What’s that soaring through the sky? It’s Storytime Issue 32, and it’s landing with UK subscribers this week! (And with international subscribers very soon.) It’s a landmark issue because it’s the first time we’ve had a myth or legend on our cover. In these unicorn-obsessed times, we thought it was fitting to remind everyone of the original and best flying horse. Amazing Pegasus!

Featuring El Gunto’s magical illustrations, we hope we’ve done Pegasus the Winged Horse and his sidekick Bellerophon justice. It’s a great Greek myth for kids with a memorable three-headed monster, so we hope you enjoy it.

School subscribers also get our fantastic Pegasus lesson plan and resource pack for free. It features lots of themed activities to try out in class. If you’re interested, then find out more on our Schools site. In the meantime, find out what’s inside the rest of the issue here.

Inside Storytime Issue 32

Another highlight of the issue is our prize-winning poem The Seahorses by nine-year-old Bryn Patel Stephens. Bryn entered our Poetry Competition in September 2016 and was selected as the winner by children’s poet Brian Moses. It’s a stunning poem with awesome illustrations to match by Marina Perez

Stanley and the Rampaging Robot by first-time author Stan Byford is guaranteed to make you laugh. Stan grew up building model robots and spaceships, but now makes websites for a living. In his spare time, he invents stories for his son Stanley. This was one of them. It involves a trip to Mars, an out-of-control robot and jam sandwiches. We think you’ll love it. As Stan says, “the illustrations by Marko Renko are amazing and have brought the whole story to life.”

If you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, think again. Little Golden Hood and her granny give the wolf what he deserves in this alternative version with roots in the mid 1800s. It’s an absolute corker.

We are delighted to work with the super-talented Martuka again on this, who illustrated our Little Mermaid cover last summer. (Pick it up from our Back Issue Shop.)

Storytime fans will know that we can’t resist a funny fable. The Cockerel and the Diamond is no exception. It also has the added bonus of being set in a farmyard, which should please little readers. Giovanni Abeille illustrated our chickens with attitude!

No Storytime issue is complete without a trip to Alphabet Zoo. This time we’re joining Bonnie and Boo for a trip to see animals beginning with the letters D and E, including a cheeky elephant. Tim Budgen is our resident illustrator/head zookeeper, as always. Make sure you download our free Alphabet Zoo Factsheet and Activity Packs too. They come with gorgeous animal alphabet posters to collect.

Moscione the Fool is this month’s folktale. Our hero Moscione makes some pretty cool friends on his adventure: Lightning, Quick-Ear, Shoot-Straight and Strong-Back. With their help, he manages to outwit a scheming king! Hopefully, it should make you reconsider the word ‘fool’. Tomasz Plaskowski  provided the gorgeous illustrations for this story.

Finally, our Around the World Tale in Storytime Issue 32 is The Sky Brothers Bring Fire. It’s an Aboriginal myth about the origin of fire. Almost every culture has its own myth about how fire began, so use this story as a starting point for exploring more fire myths. Caroline Attia created the cute koalas and kangaroos in this story.

 

There you have it, Storytime is packed to the hilt with stories, as ever. Furthermore, we’ve squeezed in drawing, puzzles, book recommendations, a competition and an awesome monster-making game!

Want to flick through the whole issue? Then get a sneak peek here on our YouTube Channel!

We wish you a month of brilliant bedtime stories. We’d love to hear your favourites in Storytime Issue 32. Also, what stories would you like to see in future Storytime issues? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook and we’re also now on Instagram. Do come and say hello!

 

Happy reading all!