The Well Told Tale

This week, we return to Ratty's house, where the seasons have rolled on, and the animals find themselves helping a fellow creature in trouble. Will their quest be successful...? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-told-tale...

This week we return to the riverbank in early summer.  As promised Badger joins Ratty and Mole to help with Mr Toad's motor car obsession.  Will Mr Toad be receptive to their intervention...? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-w...

Mole is now settled on the riverbank and is preparing to take a trip with Ratty home for Christmas.  Unexpectedly Mole feels the pang for his old home, but can he remember the way... Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-told-tale...

Last week Mole and Ratty were caught in a storm and now find themselves on Badger's doorstep.  Will they receive a warm welcome after such a snowy adventure...? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-told-tale The Wind in the W...

Last week, we met the inimitable Mr Toad, whose current obsession is with his new motorcar. This week, Mole resolves to meet the Badger. What adventures await him on his way to the Wild Wood...?  Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-we...

Last week we met Mole who has moved to the peaceful riverbank and, with his new friend Ratty, is about to meet the most infamous toad of all time ... Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-told-tale The Wind in the Willows - https:/...

This week we begin a new Tale, Kenneth Grahame's family friendly classic 'The Wind in the Willows'.  Grahame wrote these stories for his son: tales of new fangled motorcars, messing about in boats, of Mole, Ratty, Badger and, of course, Mr Toad.  These may be simpler times but there are lots of adventures to be had... Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support th...

This week, we have a short story from master of gothic fantasy horror, William Hope Hodgson.  Famous in his lifetime for his novels 'The House on the Borderland' and 'The Night Land', this short story, 'The Voice in the Night', has arguably been his most influential. Dark, brooding, fantastical, it bears the hallmarks of Hodgson's style, and its themes can be tra...

This week, we return to one of the English language's wittiest writers, Oscar Wilde. We have already dipped into his 1880 short story collection for children 'The Happy Prince and Other Tales', and this time we bring you the title story from that collection. It would be a few years before he wrote 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and subsequently carve out his reputation as a...

To celebrate the end of the Christmas season and the start of a New Year, we bring you this classic short story, 'The Gift of the Magi', by O. Henry. It is his first appearance on The Well Told Tale, but will not be his last - he is the veritable master of the short story, and this example is no exception.  Traditionally, the Magi reached the baby Jesus 12 days after Christmas to bestow...

We have reached the finale of Jules Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' with a bumper episode. This week, our adventurers find themselves in freezing waters. Will our heroes finally escape the Nautilus? And will they discover the identity of the mysterious Captain Nemo..? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local books...

This week, we have the penultimate part of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'.  Our intrepid heroes are plotting their escape from the grip of Captain Nemo, but will he ever give them the opportunity? Will they ever learn who he really is... and what he really wants? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost...

We return to the Nautilus this week, where we are starting to learn more about the secretive Captain Nemo. What secrets will he reveal? And will he be able to keep his grip on his captives? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-well-tol...

This week, we continue with our fantastic Tale under the sea. So much has befallen our heroes so far, but what do we really know of the mysterious Captain Nemo?  Who is he really, and why has he taken to life under the water, shut away from the world on land? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books...

After nearly two months of captivity at sea aboard the Nautilus, our heroes are finally about to set foot on dry land.  They have been given permission to head to a small island by boat, but what will they do when they get there...? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors -...

Last time, our hero Professor Aronnax had the opportunity to walk on the ocean floor with Captain Nemo, showing that his captivity aboard the Nautilus has its benefits. What wonders await him next? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting local bookshops, at no cost to you): Books by our favourite authors - https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/the-...

Our heroes are now aboard the mighty Nautilus, prisoners with no means of escape, but afforded the opportunity to come and go as they please. Captain Nemo was more than happy to give Professor Aronnax, our main protagonist, a full tour of the vessel, but what does Nemo have in store for his prisoners? Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps support this channel while also supporting...

Last week, our heroes Professor Aronnax, his manservant Conseil, and master harpooner Ned Land found themselves captured and brought aboard a mysterious submarine - the same machine which they realise has been behind the terror on the seas in recent months.  Now, quite literally in the belly of the beast, will they finally get some answers?  Books - (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop helps s...

Last week, we began our voyage '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' with our narrator, Professor Pierre Aronnax, chasing what he suspects is an undiscovered narwhal of enormous size and strength, causing chaos on the high seas. The sailors aboard the steamship Abraham Lincoln have just sighted something, and master harpooner Ned Land is moving into position, much to Aronnax's excitement....

We embark on an epic voyage with this week's Tale, plunging "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by master of early sci-fi, Jules Verne.  This fantastical Tale originally appeared in a serialised form over 1869 to 1870 in a fortnightly periodical, and was subsequently published as a novel the year later.  It has been an enduring classic ever since.  We begin our story with speculation abo...

This week, we have a classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, 'Hansel and Gretel.' As with many of Grimm's fairy tales, this story most likely came from the oral tradition of storytelling in the region, before the brothers wrote them down and widened their appeal. In the spirit of this tradition, it is perhaps not surprising that the brothers amended their tales in subsequent edi...

Last week, we left Murilo, a nobleman, running into a problem. He planned to free Conan, and bargained with him to rid him of the Red Priest, Nabonidus, his rival for power in this unnamed city state, but due to a misunderstanding, he believes that Conan has failed to escape and carry out his task. Conan, however, has freed himself, and true to his word, is on his way to the house of Nabonidus, wh...

We return this week with another visit to the Hyborian Age with a Conan Tale from Robert E. Howard. 'Rogues in the House' is earlier in Conan's chronology - he's still very much a barbarian, but here we see glimpses of his own moral code that he lives by. Expect gore, but beautifully written gore... If you'd like to support The Well Told Tale, please visit us on Patreon: h...

This week brings us the finale of 'The Marvelous Land of Oz' by L. Frank Baum. Our heroes are stuck in a jackdaw nest, but they have a plan to fly and meet Glinda, the Good Witch. If anyone can sort out this mess, it's Glinda...isn't it?  If you'd like to support The Well Told Tale, please visit us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewelltoldtale Books - (buying books f...

We return to Oz again this week, where Tip has  amassed quite a group to challenge the invaders for the Scarecrow's crown. Mombie, the cruel witch, has tried her best to stop them reaching the Emerald City, but has been foiled with help from old friend, the Queen of the Field Mice. Now Tip, Jack Pumpkinhead, the wooden Saw-Horse, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the magnified Wogglebug appr...