We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read from "Princess Belle Etoile", written by the 17th century French writer and mother of modern western fairy tales, Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, AKA the Madame Countess d'Aulnoy. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

She originated the term that is now generally used for the genre. "Princess Belle Etoile" was itself inspired by an Italian fairy tale, which may have originally spun from an Arabic tale. 

— read by 'V' — 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Princess Belle Etoile

Snoozecast is the podcast designed to help you fall asleep.
Episodes air every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Learn more about us at snoozecast.com, and visit our sponsor Robody, at ro.co/snoozecast for a special deal that will help any listeners that would like a medically supported weight loss program. It also helps Snoozecast when you sign up through that special link, so thank you! 
Learn about our premium listening options at snoozecast.com/plus, which unlocks ad-free listening to our expanded catalog, including bonus original stories.

Kids & Family

Health & Fitness

Leisure

Stories for Kids

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “The Bad Little Owls” from the “Told at Twilight” series by John Breck. It was published in 1923. This episode first aired in May of 2021.

A group of owls is called a parliament. This term supposedly originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
Many of the avian collective nouns originate in an anonymously published book from 1486 titled “ The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms”, later discovered to be written by a nun named Juliana Barnes. Some of the many terms from this book still in use today are an “exaltation of larks”, a “murmuration of starlings”, a “watch of nightingales”, a “sedge of herons”, and an “unkindness of ravens”.

— read by 'V' —
Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bad Little Owls

Tonight, we’ll read a Snoozecast original tale about a furry friend. After 2 weeks of rain showers, Olive, the family’s “sassy senior” jack russell terrier takes it upon herself to bring an end to the ongoing downpour with the help of some other city creatures.

— read by 'V' —
Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olive and the Endless Rain

Tonight, we’ll read the 15th chapter to “Anne of Green Gables” the classic 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This chapter is titled “Anne’s Confession”.

In the last episode, Marilla believes Anne lost Marilla’s special brooch and accuses her of lying. To punish her, Marilla disallows Anne to attend the much anticipated Sunday school picnic. Eventually, after much despair, Anne confesses for the crime she did not commit. Then Marilla finds that she herself lost her brooch when she finds it. Anne then gets to attend the Sunday school picnic after all.

— read by 'N' —
Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne of Green Gables pt. 15

Tonight, for our monthly Snoozecast+ Deluxe bonus episode, we invite you to immerse yourself in a tale crafted by Snoozecast, set at a one room school house in the 1910s. If you would like to learn more about what Snoozecast’s premium subscription service offers, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite them accordingly. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and is almost exclusive to the English language.

Historically, the word “bee” has been used to describe a get-together for communal work, like a husking bee, a quilting bee, or an apple bee. Why was it referred to as a “bee”? The word bee probably comes from the dialectal “been” meaning "help given by neighbors". This in tern originated from Middle English’s “bene”, meaning "prayer", "boon" or "extra service by a tenant to his lord".

Spelling bees became widespread across the United States during the 19th century, as a way to motivate students to learn standardized spelling. These spelling bees were usually held within individual schools and towns, and were not nationally organized. Soon after the dawn of the 20th century, the "first national spelling bee" was held. Marie Bolden, a young Black student from Cleveland, was named the first champion in 1908.

— read by 'N' —
Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spelling Bee

Tonight, we’ll read “The Ugly Duckling”, a Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, originally published in 1843. Snoozecast originally aired this episode back in 2021.

Unlike most fairy tales, this one is completely Andersen's invention and owes no debt to humanity’s vast cultural catalog of fairy tales or folklore.
Apparently Andersen grew up awkward and tall, with a big nose and feet.

Furthermore, speculation suggests that Andersen may have been the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik who later became king of Denmark. Being a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent in that case, but also for secret royal lineage.
— read by 'N' —
Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Princess Belle Etoile

Download our free app to listen on your phone