Creature Feature

Stories featuring some of our favorite fairy tale creatures-- some that are helpful or mischievous, some that are clever, and others that are kind. Stories featured in this episode: Little Orphant Annie An 1885 poem by James Whitcomb Riley, written in Riley’s famous Hoosier dialect. The subject was inspired by Mary Alice "Allie" Smith, an orphan living in the Riley home during her childhood. Each stanza tells of a bad child who is snatched away by goblins as a result of their misbehavior. Storyteller Tim Lowry performs the poem that warns children to behave well, lest they fall to the same fate as the children in the poem. Find more of his work at www.storytellertimlowry.com The Goblin and the Grocer A Hans Christian Andersen classic performed by the late Diane Wolkstein. Read an article about the late and great Diane Wolkstein from The New York Times at this link. The Changeling A changeling child was believed to be a fairy child that had been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies. Purposes of the changeling vary from story to story, some sinister and some sillier: one belief is that trolls thought that it was more respectable to be raised by humans and that they wanted to give their own children a human upbringing. This version of the folktale is performed by Richard Young, who comprises of half a storytelling duo with his wife Judy. You can learn more about them at www.yawp.com/stories The Shoemaker and the Elves 1806 story, first collected in the German Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The Aarne–Thompson folklore classification system categorizes the story as type 503\*: Helpful Elves. You can learn more about Megan Hicks, who has a groundhog infused version of the same story, by visiting www.meganhicks.com Slops This is a story about a man who finds that he’s been dumping slops onto a tiny village of little folk and finds himself in a predicament as to how to right his wrong, reminding us to be a little more of our environment. Learn more about storyteller Pam Faro by visiting www.pamfaro.com Tailybone The Tailybone, or Tailypo, is a cryptid often associated with heavily wooded and rural areas, with yellow eyes and long craggly tail. David Holt uses his talents with a guitar to drive the story with a little bit of music. Find more of his work here www.davidholt.com