The Apple Seed

Fantastic stories just for fun featuring:

Hot Diggety

his fun yarn starts with a very good dog and grows into a story about a poultry & prank-minded town. To learn more about Alan Hoal visit www.thehoalstory.com

Baby Turtle's Song

Audiences of all ages will enjoy Diane Ferlatte's take on classic stories, songs, and nursery rhymes. To learn more about Diane Ferlatte visit www.dianeferlatte.com

The Silent Prince

Recorded live in Toronto, this story has many layers of story and includes a very wise grandma. To learn more about Dan Yashinsky visit tellery.com/dan-yashinsky

The Perilous Pomegranate

A very symphonic approach to a very big story: Persephone, Hades, Demeter, the coming of spring. To learn more about Beatrice Bowles visit www.beatricebowles.com

This episode is dedicated to all those awkward, endearing, and enchanted moments that occur when the music is playing loud, the night is young, and there’s someone across the room that’s taking our breath away: pin that flower to your lapel, comb back your hair, and smooth out all your wrinkles because right now, we’re goin’ to the dance. Stories and songs included in this episode:

Twelve Dancing Princesses

Our first story is has variations in India, Armenia, Cape Verde, Scotland, and even Turkey, but you may know it best as it is told by the Grimm Brothers. It’s time to slip on those dancing shoes. To learn more about Megan Hicks visit www.meganhicks.com

Deidrene's Dance Story

Do you remember the first time you danced with someone you really liked? The exciting and awkward thrill of taking someone’s hand and walking together to the dance floor?

Perfect Match

Embarrassment is just one of those emotions that will always elicit great stories, no matter what decade it is. Let’s step back to the ‘60s with this memory from Dolores Hydock. To learn more about her work visitwww.storypower.org

Thyme

We think you’ll love this perfect mix of awkward excitement, endearing embarrassment, and those moments that stick with us long after the dance has ended. To learn more about Jane Stenson visit www.janestenson.com

A chance to hear Kevin Kling is a chance to hear about the world of storytelling and fantastic stories of the world. Recently, we got to hear Kevin at the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference that precedes the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Kevin wears many hats and has many tales to tell, and hearing him as a keynote speaker is always an entertaining and educational treat. Enjoy excerpts from his speech as well as stories and songs that remind us of the lessons that Kevin has to teach. To learn more about the Timpanogos Storytelling Institute visit timpfest.org. To learn more about Kevin Kling visit www.kevinkling.com.

Stories included in this episode: 

When Pigs Fly

An exciting college adventure from a teller who is known for being young at heart. To learn more about Bil Lepp visit www.leppstorytelling.com

Getting Rid of Miss Annie

This story is dedicated to every kid who has schemed to get rid of their babysitter. To learn more about Donald Davis visit www.ddavisstoryteller.com

Pearls at the Foot of the Bed

A fantastic exploration of the relationship between father and daughter. To learn more about Charlotte Blake Alston visit www.charlotteblakealston.com

“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. ... In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.” ? John Lubbock, The Beauties of Nature and the Wonders of the World We Live

Stories about sight and seeing, how the way we see things says a lot about who we are, and how a lot of what we’re looking for is right in front of us but we don’t always know it. Stories included in this episode:

Soft Spot (song)

In this song, Allison Downey sings about how we may not see eye to eye all the time, but that shouldn’t stop us from getting along. To learn more about Allison Downey visit allisondowney.com

Hogeye

In this tall tale about Tony Beaver (a contemporary of Paul Bunyan who lives Up Eel River), seeing and believing are explored from a few different angles. This tale has got it all: love, conflict, religion, hogs. To learn more about Kevin Carr visit www.kevincarr.org

Mezzi Gallo ("Half Rooster")

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” ? C.S. Lewis. An Italian folktale about setting off to see the world. To learn more about Len Cabral visit www.lencabral.com

The Magical Healing Leaves

The magic in this story relies on many different kinds of sight. To learn more about Jordan Hill visit jordanhillstoryteller.wordpress.com

A few of our favorite stories just for fun. Stories included in this episode: 

Weezy and the Moonpies

Bill Harley captures the magic of childhood through stories, songs, and all-around silliness in a unique and award-winning fashion. Listen to this story and find out why people of all ages love to be a part of his audience. Learn more about Bill by visiting www.billharley.com

High School Musical

No, not that high school musical. With a knack for nostalgia, Slash Coleman shares stories about his childhood that help us learn about who we were and we might be becoming. Learn more about Slash by visiting www.slashcoleman.com

I Have A Loose Tooth

A great whistler and an outstanding showman with a silly putty voice, Andy Offutt Irwin is equal parts mischievous schoolboy, Marx Brother, and Southern balladeer. Learn more about Andy by visiting andyirwin.com

Enjoy these excerpts from the 2016 Timpanogos Storytelling Conference.

Yvonne Healy

"The thing about growing up away from your traditional culture, is that you're not sure what's cultural and what's just weird..."

Yvonne Healy is ranked #1 in the USA for traditional Irish storytelling by leading cultural authorities in the Republic of Ireland and Canada. An award-winning raconteour, Yvonne was born across the water, and has held tightly to the Irish stories from her heritage while sharing them here on Main Streets across the USA. Bringing her signature Irish-American storytelling to the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, we were so pleased to hear her wisdom, wit and insight! To learn more about Yvonne Healy visit www.yhealy.com

Teresa Clark

"...Two very different teachers with two different styles wrote me two very different messages: You can't. You will. ... I can't do a flex arm hang, but I can tell stories."

Based in Idaho where she shares stories and songs from the beginning to the end of life, Teresa Clark is a rostered teaching artist with the Idaho Commission for the Arts who shared this nostalgic story on stage at the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference. To learn more about Teresa visit teresaclark.blogspot.com

Geraldine Buckley

"There is an old saying that goes, 'If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.' And over the years, as I've shared my schemes and dreams with the Almighty I have heard everything from polite divine chuckles to all-out throne-rocking mirth."

From a new collection of stories entitled, "Tea in the Slammer: True Stories of Laughter, Faith and Freedom," Geraldine shares this story called "Man and His Dog" that has her signature warmth and wit, mixing humor and faith to create a mirthful experience for all. To learn more about Geraldine visit www.geraldinebuckley.com

Any lover of stories knows that a little magic is not so distant, especially if it’s sandwiched between “once upon a time” and “happily ever after.” However, there are lots of things that happen in our everyday lives that can make us feel enchanted: falling in love, learning a new skill, catching a glimpse at the sunrise, or a particularly great harvest from a gracious growing season. And so today, we’d like to share some stories with you that have a bit of that everyday magic, stories with that fairy tale feel but are grown out of a run-of-the-mill type of activity. Stories included in this episode:

Kathryn's Story

Our colleague at BYU Broadcasting, Kathryn Muhlestein, shares a story about an unlikely animal encounter.

Phar Lap the Wonder Horse

Phar Lap was a thoroughbred racehorse whose unbelievable strength and speed inspired Australia during the difficulties of the Depression. To learn more about Jackie Kerin visit www.jackiekerin.com.au

Luis' Story

Our colleague at BYU Broadcasting, Luis Fernando Puente, talks about how the power of story can transport us to different worlds.

Frogs' Legs

Our next story, from Charlotte Blake Alston, mixes a little bit of folklore, folk magic, family and food together for a story that connects people and places from the past and present. To learn more about Charlotte Blake Alston visit www.charlotteblakealston.com

Sharing the Gold

Alchemists of old tried to turn copper into gold, but we think alchemy in the kitchen is really where it’s at: turning a few simple ingredients into a feast is our favorite kind of transformation. To learn more about Dolores Hydock visit www.storypower.org

We’ve picked three of our favorite scary folktales to share with you. Our love for fairy tales and folktales goes far beyond the shivers that are sent down our spine when we listen to them, we also love following their origins through history. The folktales that are common to us are preserved and passed down through the oral tradition, and folklore can help show us who are predecessors were and maybe even where we might be headed now. Stories included in this episode:

Mr. Fox

This first folktale has French, German, and English variations, but an early, early reference can actually be traced to Act 1, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: “Like the old tale, my lord: it is not so, not ‘t was not so; but indeed, God forbid it should be so.” In 1697, Charles Perrault wrote and published a tale of an enigmatic nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives, and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. Like all good fairy and folktales, it would morph and change and travel to other cultures where it then appeared in this structure as “The Robber Bridegroom” in a collection of fairytales by the Brothers Grimm. Later, in 1890, Joseph Jacobs’ collection of English Fairy Tales would include this frightening folktale. To learn more about Donna Washington visit www.dlwstoryteller.com

The Blood-Drawing Ghost

Don’t be fooled by the name, this famous ghost story holds within it many vampire tropes and conventions. Unlike its neighbors such as the United Kingdom, Ireland does not seem to have a rich body of vampire stories. However, vampires do appear in the mythology as supernatural beings in contact between the living and dead, and they come in the form of ghosts and revenants (a revenant is one that appears to have returned from the dead). Other versions of this story include Mary Culhane and the Dead Man, and The Blackthorn Walking Stick, a fantastic version of which storyteller Mary Hamilton, whose Jack Tale appears next. To learn more about David Holt visit www.davidholt.com

Sop Doll

Although stories were told about Jack throughout the Southern Appalachians, one family group has received recognition by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress as having told the tales in an unbroken line of descendants since 1775. The Hicks, Harmons, and Wards, the first families to settle on the Watauga River, passed the tales down for two hundred years before they were written for everyone to enjoy. In this Jack tale, Jack catches wind of some witching in his town. The presence of witches and magic in folklore often represents and symbolize humanity’s relationship with the unknown and unexplained, and throughout history there is no better way to navigate the mysteries of life-- and teach the kiddos a few lessons—than through story. To learn more about Mary Hamilton visit www.maryhamilton.info

"You are a storyteller. Whether that comes by tongue or pen, you are a storyteller... and with that comes great responsibility."

Every year at the mouth of Provo Canyon, right in our backyard, we get to enjoy the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival and the accompanying storytelling conference that precedes it. This year we enjoyed the thoughts and insight of great storytellers from across the country at the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, and we learned a lot from this keynote speech from the incredible Kim Weitkamp.

To learn more about the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference visit timpfest.org/programs. To learn more about Kim Weitkamp visit www.kimweitkamp.com