Stories Come to Life

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Polly is still just a young woman who wants to have fun and enjoy life. She seems so grown up and responsible! But one night she just wants to enjoy herself. Not surprisingly, she has a wonderful time. But poor Fanny, who has grown up all too quickly, is tired of everything....

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Will Milton, who is Polly’s younger brother, visits his sister every Sunday. They sing, eat, and have serious discussions together. They also include little Maud, who is rather lonely and appreciates the chance to visit with Polly and Will. Then there is little Jane, who just wants a way to make an honest livin...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Six years have passed since we last joined Polly on her visit to the Shaw household. Now she is older, wiser, and ready to embark on a new adventure. This time, she is planning to “go around the city, making music all the time.” At least, that is how one young woman puts it. Polly may need to earn her living, b...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Here are the two final chapters, or staves, of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, as read by my father, Kenneth Luker. This time as I was listening to this old favorite, I was struck by how Scrooge is already prepared to learn and change from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. That reminded me of how we al...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  In A Christmas Carol, the different chapters are referred to as staves because when a piece of music is written, such as a Christmas carol, the paper it is written on is marked with five-lined staves, or staffs (same thing). So, when we refer to the different chapters, I like to think of them as different verse...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Here is Stave Two of A Christmas Carol , by Charles Dickens, as read by my father, Kenneth Luker. In this episode, Scrooge meets the first of the three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, specifically, Scrooge’s past.  Now sit back, relax, and listen to this story come to life. Listening to audiobooks really...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Today we have a special treat! My father, Kenneth Luker, has agreed to be a guest host on our podcast for the next five episodes. We have a tradition in our family of reading A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens , on the Sunday nights in December. Somehow, it just wouldn’t be the same without that familiar and...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Soon it will be time for Polly to go back home to her loving family. But before then, she introduces the Shaw family to the joy that comes from listening to Grandma’s stories. There is so much that everyone can learn from that wise old woman! And then there is one last party to attend before Polly leaves: danci...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  After Tom’s bicycle accident, the young people of the Shaw household are so good and kind to each other that Grandma becomes worried that something bad is going to happen. But, things never run in a smooth course, and this chapter is full of scrapes and mistakes and hurt feelings. It’s only natural, after all....

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Polly is still visiting the Shaw family, and sometimes she feels homesick for her own family. You see, her own home is filled with love, and to her surprise, the Shaw home is not. Polly can’t understand why, but she sets to work to do the small and simple things that bring peace and affection to a household. Ev...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Here is the first episode of Louisa May Alcott’s delightful book, An Old-Fashioned Girl. Here we meet Polly Milton as she leaves her home in the country to go visit Fanny Shaw, who lives in town and is already quite a young lady. Polly, who is nearly the same age as Fanny, still considers herself a young girl....

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  When we last left Frank and Joe and their father, they had been tied up by the smugglers and were awaiting being forced into Li Chang’s boat, bound for China! Things look very grim for our heroes. How can they possibly escape and see the smugglers come to justice? Here is the thrilling conclusion of The Hardy B...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Brave Frank and Joe Hardy start exploring the hidden cove under the cliff at Barmet Bay. Not only do they find a secret channel where boats can come in and out of the area unseen, but they find the smugglers’ lair, and a weak and frail prisoner who has been held captive until he will sign a certain document. Ca...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Where could Fenton Hardy, Frank and Joe’s father, have gone? He was last seen in the vicinity of the deserted old Polucca place. So Frank and Joe and several of their chums decide to go explore the whole house, just in case he may be there. What a surprise they have when they find the old house tidied up and se...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  After rescuing the young man from the water after his almost fatal encounter in the bay, Frank and Joe Hardy are understandably concerned about him. Their father thinks the young man, who seems to be using an assumed name, may be in the secret service, trying to discover secrets about Ganny Snackley and his smu...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Here is the second exciting volume of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. In The House on the Cliff, Frank and Joe Hardy stumble on a mystery as they and their friends Biff, Chet, and Jerry, are riding their motorcycles around Barmet Bay one Saturday in early June. When they decide to explore an old deserted house, none...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Poor Peter has been so lonely and disgruntled and, most of all, jealous this whole summer. Instead of having Heidi to himself up on the mountain pasture, she has been spending all her time with Clara. And even when she decides to come up to the high meadows with him, she will be bringing her friend! When Peter...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  When I was a little girl, I remember begging and pleading with my parents to let my dear cousin, Susan, spend the night. Almost always my parents were happy to let her stay and we would stay up late and tell stories and talk about how we hoped our lives would go. Something similar happens to Heidi when Clara an...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Winter has come to the mountain once again. But instead of being snowed in on the mountain pasture and unable to go anywhere, Heidi and Grandfather have moved to the Hamlet. In the little town of Dörfli, Heidi goes to school, teaches the reluctant Peter how to read, and enjoys the snow-filled winter. Every day...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Who is Heidi waiting for? Goat Peter wants Heidi to come with him to the high pastures, but she is waiting for some special, long-awaited visitors. She is so happy when the doctor arrives to stay for a while. He is sad and despondent, but just being around Heidi helps him regain some joy in living. Heidi seems...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Finally back in her mountain home so dear, Heidi has to visit Grandmother, and go out to the pasture with the goats, and listen to the music of the wind in the fir trees. But most of all, she enjoys spending time with Grandfather, who has also been deeply affected by all that Heidi has learned in Frankfort. The...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  The mystery of the Sesemann ghost has been solved, and without delay, in order to save her life, Heidi is allowed to go back up to her beloved mountain meadow with Grandfather and the goats, and Grandmother, and Goat Peter! When has a homecoming ever been so joyful, and the sounds of home so welcome? Rejoice wi...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  After a wonderful, long visit, Grandmama Sesemann has to go back to her own house. Heidi and Clara miss her, but soon there is something to distract everyone from her departure. The Sesemann house is haunted! Every morning the front door is found to stand open, even though it has been double-locked every night!...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  When Mr. Sesemann returned from his trip to Paris, he discovered how much his little daughter, Clara, was devoted to her young companion. Heidi may have caused a bit of upheaval in the household, but she is full of kindness and consideration as well. And she found another loving grandma in Clara’s grandmama! Wh...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker.  Poor Miss Rottenmeier! She thought her idea of bringing a companion for Clara Sesemann would give her some relief from the hard work of caring for the girl. But now that Heidi has arrived, life is more surprising and disorganized that she ever would have believed. Heidi, on the other hand, is trying to find som...