Where do I start?

Storynory has 100s of free audio stories, so where do you start?

Our Most Popular Series

If you look through the comments, you will see we are continually being asked, “When is the next Bertie story coming up?” or “What about a new Katie soon?” Katie the Witch and Prince Bertie are the two most popular series on Storynory. In fact, all the strands on the “original stories” page seem to go down well with kids. Perhaps this is because they are generally lively and funny, and aimed at a modern audience.

Used by Schools

Our Greek myths are popular with schools. Some teachers ask their classes to listen to a myth and leave a comment, perhaps answering a question. There are also some children who are really into mythology.

Gems of Storynory

It’s all a matter of taste, but these are stories that we think are among the gems of Storynory that stand out on artistic merit.

• The Snow Queen
  The Snow Queen is one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most beautiful tales. This (in three parts) captures the sense of a magical journey across the frozen wastes of Northern Europe.
• Swan Lake
  Our adaption of Swan Lake includes a mystical song set to the music from the ballet by Tchaikovsky. Read by Elizabeth.
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
  We adapt one of the best plots from English Medieval literature. It is the tale of a Knight of King Arthur’s court who sets out on what seems like a doomed quest of honour. The story has an unexpected twist at the end. Exciting and romantic, would suit slightly older children (we have toned down the mature themes of the original).
• The Secret Garden
  This classic novel particularly appeals to girls. Mary Lennox is a disagreeable girl who learns to love life and people when she discovers a secret garden in Yorkshire, in the North of England.
• Hansel and Gretel with Music from the Opera
  We hired two opera singers to work alongside our actors in this operatic production for children. The result is delightful and suitably scary in the famous witch scene. Your ears have to be ready to open up to some soaring soprano voices.
• The Cat Who Walked Alone
  Richard reads the most distinctive of all the Just So stories by Rudyard Kipling and gets the personality of the cat perfectly.
• Orpheus
  Richard reads Bertie’s verses about the musician of Ancient Greece who went down to the underworld to fetch his wife from the clutches of death. Be warned, it’s sad!
• The Christmouse Mystery
  Elizabeth wrote this audio drama for christmas, as well as acting in it. The detective story is set in an English country house and involves humans and a family of mice. Romance, mystery and comedy all in one production.
• Shockheaded Peter
  These moral verses are full of fun. Be warned, some of the tales are a bit frightening, such as the famous story about Harriet and her Matches.

Seasonal Stories

We mark the seasons:

Christmas Stories

Easter Stories (mostly chocolate)

Halloween

Thanksgiving

St. George’s Day

St. Valentine’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day

Chinese New Year

Boys

Girls seem to like all our stories, but boys are more tricky. Astropup, Bertie and Wicked Uncle under our original stories are good places to start for boys. Among the Myths, The Labours of Heracles have plenty of action.
They might move onto Robin Hood. Our spooky Scottish stories are also great and likely to go down well with them – see below.

Younger Children

The difficulty level of our written-language is aimed at kids of about 10 years old. However one of the beauties of audio is that children much younger can understand it. We have a lot of five-year-olds listening to our Bertie.

We have a Junior section in which we have picked out some shorter tales for younger children. You might also try Aesop. Our Original stand “Theo The Monkey” might appeal to younger kids too.

Animals

Naturally many of our stories feature animals. Animal stories often poke fun at human life. Here’s a few:

• The Cat’s Elopement
• Kissa the Cat
• The Fox and the Wolf
• The Bull and the Donkey
• The Lioness of Small Respect
• The Tortoise and the Geese
• Chicken Little
• The Rooster and the Fox

Romantic Stories

We have a soft spot for Romantic stories. If you want a tale with a bit of “AHHHH!” in it try:

• The First Strawberries
• The Journey of Eric and Enid
• Swan Lake
• Beauty and the Beast

Spooky Stories

Do you like your spine lightly chilled? Try our spooky Scottish stories read in an authentic accent by Geoffrey.

• The Spritely Taylor
• The Elfin Knight

From Russia we bring you Baba Yaga the classic East European Witch. Jack and the Jack O’Lantern is an original Halloween story set in America.

Spiritual Stories

Our selection of stories from the Bible includes some read in the mellow tones of John Le Mesurier, the English actor who starred in Dad’s Army. We have plenty of other stories from around the world that have a spiritual tone.

The Happy Prince
Oscar Wilde’s beautiful story of a statute that watches over the poor and downtrodden of the city has Christian overtones.

The Samurai and the Tea Master
A Japanese story about the true nature of courage and achieving that fashionable quality “zen” in the face of danger.

The Old Man and the Figs
A wise and funny Jewish story is set in the time of the Roman Empire.

The Blind Man’s Daughter
This story from Korea is a very touching tale of a young woman who remains faithful to her old father throughout her troubles.

Aponibolinayen
Geoffrey reads one of the most famous stories from the Philippines about a woman who marries the sun.

Music

Gladys
In our Second Series about Gladys, the girl who wants to be a pop singer, we recorded 5 pop songs for you to enjoy.

Don’t be scared of Halloween
This amusing song for Halloween is one of the most downloaded mp3s on Storynory.

Jason and Media
The epic story in verse also have three dreamy songs to go with it.

Hansel and Gretel With Music from the Opera
Already mentioned as one of our “gems”.