Customer Reviews

Tell Me a Story: Timeless Folktales from Around the World

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This review refers to "Tell Me A Story: Timeless Folktales from Around The World"(CD)

So, one of the really cool things about writing reviews at Amazon is that every once in a while, I will receive a book from an Author or publisher in hopes of a review. I don't review every single one I receive, but every once in a while I get one that I not only can't wait to share with Amazon book shoppers, but as in this case, one that I can share with my entire family. I received this one from producer of this fine CD, Amy Friedman, and I'd like to say thanks so much, for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I took this one with me on my errands outing the other day, and popped it in my CD player. First off all I became so enthralled with these marvelous stories that I was glad I was alone and didn't have anyone with me chit chatting as I listened.Although I am sure any listener would be under it's spell as well. The other thing is that my errands took much longer then anticipated as at each stop, I couldn't get out of my car until I finished the story I was listening to.

The title says much about this book. The readers are professional), will tell you the stories and you cannot help but to fall into a trance by their lulling and often animated voices. These great folktales take place in all different parts of the world and the readers capture the personalities of the people or animals, the accents, the fun and the lessons learned exquisitely. The stories each are not only a joy to listen to, but will leave you with some kind of moral or life lesson learned in a entertaining way. These tales transcend age and time, and offer a glimpse into various countries and cultures that will leave the reader a little more enriched.

There are 8 tales ranging from about 5 to 13 minutes. Well over an hour to get lost in. Although this is classified as a children's book. I have to say that whatever your age, you will enjoy these stories. I even think, the very young will get something out of these tales. Only one,"The Boatman's Howling Daughter", an American folktale may not be suitable for the very very young, as there is some violence(think something akin to Peter Pan and the Pirates). Among some of the other tales, I really enjoyed "A`Sense of Theft". A delightful tale of a poor woman on trial for "stealing" the wonderful smells from the Baker's shop. How will the judge handle this case. Also included is "Rabbit on the Moon", an excellent learning lesson, "The Selkie Bride", what will we do for love?, "Anansi and Turtle's Feast", "Searching For Fear", "The Clever Girl", and "Two Frogs From Japan", a tale that might make one think about where to find happiness.

The CD quality itself is excellent, with some great music to set the mood of the tales as well. It includes a booklet, with story synopsis and great illustrations and bios of the narrators.

Highly recommended. Take it in your car the next time you are chauffeuring the kids around. For once, the ride will be peaceful as the kids(and you), get swept away to far away lands and olden times. Makes a great gift as well, one that could be passed down from generation to generation, that is if anyone can actually part with it.

Hopefully this will be the start of a long line of the CDs, with more lovely tales to come....Enjoy the read.....Laurie

Reviewer's Update 12/22/09 - As you can see by the other reviews, I am not alone in my rave review of this fabulous children's CD, and I am happy to report that my hope that this one would be the start of a series has come true. There are 2 more CDs in this series now available and I would recommend them as enthusiastically as I do this one.See my reviews for themes and details of the new ones. Here are the links: Tell Me A Story 2: Animal Magic andTell Me A Story 3: Women of Wonder

also recommended:Side By Side: poems to read together

"Tell Me a Story" is a beautiful gift to the world. This playful journey includes beautiful, classic multicultural folktales from around the world. They include:

A Sense of Theft - A woman falls in love with baked goods and a baker accuses her of stealing the warm scent of baked bread.

Anansi and Turtle's Feast - A story of two friends who visit each other's homes for dinner.

The Selkie Bride - A Scottish fisherman falls in love with a seal woman who he discovers on the shore.

Searching for Fear - A tale of a raccoon who is fearless and goes on a journey to find out what it feels like to be afraid.

Two Frogs from Japan - A tale adapted from an original Japanese Folktale.

The Clever Girl - A tale adapted from a Czechoslovakian folktale called Clever Manka.

The Rabbit on the Moon - An Indian story from the Jataka Tales.

The Boatman's Howling Daughter - A girl with seven pet bear cubs goes on an adventure and escapes from danger.

The stories are read by Lori Ada Jaroslow, Rick Hall, Lauren Tom, Charlayne Wood-ard, Jack McGee, William Thomas, Poppy Champlin and Kathleen Wilhoite. The titles are adorably read by Eva Hall and Ruthie Hall giving this CD an angelic quality.

Each story has its own personality, humor and wit. The stories are carefully performed and are beautifully written in a way that begs for them to be read to an audience of eager listeners. You can almost imagine these tales being told around a campfire.

I especially loved the story of the raccoons and the story of the Selkie woman is quite beautiful. Pianist Laura Hall weaves her musical magic through the stories to enhance the exciting stories with an ethereal beauty. This is a CD for any age and can be enjoyed in the afternoon, evening or anytime you need to escape from the world.

A Rare Discovery!

~The Rebecca Review

This is a charming collection of eight folktales from around the world, which can be enjoyed by anyone above the age of three. Written by Amy Friedman, and produced by Friedman and Lori Ada Jaroslow, the background music was composed by Laura Hall of "Who's Line is it Anyway?" fame.


1. A Sense of Theft
Narrated by Lori Ada Jaroslow, Broadway Performer
Setting: Eastern Europe

There was a young lady named Zena
Who worked every day as a cleana
Baked goods she'd inhale
Without closing the sale
Which was thought to be a misdemeana

2. Anansi and Turtle's Feast
Narrated by Rick Hall, Actor
Setting: Africa

There once was a spider, Anansi
Who'd trick you if it took his fanci
He hated to share
Any food that was there
Be it yams or buffet fanci schmanci

3. The Selkie Bride
Narrated by Lauren Tom, Actress
Setting: Scotland

A fisherman once caught a seal
Who turned out to be quite unreal
As shedding the skin
Showed a woman within
Though she got the raw end of the deal

4. Two Frogs from Japan
Narrated by Jack McGee, Actor
Setting: Japan

There once was a frog from Kyoto
Who sought other places to go to
His friend from Osaka
Was on the same tracka
Both wishing for a telephoto

5. The Clever Girl
Narrated by Charlayne Woodard, Actress
Setting: Former Czechoslovakia

A farmer once had a fine daughter
Who was smarter by far than she oughter
The magistrate tried
To suppress his bride
But he found that his rules held no water

6. Searching for Fear
Narrated by Poppy Champlin, Comedienne
Setting: North America, but has Turkish origins

There once was a fearless raccoon
Who marched to a different toon
He hunted for fear
With never a scare
Until faced with the time opportoon

7. Rabbit on the Moon
Narrated by William Thomas Jnr., Broadway Performer/Actor
Setting: India

Here, Buddha's disguised as a Brahmin
Seeking animals willin' and charmin'
When instead of some rice
A supreme sacrifice
Turns out to be somewhat disarmin'

8. The Boatman's Howling Daughter
Narrated by Kathleen Wilhoite, Actress
Setting: North America

There once was a girl named Sal Fink
Who was tougher by far than you'd think
When HER temper flares
She wrestles with bears
And generally kicks up a stink



Note: Some tracks are not in the order they are listed on the CD.


Very entertaining, and skillfully narrated by a talented group of performers, this would be an age appropriate gift for a budding storyteller on your list.




Amanda Richards, July 31, 2008

Wonderful and hypnotic is what I would call this. The first story I played for my two girls (6 and 8) in the car on the way to school. It was the first time they ever made it the whole ride in total silence. After just the FIRST story, they begged for me to play it again, but it was time for school. When I picked them up, they asked right away. So So this is what we have done the last three days; listen to a new story on the way to school. I'm only on the third, The Selkie Bride. My oldest daughter rushed into school and immediately began telling the tale to the first friend she ran into.

I can't say enough good about this. The children are captivated and it provides great discussion topics, for example, after the SECOND time we listened to A Sense of Theft, I asked my daughters what they think the judge felt about the case against Zena. I, myself, had to run errands today and listened to the rest of the tales. The depth, the humor, the underlying celebration of the human spirit, all in such clever packages is something I will always enjoy bringing to my children.

I bought this audiobook and "Tell Me a Story 2" audiobook for my two first graders. Both kids love the Geronimo Stilton series, however we only listen to those read by Edward Herrmann and we have just about worn them out. (Not to take anything away from other reader(s) but once you lock in on Mr. Herrman's character voices it is difficult to listen to any other rendition - he is fantastic and I highly recommend!) Each of the "Tell Me a Story" CDs has about 8 folktales from different parts of the world. The kids find that to be cool. The stories are both entertaining and educational. The readers really bring the characters to life...btw, when you have a moment, read the BIOs of the readers on the inserts. The kids ask to turn on the CD player immediately upon entering the car, and the stories captivate them in a way that only a parent behind the wheel can appreciate! They often ask about words or things they don't know: "What does 'snickered' mean?" "What does 'felt betrayed' mean?" "Is there really a city called Osaka?". Overall a great investment: entertaining, educational, captivating, and fewer back-seat cries of "...he's touching me!!" Negative? The hour or so of stories seems to go by fast and in just a few short car trips you are back to the first story. If your kids are like mine, you might want to have additional audiobooks or forms of entertainment available - depending of course on YOUR tolerance level.

I have 7 yr old twins - one who loves to read and one who is a reluctant reader - but both of them love listening to these stories. My reader gets car sick when she reads on the road, so the cd is great for road trips for both of them, but for different reasons. We also love Tell Me a Story 2. My main peeve with most audio stories is the voice of the storyteller often just doesn't fit. No so here. The voices are great - easy to listen to and the intonation is right on. Wonderful!

And what a fantastic collection of folk tales this CD brought together! There is no doubt that your children will love each and ever one of these stories, but the best part is that you, the adult will like them just as well, and on some level, appreciate them even more than the wee ones!

Amy Friedman has written and Amy Lori Ada Jaroslow has directed a wonderful collection of stories and brought them together in a format which I found highly effective in every department. First, they have chosen a group of very talented actors with extremely expressive reading voices to present the actual tale. This is enhanced by very pleasing introductory, background and closing music which has been chosen with perfection to highlight the essence, place and mood of the story. There is no doubt a tremendous amount of thought and work went into the production of this project.

This CD is composed of eight folk type stories from around the world and from different cultures. The first offering, A Sense of Theft, has a definite Fiddler on the Roof feel to it, even though it originated in Japan, and was one of my favorite. We then are led into the world of critters with the tale of a stingy spider who outsmarts himself, A West African tale where we find out that turtles are not so dumb. From there it is off to Scotland for The Selkie Bride, a rather haunting tale. Japan is our next stop where two frogs learn a valuable lesson. The Clever Girl takes us to what I would say is Medieval Europe, Czechoslovakia, to be precise, (another of my favorites) and then we jump back into the animal kingdom with a small raccoon by the name of Gregory who knows no fear. This one is based upon a very old tale from Turkey, a country I love and lived in for a number of years. A tale of The Buddha tells the listener how the rabbit got on the moon, and finally we are treated with an adventure of Sal Fink, the daughter of the famous Mike Fink, King of the River, and learn how she foiled the dastardly plans of a group of very mean river pirates who caught here while she was hunting wildcats...barehanded.

So, we have Japan, Ghana in West Africa, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey, India and the United States represented, and I have to say, extremely well represented here.

As I mentioned, each story or tale is enhanced by wonderful mood music which fits the story perfectly. It is also rather remarkable that the writer and producer of this unique CD were able to match the individual reader with the story. So often when listening to books on tapes, the reader's voice simply does not "fit in" with the story that is being read. Not so here; I did not get that "annoyed feeling" one time during the entire presentation. Every thing on this production simply "clicked." The sound quality of this CD was excellent!

Some of these tales will be somewhat familiar, while other will not...it is like an adventure and you never know what you will hear next.

I really cannot stress enough the fact that although this CD is targeted toward children, an adult will find just as much pleasure as the child in listening to them. This is an idea CD to take on a trip for the entire family to enjoy, and each tale offers so many conversational opportunities; which I feel is an extremely valuable tool for working with kids. Most of these stories do have a moral, but the little lessons here are not the preachy kind of moral lesson that makes the listener's eyes roll to the back of their head...in particular those of children. The stories are sneaky, and teach while not being techie. As an added bonus, you and your children will be wonderfully entertained without the blasted T.V. blaring and I am sure, causing some sort of damage to the entire family. This is neat and nice entertainment that causes actual thought while listening to it.

As a side note, I am a bit of a story teller myself and have practiced the art for a good many years. To be honest, this little number has added eight new stories to my bag of tricks. I have no shame and will borrow heavily from them.

Bottom line is that this is a great CD to add to your children's audio library, and if you are real nice to them, i.e. your kids, they might even allow you to listen to it every so often.

Highly recommend this one!

Tell Me A Story 2: Animal Magic

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

As with volume 2 of this three CD series Timeless Folktales from Around the World-Vol 1 is another fabulous collection of fables like those from my childhood. It's just that these are ones I never heard. Each offers a lesson and I particularly enjoyed The Clever Girl and A Sense of Taste. These two stories speak to an individual's intelligence and the concept of what is tangible rather than intangible. As with all fables the stories have a twist at the end, which makes them particularly interesting. The production of each story - the music, readers - quickly grabs you and draws you into the unique world of the particular story. Do not simply think of these as children's stories as I believe that are just as enjoyable for adults.

I bought the Tell Me A Story CD's for my Grandson. My favorite is Timeless Folktales from Around the World and his too, but they are all enchanting. We listen to them together and it is a very special time. After we discuss the folktales as if we were doing a review. I love the sharing of these great stories and the interaction it creates between me and my Grandson. I also loved that we aren't in front of a TV or playing a video game. It reminded me of my Grandma sharing stories with me when I was young. Memories I cherish to this day.
If you have any young people in your life this is one of the best gifts you can give. If you're lucky you can share it with them. Not only will they be totally mesmerized, but so will you. They feed the imagination of a child.
I can't think of a better gift.

I got this CD when my son was five and having trouble settling to sleep at night, even after I had read to him. He and I quickly fell in love with it--the stories were all new to me but had a timeless feeling, the recording quality and background music was lovely, and the reader voices engaging without ever jarring. I don't think he ever fell asleep during a story, but rather would struggle to stay awake to the finish, but honestly he seemed to be satisfied and ready for sleep after listening to Tell Me a Story. He soon asked if we could bring it in the car for road trips, which we regularly did/do and the whole family enjoyed it. That was four years ago, and a lot of the cuddly things of little boyhood are slipping away, but he still periodically asks to hear this CD or Volume 2 (Animal Magic) in the car, and I have heard him tell others the story of The Rabbit on the Moon. Best of all, this year his class read the story of Anansi, and my son was thrilled, as he knew the story from this CD, and had already done a lot of thinking about its moral. He had a great conversation with the teacher about it. Really a wonderful collection that has become part of our family life.