Tag: story

Storytime: Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust

Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein

It’s storytime from Confetti Park!

In this episode we hear the inimitable Melinda Taliancich Falgoust narrate Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein.

This is SUCH a fun story about little Lizzie McGillicuddy, a girl who adapts quickly to recover from an embarrassing situation at her school. Talk about making the best of things!

A piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of Lizzie McGillicuddy’s shoe could prove to be the biggest disaster in the entire history of the freckle-faced third-grader’s career until the errant strand of tissue becomes a fantastical queen’s train, then a magical superhero’s cape, and finally a spooky bride’s veil, proving that a little positive thinking can change your whole outlook on life…and save the class costume contest!

BUY IT ON AMAZON

Melinda Taliancich Falgoust

Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein earned a 5-star review with Reader’s Favorite. We are so delighted that Melinda has shared it with our Confetti Park listeners!

And just wait til you hear her wonderful narration.

You can check out this interview with Melinda to learn more about this accomplished author, actress, photographer and educator.

Also, listen to Melinda narrate her other wonderful books (all so different and original):

Listen to Melinda narrate Lousy Liver

Listen to Melinda narrate Footprints
Storytime: Lophi Learns to Fly

It’s storytime from Confetti Park! In this episode we hear a tale of dinosaur friendship by award-winning children’s author David Eugene Ray out of New Orleans. This is Lophi Learns to Fly.

Lophi is a small dinosaur who feels invisible in his herd. He lives a fairly contented life, but he’s lonely. He spends most of his afternoons watching the pterodactyls flying in the sky. One day, he meets Weena, and they discover that they both share this fascination with the winged creatures and wish, themselves, to fly. Weena has her own reasons for wanting to leave the herd behind.

The two decide to collaborate to build wings, and they set off on a construction adventure. Each day spent in the forest collecting the right materials brings them closer to launch, and closer together. Even though the two dinosaurs couldn’t be more different, their friendship blossoms as they work through the challenges of learning to fly.

David Eugene Ray works with animals everyday at the Audubon Nature Institute. (Follow him on Twitter at @aquarium_dave.) He is the author of The Little Mouse Santi, which was named a Best Book of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews.
Storytime: The Little Louisiana Pine Tree

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear an old folk tale told with Louisiana flair. This is the old-time tale of a little pine tree who cannot be satisfied with what she has. This pine tree wishes for new leaves, because she wants to be different from all the other pine trees.

Somehow she gets her wish one night, and wakes up covered in different kinds of leaves. Then the little pine tree finds that she has different kinds of problems.

If only this pine tree could realize how beautiful she is… We know that her green needles are so fragrant in the spring and summer. We appreciate the soft, quiet carpet created on the forest floor when she drops her needles. And we love the soothing song she sings when the wind blows through her needled treetop, high above us.

If only we all could see our beauty, as others see it in us, and be happy with who we are.

Thank you to Magpie Baccinelli for narrating this Louisiana folk tale for Confetti Park!
Storytime: The Lord’s Supper by Ms. Chocolate

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear a wonderful and true childhood story from the Louisiana-born storyteller Ms. Chocolate.

This is a story about when she attended her first Lord’s Supper at the Galilee Baptist Church in Alexandria, Louisiana. Ms. Chocolate was only four years old, but she was looking forward to the supper at the little country church.

“Now, I didn’t know who the Lord was, but I knew what supper was! Supper meant fried chicken and cornbread and collard greens and pound cake! Well, I wanted to go to that supper.

When I walked inside the door, they had a table sitting up front, and it had a white sheet over it, and I’m trying to figure out, what could be under that sheet? Must be a whole ham or a turkey or something!

Ms. Chocolate

I sat on the front pew and I kept watching… I was wondering when are we going to eat? When are we gonna eat?”

The story continues in Ms. Chocolate’s wonderful voice. When she and the other children are left alone in the church house, they go up front to investigate what’s under the sheet.

Ms. Chocolate, also known as Gwen Williams, lives in Picayune, Mississippi today. She left New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She tells stories all around the Gulf area. http://chocolatestoryteller.blogspot.com/
Storytime: The Kitty at the Manger by Mary Jean Chester

It’s Christmas Storytime on Confetti Park!

You’ve heard about the friendly beasts in the manger, who all gave their own special gift to the baby Jesus, who was born in a stable so rude.

There was the donkey, who gave mother Mary a ride, and the cow, who gave up her manger and hay for the newborn child. The sheep gave his soft wool to keep the baby warm. And the doves cooed the baby to sleep with their sweet song…. did a kitty also offer some comfort to the baby?

In this retelling of the Christmas story, Mary Jean Chester of Bayou Gauche, Louisiana, imagines what role a barn cat might have had in the wee hours of the morning, when baby Jesus needed soothing.

Mary Jean is a retired teacher and has spent years telling stories to children in south Louisiana. Thank you, Mary Jean, for sharing your gift with Confetti Park!
Storytime: The Ice Cream Cow by Mel Lecompte, Jr.

What do you do with a cow that does not moo?

Westwego’s own Mel Lecompte, Jr. explores this conundrum in his colorful children’s tale, The Ice Cream Cow. Here he narrates for Confetti Park! Available for purchase on Amazon

Living on a farm with her friends the Chocolate Chip Chicken and the Soda Pop Duck, the Ice Cream Cow has a problem. While there are many things she can do — such as hop like a kangaroo — the poor cow does not moo. Kids will love the rhythmic tale of the cherry-topped, polka-dotted bovine and the quest for her true voice. Savvy parents who read this story to their little ones will enjoy scanning the illustrations for inside references meant to keep big people’s eyes in the book and not on their watches.

Mel is an elementary school teacher, an award-winning journalist and cartoonist, a musician and an entertainer (check out his band Mel and the Moodoggies), and a dad who writes and illustrates his own books, including T-Boy and the Terrible Turtle.
Storytime: The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t by Alex McConduit

Hey Saints fans! Football season is here! And we have a very special book to celebrate.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Alexander Brian McConduit narrates his original story, The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t, which is all about one little boy’s love/hate relationship with his favorite team.

The book takes you through the Saints’ amazing Superbowl season and tries to put into words what THAT season was like through the eyes of Buddy.

All of the characters are named after Saints players & figures, pre & post. Follow Buddy, his family, friends & the city of New Orleans as we relive one of the most memorable times the citizens of New Orleans have ever seen.

The story is scored with accompaniment by the Confetti Park Players, a kids chorus based in Algiers.

Thank you Alex for reading The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t for Confetti Park! What an emotional rollercoaster that season was—and so is this book!

You can buy the book at Amazon.com. Learn more about Alex and his other children’s books at http://bigbootbooks.com/about/.

And check out Alex reading Thorn in My Horn and Snoballs for All for Confetti Park.

Thorn in My Horn by Alex McConduit

Snoballs for All by Alex McConduit
Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun country

Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun Country
Vignettes from Annie Hardy Calais

Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.

“My name is Annie Hardy Calais. I was born on July 26, 1927… The year of the great flood, the same day as St. Ann, that is the day of her feast.”

So begins this lovely memoir of Annie Hardy Calais, who shares many true stories of her childhood growing up in Cajun Country in Louisiana.

Annie, who lives in Cecilia today, was the youngest of 12 children of French descent. Deeply devoted Catholics, the family was large and loving, and the family remains close today. They extend throughout Acadiana.

Annie shares memories of her beloved mother, her tante (Cajun term for aunt) who lived with them, and the adventures of her brothers and sisters growing up in rural Louisiana in the 1920s and 1930s. One memory brings a chuckle:

“After our old house was flooded in 1927, the floorboards constricted. The planks were left with big cracks between each. When we looked down at this floor, we could see the chickens, the dogs, and the cats walk past. Mama gave each child a can of corn kernels, to drop the corn through the cracks and feed the chicks. The grandchildren loved it.”

Annie has a remarkable memory, and clearly has always had a gift for recognizing the beauty in the mundane—even as a small child. Her childhood memories of life in rural Louisiana are endearing and enrich our own understanding of this unique place.

Thank you, Annie, for sharing your wonderful stories on Confetti Park.
The Little Red Hen sung by Millie Calais Darby

The Little Red Hen, illustrated by Florence White Williams.

Millie Calais Darby, of Cecilia, La., sings for Confetti Park Storytime!

She shares with us her beautiful rendition of The Little Red Hen, an old folk tale known by children of countless generations. It’s a sweet moral tale about what happens when you don’t step up to hard work and help your friends in need.

When the little red hen finds a grain of wheat, she gives her barnyard friends many opportunities to help her plant, thresh, mill, and bake it into bread. But they won’t help her. Of course, they want to eat the delicious bread when it’s all baked up into warm goodness!

What do you think will happen?
Storytime: Lousy Liver by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust

Charlie is hungry. He simply can’t wait. What will his dear mother put on his plate? Charlie picks up his fork and stops in midair. Oh, no! On his plate! What is THAT sitting there?”

Lousy Liver is an award-winning, deliciously whimsical tale that follows the imagination of a young boy as he devises one wild plan after another to help him avoid the “lousy liver” being served for dinner. Soon, Charlie discovers that something different isn’t always something bad. Buy on Amazon.com

This cute story is narrated by the author, Melinda Taliancich Falgoust, of New Orleans. In addition to being a published author of several books for kids and adults, Melinda is a mom, a Navy veteran, a teacher of drama to young children, and an actor who performs on stage and screen. Learn more about her work on her website.
Storytime: Why the Possum has a Large Grin by Johnette Downing

Why the Possum has a Large Grin

Award-winning Louisiana children’s musician and author Johnette Downing shares with Confetti Park another marvelous trickster tale—this time about a possum! (Also listen to Why the Oyster Has the Pearl.)

When hungry Deer asks Possum how he stays so plump during the long dry season, the sly marsupial gets an idea. It wouldn’t take much for Possum to help Deer; he could just climb that ol’ persimmon tree and knock down the fruit. But Possum is just plain lazy and he’d rather trick Deer into doing the work for both of them. Once Possum decides to take advantage of his starving neighbor they both become marked forever.

This narration of Why the Possum has a Large Grin is available on Johnette Downing’s Reading Rocks CD, and in book form by Pelican Publishing. It is also available for purchase on Amazon.

Audio used by permission.
Storytime: Snoballs for All by Alex McConduit

Snoballs for All by Alex McConduit

In this episode of Confetti Park, New Orleans-based children’s author Alex McConduit narrates his adorable story Snoballs for All.

The best part of a hot, humid New Orleans summer is slurping up a big, round, icy-cold, brightly-colored snoball. That’s exactly what Paul wants to do, but he can’t find the snoball festival! He searches all through the city for just one snoball (although two would be better, and three would be best). Where will Paul find snoballs for all?

Snoballs for All is a perfect gift for any Southern kid. We all understand the need for an icy snoball on a hot summer day! Kids from the Confetti Park Players provide the chorus in this narration.

Snoballs for All was illustrated by Paulina Ganucheau. It is available through Pelican Publishing and for sale on Amazon.

Alex is the owner of Big Boot Books and founder of W.R.I.T.E., a youth publishing program that transforms students in New Orleans into published authors.