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, we have a story from North America called The Wide-Mouthed Frog.
It's told by Amy Douglas, who will be co-hosting our new Super Great Kids online show with Jason Buck starting in a couple of weeks, on September 14th.
How are you, Super Great Kids?
Happy September!
I hope you've had a good week and you're settling down in school if you've started school recently.
I'm cheerful for many reasons this week.
I've been lucky enough to visit some beautiful countryside in Suffolk in the UK where I swam in the sea, walked under a big sky and while we were having breakfast, a beautiful hare hopped very near us and stayed for about a minute while we admired his very long legs and ears.
A magical moment.
Another reason that I'm happy is that this summer I became a grandma, or go-go as they say in South Africa.
So we have a beautiful baby in our family called Dorothy, like in The Wizard of Oz.
If any of you have babies in your family and have some tips for when I look after her, do write and share them with me.
And my third reason for being cheerful is that I'm really looking forward to our live show in London with Kate Corkery and Toot and super great David and his band.
The show is on September the 20th.
Some of you have told us that you're coming to say hello, and meeting you is one of the nicest things about Super Great Kids.
So we're looking forward to meeting any of you who are lucky enough to come.
And for those of you who live a long way from London and in other countries around the world, Jason Buck and Amy Douglas and me are getting together online in just two weeks' time, on Sunday, September the 14th, so that we can wave hello to you as we tell stories and you can show us your pictures and you can see Jason making his amazing sound effects.
And who knows, if our book does well enough, we might even be able to do a tour in your country and meet you face to face.
Wouldn't that be exciting?
Now, just before we start this week's story, here's a little question for you.
This story begins with two children who want a pet.
If you could have a pet, any kind of pet, what would you want?
And you know what I'm going to say, don't you?
Why?
You might want a giant snail, because then you could take it for very slow walks and have a brilliant excuse for being late to school.
Or you might like a gorilla who could impress all your friends and carry you to school super fast, so you were never late.
Well, you get the idea.
What kind of pet would you like and why?
And we'll have a quick word with the grown-ups.
Ready?
Off you go.
Hello, super great grown-ups.
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Hello, super great kids.
I'm back.
What would your favourite pet be?
Mine would probably be a dog.
A golden Labrador because they have such beautiful eyes and they seem pretty well behaved.
And I could take it round hospitals to say hello to people, old and young, who aren't very well and cheer them up.
And of course, my Labrador could run in the woods with me too.
I wonder if any of you chose a frog?
Because this week's story is all about a frog.
A frog who's very good at asking questions.
A super great frog.
So let's give a big warm welcome to Amy Douglas from Shropshire in England.
When I first became a storyteller, I went off on an adventure, a quest, searching for stories and storytellers.
And this story I was given from an amazing storyteller called Dan Kedding, who lives in America.
There's lots of versions of this story, but this one is my favourite.
There were once two children, a brother and a sister, and they wanted one thing more than anything else.
What they wanted was a pet.
Any sort of pet would do.
Maybe an elephant that they could ride to school, a tiger with a jewelled collar they could walk around the town, a dog that would fetch sticks, or a kitten that would play with string.
Anything.
They just wanted an animal to care for, to play with and to fuss and to pet.
But when they counted up the money that they had, They didn't have enough to buy an elephant, or a tiger, or a dog, or a cat, or a guinea pig, or even a goldfish.
And so they sat down and thought.
And they thought, well, if we can't buy a pet...
Maybe we should catch one.
And so the two of them.
They went down to the woods and the brother went off one way and he brought back five sticks, and the sister she, went off the other way and she brought back five sticks, and they wove those sticks together to make a trap.
They covered it over with moss and leaves until it was hidden.
And then they went home to do the hard part. waiting.
All that night they tossed and turned, and when the sun rose in the morning so did they, and they went running down to the woods to see if there was anything caught in that trap.
And sure enough, the trap had snapped shut and inside that trap was a wide mouthed frog.
Well, the frog looked up at the brother and it looked up at the sister and it said, Hello.
Who are you and what do you eat?
Well, the brother said, I'm a boy and I like to eat dahl and mashed potatoes.
Wow, fascinating, said the frog.
And then it looked at the sister and it said, hello.
Who are you and what do you eat?
And the sister said, well, I'm a girl and I like to eat profiteroles.
Wow.
Fascinating, said the frog.
Well, the brother and the sister, they looked down at that frog and they thought about how loud it was and they thought about taking that frog home to meet their mother.
There was no way she would let them keep an animal that was even louder than they were, and they knew that they had to let that frog go.
But they said if you're so interested in what things are and what they eat, why don't you find out what everything is and what everything eats?
Wow, fascinating, said the frog.
And that is exactly what the frog did.
He hopped and he hopped and he hopped and he hopped until he had to stop.
Because there in front of him was a strange animal, an animal with two heads.
And he looked at that animal and he said, Hello, who are you and what do you eat?
Well, the head at the top of the animal said I'm a kangaroo and I like to eat green things and leaves.
And the head in the middle of the animal, the joey in the pouch said, and I like milk.
Whoa.
Fascinating, said the frog and he carried on his way.
He hopped and he hopped, and he hopped and he hopped, until he had to stop because there was another animal.
And he looked at that animal and he said, Hello!
Who are you and what do you eat?
I'm a dog and I like to eat bones and sausages and really slimy smelly, juicy things from the bottom of the bin.
Wow, fascinating, said the frog and he carried on his way.
He hopped and he hopped, and he hopped and he hopped, until he had to stop because there was another animal, and this time it was a giraffe.
And the frog looked up and up and up and up and he said, Hello, who are you and what do you eat?
And the giraffe looked down and down, and down and down and said I am a giraffe and I like to eat the sweetest tastiest, tenderest leaves from the top of the tree.
Wow, fascinating, said the frog and he carried on his way.
He hopped and he hopped and he hopped and he hopped until he had to stop.
There was another animal and he looked at that animal and he said, Hello!
Who are you and what do you eat?
I am a cat, said the cat, and I like... to eat fish and mice.
Wow, fascinating, said the frog and he carried on his way.
He hopped and he hopped and he hopped and he hopped until he had to stop because the frog had travelled a long way to meet two children, two kangaroos, a dog and a giraffe and a cat, and he was tired and up ahead of him there was a tree and underneath that tree was a nice damn dark hollow and he thought i'll just sit down for five minutes.
But as soon as he snuggled down into that damp little hollow, that frog was fast asleep and the frog slept as the sun went down.
The frog slept as the moon came up.
The frog slept to the very darkest point of the night and then suddenly he woke up.
And he knew that something had woken him up.
And he looked out into the dark of the night.
And he saw two bright pinpoints of light coming towards him.
And then he heard a slithering and a sliding.
And the frog looked out into the night and he said, Hey!
Hello.
Who are you and what do you eat?
And the voice came back.
I am a snake and I like to eat wide mouthed frogs.
The frog gulped.
He made his mouth as small as he possibly could and he said, Wow.
Fascinating.
And you know that snake slithered on by.
And it just goes to show there's a time and a place to keep your big mouth.
Oh, thank you so much Amy for sharing that funny story.
Do you think your grown-ups would be pleased if you took that noisy, wide-mouthed frog to live in your house?
Maybe after meeting the snake it might be a little bit quieter?
That was one of the first joke stories which I learned to tell when I was about six.
It's a fun story to tell and you can make your mouth really, really wide each time the frog talks, until he meets the snake, when he puckers up his mouth and makes it as small as possible.
That would be a good story to tell new friends.
Do you think you could have a go at telling it?
Try it on your family and pets first.
Now.
If you liked that story, you can hear Amy and Jason Buck telling more stories online on September the 14th.
Go to our website and look under news to see how to book.
A ticket for the whole family costs £1250, which is about 17 US dollars or 23 Canadian dollars or 1450 euros.
And tickets for that show on Zoom are limited.
So if you are thinking of coming, do book soon to avoid disappointment.
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 StoryOwl to meet them, beginning in Europe.
Let's fly to Switzerland to say hello to a family who have been listening to our stories for five years, ever since the podcast was launched.
Happy sixth birthday to Margot in Geneva from her brother Malachi.
Margot and Malachy want to say a big thank you to all the super great storytellers.
They particularly love super great scary stories like Molly and the Skeleton and Anansi stories like Anansi and the Magic Drum.
They say thank you for bringing the world to life for us.
Oh, what a lovely message.
And thank you, Margot and Malachy, for listening.
We hope you've been inspired to tell your own stories.
And over to the UK now to greet Owlet Robin, who lives in Kiddlington in Oxfordshire.
Robin is a huge fan of the podcast.
It's become part of her bedtime routine.
Her favourite story is The Crow and the Jug, one of the Aesop's fables.
Robin turned 10 at the end of August.
I hope you had a lovely day.
And staying in the UK, let's fly to London to say hello to another dedicated family of story fans.
Andre, who is 11, Bella, who is 9, and Isla, who is 6.
They've been subscribers since 2021.
Listening to Super Great Kids stories is part of their bedtime routine.
They came to our first live show in 2022 and are excited to come again this year.
Isla's favourite story is The Master Cat and Bella's is The Sausage Tree, and they've listened to every story many times.
That makes you superfans.
Across to Ireland next to beautiful Dublin to greet some more superfans.
Owlet's Connor who is nine and Alice who is seven.
They've been listening to the show since the beginning and love all of the stories.
And, get this, they especially love retelling them to their grandparents.
Hurrah!
That's put a wag in my tail.
They're excited to come to the show in September.
Well, we look forward to seeing you there.
Be sure to come and say hello.
And remember, if you feel like it, you can dress up as your favourite character.
And stretching our wings across the Atlantic.
Now let's fly to Morristown in New Jersey in the US to greet six-year-old Owlet Ben.
He listens to stories when he's travelling to Kid Strong, and his favourite story is The Belly Button Monster.
Ah yes, that's a great one, I agree.
And heading across to Sunnyvale in California.
Now on the west coast of the US, let's say hello to Owlet's 8-year-old Raya and 10-year-old Ronan.
They listen to the podcast on the way to and from school.
They love the trickster stories and the how and why stories.
And they say they're looking forward to getting our book.
Well, happy reading and telling.
Flying north next to greet more super fans in Portland, Oregon.
Carl, who was seven, was given a subscription by the Easter Bunny, and his two little brothers enjoy listening along with him.
Carl listens to at least one story a day, and his favourites are the Anansi stories.
And well, anything from Toop.
And let's head east now to Ohio to greet Owlet Letty, who became an Owlet for her sixth birthday.
Letty's favourite stories are Stone Soup, The Hairy Toe and The Ghost of the Bloody Finger.
Good choices, Letty.
I wonder if you've tried telling any of your own yet?
And let's fly down to Australia, to Melbourne next, to say hello to five-year-old owlet Hank, who's been waiting patiently for a couple of years to join the club.
He says he can't pick a favourite.
He loves them all so much.
Oh, what a lovely thing to say.
Thank you, Hank.
That's it for Owlet Welcomes this week.
We really appreciate your support.
More welcomes next week.
Keep telling those stories.
And our Pick of the Week picture goes to eight-year-old Logan from Craigellaghy in Scotland for his bright and entertaining picture of the funny story The Cat That Ate the Palace told by Tim Ralphs.
I love the way that you've drawn all of the people that the cat ate, all jumbled up in the cat's huge tummy.
Even the king who is still wearing his crown and the queen who is pouring some milk.
A super great picture.
Thanks, Logan.
Send your drawings to facebookcom, forward slash super great kids stories or to our website supergreatkidsstoriescom, and Story Owl will reply to you.
And it gives you access to all the super great scary stories and, depending on your level of subscription, to over 50 bonus 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.
Visit our website for more details.
That's it for now.
Remember, you'll get a discount if you order our super great book before it's published in your country.
That's September 11th in the UK.
And you'll be helping us to get the book noticed and share all those lovely traditional tales with more super great kids.
You'll find the discount link in the news section on our website.
Thanks 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.
