The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book

by Bob Hartman

  ‘There must be more to life than this muddy pond,’ Frog said to himself, one day.

  So, splish and splash, jump and croak, he hopped away from the pond and across the farmyard.

  He passed the pen where the pigs lay, and the little hut where the chickens clucked. And came, at last, to the barn.

  ‘Now this is interesting,’ he thought. And Frog hopped inside.

  The barn was huge! The barn was empty! So he spent the whole day hopping – from here to hay, and hay to there. And, as the sun slipped beneath the window-sills and sent the shadows lengthening, Frog took one last, long leap – and landed, KERPLUNK, in a pitcher of cream!

  Splish and splash. Jump and croak.

  ‘Oh dear,’ thought Frog. ‘This is the strangest water I ever swam in. And the slipperiest, too!’

  Frog tried to climb out of the pitcher, but he kept slipping back down the sides. And, because the pitcher was so deep, he could not push his feet against the bottom and jump out either.

  ‘I’m stuck here! Frog realized at last. And then he croaked and croaked for help. But the barn was still empty. It was dark outside, now. And his family was far away.

  Splish and splash. Jump and croak.

  Frog paddled and paddled, trying hard to keep his head above the cream. But he knew that, sooner or later, his strength would give out and he would slip to the bottom of the pitcher and drown.

  So Frog thought and thought. He thought of his mother, and how he would miss her happy croaking in the morning.

  ‘I can’t give up and I won’t give up!’ Frog grunted to himself. And he paddled even harder.

  Then Frog thought of his father, and how they would never again catch flies together with their long, sticky tongues.

  ‘I can’t give up and I won’t give up!’ Frog grunted again. And he paddled harder still.

  Finally, Frog thought of his brothers and sisters, and how he would miss playing hop-tag and web-tackle with them.

  ‘I CAN’T GIVE UP AND I WON’T GIVE UP!’ Frog grunted and shouted and groaned. Then he paddled as hard as he could.

  And that’s when Frog’s feet felt something. The cream under his webbed toes was no longer wet and slippery. Instead, it was hard and lumpy. For with all his paddling, Frog had churned that cream into butter!

  Frog rested his feet against the butter. He pushed hard with his strong back legs. And with a grunt and a shove, he leaped out of the pitcher and onto the barn floor.

  Then the frog who would not give up hopped straight back home, and lived happily ever after, splishing and splashing, jumping and croaking, with his family in the muddy pond.

  The Robber and the Monk

  Once there was a monk. A little monk who lived by himself in a little clay hut. He prayed. He wove baskets from palm leaves. And when people from the city came to visit, he tried to help them with their problems.

  The little monk wore a coarse brown robe, ate bread and broth, and had almost nothing to call his own. Except for a book – a very special book – which he treasured and read every day.

  One day, a robber came to visit the monk. A big robber. A bad robber. With a great, bushy beard and a long, sharp sword.

  ‘Give me your treasure!’ he shouted. So the little monk gave him the book – the very special book – and watched sadly as the robber rode away.

  When the robber reached the city, he went to see a shopkeeper.

  ‘I have no use for books!’ he complained. ‘I need gold – and lots of it! Tell me what this book is worth, and I shall sell it.’

  ‘I cannot say,’ said the shopkeeper, flicking through the pages. ‘But I know someone who can. Leave it with me for a day or two, and I will ask him.’

  ‘All right!’ growled the robber, pulling out his sword. ‘I will return in two days. Make sure the book is here when I get back!’

  Later that day, when the shop had closed, the shopkeeper climbed on his donkey and rode out into the desert. He rode for mile after dusty mile until he came at last to a little clay hut. And he went in to visit the little monk!

  ‘I have a book,’ he explained. ‘A big man with a bushy beard brought it to me. He wants to sell it. Can you tell me how much it is worth?’ Then he pulled the book out of his bag and showed it to the monk.

  The little monk stared at the book. He had never imagined that he would see his treasure again. But he did not grab for it and shout, ‘This is mine!’ or point his finger at the shopkeeper and say, ‘Your customer is a thief!’

  No, all he said was, ‘This is a very valuable book, worth a year’s wages, at least.’ Then he bid the shopkeeper farewell.

  When the robber returned to the city, he was in a terrible mood.

  ‘So tell me,’ he grunted. ‘How much is my book worth?’

  ‘A great deal!’ grinned the shopkeeper. ‘A year’s wages, at least!’

  The robber’s mood changed at once.

  ‘Excellent!’ he smiled. ‘And… how can you be sure of that?’

  ‘That’s easy,’ explained the shopkeeper. ‘There is a little monk who lives out in the desert, in a little clay hut. He knows all about these things. I took the book and I showed it to him!’

  The robber’s mood changed once again. ‘A little monk?’ he stammered. ‘Out in the desert?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘And you told him I wanted to sell the book?’

  ‘A big man with a bushy beard – that’s what I said.’

  ‘And he said nothing more about the book? Nothing about me?’

  ‘No, of course not. Why should he?’ asked the shopkeeper.

  ‘No reason,’ lied the robber. ‘No reason at all.’

  Then he grabbed the book, and dashed out of the shop – as quick as a thief!

  He rode out into the desert, mile after dusty mile, until he came to the little clay hut.

  ‘What is this all about?’ he shouted, as he burst through the door. ‘You could have turned me in and had me arrested. But instead you said nothing!’

  ‘That’s right,’ the monk nodded. ‘For I had already forgiven you.’

  ‘Forgiven me?’ the robber cried. ‘Forgiven me?’ And then his voice grew very quiet. ‘No one has ever forgiven me!’ he whispered. ‘Hated me, chased me, vowed to take revenge – yes. But forgiven? Never!’

  And at that moment, something melted in the heart of the big, bad robber. He pulled the book out of his sack and gave it to the little monk.

  ‘This is yours,’ he said meekly, ‘I can keep it no longer.’

  The monk smiled, and thanked the robber. He invited him to stay in the little hut – to learn more about forgiveness and peace. And it wasn’t long before that robber became a monk himself who shared with others what little he had and lived happily ever after!

  Sharing stories with a crowd

  Storytelling was never meant to be a one-way street. At its best, it is a kind of dialogue, something that happens between a storyteller and his listeners. One way to encourage this in a larger group is to give your audience specific ways to participate in the story. Here are my suggestions for how to get groups of children (or adults) more involved in the stories from The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book. It’s all very simple, although sometimes you may need to spend a while teaching people how to say their lines.

  Some of these suggestions will also work when you’re sharing the stories with only one or two children (although you may not want to make bedtime reading too exciting). They may even spark off other storytelling ideas of your own.

  The main thing is to have fun with the storytelling and if an idea doesn’t work, try something else instead. Enjoy yourself – and your listeners will enjoy themselves too.

  The Mouse and the Lion

  Hold your hands in front of your face, palms down (as if you’re about to play the piano), then wiggle your fingers and go ‘Squeakity, squeakity, squeakity’. Get everyone to do this with you whenever the little mouse skitters left and right and off to his destination. The
y might also pretend to gnaw and nibble and chew when the mouse frees the lion.

  Silly Jack

  Before I start this story, I borrow the props from the audience and line them up on the floor in front of me. I borrow a coin (for the coin!), a cup or a mug or a water bottle (for the jug), a jumper (for the cat), a shoe with a shoelace (for the lamb) and then ask for two volunteers – one to play the donkey (usually a boy), and one to play the most beautiful girl in the village (usually a girl!). The donkey has to go ‘hee-haw’ when the donkey is mentioned and the girl has to go ‘Oo-la-la’ when the beautiful girl is mentioned.

  At the appropriate times, I flip the coin in the air and drop it, pretend to pour milk from the jug into my pocket, hold the jumper on my head and then toss it in the air (usually back to its owner), drag the shoe across the floor, and carry the donkey, piggy-back style on my back. (Make sure there is another adult in the room if you do this because of Child Protection issues.)

  The Girl Who Played With the Stars

  This is a story in which everyone can do everything (particularly important with under sixes) or you can divide the audience into smaller groups and give each group one of the actions.

  Everything can become quite active, so why not ask your audience to stand up? They can pretend to swim with the girl, dance with the fairies (and perhaps even hum a little dancing tune), ride on the back of Four Feet (mime riding motion and make a neighing or clop-clopping sound), splash-splash on the back of No Feet At All, pretend to climb onto the backs of the gulls (make a gull crying sound at each step) and then dance again with the clouds.

  Three Months’ Night

  Divide your group in half. One group plays the chipmunk, the other the bear. Teach the first half to use a squeaky little voice and say the chipmunk’s line, ‘One day, one night.’ Teach the other half to say the bear’s line, ‘Three months’ day, three months’ night’ in a deep growly voice. Lead them to join in when the animals make their suggestions during the contest. If you do it in a rhythmic way, everyone will just keep going. You can get them to become louder and louder, then stop them and then tell them about the bear’s mistake. You might also want to ask everyone to howl with the coyote, or maybe just play the coyote yourself.

  Arion and the Dolphin

  Divide your group into three parts. The first group shouts ‘Bang!’ The second group shouts ‘Boom!’ And the last group cries ‘Aaaah!’ Bring them in at the places in the story where people drop things at the sound of Arion’s harp. If you do the ‘Aaah’ right, it will also work for the gulls’ cry and the trembling sailors!

  Rabbit and Tiger Save the World

  Divide your group into two parts: Tiger and Rabbit. The Tigers roar with you after the first three descriptions and perhaps say ‘Doh’ (like Homer Simpson) at the end of the fourth.

  The Rabbits shrink away and cower at the end of the first description, give a happy little smile at the end of the second, and put their hands to their heads (like bunny ears) at the third.

  When Tiger chases Rabbit, everyone can run on the spot. And when Rabbit throws his arms against the boulder, the Rabbits throw their arms out wide to mime this. Then, when Tiger is tricked, the other group should throw their arms out wide as well.

  The Shepherd and the Clever Princess

  Divide your group into three and teach each one an animal sound: the chirping sparrow, the scratching squirrel and the cawing crow. Then bring each group in to the story at the appropriate point. With younger groups (say, six and under), you might want everyone to make all the sounds.

  With older groups, you might also want to pick three volunteers to play the failed suitors: someone ‘wise’ (give him some clever thing to say), someone ‘strong’ (ask him to show his muscles), someone ‘handsome’ (maybe says ‘hey, good lookin’!’).

  Tortoise Brings Food

  Everyone can play the animals with you. Hold your arms around your head for the lion’s mane. Put your hands to the side of your head for the rabbit’s ears. Hold an arm in front of your face for the elephant’s trunk. And pull the neck of your top up under your nose (if you’re able to) for the turtle. Do this whenever the appropriate animals appear in the story, particularly when they run up and down the mountain. When they crash into the anthill, everyone shakes their heads and looks stunned. You might also want everyone to repeat ‘Uwungelema’ along with the old man, in a shaky old man’s voice.

  Polly and the Frog

  Divide your audience into three or four groups. Teach everyone to go ‘bar-durp’ like the frog. Each group could do the ‘bar-durp’ in a slightly different way – high, low, silly, loud and soft. Bring in a group whenever you get to a ‘bar-durp’ in the story. It will keep everyone watching and waiting for when it’s their turn!

  Rabbit and Tiger Go Fishing

  Everyone plays Tiger. They growl when he growls in the story and roar when he roars.

  The Mouse Deer’s Wisdom

  Borrow five coins from your audience (bring along five of your own as a reserve). Count them out whenever the Mouse Deer does this in the story. Dropping them on a hard surface works best to get that ‘ringing’ effect, so if the floor isn’t hard, you might want to drop them onto a plate.

  The Four Friends

  Standing on the spot, show your audience how to fly with the raven, chew with the rat, swim and walk slowly with the turtle, and run or strain against the net with the goat. Then you can either divide them into four groups (with everyone doing the actions simultaneously as the rescue progresses) or get everyone to do the actions in order. Repeat them in the second rescue.

  The Brave Bull Calf

  Have your audience play the parts of the tiger, the leopard, and the dragon – growling and clawing the air in the case of the first two, and roaring and shaking their heads for the dragon.

  Tiger Gets Stuck

  Half the group plays the Rabbit and repeats ‘Hey, Hidey-hole. Ho, Hidey-hole. Are you happy, Hidey-hole?’ after you. The other half plays Tiger. They pretend to squeeze into the hidey-hole and then repeat Tiger’s silly hidey-hole answer.

  The Clever Mouse

  Everyone can follow the mouse-like actions from ‘The Mouse and the Lion’. Lead them in going ‘Squeakity, squeakity, squeakity’ every time the mouse climbs or scampers or scurries around Cadog’s desk. And when he runs off with the thread tied around his leg, as well!

  The Amazing Pine Cone

  You’ll need a few props for one: a small pile of coins (borrow these from the crowd if you like); a long piece of cloth (or a jumper, borrowed again from your audience); and a pine cone (you will probably need to bring this yourself) that you keep hidden until it appears in the story. Use these props as appropriate during your storytelling.

  Half the group plays the mayor’s wife and repeats ‘Go away!’ after you. The rest play the poor woman and repeat ‘How can I help you?’ after you. And at the end of the story, lead the mayor’s wife half in sneezing for as long as you are able!

  The Very Strong Sparrow

  Everyone can join in the animal sounds when they appear in the story: ‘Ka-thoom, Kathoom’ for the elephant, ‘Ker-splash, Ker-splash’ for the crocodile, and ‘Too-tweet, Too-tweet’ for the baby birds. If you prefer, you can also have a smaller group for each sound.

  Simple John

  Divide your audience into three parts – one for the eldest brother, one for the second brother, and one for Simple John.

  When the brothers find the ants, the first group repeats the eldest brother’s line ‘Ants are nasty!’ after you. The second group repeats the second brother’s line, ‘And they’re good for nothing but treading on’. Lastly, using a silly voice, the third group repeats Simple John’s lines, sentence by sentence after you with particular emphasis on his description of the ants.

  Use this pattern when they meet the ducks and the bees too.

  The Selfish Sand Frog

  Ask your audience to make noisy drinking sounds when Frog drinks up the water-
hole, the billabong and the lake.

  The Mouse Bride

  Your group plays the moon, the cloud, the wind and the mountain. When the mice meet the moon, they hold their arms in a crescent shape and go ‘Moooon!’ in a mysterious voice. When they meet the cloud, they bounce up and down and go ‘Puffy!’ in a high voice. When they meet the wind, they make a ‘Whooo’ sound and wave their arms about. And when they meet the mountain, they hold their arms in an inverted V and in a deep voice say, ‘MOUNTAIN!’ This also works well with a group for each ‘character’.

  The Big Wave

  Your audience can be the people in the village, playing their parts at the right moment in the story. Divide them into little groups – old men and young men and mothers and grandmothers and babies and boys and girls – who say ‘Hello!’ in appropriate voices (except for the babies, who go ‘Waaa!’). They can then make ‘party’ noises. And finally they can pound their feet on the floor as they run up the hill.

  Alternatively, they play the wave – pounding their feet on the floor, lightly at first when the old man sees the wave, and then more and more loudly as it rushes towards the village and hits it with a crash.

  Tiger and the Storm

  Divide your audience into three groups – one to pound their feet on the floor like Mrs Rabbit, one to hoot like Owl, and one to howl like Dog. Bring them in like Rabbit does and out again, one by one, as the ‘storm’ subsides.

  The Knee-High Man

  Have your audience pretend to be the Knee-High Man. Have them gobble up oats and run in place like the horse, chew grass and bellow like the bull, and then climb up the tree to sit with the owl.

  The Clever Baker

  Divide your group into four parts and bring them in at the appropriate times, making as much noise as possible. The ‘bowl and spoon’ make a stirring motion and go ‘clackety-clackety-clack’. The cat goes ‘Yow! Yow! Yow!’ The dog goes ‘Woof! Woof! Woof!’ And the last group yells ‘Wah! Wah! Wah!’ with the baby. As an alternative, when I am in schools, I will often have the boys play the bowl and spoon, the girls play the cat, the women teachers play the dog, and the men teachers (there are usually only one or two) play the baby. It gets a good laugh!