Showing results by narrator "Carl Sommer" in All Categories

Everyone enjoys a spirited competition, but when the challenger is a big-headed braggart, it's easy to cheer for the underdog - or in this case - the under-tortoise. The colorful characters in this retelling of Aesop's beloved fable will tickle the fancy of any child. The forest animals are beyond tired of Harry Hare's boasting. So what if he is the fastest animal in the forest?

While grownups understand the magnitude of guarding sheep, children may lack an ability to see the bigger picture. Nicholas finds tending his family's sheep to be mind-numbingly boring, which is why he ultimately makes the impulsive decision to cry "Wolf!" To his delight, his alert prompts the townspeople to drop everything and rush to his aid, but when the people discover they have been duped they are livid.

While Little Red Hen works to grow her wheat, the dog, the cat, and the duck are full of excuses not to help. With each step, Little Red Hen offers to share the wheat in exchange for assistance, but the fair-weather friends always have more pleasant things to do. Will this affect their chances for a delicious slice of bread?

About to be devoured by the fearsome King of the Forest, Bitsy the Mouse manages to convince Leo the Lion to let her go in exchange for future assistance. While Leo cannot conceive of any way that a tiny mouse could help him, he does admire Bitsy's pluck and releases her. What he later discovers is that big help can indeed come in small packages. Through Bitsy, Leo also realizes the importance of keeping your word.

Trapped high on a mountain by deep snow, hungry townspeople wait desperately for one of the three big trains to bring them food, but they all refuse to go up the mountain. Seeing the desperate situation, The Little Red Train and a family of brave helpers decide to go up the mountain in spite of the ridicule from the big trains. The Little Red Train and it helpers overcome severe obstacles and save the people from starvation.

In a village full of selfish inhabitants, the idea that making stone soup would bring them all together might be hard to swallow...literally! With a few stones as the initial ingredients, three famished soldiers cleverly convince the villagers to contribute all of the items needed for a delicious pot of soup. In this spirited adaptation of the beloved folktale, preparing a simple pot of soup teaches the villagers that sharing brings happiness and celebration.

When Androcles’ enormous effort results in harsh punishment, he finally realizes the impossibility of satisfying his demanding slave master. Even though capture means his delivery to very hungry lions, Androcles escapes. When he comes across a wounded lion, he quickly and kindly offers aid. This results in a budding friendship between the pair until their unfortunate capture. What follows illuminates the significance of an act of kindness and gratitude for life and freedom.

While a little fun is essential for a happy life, wise individuals know that prosperity begins with hard work. Gary and the other grasshoppers want to play all day, and they cannot understand why the ants work so hard and miss all the fun. Alex and the ants know they must work during the spring to have food for the winter. Sure enough, when winter arrives early, the lazy grasshoppers have nothing to eat. Passage of a new law that requires the ants to share their food with the grasshoppers transforms the whole community into a fun-loving crowd.

Speckles the spider and Crumbs the cricket think Katy the caterpillar is much too ugly to be their friend. But Annie the ant doesn't agree, and she and Katy become best friends. As Katy the caterpillar begins her strange transformation into a beautiful butterfly, her friend Annie is shocked and amazed. Speckles and Crumbs finally learn the true meaning of beauty and friendship - and caterpillars.

Believing in a foolish superstition, Chicken Little is convinced that the sky is falling. In her distress, she convinces a number of other animal friends that this is indeed the case. One after another, the animals join Chicken Little, soon forming a frantic pack. Fortunately, Chippy Chipmunk steps in with wise intervention. What follows confirms the importance of critical thinking and the possible dangers of gullibility.

Mom and Dad Fox try to set a healthy example for triplets Freddy, Fay, and Flip. Even though Mom cooks nutritious meals, Freddy prefers to stuff himself with sugary treats, and refuses to participate in healthy family exercise. One bad choice leads to another, and in spite of Dad and Mom's efforts, Freddy finds himself part of a crooked gang of foxes. When the leader recruits Freddy as a decoy to help him outwit a lion and a donkey, the plan backfires. Is Freddy too chubby to get away?

Christopher has great dreams of becoming an inventor, but he dislikes anything requiring work. When he discovers that his neighbor Dr. Finkle has invented a time remote, Christopher uses it to avoid schoolwork, wholesome food, and jobs he doesn't like. The time remote sends him quickly through a life of avoiding problems, right into old age. Christopher finally realizes the misery of an easy life. Discovering a hidden button on his discarded remote, he fortunately gets a chance to start his life over.

Ants have to work hard during the summer to build their homes and gather food for the winter, but the Dilly Dally family has a different tradition: they always play first. If they have any time, then they work a little. The Family Work Play ants, however, first build their house and gather their food and then they relax and have fun. So they built a strong house and had lots of food for the coming winter. When the long, cold winter came, the Dilly Dally family had a tough time getting food and keeping warm. However, they learned an important lesson.

Spike the rebel caused trouble everywhere, and all the kids were afraid of him except Mary. Mary warned him that one day he would get into big trouble because of his meanness. Spike continued to be mean at school, on the school bus, camping, and in the park. One day while riding his bike, he hit one of his self-made bike traps. He broke his leg and bled badly. Debbie, a girl he laughed at for falling off her bike in one of his traps, came with her mother and saved him. Spike's life was transformed.

Nelson was a successful doctor, his best friend, Jesse, was an award-winning architectural engineer, and his brother, Alvin, ended up in jail. Nelson tells about his childhood of living in a single-parent home in a poor area with gangs and drugs. His grandparents taught him, Alvin, and Jesse valuable lessons on how to become successful, but Alvin always resisted learning.

It was time for the beautiful Princess Elizabeth to be married. Charming Simon and the strong, handsome Thomas came to ask her hand in marriage. And then there was John, the handsome but not-so-flashy commoner whom Elizabeth had first noticed helping an old man get his wagon out of a muddy ditch. Not sure about the true character of her three suitors, Elizabeth had them run a race to reveal what they were really like in difficult situations.

Benny and Sally don't mind doing their farm chores and caring for their mules, but they absolutely refuse to share. Their mules, Bossy and Stiffy, imitate their owners' selfish ways by stubbornly refusing to let anyone else ride them, and fussing whenever they work together doing farm work. Dad needs to teach the mules a lesson. He ties them together which forces them to learn to cooperate in order to eat. After much struggling, the mules learn to work together, and teach their owners Benny and Sally that sharing brings happiness.

When Jane, the farmer's wife, complains to her husband, Sam, about the crooked rows he has plowed, they decide to switch jobs for a day. Both Sam and Jane expect to have lots of free time after each finishes the other's "easy" job. But they encounter one calamity after another doing each other's chores. After having the hardest day of their lives, they meet each other and end up laughing at their misconceptions.

Millie thought the whole world was unfair. Even though she had a nice house and a loving family, she was always miserable. Whenever things didn't go her way, Millie constantly complained. Millie became so miserable that she decided to run away so she could do whatever she wanted. She takes a bus to the big city, but instead of having fun, she encounters one disaster after another. Millie is alone and scared and ends up with no money, no food to eat, and nowhere to sleep. After getting caught stealing candy, the police call her parents.

The bear cubs Stubby and Prissy can't seem to agree on anything - not even on who should close the door. Even their forest friends walk out because of their bickering. The cubs finally decide to settle the issue with a game of "You move, you lose". However, two raccoon burglars show up for an unforgettable game of their own. When a wolf comes by chasing a little kitten, their stubbornness is tested to the limit. Stubby declares victory, but he soon realizes the true winner is his sister, Prissy.