Storybook Railroad

A young girl named Amy lives in a rural home with her family. She loves the country life but is also intrigued by the city. So whenever her mother has to go downtown she rides along. Impressed by the large buildings and the hustle and bustle of the busy streets her visits into the city with her mother are always an adventure. But the one thing that concerns Amy is that all the people seem to be in...

Mr. Grimm loves playing his tuba for the giraffes at the zoo. He is a volunteer at the zoo and one day, after playing his tuba, he discovers that someone has stolen it. Mr. Grimm learns that it is being used by the zoo superintendent to get an elephant into a truck. But he is not very nice about it and Mr. Grimm becomes very angry. Written by Larry Whitler, this was first broadcast in the early 19...

This is a bonus podcast. Instead of a story, today we visit the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Gainesville, Florida. It was the day of the Florida Bat Festival and it was a fun event to attend. There were, of course, BATS!! Lots and lots of bats! Big bats, small bats, bats that eat bugs, bats that eat fruit, and lots of information about how bats live. In this podcast we spoke to Brian Pope, the Directo...

A girl and a boy, named Millicent and Daniel, spend the day at the beach and let their imaginations take them away to an adventure on the seas with a ship of pirates. The vivid images the children envision in their minds make the imagined experience feel very real until Millicent's mother and Daniel's brother break them from their fantasy. This story is written by Robin MacBlane and was first feat...

We originally recorded our Halloween Special in the summer of 2007. For that special we wrote and produced stories and songs and, of course, our signature dialogue. In this podcast we feature three of the stories and songs from our Halloween collection titled, "It's Only Pretend." In addition to simply wanting a fun recording we also wanted to show our young listeners that the scary stuff on Hallo...

A king is very protective about the role he plays in his kingdom and refuses to let anyone learn his skills. But when he learns of his brother's illness, and is reminded of his own mortality, the king becomes very stressed. After falling asleep, the king dreams that he is an amateur gardener who is being unfairly reprimanded by his elders for his inexperience. From this the king learns the importa...

Twin boys learn about their grandfather's childhood and discover that time is precious and life is short. This story has a melancholy element that serves to underscore the message. Written by Robin MacBlane, "Aunt Tilda And Me" first appeared on the Robin And The Giant radio program in the early 1990s and can be found in printed form in the book titled, "The Gift Of The Barking Frog."

This is a bonus podcast on Storybook Railroad that features our visit to Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida to listen to a concert by the Gainesville Community Band. Joining us is Robin's mother, Beverly. Our special guest is Robin's brother, James Peronto, who is the percussionist in the band. The concert title is The Charles Dean and William Dishman Memorial Trumpet Concert.  The conductor...

A young boy named Steven imagines that when he grows up he will fly space-taxis taking passengers to the moon and back. His father, however, thinks it would be better if he would have more realistic and down-to-earth dreams for his future. But when Steven takes a bite of an apple and imagines that his apple wants to cry he cleverly illustrates for his father that all great changes began in somebod...

A young girl named Andrea, out shopping with her mother, sees another young girl behaving poorly when she is told she can't have a stuffed toy animal that she wants. The resulting conversation between Andrea and her mother helps Andrea learn the difference between wanting something and needing something. This story is written by Robin MacBlane and first appeared on the Robin And The Giant radio sh...

In this bonus episode of Storybook Railroad, we take a field trip and visit Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We visited the park called "The Magic Kingdom" and then the area called "Disney Springs." In addition to some of the attractions at the park we also talk a bit about our memories of visits from years ago, especially when our own children were very young. Plus, we sample soda from arou...

A young boy with a very vivid imagination takes his bicycle for a ride to the park and imagines he is on a heroic mission to save a family trapped from the ruins of a bombing during World War II. In the process he makes some very philosophical observations about life. This story was written by Larry Whitler for the Robin And The Giant radio show in the early 1990s and appears in the book, "The Gif...

A young girl named Angelina looks enviously at the bigger and more expensive homes on the other side of a concrete wall in her neighborhood and she wishes she had been born into a family with more money. Then, while swinging on the swings in the public playground, she falls and hits her head. Upon awakening, she realizes that she is a rich girl. Or is it just a dream? "Angelina" is written by Robi...

Robin And The Giant had heard an old legend that claimed a wish would come true if it was written on the tail of a kite and that kite was flown high into the clouds. Robin wished she had a dog and so Robin and The Giant wrote Robin's wish on the tail of a pink paisley kite and brought it to the park to fly it. But there isn't much wind and it looks like the wish for a dog won't come true. Or will...

In this bonus episode of Storybook Railroad, we take a cruise on the St. John's River in Florida aboard a paddleboat from the St. John's Rivership. Robin's mother, Beverly, joined us for this adventure. The trip was about three hours long and included lunch and a snack. This was a wonderful experience! We hope you enjoy our podcast as much as we enjoyed our cruise!

In "The Totally Informed Man," two fourth graders, Sally and Trudeaux, have a class assignment to do research on Cleopatra's secrets. But when they exhaust all their resources, the two friends have an idea to go ask the only man they know knows everything: "The Totally Informed Man." This story is written by Larry Whitler and originally appeared on the Robin And The Giant Radio Show in the early 1...

A wise king travels the world to show people how to live and work together by sharing their gifts and talents. This story underscores the importance of reading. It is written by Robin MacBlane and appears in the book, "The Gift Of The Barking Frog."