Reading Out Loud & Telling Stories

The Pirates’ Tale

This is the last slot on the Home page of my website, and already I keep changing my mind about what ought to be on it. If the beginning of civilisation wasn’t dependent on us telling each other stories it certainly wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without them. On the assumption that this page has to begin somewhere, The Pirates’ Tale seems as good a place to start as any, if only because Janet Aitchison got a world record for writing and having it published when she was only five and a half, and it was so stunningly illustrated by Jill McDonald. So, with due acknowledgement to both of them and to Penguin books who probably belong to someone else these days, here is The Pirates’ Tale.

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The Gruffalo

And because it was there, and by now you all know what I sound like, here is me reading The Gruffalo with full copyright acknowledgement to Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler and Macmillan etc 

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The Magic Roundabout

I’m not sure I am much good at telling stories. I am certainly not much cop at writing them. But Eric Thompson is, and Dougal and The Magic Roundabout have been woven into the fabric of my family life for more than forty years. And I do enjoy reading them out loud which is why they are here.

Me reading them is not a very serious contribution to the cultural archive of the English twentieth century, but they make me laugh. If you are one of the very few people on the planet who even knows who I am, I hope you enjoy these few morsels of fun, and me reading them to you.

With due acknowledgement, and in loving admiration of Eric Thompson, a very English man, and to Serge Danot who originally created the stories of The Magic Roundabout in France of all places, and presumably wrote them in French!