On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Pallie Trip to See Texas” by Sheila Starks Phillips 

Story Spotlight: “The Name of the Tree” by Stephanie Beneteau 

Daily Mix: Teresa Love discusses William Joyce

Storytime:  "Hawke's Nest" by Laura Pershin Raynor

“The Bus Trip Plan” by Donald Davis

Radio Family Journal: Junior Patriots

 

Storyteller Spotlight: Stephanie Beneteau

Stéphanie was born in Italy to a French-Canadian father and an American mother. She studied litterature, worked in theatre, completed a degree in education and taught as an elementary school teacher before finding her true vocation as a storyteller in 1994.

Since then, Stéphanie has performed professionally in hundreds of schools, concert halls, festivals and libraries in Québec, Ontario and Europe. A fluently bilingual performer and a registered member of the ARTISTS IN SCHOOLS program, Stéphanie has toured Ontario during CANADIAN CHILDRENS' BOOK WEEK and has been a featured speaker and workshop leader at many conferences.

Stéphanie brings old stories from the oral tradition back to life in a lyrical and poetic voice touched with humour. She is particularly interested in stories about women, which she tells in a lively, expressive and compelling style all her own.

On today's Apple Seed Extra, we celebrate Odds Bodkin's "Little Proto" stories (we brought you some of those epic tales on today's episode of  The Apple Seed, in an episode called "Rufus Bly and the Lobster Wife"), we're taking you to Fruita Colorado, whee you can have a dinosaur adventure all your own!

Sometimes, the hardest thing to accept is the simple truth about people we love. In today’s episode, we’ll hear Willy Claflin tell a sweet, if unusual, story and song about a lobster fisherman who has a hard truth to accept about the woman he loves. But the fun doesn’t stop there! We’ll also hear tales from Odds Bodkin, Eshu Bumpus, and another radio family journal in this eventful hour of stories and songs.

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Zangaiwa Chakatanga Pano” by Eshu Bumpus

Story Spotlight: “Rufus Bly and the Lobster Wife” by Willy Claflin

Storytime: “Look Around” by Odds Bodkin

“You’ll Never Know” by Odds Bodkin

“Lost and Alone” by Odds Bodkin

Storyteller Spotlight: Willy Claflin

A headliner and master of ceremonies at the National Storytelling Festival, Willy is a favorite at festivals throughout the U.S. He offers stories for families as well as adults, often weaving music into his performances. Willy is the author of four award-winning children's books, including The Uglified Ducky, which won the Texas Library Association's Blue Bonnet Award for best children's book of the year.

Sometimes, the hardest thing to accept is the simple truth about people we love. In today’s episode, we’ll hear Willy Claflin tell a sweet, if unusual, story and song about a lobster fisherman who has a hard truth to accept about the woman he loves. But the fun doesn’t stop there! We’ll also hear tales from Odds Bodkin, Eshu Bumpus, and another radio family journal in this eventful hour of stories and songs.

 

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Zangaiwa Chakatanga Pano” by Eshu Bumpus

Story Spotlight: “Rufus Bly and the Lobster Wife” by Willy Claflin

Storytime: “Look Around” by Odds Bodkin

“You’ll Never Know” by Odds Bodkin

“Lost and Alone” by Odds Bodkin

 

Storyteller Spotlight: Willy Claflin

A headliner and master of ceremonies at the National Storytelling Festival, Willy is a favorite at festivals throughout the U.S. He offers stories for families as well as adults, often weaving music into his performances. Willy is the author of four award-winning children's books, including The Uglified Ducky, which won the Texas Library Association's Blue Bonnet Award for best children's book of the year.

On today's Apple Seed Extra, we celebrate Odds Bodkin's "Little Proto" stories (we brought you some of those epic tales on today's episode of  The Apple Seed, in an episode called "Rufus Bly and the Lobster Wife"), we're taking you to Fruita Colorado, whee you can have a dinosaur adventure all your own!

People have gone to the ocean to search for answers and stories for generations. It holds many secrets and discoveries and continues to be the home for hundreds of species. Oceanographers, Marine Biologists and Storytellers alike explore and analyze the ocean for its mystery and lore. In this episode we will see that the ocean not only is a place of untold beauty and mystery but can also hold truths and tales that can resonate with our own lives. Whether it be through reminiscing on your own life, saving starfish, or having an interesting run-in with the creatures that live in the sea, these stories of the ocean hold lessons and whimsy that isn’t always present in other areas of our lives. May we all enjoy the company of each other and remember the beauty of nature.

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Ocean of Answers” by Kevin Cordi on Unlocking the Puzzle (10:41)

Story Spotlight: “The Magic Mill” by Dan Keding on Strawberries in Winter (15:48)

Storytime: The Starfish by Bonnie Greenberg on The Wonder Child (2:58)

The hole in the sea by Charlotte Blake-Alston on Hole in the Sea (6:43) 

The mollusk's tale by Bob Reiser on Foibles and Fiddlesticks (8:38)

Radio Family Journal: Calmer Swimming

People have gone to the ocean to search for answers and stories for generations. It holds many secrets and discoveries and continues to be the home for hundreds of species. Oceanographers, Marine Biologists and Storytellers alike explore and analyze the ocean for its mystery and lore. In this episode we will see that the ocean not only is a place of untold beauty and mystery but can also hold truths and tales that can resonate with our own lives. Whether it be through reminiscing on your own life, saving starfish, or having an interesting run-in with the creatures that live in the sea, these stories of the ocean hold lessons and whimsy that isn’t always present in other areas of our lives. May we all enjoy the company of each other and remember the beauty of nature.

 

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Ocean of Answers” by Kevin Cordi on Unlocking the Puzzle (10:41)

Story Spotlight: “The Magic Mill” by Dan Keding on Strawberries in Winter (15:48)

Storytime: The Starfish by Bonnie Greenberg on The Wonder Child (2:58)

The hole in the sea by Charlotte Blake-Alston on Hole in the Sea (6:43) 

The mollusk's tale by Bob Reiser on Foibles and Fiddlesticks (8:38)

Radio Family Journal: Calmer Swimming

Sometimes the smartest people have the hardest time being heard. From Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, to Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter, it’s often those who are small or young that have the best ideas but the smallest audiences. Today, in a story by Susan Strauss, we’ll hear about an underestimated spider who is smarter than a Coyote. We’ll also hear more tales of animals and young people from Norah Dooley, and Bill Harley.

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Molly O’Donahue” by Norah Dooley

Story Spotlight: “Coyote Goes To The Sky” by Susan Strauss

Storytime: “Bucket of Beans, Clarisse, and the Bubble Machine” by Bill Harley

Radio Family Journal: Alpine Yodeler

Storyteller Spotlight: Susan Strauss

Susan Strauss is recognized internationally as a storyteller of natural history performances, combining mythic/traditional story with personal anecdote and scientific information to provoke an experience of natural archetypes, including: water, plants, marine life, landscapes, wolves, and other creatures. Susan also tells fool stories, hero myths and traditional stories of feminine and masculine archetypes. She gives storytelling performances and workshops at a host of different places including museums, aquariums, assorted professional conferences, and school assemblies throughout the U.S., Europe and Australia.

She teaches at Oregon State University and is affiliate faculty at University of Idaho. Her material is generated from extensive research in linguistic, anthropological and biological texts.

Susan has produced multi-cultural storytelling books and award-winning audio recordings of children's and adult stories, all of which can be ordered from her website at http://www.straussstoryteller.com/

In these days of dealing with the isolation of social distancing, we’re producing the Apple Seed from a couple of home studios.  Sam took to posting to social media a little song every day – something filled with a little hope and a little encouragement to hang on. We thought we’d bring you some of those pieces here, as Apple Seed Extras. These aren’t studio recordings, and you’ll be able to tell – they’re made with an iPad, aimed at Sam while he sits at his desk. We’re happy to bring them to you here on The Apple Seed. Here's what Sam says about this song, called "Sleep":

 

 

"This is a song that I started to write on the way home from the dentist’s office. My youngest son had been in there that morning – just a little guy, five years old, and his teeth were a mess, and he needed some work done that was going to require them to put him right under.

 

He had been yanked out of bed in his PJs, impossibly early in the morning, long before down, to go down to the office for that procedure, And I waited with him while he slept in the recovery room, and I watched him slowly come out of it, and as I drove him home, he fell dead asleep again in the car, and I saw him there in this kind of drug induced stupor, and he just so vulnerable, like the world could just have its way with him. And the sun was just coming up, and my father’s heart imagined all the things he might have to face in a tough world that didn’t care much about him.

 

And frankly, those thoughts had a lot more to do with how my day was going than they did about how his was going. But at the moment, with a sore mouth waiting for him when he woke up, and a miserable day ahead, I just wished him a good, long, sleep. And that wish got writ rather dramatically large in this song."

 

Here are the lyrics:

 

There is nothing so cold as the night-time

There is nothing so black as the sky

And you rest there in your little PJs

And the storm gonna keep blowing by

It will take you and do what it will so for now close your eyes

 

And sleep

‘Til you know that all promises break

And the water is always too deep

Sleep

 

Little captain in your little vessel

Where you sail and you sail all alone

And I pray and I pray ever knowing

That none of us knows the way home

And the North Star is hidden in some other part of the skies

I believe in the fire in the lighthouse

I believe in the power of love

I believe in the strength of the darkness

I believe there’s a God up above

 

Your voice will come and you’ll pray for redemption

Pressing on though you’re battered and bruised

‘Til you’re gone I will stand there beside you

I will teach you the words that I use

Later on, but now

 

Sleep

Ain’t none of us angels

Caught up in a war that is dirty and cheap

Sleep

 

A little Apple Seed Extra, something that’s available only here in the Apple Seed podcast space. Again, we’ve been self-isolating, and looking for ways to reach out to our fellow humans. Our hearts go out to all of our storytelling friends, who even in times like this never cease to reach out in all kinds of creative ways to share stories at a safe distance. Hang in there, all. We love you. We’d love to know what you’re up to, how you’ve passed the time in an era of isolation. Did you recite Shakespeare monologues? Sing broadway show tunes? Tell family stories? Let us know, by emailing us at [email protected]. We love to hear from you, especially now.

Sometimes the smartest people have the hardest time being heard. From Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, to Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter, it’s often those who are small or young that have the best ideas but the smallest audiences. Today, in a story by Susan Strauss, we’ll hear about an underestimated spider who is smarter than a Coyote. We’ll also hear more tales of animals and young people from Norah Dooley, and Bill Harley.

 

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

Story Kickoff: “Molly O’Donahue” by Norah Dooley

Story Spotlight: “Coyote Goes To The Sky” by Susan Strauss

Storytime: “Bucket of Beans, Clarisse, and the Bubble Machine” by Bill Harley

Radio Family Journal: Alpine Yodeler

 

Storyteller Spotlight: Susan Strauss

Susan Strauss is recognized internationally as a storyteller of natural history performances, combining mythic/traditional story with personal anecdote and scientific information to provoke an experience of natural archetypes, including: water, plants, marine life, landscapes, wolves, and other creatures. Susan also tells fool stories, hero myths and traditional stories of feminine and masculine archetypes. She gives storytelling performances and workshops at a host of different places including museums, aquariums, assorted professional conferences, and school assemblies throughout the U.S., Europe and Australia.

She teaches at Oregon State University and is affiliate faculty at University of Idaho. Her material is generated from extensive research in linguistic, anthropological and biological texts.

Susan has produced multi-cultural storytelling books and award-winning audio recordings of children's and adult stories, all of which can be ordered from her website at http://www.straussstoryteller.com/