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THE OLD MAN SPEAKS: A Storyteller’s History of the White Mountains

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THE OLD MAN SPEAKS: A Storyteller’s History of the White Mountains

It is 1819 on Mt. Washington. Far above the treeline in the harsh wind, a father and son chop away the last gnarled dwarf firs. Ahead lies bare rock, all the way to the summit. Little do they know, but their hiking path is the first of its kind anywhere. In a young, robust America, people will soon flock to their strange invention. This is the dawn of outdoor mountain sports.

THE OLD MAN SPEAKS is the oral history of those first trail blazers, and the two hundred years of trail builders who followed.

Written and narrated by Storyteller Odds Bodkin as The Old Man of the Mountain, here’s a 71-minute epic of American history, scored with original music on six- and twelve-string guitars and Celtic harp. Commissioned and edited by Robert White of the White Mountain Trail Crew.

If you’re a teacher, parent, student, history buff or outdoor enthusiast, here is a story that you’ll love, again and again. Meet Abel and Ethan Crawford as they build the Crawford Path in 1819. Glimpse wilderness America before paved roads existed. Imagine millions of now extinct Passenger Pigeons darkening the sky with flocks that took three days to pass. Learn how a moose’s bladder is a ready-made canteen. Hear how commerce developed in New England from paths to roads to railroads. Witness the founding of the Appalachian Mountain Club by professors from MIT. Get close to the White Mountain Trail Crew–the hardiest of elite young outdoorsmen, and women–and see what equipment they carry to maintain the trails. Watch them run up the mountains of a public park that is busier than Yellowstone, a place with the worst weather on earth.

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Original acoustic music written and performed by Odds Bodkin.

71 minutes

112 mb

©2022 Odds Bodkin All Rights Reserved

THROUGH A TEACHER’S EYES: Odds Bodkin’s Zoom Storytellings for Schools/Watch Video

Posted on by Odds Bodkin

THROUGH A TEACHER’S EYES: Odds Bodkin’s Zoom Storytellings for Schools work well for 2021.

I’d just finished a long day on Zoom visiting a school full of 5th and 6th graders. Beginning with an hour-long show, GOLDEN RULE II–three fun and absorbing musical stories filled with conversation points about kindness and empathy–I followed up with six workshops. Laura Piccolo, the school’s Language Arts Coordinator, had sent me a list of topics she wanted covered. She’d even requested a workshop about how music enhances emotions in stories.

Here’s a video of our conversation that afternoon.

With the pandemic easing, not only am I always available via Zoom for schools, but I’ve decided to journey forth into the world again to do live shows.

Her school also purchased an EPIC DRIVE for its library–a collection of all my audio stories.

 

as well as copies of THE CRANE WIFE, one of my children’s picture books.

It was a full arts and literary experience for her school.

Visit https://www.oddsbodkin.net/educational-programs/ to learn how you can bring such a program to your or your child’s school.

 

WHEN THE ANIMALS SPOKE: A Summer Reading Zoom Show for Libraries

Posted on by Odds Bodkin

Since last June, Odds Bodkin has been offering full-screen storytelling concerts on Zoom.

Loyola University watched The Iliad: Book I and students stood to applaud, even though they were all at home.

Grendel’s Den in Cambridge MA, unable to host his winter series live on stage this past winter, forged ahead with a Zoom series; adult ticket holders loved it and came back again and again.

Elementary schools that postponed their residencies during the pandemic spring re-booked, and all those school kids are now singing along from behind their masks.

Yes, vaccinations are on their way, but summer 2021 might still be a little early for live shows in enclosed spaces, and so Odds is offering a new Zoom show to library communities. Echoing the Collaborative Summer LIbrary Program’s summer reading theme for 2021, Bodkin has created WHEN THE ANIMALS SPOKE, a collection of four of his best animal stories for kids and families.

 

WHAT STORIES ARE IN THE SHOW?

 

The Name of the Tree

Of all the thirsty, starving animals on the African savanna, only the little tortoise with the big heart remembers the name of the magical tree. When he speaks it, down tumble giant fruits, filled with water and filled with food. Odds has always been interested in myths about the universal Tree of Life, and this tale is a kid-sized version of that myth, filled with sounds and yes, talking animals.

Told with African thumb piano.

The Fox and the Cat

Aesop never failed to tell the pithiest of truths, and this fast little tale told with Celtic harp is no exception. A fox is bragging to his friend the cat about how many ways the fox knows to escape the dogs of the hunters, but when the dogs appear, it turns out the fox has never really tried any of them at all. That spells trouble.

How the Animals Stole Back Fire

Myths about the origin of fire are universal. Prometheus the Titan, as the Greeks tell it, brought fire down from Olympus and gave it to humankind. Australian Aborigines were given fire, but were no longer one with the animals afterwards. In this show’s How the Animals Stole Back Fire, a Native American myth of the Maidu of the Northwest Coast, Odds tells the tale of how Thunder and his Three Evil Daughters steal the animals’ fire. Soon deer, bear, fox, mouse, lizard, wolverine, all the animals, begin to die off from winter’s cold. The tale Odds tells is how they discover where their fire is, and in desperation, how they steal it back.

Told with alto recorder.

Tale of the Kittens

What can go wrong in a fairy tale about singing kittens and a talking mother cat? In a secret world beneath a giant cauliflower no less? It turns out plenty can go wrong if you don’t treat the kittens right. Kids love this quirky and funny Italian fairy tale told with 12-string guitar and a catchy song.

During Odds Bodkin’s Zoom shows, the storyteller is up close. Everyone has a front row seat. So if you know a librarian, please pass along this post!  Thanks!

For more information, visit https://www.oddsbodkin.net/educational-programs/