The Shoemaker and the Groundhogs

Groundhogs are notorious for seeing - or not seeing - their shadows and predicting the weather. But on today's episode of The Apple Seed, you'll hear a story from Megan Hicks in which these rascally rodents may also be responsible for...making shoes? You'll also hear stories from Priscilla Howe and Syd Lieberman about a chicken falling in love with a cockroach, and a big High School Football game. On today’s episode, enjoy the following: Story Kickoff: “The Englewood Game” by Syd Lieberman  Story Spotlight: “The Shoemaker and the Groundhogs” by Megan Hicks  Storytime: “Poule and Blatte” by Priscilla Howe Storyteller Spotlight: Megan Hicks As a self-proclaimed Teller-Without-a-Niche, Megan dives heart-first into every story she tells – fairy tale, personal story, American history, parody, ghost & horror, humor – and magically, her listeners are happy to follow. She performs throughout the United States, and she recently completed a month-long tour of China, adding a fourth continent – Asia – to her international storytelling credits. Her awards include a Parents’ Choice® Silver for the CD, “What Was Civil About That War…” which was also a 2005 Finalist for an Audies® award in the category of Best Original Work. She received the Parents’ Guide to Children’s Media Award and Storytelling World Honor for “Groundhogs Meet Grimm,” a collection of her original parodies that was also tapped for Honors by NAPPA. Her collection of fairy tales – “No Tricks. Just Magic” – received a Storytelling World Award, as did her recording "Like You're Really There: Megan Hicks Live at Jonesborough." Megan is a sought-after workshop presenter and seminar leader, with credits ranging from storytelling festivals and conferences across the U.S., bi-lingual schools in Latin America and China, libraries in Australia and New Zealand, juvenile detention centers, and the FBI Academy. You can find more of her work at www.meganhicks.com Why I love storytelling: Storytelling is like music in that it happens instant by instant, so if you're listening you are absolutely "living in the present." (What a gift!) Added to that, it's a glorious mashup of theater and writing. As performance art goes, I can't think of a better bang for the buck.