Once Upon an Upset

A little boy wants to get into his toy closet, but an elephant is blocking his way.

(Suitable for all ages.)

How To Move An Elephant was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

My son has lost a lot of people in his life already, and he often asks me to call my mother on my heart-phone so he can talk with her. I do a pretty good imitation of my mother and try to imagine what she’d say. Sometimes it really does feel like I’m channeling her. This is one of those conversations.

(Suitable for all ages.)

Channeling My Son’s Grand-Mère was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

A poem for children and families experiencing loss and grief, based on my book Anchors in the Storm.

(Suitable for all ages.)

Anchors in the Storm was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Because of secret traumas we carry from being repeatedly dismissed and gaslit, many of us don’t have the skills to be able to recognize that we’re no longer in those old toxic situations. And we don’t have the skills to be able to distinguish a daily conflict from a war.
We may not realize that as adults we are safe inside ourselves now. That we can actually consider another person’s perspective without making it mean that our own perspective is invalid.”

— from ‘What Are You Carrying: A Piece For Adults’

(Suitable for adults.)


What Are You Carrying: A Piece For Adults was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

A story about what to do when other people try to give you their pain, based on my own true story of being bullied.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

What I Learned About Being Bullied was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“My name is Redmond but everyone calls me Mean Red because I’m mean. I heard a couple people whispering about me the other day. They were wondering why I’m so mean. And it got me thinking. I’ve known for a while that I’m good at being mean because I make a lot of kids cry. But I never really thought about how I got this way. So I thought about it and remembered.”

-from ‘Mean Red’

A mean boy tells the story of how he became mean.

(Suitable for all ages.)

Mean Red was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once there was a mother and a son who were having trouble connecting. They used to connect all the time. I mean that’s ALL they did. But then little things started getting in their way. And those little things stacked up, like a wall between them. It used to be they would play all day. On the floor with trains or Legos. They’d make up stories that lasted hours, sometimes even days. The mother was tired. But her boy meant everything to her, so when he wanted to connect, she was pretty good at pretending she was wide awake. But then she stopped being good at pretending.”

— from 'How To Connect When You're Having Trouble Connecting'

A story about a mother and her tween son who wanted to connect but had a wall between them.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

How To Connect When You're Having Trouble Connecting was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Katie McKeever was the new girl in third grade. Katie McKeever was perfect. She didn’t walk, she did back handsprings. She received standing ovation after ovation not only from her peers but from her teachers, some of whom skipped their lunch breaks just to watch her on the balance beam. It was at that moment I knew I had to be a gymnast. Unfortunately, a gymnast I was not. I took one fall off the balance beam and had to be rushed to the nurse’s office.”

— from 'The Girl Who Wanted To Be Someone Else’

(Suitable for all ages.)

The Girl Who Wanted To Be Somebody Else was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“This is a story about the wickedest witch in all of the land. They didn’t even make a movie about her, that’s how wicked she was. She had so many people in her dungeon, she had to hire a big company to make her a second dungeon. That’s how wicked she was.”

— from 'Farmer John and the Wicked Witch of the Central Region'

A wicked witch falls from the sky due to a broom malfunction. After landing in a cornfield, she meets a farmer and they wind up helping each other in surprising ways.

(Suitable for all ages.)

Farmer John and the Wicked Witch of the Central Region was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of times, people get triggered by each other because they’re coming from different perspectives, but don’t realize it.

When a person sees circumstances from a top floor perspective, life can be understood metaphorically or conceptually or theoretically.

When a person sees circumstances from the ground floor, they’re in survival mode.

And in these moments on the ground floor, a person’s life depends on being able to navigate what’s going on down there and being available to respond. And for good reason. They very well may be fighting for their survival—whether the battle is within or from being traumatized or persecuted by another. Or perhaps their jobs on the ground floor are about saving other people’s lives.”

—From ‘Top Floor and Ground Floor Perspectives'

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

Top Floor and Ground Floor Perspectives was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.