Episode 11 – The Bremen Town Musicians Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.   This episode, we have TWO animal tales for you.  The first one is a fable by Aesop, brilliantly told by Leo!  If you like this short fable, you can read more of them in this book - Orchard Aesop's Fables.And the second one is The Bremen Town Musicians.  This is a very popular folk tale in Germany, most famously told by the Brothers Grimm.  Bremen is a real place and there is actually a statue there of all the animals one on top of the other.  You can see it here.Here is a link to the website for Leo's musical activity.  There are 52 instruments to choose from!  We would love to see (and hear) your instruments when you've finished them. Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling, songs and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat

Episode 10 - Mama Draga Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.   This episode, we are telling a folktale from Sicily, which is an island south of Italy.  It has a volcano on the island, called Mount Etna!There are lots of versions of this type of folktale - but this is our version. If you would like to read more Sicilian Tales, we can recommend this lovely book Catarina the Wise and other Wondrous Folk and Fairy Tales. And here is a youtube link to Leo's Coffee Filter Roses activity!  We can't wait to see how they come out!Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out.You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat

Episode 9 - The Tempest Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.   This episode, we are telling a tale written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare - The Tempest, which means the storm! It's a story about a mystical island far far away across the sea. If you'd like to find out more about William Shakespeare you can check out these Shakespeare Fun Facts! And this is a nice introduction to Shakespeare's works by Michael Rosen & Sarah Nayler. We'll put some photos of Leo's Puppet theatre in the Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook. However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on: Facebook  Instagram Twitter Thanks for listening!   Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBand Storytelling and music by Dragonfly Tales Produced by Andy Grazebrook Art by Light Creative Sound effects by Zapsplat  

Episode 8 – Anansi and Turtle Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.   This episode, we introduce a classic story archtype - The Trickster!Anansi the spider is a trickster - he's sneaky, funny and a bit lazy too!The Anansi stories were first told by the Ashanti people in Ghana, a country in West Africa.  They were not written but passed down through telling from generation to generation.  Until they had spread far and wide.  They spread across oceans to the Caribbean – they crossed continents and are now told all over the world. Here is Leo's YouTube link to the Spider Puppet activity.  It's nice and easy to make.   Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out.You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat

Episode 7 – Odysseus and the Cyclops Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.  This episode, our tale is THOUSANDS of years old.  It’s a very long epic and we only had time to tell a part of it.  If you liked the story and want to follow Odysseus on the rest of his journey, we’d recommend this version by Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton – two amazing storytellers - The Adventures of Odysseus. Here is a YouTube link to Sinbad and the Cyclops and here is a really nice blog about the genius of Ray Harryhausen. And here is a really cool link about Stop Motion Animation for beginners! Can’t wait to see your monsters!  There are tons of apps out there - we really like Stop Motion Studio. Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out.You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat

Episode 6 – The Monkeys and the Bell Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.     This episode is a classic tale from India – there are many different versions of this story, but our favourite is in this lovely Usbourne book of Indian tales.  Here is a great link to Leo’s activity: Mango and Banana Smoothie. Remember to ask a grown up for help with chopping and whizzing! Please please leave us a lovely review and keep posting your pics and drawings in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects and Sitar by Zapsplat and on Public Domain

Episode 5 – The Faerie Thorn Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a story podcast for children of all ages.   This episode is a tale from Northern Ireland about the mystical and magical Faerie Thorn tree.  I first heard the wonderful Liz Weir MBE tell a version of this at the Glens of Antrim Story Festival.Here is an extract from Jane Talbot’s wonderfully dark collection of fairy tales, The Faerie Thorn: ‘Now, if you don’t know about faerie thorns, you should. The Big People call these trees hawthorns, and in May you can see them scattering snow-blossoms in every direction. The Big People know that the Little People live in the roots of these trees, so the wisest Big People make sure that the faerie thorns are left well alone.    Here are the instructions for making Leo’s fairy tree: You will need: ·        A big sheet of blank paper  and a pencil ·        Some prittstick or gloopy glue ·        Some twigs and branches ·        Lots of different sized leaves ·        Some little gems or shiny buttons ·        And some glitter First, draw an outline of a tree in winter on your paper.  Try to make your branches nice and big and do lots of them. Next, using your glue, stick your twigs down over your outline so you have a winter tree. Next turn your tree into a summer tree by sticking on your leaves.  The more leaves you add the fuller your tree will look. You can also add little flowers to your tree too – to make it more spring like. Finally, to make it a fairy tree, stick some gems or buttons onto your tree and then shake over some glitter.         And now you have a magical fairy tree! You can find photos of Leo's tree and the REAL Faerie Thorn in our Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group.If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and songs by Dragonfly TalesFiddle Music by Slainte on Free Music ArchiveProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat               

Welcome to the next episode of Dragonfly Tales, a new story podcast for children of all ages.    This episode is a tale from old Japan and features the Oni – they are Japanese trolls who live underground!  There are lots of different versions of this story, but our favourite version is by Arlene Mosel.  Here is the link to Leo's Sudoku puzzles. We'd love to see some of your own, along with any drawings of the story. You can post them in our new Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group. If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat

Welcome to the 3rd episode of Dragonfly Tales, a new story podcast for children of all ages. This episode is a tale from Australia!  It's a beginning story, or a 'pourquoi' story. These stories explain why something is the way it is - do you think the story is true?You can find more lovely stories from the Australian Bush in the gorgeous book: Stories from the BillabongHere is the link to Leo's Eardrum Experiment. We'd love to see some videos of your model eardrum in action! Post them in our new Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group.And here is the link to the incredibly talented LYRE BIRD!And remember to like, follow, subscribe and download.  We would love to see some of your pictures on our new Dragonfly Tales Podcast Group on Facebook.If you would like a shout out, the best thing to do is join the Dragonfly Tales story chat on Facebook.  However, if you don't use Facebook, you can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to give you a shout out. You can follow us on:Facebook  InstagramTwitterThanks for listening! Theme Music by Leo Grazebrook on GarageBandStorytelling and music by Dragonfly TalesProduced by Andy GrazebrookArt by Light CreativeSound effects by Zapsplat