Tonight, we’ll read a Japanese tale adapted by Snoozecast called “The Precious Fishing Hook” or “The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher.” It was originally found in “Japanese Fairy Tales” compiled by Yei Theodora Ozaki.

If you enjoy this sleep story, be sure to check out our other ones that come from the same book. “The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon Child” is a two-parter that first aired in April of 2019. “Momotaro” also aired in April 2019. “The Fisher-Boy Urashima” aired in May of 2020. And this particular story originally aired in November of 2021.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “Westward Hoboes” written by Winifred Hawkridge Dixon and published in 1921.

In this story, two early 1920s girls from Boston set out to tour the West all by themselves, equipped with a sturdy car, a camping outfit, courage and a sense of humor.

A hobo is an old-fashioned term for a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct. A hobo travels and is willing to work. A tramp travels, but avoids work if possible. A bum neither travels nor works.

Following these definitions, it seems that the protagonists should have been referred to as tramps instead of hoboes, as they were only traveling, not working.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.

In the last episode, the submarine the Nautilus glides quickly through the Mediterranean Sea, to the chagrin of Ned Land, who was really hoping to make his escape. Aronnax and Conseil were less eager, but agreed to go with Ned. Soon, however, they find themselves in the rough seas of the Atlantic. Ned is not swayed, and insists that they must make their break that night, at 9 pm.

While Aronnax wrestles with conflicted feelings on this, he prepares himself to leave. As the time approaches, the submarine suddenly stops. There is no sign of Ned where Aronnax waits in the salon. Nemo suddenly appears and launches into an impromptu Spanish history lesson, where we will pick up the story.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Nutcracker of Nuremberg” story, originally published in 1844.

Dumas’ version of The Nutcracker was itself adapted from the original, written by E.T.A. Hoffman. However it was Dumas adaptation that gave inspiration to the famous “Nutcracker” ballet composed by Tchaikovsky. This episode originally aired in December of 2021.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read another excerpt from “Woodcraft” published by George Washington Sears, under the pen name "Nessmuk." Sears was a writer and adventurer who penned essays on hunting, fishing, and camping for popular journals and magazines.

This chapter is called “Canoeing”. In contemporary times, the author lives on not just through his writing but through his canoe. In fact, one of the most celebrated canoes in American canoeing annals and referred to as “the Nessmuk”. Historic replicas of this canoe can be purchased so that canoeists can paddle in one just like the one commissioned by the author for his famous 1880 Adirondack cruise.

This type of craft has come to be generically known as the Adirondack Pack canoe, and is the best way to obtain the smallest, lightest solo recreation paddle craft. Incredibly handy to paddle and transport, the Nessmuk is still known to surprise paddlers with her quickness and seaworthiness.

— 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

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

In the last episode, titled “Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Properly Horrified”, Anne has been settling in at Green Gables for the last couple weeks, when Mrs. Rachel Lynde pays a visit. She would have visited sooner, but had been laid up with a bout of grippe, which is an archaic term for the flu.

Mrs. Lynde sees any orphan as suspicious as a rule, and when Anne comes in from playing outside, she is messy, dirty, and in ill-fitting orphanage clothes. The lady does not hold her tongue on how she perceives Anne- as a homely, pathetic creature with “hair as red as carrots”. Anne in return also does not hold back- and calls Mrs. Lynde fat, clumsy and without imagination. Later, Marilla talks to Anne privately and insists that while Mrs. Lynde may have deserved what she got, she was still Anne’s elder and must be treated with an expected amount of courtesy. Otherwise, it would harm not only Anne’s reputation in the community but also Marilla’s. Thus, Anne would need to muster up the courage to apologize

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read from “For Luncheon and Supper Guests” written by Alice Bradley published in 1923. “Luncheon” is the formal word for lunch, a light mid-day meal.

In the Middle Ages, before electric lighting and industrialization, the mid-day meal was large and considered dinner. There was no lunch, so later in the evening a lighter meal was had called “supper”.

But by the 1800s, the large meal of dinner was pushed into the evening and thus, not only was supper squeezed out, but there was a need for something to eat in between breakfast and dinner.

Up until the early 1800s, luncheon was generally reserved for ladies, who would often have lunch with one another when their husbands were out. The meal was often made up of left-overs from the previous night's plentiful dinner. Beginning in the Victorian era, afternoon tea supplemented this luncheon at four o'clock.

This episode first aired in November of 2021.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “The Clock Strikes Thirteen” part of the “Penny Parker” anthology written by Mildred Wirt, also known by Mildred Benson. It was originally published in 1942.

Penny Parker was a high school student turned sleuth who also sporadically worked as a reporter for her father's newspaper.

In this story, Penny investigates mysterious riders who are bothering farmers at night. Meanwhile, a man makes a suspiciously generous donation to the Riverview orphan's camp.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read the final part to “The Boxcar Children” written by school teacher Gertrude Chandler Warner and originally published in 1924. We are reading this original, full version, and in it the children’s last name is Cordyce. Later, in 1942, the stories were revised shorter, and the children’s last name was changed to Alden.

As Warner wrote the story, she read it to her first grade class and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home, so the book gave them a fun story that was easy to read. Warner once wrote that the original book "raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it!"

In the last episode, the children and their grandfather are reunited. He is not only overjoyed to invite them to live with him (rather than out in an old boxcar in the woods) but he happens to live in a mansion with plenty of extra room. We will pick up on the tail-end of their grand tour of their new home.

— 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

Tonight, we’ll read from “In the Mist of the Mountains,” by Australian novelist and children’s writer Ethel Turner, published in 1906. Her best-known work is her first novel, Seven Little Australians (1894), which is widely considered as a classic of Australian children's literature. Turner was awarded a number of prestigious literary awards and could be considered one of Australia's best-loved authors. This story is set in a tiny mountain vacation town during tourist season. This episode first aired in November of 2021.

— 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