0:13

Hello and welcome to

0:15

Super Great Kids Stories – Wise

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Tales from storytellers around the

0:20

world which will make you

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laugh and sometimes cry. Recommended

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for ages 5 to 105. I'm Kim

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and I love stories. Hello

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Super Great Kids and how

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are you? This is

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your bonus bird story for you

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to enjoy this week. Story

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Owl thought that lots of you

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might be heading out on summer journeys and

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need more stories to listen to and

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she insisted that they were both

0:53

bird stories. Good

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for you Story Owl. And

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more good news for summer. We

1:02

have a lovely new bonus for Apple

1:05

subscribers and top tier Owlets

1:07

on Patreon. It's

1:09

a feature called Super Great

1:12

Kids Stories Express. You've

1:14

asked for it so Super Great David

1:16

has provided it. It's a

1:18

version of our podcast only with

1:20

short introductions, no shout outs and

1:23

not much blather from me. So

1:25

you can listen non-stop on your

1:28

long journeys or holidays or

1:30

at bedtime or at campfire marshmallow

1:32

roasting story sessions. Search

1:34

for Super Great Kids Stories Express

1:37

edition in your Apple or

1:39

Patreon channel and start listening

1:41

now. Both our

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stories this week are wisdom

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tales about birds. Our

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second wise bird tale is

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told by Juliana Marim from

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Colombia. The story is about

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one of the smallest birds

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in the world, now humming.

2:00

hummingbird. Did you

2:02

know that the bee hummingbird from

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Cuba is only two and a

2:06

half inches long and

2:08

weighs less than a small coin? And

2:12

hummingbirds need to visit hundreds

2:14

and sometimes thousands of flowers

2:16

a day to get enough

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nectar to keep them flying.

2:21

And their wings beat between 60

2:24

to 80 times a second. That is

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pretty darn fast. More

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hummingbird facts in our outlet letter this

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week. Just before we

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hear from Julianna I have a question for

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you. If you could

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be a bird, which kind of bird

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would you like to be? Have a

2:41

little think about that while we have

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a quick word with the grown-ups. Hello

2:49

Super Great Kim. Hello Super Great

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David. Kim, I have a question.

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I love questions, fire away. What

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is the best kind of story?

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Well, I think the best

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kind of story is an old story which

3:02

has been told for many years and passed

3:04

on from person to person. Ooh, that's a

3:06

good answer. I thought you were going to

3:08

say something specific like only Baba Yaga stories

3:10

or Nancy stories or stories that

3:12

have to have two-headed giants in them. No,

3:15

just a story which has been loved

3:17

and passed along and told by lots

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of people. Right, okay. So if we

3:22

really want more people to hear stories,

3:24

seems like we're going to need help from

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our lovely listeners. Yes, we know these stories

3:29

because people have been sharing them with each

3:31

other for donkey's years. I

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tell you, you tell someone else, they

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tell someone else and soon everyone knows

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the story. Hmm, you

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know what Kim, I think maybe it's

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such a good idea that we could possibly

3:44

put it into song. along

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a whole lot of us,

4:04

a whole lot of us,

4:07

a whole lot of us will have

4:09

a super great time. Hello

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super great kids I'm back. I

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wonder which bird you decided you'd like to

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be? An owl

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or a little weaver bird,

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a nightingale which sings beautifully

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or maybe a swan which swims

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gracefully. I think

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I'd probably like to be a bird

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which can mimic all the languages of

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all the other birds in the world

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like a parrot or a mockingbird because

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as you probably know I like languages

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and I'm rather fond of talking too.

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So without further ado

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let's give a warm

4:53

welcome to Juliana. Hola

4:55

super great kids this

4:58

is Juliana and I am

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a storyteller from Colombia traveling

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all around the world. Today

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I'm bringing you a story from

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Paraguay which is a country in

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South America quite a bit

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further south from Colombia. Now

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this story comes from a long

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time ago and it

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was being told long

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before me by the

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Guarani people. Are you

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ready? It

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all started with a

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spark just

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a tiny little spark and

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that one little spark it

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became one tiny little

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flame but

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even tiny little flames under

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the right conditions can

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spread and

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if nobody does anything They

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can get bigger, stronger,

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hotter, until crackle

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crackle crackle crackle crackle, pshhhhhhhhh.

6:11

The entire forest was

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ablaze. Run,

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cried the animals,

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the forest is on fire.

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Run, run, save yourselves. And

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all the animals started running

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away as the flames licked

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the trees, devouring the nests

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and the burrows and all

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the animals' homes. Run,

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cried the jaguar, the king

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of the beasts leading the

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charge. Run, leave everything behind.

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Get to the river. Hurry, this

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way. Follow me to the river.

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All the animals, the

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birds, flapped and screeched

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and squawked. The snakes

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slithered, the mice scurried.

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The animals ran and

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scurried and slithered and

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flapped. Watch

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the river when,

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pshhhhhh. What

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was that? said jaguar. Something

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had hit him. Hummingbird? Hummingbird,

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where are you going? The

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river is that way. You're going the wrong way.

7:23

That's where the fire is. Hummingbird,

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what? said

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jaguar. Hummingbird, get back here. Hummingbird,

7:33

I can't hear you, Hummingbird. But the jaguar couldn't

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stop. The fire was that way. He had to

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get to the river. He

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can fly. He'll figure it out. There,

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the hummingbird came back, almost

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hitting jaguar on the head as he flew right

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past him. Thank goodness.

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You're going the right way. Thank goodness, Hummingbird,

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you're all right. You can come with us.

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shot at the hummingbird. Your

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what? said Jaguar, and

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he kept on running, trying to chase

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after hummingbird that was flapping so fast,

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you could barely see her wings at

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all. And then,

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then hummingbird was

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coming back. Almost

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hitting Jaguar on the head once

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again, flying past Jaguar in the

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opposite direction, right towards the flames.

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The Jaguar skidded to a halt. What

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are you doing, hummingbird? I'm

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taking water. You're

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taking water? said

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the Jaguar. And that's

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when he saw that in

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her tiny little beak, hummingbird

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was carrying a tiny

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little leaf. And on that tiny

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little leaf was one tiny little

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drop of water. Are

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you crazy, hummingbird? What's wrong with

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you? There's no way that you

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can take enough little drops of

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water to put out the flame.

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This isn't a spark. It's a

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forest fire. There's no way you

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can put out the flames. Oh

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no, said hummingbird. You

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know, then why are you

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doing it? Oh no, said

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hummingbird. Careful not to drop the

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leaf she was carrying in her beak. But

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I have to do my part. And

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hummingbird flew past the

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Jaguar straight to the river.

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Jaguar chased and caught up

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to the hummingbird just in time to see how

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the hummingbird dipped the leaf and

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her beak into the river, picking up

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one little drop of water and. Flew

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again right past him towards the

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flames. You

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have to do your part, said

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the Jaguar. He

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was the king of the beasts.

10:00

He was the king of the jungle.

10:03

If Hummingbird was doing her

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part, well

10:09

then he better do his. It

10:12

would be shameful if he didn't. And

10:15

he grabbed up an empty gourd and

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filled it with water from the river

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and turned around

10:24

and raced towards the flames.

10:26

Where are you going? cried all

10:28

the animals. Jaguar, the river's that way. You're

10:30

going the wrong way. I'm

10:34

taking water. shouted

10:36

Jaguar, not letting go of the

10:38

gourd that he was clutching between his teeth. What

10:41

did he say? He's taking water. He

10:44

can't take enough water to put out the

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forest lights of forest fire. But

10:49

by now, Jaguar was too

10:51

far away for them to hear him. The

10:54

rest of the animals kept on running towards the

10:56

river and Hummingbird

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flew right past them with her

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little beak clutching the little leaf,

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which she dipped into the river and got

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another little drop. Hummingbird,

11:09

what are you doing? I'm

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doing my part. said

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Hummingbird. What did she say? She's

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doing her part. And then

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Jaguar raced

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past bounding over all the animals

11:24

and jumped into the river and

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filled up the gourd full of

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water again and turned

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around and raced

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back jumping over the fleeing animals

11:35

back towards the flames. What

11:38

are you doing? Jaguar. I'm

11:40

doing my part. What did he say? He's

11:42

doing his part. Well,

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the forest was their home. It

11:50

was everything they knew and loved. It

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was a tragedy to see it burn. I

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guess it would be shameful if

11:59

they did. didn't do their part too.

12:03

And one by one, all the animals, well,

12:08

it would be shameful to not

12:10

do our part too. We

12:14

have to do what we can.

12:18

Now high up in the

12:20

sky, clouds were floating lazily

12:22

by. I

12:26

smell smoke, you smell smoke.

12:28

Oh, look, there's a fire

12:30

down there. Oh yes, poor

12:32

little animals. Looks like the

12:34

forest is going to be

12:36

devoured by the flames. Poor

12:39

little, wait a minute. The

12:42

river's that way. What

12:45

are those animals doing running towards the flames?

12:47

They're running the wrong way. Hey!

12:52

Shadow the clouds from up high. Animals,

12:55

can't you see there's a

12:57

forest fire you're

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running the wrong way. You're

13:02

running the wrong way. And

13:05

all the animals looked up towards the

13:07

clouds. We're taking

13:10

water. What

13:12

did they say? Said one cloud to

13:14

another. I think

13:16

they said they're taking water. And

13:20

the clouds looked down at

13:22

this wave of animals. There

13:25

were all sorts of

13:27

animals from the mighty jaguar

13:29

to the huge anaconda, all

13:32

the way down to the tiny

13:34

little hummingbird. The parrots

13:36

and the baccas and even

13:38

the beetles were all

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carrying gourds and leaves with as

13:43

much water as they could. Animals,

13:48

you can't possibly think that you

13:50

can put out a forest fire

13:52

with just some gourds and drops

13:54

of water. We

13:58

have to do our part. shouted

14:01

the animals, being careful to

14:03

not let go of the water they

14:05

were carrying between their teeth. They

14:08

have to do their part? And

14:11

the clouds kept watching

14:13

the animals racing

14:15

towards the flames. Ooh,

14:18

ooh, ooh, they're going to get burned.

14:20

Ooh! And then the animals

14:22

turned back. Oh, good, they're going the

14:24

right way now, straight towards the river.

14:27

But then they filled up with

14:29

water and turned right back around. They're

14:32

doing their part. The

14:35

clouds looked at each other. Well,

14:38

those brave little animals. It

14:42

would be a shame if

14:44

we didn't do our part too. All

14:49

right. The

14:52

clouds started sucking in all

14:55

the moisture from the air. You

14:59

got that? Almost

15:02

there. Come on. I think

15:04

you're going to need to help me, kids. We need to

15:06

drink up all the water in the air. Come

15:09

on, more, more, more. Come on. Almost,

15:12

almost. All right, I'm about to burst. Not

15:15

yet, almost. Almost there, almost

15:17

there, almost there. And.

15:22

The clouds burst and

15:25

water poured down

15:27

in buckets like

15:29

a waterfall, like a mighty river

15:31

from the sky. Yay!

15:39

All the animals dropped their gourds

15:41

and leaves and started jumping up

15:43

and down as the rain poured

15:46

down, wetting their fur and feathers

15:48

and scales and tails, jumping up

15:50

and down and yay, yay! And

15:54

as the water poured down from the sky.

16:00

great forest fire

16:03

sizzled into mud

16:06

and ash and cloud

16:08

of smoke. Yay!

16:12

The animals jumped up and down.

16:14

Yay! Thank you,

16:16

clouds. You saved

16:19

us. No,

16:21

said the clouds from up

16:23

high. We just did our

16:25

part. Thank

16:27

you, Jaguar. You saved

16:30

us. No,

16:32

said Jaguar. We

16:34

did our part, but

16:37

only because Hummingbird

16:40

did hers. Hummingbird,

16:42

you saved us. Hummingbird

16:49

smiled. She

16:51

was so tired, she almost dropped out of

16:53

the sky. We

16:57

all did our

16:59

part, she said, and

17:02

that was all we could do, and

17:06

it was enough. Hummingbird

17:10

was so tired that

17:13

she fell out of the sky and was

17:15

caught by all the other

17:17

animals who gently carried her over

17:20

to some soft leaves so she

17:22

could rest. We

17:25

all did our part, and

17:29

that made all the

17:32

difference. And

17:35

since then, the

17:37

brave little Hummingbird, in

17:39

many indigenous cultures throughout Latin

17:42

America, believe it or not,

17:45

that tiny little Hummingbird

17:48

has been the symbol of

17:50

the warrior. Aww,

18:02

thank you so much Juliana for that

18:05

story. I really like

18:07

the idea that such a tiny

18:09

little bird is seen in many

18:12

Spanish speaking countries as something like

18:14

a strong warrior or soldier because

18:16

of its courage. You

18:19

might want to have a go at drawing that little hummingbird.

18:22

Maybe scooping up water on a leaf

18:24

and then releasing drops onto the burning

18:26

trees. Send your

18:28

pictures to Story Owl via our

18:30

Facebook page, facebook.com/Super

18:32

Great Kids Stories

18:36

or from our

18:38

website supergreatkidsstories.com. And

18:41

a little reminder to tune in

18:43

to our live show with me

18:45

and Kate Caulkerie on July the

18:47

20th at 5.30pm British Summertime, which

18:50

is 9.30 Pacific Summertime or 12.30 Eastern

18:52

Summertime. You'll

18:56

be there afterwards for half an hour to

18:58

answer questions. Tickets are

19:00

available via the website for £10 or about

19:03

US$12 and all the family can watch

19:07

on one device. We're looking forward

19:09

to meeting you. And

19:12

thanks very much to all of you

19:14

who are subscribing to our podcast. We

19:16

couldn't manage without your support. If

19:19

you'd like to support us on Apple

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Podcasts or on Patreon, we'll say hello

19:23

to you on the programme. You

19:25

can hear our stories advert free and

19:27

you'll get 44 bonus

19:29

stories and at least 22

19:32

Super Great Scary stories. And

19:34

now you'll also get access to

19:37

our Express Stories channel. For

19:39

more information, go to our

19:42

website at supergreatkidsstories.com. And

19:45

a reminder that we have two stories

19:48

for everyone today, so remember to listen

19:50

to the other story this week, told

19:52

by Toop, about an eagle and a

19:54

chicken. And

19:56

if you like hummingbird stories, there's a

19:59

how and why. story from 2020 called

20:02

How the Stars Became, which

20:04

features hummingbirds as the champions

20:06

who saved the day. This

20:10

podcast was produced at

20:12

Wardoor Studios in fabulous

20:14

Fitz-Rovia in London.