Jul 3, 2008
In folk tales, as in cartoons, the laws of physics and biology
often are violated without a second thought. Things get blown up,
and then are fine; coyotes run off the edge of a cliff and hover in
mid-air a moment before plunging; and mice have their tails cut off
and then restored. As in the British story "The Cat and the Mouse",
which is based on the cumulative list motif, similar to the nursery
rhyme "The House That Jack Built". The best-known version of the
story is itself told in rhyme by folklorist Joseph Jacobs, who
included it in a volume of English stories published in 1890. And
it was this version that was familiar to our winner in the
Be A Character Contest, a
young man from Indiana named Aiden. He requested this story, so we
made him the mouse (Ouch! Sorry about that.) But of course we
weren't content to copy someone else's version of the tale (tail)
despite its appealing rhyming rhythmic lines. We devised, as usual,
our own madcap, quasi-improvised retelling.
We bring this podcast to you from Quincy, IL and Hannibal, MO,
where we return to perform at libraries in both cities. And the
libraries, we're happy to say, were not damaged by the recent
flooding of the Mississippi River, though some parts of both cities
definitely were soaked. So far, all systems are go for the annual
Tom Sawyer
Days held during the Independence Day weekend in Hannibal. And
we're back to participate for the first time in several years.
We also tell you all about our recent encounter in Hawaii
with Wally Amos, the famous cookie guru who now is heavily involved
with promoting reading, particularly reading aloud to children. Not
only does he read to kids himself, he is chair of the Read It Loud Foundation,
which has a goal of enticing at least 5 million parents to read to
their kids each day for at least 10 minutes. He donates 10 percent
of the profits from his cookie stores in Kailua and Honolulu to
this endeavor, and makes promotional appearances across the country
to promote it -- including Savannah, GA., where Read It Loud!
Savannah already has enjoyed considerable success. One of the
activities of the program in Savannah is to donate a book to the
parents of each child born in the community. It's never too early
to start!
We salute Wally Amos and Read It Loud for the admirable work they
do -- which, after all, is very much in line with the work we do
ourselves.
Happy Listening (whatever your age),
Dennis (Narrator, Cow, Farmer's Wife, Butcher, Painter), Kimberly
(Cat, Farmer, Baker), and Zephyr (Mouse)
Link: Folktales to Read
Out Loud