0:02

Hello

0:06

and welcome to Super

0:08

Great Kids Stories. Wise

0:19

tales from storytellers around the

0:21

world which will make you

0:23

laugh and sometimes cry. Recommended

0:27

for ages 5 to 105. I'm

0:32

Kim and I love stories.

0:36

Hello Super Great Kids and

0:38

how are you? Is

0:40

it happy holidays for you? It's

0:43

not quite summer holiday time yet

0:45

in the UK but it's just

0:47

around the corner. I've

0:49

been shaking out my shorts and t-shirts

0:51

and getting ready to play. I

0:55

have so many reasons to be cheerful

0:57

today. But here are three

0:59

of them. First, we

1:01

have a new benefit for

1:03

Apple subscribers and for

1:06

top tier outlets on Patreon. It's

1:09

a feature called Super Great

1:11

Kids Stories Express. You've

1:14

asked for it so Super Great David

1:16

has provided it. It's a

1:18

no frills version of our podcast which

1:20

cuts straight to the story without much

1:22

of an intro or any shout outs

1:25

or blather from Kim. Ooh, that's me.

1:28

So you can listen non-stop

1:30

to stories on your long

1:32

journeys or at bedtime or

1:34

at Campfire Marshmallow Roasting Story

1:36

Sessions. Search for Super

1:39

Great Kids Stories Express in

1:41

your Apple or Patreon channel

1:43

and start listening now. My

1:47

second reason to be cheerful is that

1:49

we've got not one but two

1:52

stories about birds for you this

1:54

week. They're sort of

1:56

wise bird stories. Story

1:59

Owl has been begging me to go

2:01

full feather and share both these stories

2:03

with you. So just this once I've

2:05

given in and now she's like the

2:08

cat who licked the cream. Mmm,

2:10

what's the owl equivalent of that? The

2:13

owl who ate the mouse? Eee.

2:17

Anyway, Story Owl is one happy

2:19

bird. And my third

2:22

reason to be cheerful today is

2:24

that our first wise bird tale

2:26

is told by none other than

2:28

Toop. It's

2:31

a tale which is told in

2:33

Africa and also in the US.

2:35

It's a Native American story. It's

2:39

all about a bird who wasn't really

2:41

sure who he was or

2:43

what he was capable of. I

2:46

think lots of us are a bit like that. We

2:48

just can't see what we're good at. Just

2:51

before we hear from Toopie Toop Toop, I

2:53

have a quick question for you. Yes.

2:57

Can you think of three reasons to

2:59

be cheerful today? Or

3:01

maybe even more? Well

3:03

we have a quick word with

3:05

the grown-ups. Ready? Off

3:09

you go. Hello

3:14

Super Great Kim. Hello Super Great David.

3:17

Kim, I have a question. I love

3:19

questions, fire away. What is

3:21

the best kind of story? Well,

3:24

I think the best kind of story is

3:26

an old story which has been told

3:28

for many years and passed on from person

3:30

to person. Ooh, that's a good answer.

3:32

I thought you were going to say something specific

3:35

like only Baba Yaga stories or Nancy stories or

3:37

stories that have to have two-headed giants in them.

3:40

No, just a story which has been

3:42

loved and passed along and told by

3:44

lots of people. Right, OK. So

3:47

if we really want more people to hear stories,

3:49

it seems like we're going to need

3:51

help from our lovely listeners. We

3:53

know these stories because people have been

3:55

sharing them with each other for donkey's

3:58

years. I tell you. You

4:00

tell someone else, they tell someone else and

4:02

soon everyone knows the story. Hmm.

4:05

You know what, Kim, I think maybe it's

4:07

such a good idea that we could possibly

4:10

put it into song. If

4:16

you tell a friend and I

4:18

tell a friend we'll all have

4:20

a super great time. And

4:23

if they share one and they

4:25

pass that along, a whole lot

4:27

of us. A

4:29

whole lot of us. A whole

4:33

lot of us will have

4:35

a super great time. Hello

4:43

super great kids, I'm back. Did

4:45

you have time to think of three reasons to

4:47

be cheerful? One of

4:50

mine is that I get to do

4:52

a job which means I hear stories

4:54

every day. That's pretty cool.

4:57

And also I'm doing a live online

4:59

show with my friend Kate Corquery next

5:01

month. Anyway, now

5:03

it's time to give a

5:06

warm welcome to Toopie Toop

5:08

Toop. Hello

5:15

super great kids

5:17

stories. Hello super

5:20

great kids stories. I have

5:22

a story for all of

5:24

you. Once

5:26

upon a time there was

5:28

a man who had a farm. He's

5:32

farm he had cows

5:34

and sheep and pigs

5:36

and horses and chickens,

5:38

of course chickens. One

5:41

day the man when he was

5:44

out in the woods he

5:46

found an egg. There upon

5:49

the ground amongst the

5:51

undergrowth of weeds and brambles

5:53

there was an egg. Out

5:55

of its nest are said the man. I

5:58

will not walk past and leave. leave that

6:00

there for some animal to come

6:02

and have a meal. No, I

6:04

take it home, I'll keep it

6:06

warm and see what hatches.

6:11

Which is what he did. Picking

6:13

up that egg very gently, he kept

6:15

it there very safe within his hand

6:18

until he reached his farm. Then he

6:20

put that egg amongst the

6:22

chickens so that they could sit

6:25

upon it and keep it warm.

6:29

The egg was larger than the chicken

6:31

eggs, but, you know, chickens are chickens

6:33

and they take care of eggs. And

6:36

one mother chicken came and sat upon that egg

6:38

and kept it very warm and before you know

6:40

it, there was a crack, there was a crack,

6:42

there was a crack, there was a cricket out

6:45

from that egg. They came...

6:48

Well, something that

6:50

wasn't a chicken really, had large

6:52

eyes, it had a hooked beak

6:55

and it looked very gangly, very

6:57

strange. Yes, very strange.

6:59

Wasn't fluffy like all the

7:01

other chicks, no. But

7:04

eventually, feathers grew. And

7:08

eventually, the bird grew.

7:11

And as time passed, the man, he

7:13

took care of that bird and that

7:15

bird was taken care of by all

7:17

the other chickens and the hens and

7:19

the roosters. And that bird

7:21

grew and that bird grew and that bird grew

7:24

until it grew to be of

7:26

a good, full size.

7:29

Playing amongst his friends the

7:32

chickens. Pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck,

7:34

pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck, oh,

7:37

the man was very happy, he looked

7:39

after that bird and all was well.

7:42

One day, the man had

7:44

a friend who came to pay him a

7:47

visit. And

7:49

the two men was talking,

7:51

walking around the farm when

7:54

the friend of the farm owner looked

7:57

into the pen where all the chickens were. are

8:00

and saw that strange large

8:02

bird and asked his friend,

8:05

Do you know what that

8:08

bird is amongst your chickens?

8:11

And the farm owner said, Why,

8:14

yeah, is

8:16

a bird like all the others? No, said

8:19

his friend. No, that is not a bird

8:21

like all the others. That

8:24

is an eagle. That

8:27

is an eagle. And

8:29

that eagle should fly

8:32

into the sky and remember

8:34

the mountain tops, remember

8:36

the tree tops and fly

8:39

into the clouds. It

8:41

shouldn't be there upon the ground

8:44

looking for grain picking upon the

8:46

earth. No, the farm

8:48

owner said, Oh, leave the bird be.

8:51

He likes to play with the chickens.

8:54

Leave the bird. But the farm

8:56

owner's friend said, No, this eagle

8:58

must remember to catch the wind

9:01

beneath its wings and fly into

9:03

the sky. So he picked up

9:05

that eagle and he looked that

9:07

eagle straight into the eyes and

9:10

he spoke to that eagle saying,

9:13

Eagle, you must remember

9:15

you are an eagle. You

9:19

can fly above the mountain

9:21

peaks way up into the

9:23

sky above the clouds. Fly,

9:26

remember. And he threw

9:29

that bird up into the air

9:31

and that bird, it stretched its

9:33

wings. Then

9:36

it fluttered back down to the ground and

9:39

the farm owner laughed. Didn't

9:43

I tell you, leave the bird

9:45

alone. He likes to play with

9:47

his friends the chickens. But

9:51

the farmer's friend said, No,

9:54

my dear friend, that

9:56

is an eagle and the eagle must

9:58

remember to catch the wind. Remember, it

10:01

is a bird of flight. It

10:03

soars above the mountain peaks

10:06

way into the sky. Bring

10:09

me a ladder, and if I

10:11

may, I will climb to your

10:13

rooftop, and you will see that

10:16

this bird will fly. The

10:19

farm owner obliged his friend, and

10:21

brought a ladder, and put it

10:23

against his house, and before you

10:25

know it, his friend climbed the

10:27

ladder, and now was there on

10:30

top of the roof of the

10:32

farmhouse. Once again, he held

10:35

the eagle in his hands, and

10:37

he looked at the eagle and

10:39

said, Eagle, you

10:42

are an eagle. You

10:44

must remember that you can

10:47

fly above the mountain peaks,

10:49

above the trees, and way

10:52

up into the clouds. Remember,

10:54

you are an eagle, and

10:57

with that, he threw the

10:59

eagle up into the air.

11:01

The eagle stretched its wings,

11:04

looked down upon the farm,

11:06

and fluttered back

11:08

down towards the ground again, and

11:10

the farm owner laughed at his

11:12

friend. Ha ha ha ha ha

11:14

ha ha ha ha ha ha

11:16

ha ha ha ha ha ha

11:18

ha ha. I told you, my

11:21

dear friend, leave the bird be.

11:24

Since he was an egg, I hatched him.

11:26

He played amongst the chickens. Pluck pluck pluck

11:28

pluck pluck pluck pluck pluck pluck pluck. Oh,

11:31

he likes to play, they are his

11:33

friends. The friend of the farmer

11:36

said, listen, if I can

11:38

take this eagle with

11:40

me, as I make my journey up

11:42

into the mountains, I will set it

11:44

loose, and you will see that that

11:47

eagle will remember it

11:50

is an eagle. The

11:53

farm owner said, my friend, if

11:55

you must do what you will, but take

11:58

care of my bird, I tell you. this

12:00

please." Ah said the

12:02

friend, all is well, do not

12:04

worry, if it does not fly I shall

12:07

return with your eagle and if it flies

12:09

then maybe you will see it one day

12:12

soaring high in the sky.

12:15

But for now I leave you.

12:18

And with that the friend

12:20

of the farm owner took

12:22

that bird and left the

12:24

farm making his way out

12:26

and up into the mountains

12:29

and the mountains as he

12:31

climbed higher and higher got

12:33

a bit colder and brisk,

12:35

the wind blew. Now

12:38

the friend of the farmer was way

12:41

up high in the mountain.

12:44

The friend of the farmer looked

12:46

into the eyes of the bird,

12:48

the eagle and said, you

12:52

are an eagle, you

12:54

must remember you are an

12:56

eagle, although you

12:58

may love to play with

13:01

your friends the chickens, this

13:03

is your domain, remember the

13:06

mountain peaks, remember the

13:08

trees below, remember the

13:11

clouds above, you are

13:14

an eagle. And with that

13:17

the friend of the farmer threw

13:20

the bird up into the

13:22

air and the wind caught

13:25

underneath the wing of

13:27

that eagle and

13:29

that eagle started to

13:32

remember that it is an

13:34

eagle and that eagle

13:36

cried, as

13:41

the eagle looked down, looked

13:43

down upon those mountain peaks

13:48

and that eagle started to

13:50

feel the rush of the

13:52

wind beneath its wings as

13:55

it started to ride the

13:57

thermal heat that rises up

13:59

from the sky. the mountain

14:01

peaks into the sky and

14:03

that eagle made a spiral

14:06

turning around

14:09

and around until it

14:12

rose up above the

14:14

clouds with outstretched wings

14:16

and it started to

14:18

glide. I'm

14:27

sure some of you have

14:29

seen eagles and

14:31

birds of prey when

14:33

you look up into

14:35

the sky with their

14:38

outstretched wings gliding.

14:41

For this eagle it

14:44

looked down, it saw

14:46

the treetops, it saw the

14:48

mountain peaks and it saw

14:51

the farm and

14:54

the farmer he looked up

14:56

with his hands shielding his

14:58

eyes away from the sun

15:00

he looked and saw

15:03

his eagle and

15:05

the eagle cried out to the

15:07

farmer and the farmer

15:12

looked up and said my gosh my

15:15

friend has done it that

15:17

bird now flies high

15:19

above the clouds. You

15:23

know that eagle now

15:26

and again once in

15:28

a while it will fly

15:30

down towards the ground to

15:32

meet as before

15:35

with his friends the

15:37

chickens but from

15:39

that day until this

15:41

day that eagle once

15:45

it's visited its friends

15:47

would open its wings

15:49

and fly above the

15:51

farm above the treetops

15:53

above the mountain peaks

15:56

and out above

15:59

the clouds. It's way

16:01

out into the blue.

16:17

Oh,

16:21

thank you so much, Toop, for that

16:23

story. What did you think

16:25

of the ending? Do

16:28

you think that maybe you have hidden

16:30

talents or things you're really good at,

16:32

which you haven't yet discovered? I

16:35

expect you have. Sometimes

16:37

it takes a friend or someone in

16:39

our family or a teacher to show

16:41

us what makes us special and how

16:44

brilliant we are. What

16:46

did you think of the farmer's friend? Why

16:49

do you think he felt so strongly that the

16:51

eagle needed to be shown what he could do

16:53

as an eagle? Thank

16:56

goodness he spotted that the chicken was an

16:58

eagle or that poor eagle might still be

17:00

scrabbling around in the dirt with the chickens.

17:04

That story reminds me a little bit

17:06

of the ugly duckling. Do you

17:08

know that one? About a swan who thought

17:10

he was a duck. Another

17:12

cracker. You might

17:15

want to have a go at drawing

17:17

that eagle, soaring high in the sky

17:19

or scrabbling in the dirt

17:21

surrounded by clucking chickens. Send

17:24

your pictures to Story

17:26

Owl via our Facebook

17:28

page, facebook.com/Super Great Kids

17:31

Stories or

17:33

to our website,

17:35

supergreatkidsstories.com. Now,

17:38

it's time to say hello

17:40

to some fluffy owlets or

17:43

possibly eaglets who've recently

17:45

swooped into our nest. Let's

17:48

start in New Zealand and

17:50

say hello to owlets Finn,

17:53

who is seven, and

17:55

his sister, Clover, who is

17:57

three. They particularly

17:59

enjoy it. listening at bedtime.

18:02

Finn's favourite story is Baba Yaga

18:04

and Masha the Clever, and

18:06

he's drawn a lovely picture

18:08

of the story with a

18:11

witch's hut on chicken legs,

18:13

which you can see on

18:15

our Facebook page facebook.com/super great

18:17

kids stories. Over

18:20

to East Peoria in Illinois

18:22

to say hello to Nori,

18:24

who is six, and Ben,

18:26

who is three, and

18:28

their mum Kara, who all love

18:30

listening to super great kids stories

18:32

in the car. Nori's

18:35

favourite story is the Magic Orange

18:37

Tree. A good one Nori, one

18:39

of my favourites too. And

18:42

over to East Sussex in the

18:45

UK now to say hello to

18:47

three Owlets. Saskia, who

18:49

recently turned five, and her

18:51

subscribed to get the scary

18:53

stories, her big sister

18:56

Scarlett, and her little brother Griffin.

18:59

Saskia's favourite story is

19:01

Pookie Dances the Kokioko

19:03

and all the Anansi

19:05

stories. And

19:07

staying in the UK now, let's

19:09

hop across to Sunbury on Thames

19:11

in Surrey to say a big

19:14

hello to New Eaglets, I mean

19:16

Owlets, Callan, who is

19:18

nine, and Angus, who is

19:20

four. Their favourite stories

19:22

are the Ghost of the Bloody

19:24

Finger and How the

19:26

River Shannon came to be. And

19:29

down now to Axminster in

19:31

beautiful Devon to say hello

19:33

to Leo, who is eight,

19:35

and Rory, who is four.

19:37

They listen to super great

19:39

kids stories every night. Leo

19:42

found the Ghost of the Bloody

19:44

Finger hilarious and Rory loves

19:47

how the Leopard got his spots

19:49

and the Tinder box, as does his mum,

19:52

who used to listen to that story when

19:54

she was little. And

19:56

hello to superfans, Kater, who

19:58

is five. and Otis,

20:01

who is three. They

20:03

especially love the scary stories, and

20:05

they've been telling their friends at

20:07

school about us too. A rah!

20:09

Thank you. And over

20:12

to Goodyear in Arizona in

20:14

the US next, to say

20:16

hello to twin owlets, Hayley

20:18

and Ethan, who are five.

20:22

Hayley's favourite story is

20:24

Anansi and the Birds,

20:26

and Ethan's favourite stories are

20:29

all the Baba Yaga stories. Oh, lovely

20:31

Ethan. And

20:33

a big hoot hello to

20:35

six-year-old Harriet from Courtney in

20:38

British Columbia in Canada. Thanks

20:41

Harriet for sending us your amazing picture

20:43

of Baba Yaga's house. Harriet

20:46

and her dad listened to the

20:48

Irish story, Eggshell Soup, and really

20:51

laughed at the idea of a

20:53

wrinkly-faced baby saying, I want whisky,

20:55

I want tobacco. Harriet

20:58

especially loves the scary stories. But

21:01

she does want to know, why isn't there

21:03

a Super Great Silly Stories podcast?

21:06

Well there's a thought Harriet. And

21:09

hello to Kofi, who is

21:11

six, and his sister, Arderen,

21:14

who is four. Arderen

21:16

is the Welsh word for

21:18

bird. Lovely. They

21:21

live in London and love listening to

21:23

Super Great Kids stories at bedtime. Kofi

21:26

gets very excited every time

21:28

he mentioned donating via Kofi

21:30

because it sounds like him.

21:33

He also loves the Anansi stories

21:36

from West Africa. Arderen

21:38

loves joining in with the sounds of

21:40

the old woman and the fat

21:42

pumpkin. Ehh, ehh, ehh, ehh,

21:44

ehh, ehh, ehh, ehh,

21:47

ehh. Such fun. And

21:49

hello to Ali, who is four,

21:52

and Leah, who is ten months.

21:55

Ali's favourite story is all

21:57

of them. He and his family

21:59

are family. from Kazakhstan and

22:01

they recently moved from

22:03

London to Riyadh in

22:05

Saudi Arabia. Hope

22:08

you're settling in well, Ali and Blair. That's

22:11

all of our Owlet Hellos for this week.

22:13

More next week. And

22:16

our two Pick of the Week pictures

22:18

are from four-year-old Eazla, who

22:20

lives in Jackson Hole in Wyoming

22:23

in the US. She's

22:25

drawn a super great scary picture

22:27

of Baba Yaga the witch who

22:30

apparently has just eaten a child

22:33

and she has say Baba Yaga

22:35

Baba Yaga because she's

22:37

just very very full. Eek!

22:40

A very imaginative picture, Eazla. And

22:44

seven-year-old Mariana from Gainesville in

22:46

Florida has sent a very

22:49

imaginative picture of Anansi and

22:51

the Magic Yams. She's

22:54

drawn Tiger fleeing in horror

22:56

from the creepy Yams who

22:58

are chasing him shouting dicky

23:00

dicky boom boom puff. Great

23:03

fun Mariana, thank you. And

23:06

thanks very much to all of you who

23:08

are subscribing to our podcast. We

23:10

couldn't manage without your support. If

23:13

you'd like to support us on Apple

23:15

Podcasts or on Patreon, we'll say hello

23:17

to you on the programme. You can

23:19

hear our stories advert free and

23:22

you'll get 44 bonus stories

23:24

and at least 22 super great

23:26

scary stories. And

23:29

now you'll also get access

23:31

to our Express Stories channel.

23:33

For more information, go

23:36

to our website at

23:38

supergreatkidsstories.com. Remember

23:42

that we have a bonus story

23:45

for everyone today, the Brave Little

23:47

Hummingbird. So remember to go to

23:49

the next story and let Juliana

23:51

Marine take you to the rainforest

23:54

in Paraguay. And

23:57

a reminder that Kate Corquery and I

23:59

will be back. be performing a

24:01

live online show for you

24:03

on July the 20th at

24:06

5.30pm British Summertime, which

24:09

is 9.30am Pacific Summertime

24:11

and 12.30pm Eastern

24:13

Standard Time. We'll be

24:16

there afterwards for half an hour to

24:18

answer questions. Tickets are available

24:20

via the website for £10 or roughly

24:24

US$12 and all the family

24:26

can watch on one device. This

24:30

podcast was produced at

24:32

Wardoor Studios in fabulous

24:34

Fitzrovia in London.