done in his head.
Her skin was turning a weird purpley-red colour.
Her eyes seemed to be bulging.
Her shoulders were going up and down and her chest was heaving.
She's having a fit, thought the squire.
I've excited her so much she's gone completely mad.
And he was about to smack her to bring her round when the young woman got a hold of herself.
And she said, I won't.
But thank you for asking.
And then she ran as quickly as she could, and as soon as she was a safe enough distance away, she let loose the laughter that she'd only just been able to keep in, and it left her in great ringing peals all the way home.
It took the squire a moment or two to realise what had happened.
And when he got it, he just didn't get it.
And so he did the only thing he could think of, and he sent for the girl's father.
"'I'm marrying your daughter!' he said.
And as we are to be family, I'm going to let you off all the money that you owe me for living on my land.
There's only one little problem.
She says no.
I don't know what that's about.
Why don't you see if you can sort her out?
Now, the father was well aware of his daughter's feelings towards the squire, because he'd been home just now when she'd burst in through the door laughing and laughing and saying that she would rather marry their pig and live out the rest of her days in the muck and the stink of the sty than spend five minutes more alone with that bloated, puffed-up old windbag.
But the father was a poor man, and sometimes that can make you a desperate man, and so he said asked sir, Don't you worry about her?
She's just a young girl.
You know, she doesn't really know her own mind.
She was probably just a bit overwhelmed by it all.
She did look overwhelmed, said the squire.
Yes, that would have been it, said the father.
So you just get on with preparing yourself for the wedding.
Get yourself dressed up, invite the guests, have the food prepared.
And then when everything's ready, send for my daughter.
Just to make sure she doesn't get overwhelmed again.
We'll say there's some work for her to do at the house.
And then, when she gets there, just make sure you have some of your lads about to grab her and hold her.
And then you marry her, sir.
You marry her so quick she won't know what's happened.
Excellent, said the squire.
And so that is what he did.
He invited the guests.
He had the food prepared.
He made sure the parson was available.
He dressed himself up very fancy.
And when everything was good to go, he sent for one of his servants this little lad who'd only just started working for him.
And he said, get yourself down to my neighbours and you tell him to send me what I've been promised.
And I've no excuses and accept no delay.
And if you're not back sharpish, there'll be trouble.
And the squire shook his fist.
And so the young lad ran as fast as he could to the neighbour's house, burst into the kitchen where the father was and said My master says you're to send him what he's been promised and he'll have no excuses and accept no delay.
And if I'm not back sharpish, there'll be trouble.
And he shook his fist.
Right, said the father.
Well, she's down by the stables.
But mind you, keep a good grip on her, lad.
Hold her tightly because I don't know what she'll do.
And so the lad ran to the stables where the young woman was tending to her horses, and he said My master says you're to send him what he's been promised and he'll have no excuses and accept no delay, and if I'm not back sharpish, there'll be trouble.
And your dad says I'm to keep a good grip on her, to hold her tightly because he doesn't know what she'll do.
Does he now, said the young woman, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
Well, he's right about that, I suppose.
And then she handed the lad the reins to her white mare and said, There you go.
That's what the squire's after.
Oh, said the lad, thanks ever so much.
And he jumped on the horse and he rode all the way back to the squire's house, jumped off the horse, tied the horse to a tree and went inside.
Well, said the squire, did you get her?
Oh, yes, sir, I did.
I've tied her up outside.
Tied her up, eh? said the squire.
Oh, good.
Good lad, but you can't be leaving her like that, not these days.
Take her up to me mother's old room.
What?
Take her up to me mother's old room?
Well, goodness me, sir, how do you expect me to do that?
Well, if she's difficult, get some of the other lads to help you, and if you don't do it fast, there'll be trouble.
And so the lad went and spoke to some of the other serving boys and he told them what they had to do and everybody thought it was strange.
But Nobody wanted to cross the squire and so some of the lads, they started to pull the horse from the front and others, less fortunate, had to heave the horse from behind all the way up three flights of stairs to the squire's mother's old bedroom.
And once they'd done it, the lad went back to the squire and said Well, she's in there now sir, but it was a terrible job.
She bit me.
Look.
Did she now? said the squire.
Well, it's good to know that she's full of spirit.
Right then, get the girls to dress her.
What?
Get the girls to dress her in me mother's old wedding dress.
It's all there on the bed and if you don't do it fast, there'll be trouble.
And the squire shook his fist.
So the lad went to the serving girls and he said You're going to have to dress this horse in the squire's mother's old wedding dress.
I don't know why.
This is my first job.
I didn't think it was going to be like this.
And the girls all thought it was really strange.
But they didn't want to get in trouble with the squire either.
So they went into the squire's mother's old bedroom.
And the poor horse was stamping and neighing and just very upset about the whole thing.
But the girls spoke kindly to her.
They petted her and one of them fed her a carrot.
And the horse relaxed and she let them dress her in the squire's mother's old wedding dress a frilly lacy sticky, outy monstrosity.
But as it happens it fitted pretty well.
And once she was in it, as best they could manage, one of the girls tied a satin bow around the horse's tail and another wrapped some bits of white velvet around the horse's hooves, and a third placed a crown of fresh flowers upon the horse's head.
And when the horse saw herself in the mirror, she was very pleased indeed.
And then the lad went back to the squire and he said, Well, we've done it, sir.
We've dressed her.
What do you want us to do now?
Good job, said the squire.
Excellent work.
You can be the one to lead her down the aisle.
Bring her downstairs, wait outside the door and when you hear the music start, not a moment before you bring her in.
But mind you keep a good hold.
So the lad went back upstairs.
And he brought the horse, who now came very happily.
In fact I'm going to say she pranced all the way down the stairs and together they waited outside the door to the great hall and inside the hall.
The squire was making all of his guests be upstanding for his bride and telling them that she was just a young girl, you know, very easily overwhelmed by things, so they shouldn't make any loud noises or sudden movements.
Or look at her funny.
And then the squire... went to the other end of the hall, his back to the door, and he began to practice in his head what he was going to say to his bride, his wedding vows.
But when he felt that he had it right, he gestured to the band and they began to play the wedding march.
Dum-dum-da-dum, dum-dum-da-dum.
And the lad heard.
And so he opened the door and he began to lead.
The white horse dressed in the squire's mother's wedding dress down the aisle.
And when the guests saw that, they couldn't help but smile.
Loudly.
Oh, they really tried to hold it in, but they just couldn't do it.
You know how hard it is not to laugh when you feel like laughing.
It started with a little giggle.
Giggle on one side, and then it became a hawk chuckle on the other side, and then it became a big belly laugh at the back.
And soon the whole room was rocking back and forward, splitting their sides, and even the parson with his bible was shaking like a jelly.
And when the squire saw that, he couldn't ignore it and so he had to turn around.
And when he did, he found himself face to long face with his bride, And it is difficult to say which one of them was the most surprised.
Now, as the squire told all of his guests to go home pretty quickly after that, I can't tell you anything about their marriage.
But they do say that the squire must have been well pleased with his new wife, because he was certainly never seen bothering another woman again.
Thank you very much to Sarah Lisa for that story.
I'd love to have been at that wedding.
I wonder if you've ever been somewhere where you got the giggles where you weren't supposed to be laughing.
I loved the way Sarah Lisa conjured up the character of the puffed-up show-off squire.
Could you draw a picture of the squire with a big belly, wearing his riding boots and with his twirling moustache?
Send it to us at supergreatkidstoriescom.
And now it's time to fly around the world with StoryOwl to say hello and thank you to all the owlets who've recently joined our storytelling club.
We start in the beautiful US state of Vermont to say hello to Nora, who's seven, and five-year-old Sawyer.
Nora's favourite story is Molly and the Skeleton.
And Sawyer's is Coyote and Bluebird, both told by Nick Hennessy.
They've been fans of Super Great Kids stories for a very long time, but they're now listening in memory of Thomas.
Staying in Vermont, and Owlet Sully has sent us some great pictures he drew from watching our online show earlier this month, when Jason Buck, Amy Douglas and Tim Ralphs entertained us with their stories.
Sully's favourites are The Ghost of the Bloody Finger and The Rainbow Snake.
Sully loves Jason Buck's sound effects.
If you like Jason's stories Sully, he'll be online on Saturday, December the 13th, alongside Amy Douglas and special guest Sheila Arnold for a Christmas and midwinter special.
See the news section on our website, supergreatkidsstories.com, if you'd like to join us.
Across the border to Canada now, where Eamon and Lachlan, who are both four...
And their seven-year-old sister, Aspie, live in Nova Scotia.
They especially like listening to the buka and Masha and the Big Brown Bear.
And over to Texas now, where Liam, who is seven this month, has become an owlet for his birthday.
The first story he heard was Anansi and the Hot Owl.
His favourites include the ghost of the bloody finger, the wide-mouthed frog and the cat that ate the palace.
Good stories, Liam.
Flying west now across the Pacific all the way to the Philippines, where nine-year-old Shivayi listens every evening before bed.
Shivayi's family is from India and he began listening when he was living in Singapore.
He loves listening to the scary stories and especially enjoyed Molly and the Skeleton.
All the way back to the US now to say, to greet five-year-old Rina in Atlanta, Georgia.
Earlier this month, Rina met super great Wangari, the storyteller, during a visit to Nairobi in Kenya.
Rina now hopes to meet more storytellers around the world.
Well, that's a good wish.
Her favourite story is The Cat That Ate the Palace.
Next, we have a birthday hello to Owlet Frankie, who turns nine on November 30th.
The luck child is still Frankie's favourite, the second year in a row.
And sharing that first place rank is how the tadpoles lost their tails.
Two great choices, Frankie.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Now, where do we fly to find the Beliris family, including Nefeli, who's seven and a half, and Marcel, who's about to turn nine?
They're travelling the world in their van and they contacted us from Vancouver in Canada as they headed towards the US.
They managed to send us some great drawings of the magic orange tree and the fox and the dog.
Bon voyage!
So welcome to all you new owlets, and thanks to all of you who've hopped into our nest and are supporting us on Apple or Patreon.
With 150 more stories in our new archive.
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.
Visit our website for more details at supergreatkidsstories.com.
And our Pick of the Week picture goes to Cielo, who's living in Australia and was born in New York.
She's three and three quarters and Cielo has drawn a beautiful picture of Story Owl in flight, with lots of stories coming out of Story Owl's head.
Thank you, a very imaginative picture.
You know, I heard an owl calling outside my bedroom window last night.
I wonder if it was Story Owl bringing me some of your stories.
Cielo's name is from a tribal language in Kenya in East Africa, which means world.
Lucky you.
You've lived in lots of parts of the world already.
And yes, we now have a new picture gallery for those of you who want to send us a picture but don't have Facebook.
Do send any of your pictures inspired by our stories to our website supergreatkidsstoriescom or to our Facebook page facebookcom.
Forward slash supergreatkidsstories and we'll post them for you all to see.
Well, that's it for now.
Keep telling your stories and singing your songs.
Have a happy week.
This podcast was produced by Kim Normanton and David Smith at Wardour Studios in fabulous Fitzrovia in London.
