Resources

This page shares some of my own storytelling resources, and as I find new resources I will add them. If you want examples of storytellers working their craft, I highly recommend going to see storytellers in-person. This is the way storytelling should be experienced and is where it is best. If they are far away from you, have a look at their website, as many have examples of both live and recorded performances. For example, CLICK HERE for some of my videos and audio files.

Teachers and Educators

You might want to visit my Teacher’s Lounge

Gilgamesh

I have a whole page dedicated to the Epic of Gilgamesh, however, if you want to shop Gilgamesh, you need to go here!

Podcasts

Story Story Podcast produced by Rachel Ann Harding, is a wonderful podcast for children and families. When there are darker stories, there is a warning at the top of the show. This podcast hosts storytellers from many different countries telling folk and fairy tales and the three hosts (Rachel Ann Harding, Isabelle Hauser (from Switzerland), and myself) tell short ‘true-life fairy tales’ where we meet the fey, goblins, unicorns and the like out in the real world between the other tellers. Although the podcast is on hiatus while Rachel Ann deals with things like babies, there are a great many episodes to listen to in the meantime (281). Rachel Ann also has some cool merch!

If you like Irish stories and want to hear them told by a proper Irish tale spinner, then have a listen to Eddie Lenihan’s Tell me a Story. It’s also a great way to hear how to pronounce some of these Irish words correctly. There are thirty episodes, which end in 2023, so still plenty to listen to.

If you want African tales, then a great podcast to check out is the Afro Tales podcast, hosted by Amon Mazingo. There is plenty to listen to here and Amon has a beautiful rich voice making for easy listening. There is also a really good Substack writer and podcaster going by Mythological Africans, hosted by Helen Nde which is full of gorgeous facts and material. Helen also wrote the Watkins Book of African Folklore, which I have yet to read.

Baba Yaga’s Magic is a fun podcast which delves into stories and the magic of Russia and other Slavic countries. Although the host is called Madam Pamita, she sounds very American to me!

I wish the Asian Tapestry had more episodes, as I like this podcast which has stories from many of the Asian countries, although the sound effects kind of come out of nowhere sometimes! But it is fun.

If you want to know about some of our storytellers, here in America and a few from the British Isles and Ireland, then have a listen to Conversations with Storytellers where I chat with storytellers who mostly told or still tell folk and fairy tales, myths and legends. We talk about why they tell these stories, their process and what led them to tell stories. Some have also shared stories. My other podcast, Lindyline, is being slowly migrated to this same podcast location. Lindyline is a family podcast with original stories penned by myself, folk and fairy tales, and some literary stories out of copyright. Good for bedtime for the most part!

Albums

Various recordings of storytellers

Odds Bodkin

Evergreens - A selection of fairy tales for a younger audience, with accompanying music and vocal sound effects.

The Odyssey, An Epic Telling - A retelling of the Odyssey for teens with accompanying music and vocal sound effects.

Simon Brooks

Second-hand Tales - Folk and fairy tales from around the world for younger kids to adults, with music. This fun collection is told for families, and is great for road trips - it’s been reported to have stopped fights!

A Tangle of Tales - Folk and fairy tales from around the world for tweens to adults, with music. These stories are a little deeper, and a little more challenging than Second-hand Tales.

Amy Friedman

Tell Me A Story, Women of Wonder - Folk and fairy tales of powerful women read from a script for all ages with musical accompaniment and sound effects.

Bill Harley

The Town Around the Bend - A collection of fictional ‘childhood memory’ stories with musical accompaniment. Bill has many CDs, some are stories, some only songs, some, like this one, both.

Megan Hicks

Groundhogs Meet Grimm - Fractured Grimm fairy tales with music. Very silly and humourous. A great example of fractured fairy tales.

Joel Ben Izzy

The Beggar King and other tales from around the world

Tim Jennings

Weatherbeard & other folk stories - an incredibly powerful collection of world folk stories with musical accompaniment (I would say this is a must have).

Tim Jennings and Leanne Ponder

Wolves - a collection of folk stories about wolves told in tandem style (two voices at once), with accompanying music and vocal sound effects. This is stunning.

Jay O’Callahan

Earth Stories - Original environmental tales told as fairy tales for younger ears.

Joanne Piazzi

Lemmetellya! - A collection of fractured fairy stories for all ages. Another fine example of the craft, and Joanne brings real life and energy to the stories.

Bob Reiser

An Evening with Grandpa Abe and Uncle Ahmet - a collection of Middle Eastern stories put together as an ‘epic,’ using rhyme.

Laura Simms

Fish Tales - Folk and fairy tales with a fish/ocean theme from around the world with musical accompaniment and sound effects. Another stunning recording.

All of these albums have a very different style and flavour to them. The storytellers are all award-winning tellers, all the CDs listed are of high quality and worthy of any collection. Bodkin, Brooks, Friedman, Harley, Hicks, Izzy, Jennings, Jennings and Ponder, O’Callahan, and Simms all have more CDs published than listed and I suggest visiting their websites for more details about their recordings. Some storytellers have retired from storytelling, and sadly Bob and Leanne passed away a few years ago. You may have to reach out to the storytellers as many are moving from CD to digital format, and some places where artists used to sell their wares are no longer available. Some recordings are available on Spotify (although often the artist makes little to no money from here) and other streaming places. It’s worth looking around to find these recordings.

Other Websites

A list of other places you might find of interest

One of my favourite stores of written work on-line is Sacred Texts: https://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm
They have everything from Andrew Lang’s books to world religions, the tarot, and a whole lot more. Well worth a visit, but give yourself plenty of time - it’s a wonderful rabbit hole!

Karen Chace, friend, and fellow NEST member (see below) has an AMAZING set of storytelling resources at: http://www.storybug.net/
Famous American stories can be found at Famous American Folktales and Stories - funny that!
An ever expanding collection of electronic texts of many folk tales: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html they also have multiple variations of the same tale, which is really useful.
National Storytelling Network (NSN). The major national storytelling membership organization
North East Story Telling, also known as NEST, my own regional storytelling organization which holds a wonderful, and very imformative conference every year called Sharing the Fire - go if you can!

I hope you find these resources helpful. If there is something in particular you are looking for, please drop me a line.

I offer coaching from story structure (if you are stuck and need help), performance work, to technical issues and set design, lighting camera set-up etc. for on-line work. Fees vary on needs, so tell me what you want. What you really, really want.