Whether fairy tales, folklore, moral, or any other type, stories have magic in them, their charisma grabs our attention immediately. Whereever we are, if we listen to someone telling a story of any origin, we are all ears, isn’t it?

Well, it is true at least for me; I still love to listen to stories and if you are like me, then Circle Round — will make your weekend wonderful with its story podcasts collection from around the world.

Created and produced by parents of young children, WBUR’s (news station) Circle Round podcast adapts folktales from around the world into sound- and music-rich radio plays for kids ages 3 to ‘103’, sounds amazing, right? The site has interesting episodes that explore universal themes like friendship, persistence, creativity and generosity. These podcasts end with an activity that connects young kids and grown-ups with each other.

The podcasts are not more than 10 to 20 minutes long. Open the site and choose from the top menu with tabs like Colouring Pages, Live Shows, Road Trip Reels, and more. The Road Trip Reels are 60 to 120 minutes long and need to be downloaded. The 60-minute ‘Reels’ have three stories that focus on the theme of music and have colouring pages to go with them. The 90-minute ‘Reels’ are all stories about magic, and the 120-minute ‘Reels’ are stories about our furry and feathered friends. All ‘Reels’ have accompanying colouring pages.

Or you can scroll down the site and see the clutter free interface with stories and illustrations. Clicking any story will open a new page, with its title on top and a big ‘play’ button beside it. You can read the description, a brief

intro of the story or the episode with a nice illustration accompanying it. Below it, you will see the complete dialogue narration and a colouring page having a scene from the story, which you can print and colour while listening to the podcast. The site creators also allow you to share the picture you coloured on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram pages and tag it with #CircleRound.

The voices behind are one, from the stage, screen and podcast/public-radio host Rabecca Sheir and second from Eric Shimelonis, composer for the stage and screen.

Circle Round has earned numerous honours, including a Parents’ Choice Gold Award, a Webby nomination, and featured spots at the The UK International Radio Drama Festival and HEAR Now Festival. Enjoy stories from around the world at:

https://www.wbur.org/podcasts/circleround

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 18th, 2021