Cody's Cuentos

Don't let the title of this week's tale fool you. This "Snow White" is a different girl from the classic Snow White who hung out with the seven dwarfs. Blancanieve y Rojaflor ("Snow-White and Rose-Red") is a German fairy tale. According to Wikipedia, the Brothers Grimm compiled the best-known version, called Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot. It is listed as tale #161 in their collection of fairy tales. In a nutshell, Blancanieve and Rojaflor are two young sisters who live with their mother in the woods. One day a bear comes knocking on their cottage door and eventually the two sisters and the cuddly animal become good friends. But it wouldn't be a Grimm fairy tale if there wasn't some evil lurking in the background. The version you'll hear in this podcast has been modernized and adapted for a 21st-century audience. It's heavy on the girl power (in other words, there's no prince charming who comes to the rescue) and the importance of being loyal to one's friends, no matter who (or what) they are. There's a line in the story where it sounds like Megui, the reader of the story, says ciervo (deer) instead of cuervo (crow.). The full sentence in the story is: "El graznido inoportuno de algún cuervo añadía al paisaje un toque de inquietud." ("The untimely caw of a random crow added a bit of unease to the scenery.") Find the complete five-page Spanish transcript of this advanced-level story in Cody's online store.

Mother's Day is this weekend in the U.S., so here is a lovely story for all the new moms and expectant mothers-to-be out there. "Before You Were Here, Mi Amor", written by Samantha R. Vamos is a bilingual picture book about the preparations members of a family make in anticipation of the birth of a child. The story is read by Carrie Ferguson Weir of Los Pollitos Dicen and Bilingual in the Boonies. Samantha originally hails from the Midwest and currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. "Before You Were Here, Mi Amor" is her first published children's book. Samantha says: "Writing has always been a passion (along with Peppermint Patties, dogs, movies, reading, traveling, Halloween, music, my family, shooting endless photos of my child, and much more). I've been writing stories for over twenty years and publishing my writing has been one of my greatest dreams. I was most influenced to write by my mother, but both my parents, as well as my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother, are and were excellent writers. I love writing stories for children. My first book, "Before You Were Here, Mi Amor" was inspired by the birth of my sister's children. The idea for my second book, "The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred" popped into my head as I was cooking. I laughed, suddenly envisioning a cow contributing her milk and a hen offering her eggs. My plot began evolving and I started writing. I have also written a novel, which I am currently revising." Samantha has graciously agreed to autograph three copies of her beautifully-illustrated book for three lucky listeners of Cody's Cuentos. All I ask is that you donate $10, which will go towards paying for the postage and packaging since the book is a hardcover, oversized item. (U.S. addresses, only.)  If you're interested, please send me a message with your complete name and mailing address via Cody's Mailbox. Only three copies available, so act quickly.  Samantha is also holding a special drawing on her website to give away one copy of her book this summer. Also on Samantha's website are activity worksheets based on the words and illustrations in the book. You can download these worksheets for free and then print them out. Great material for elementary school teachers and parents teaching young children Spanish. Finally, a special "¡gracias!" to Carrie's friend Bob August who professionally recorded Carrie's reading at Fluid Studios in Nashville, TN.

Elsa is a sweet little girl who wants to give her dear grandmother a present. But what kind of present can a little girl offer, that will bring her grandma joy and not cost a cent? Listen to this story to find out. Cody's Cuentos' reader, Cristina, does a wonderful job bringing this short story to life. You can get the full transcript PLUS a complete word-for-word English translation in this blog's  Intermediate section. Enjoy the sunshine!

¡Hola a todos! After a longer than expected hiatus, Cody's Cuentos is finally back online. Thanks to everyone for your patience to to those of you who have emailed asking where we were and when we would return. Also, "muchas gracias" to those of you who left those wonderful reviews for Cody's Cuentos on iTunes. Those reviews help tremendously to build word-of-mouth and awareness for this podcast. If you haven't left a review on iTunes and would like to do so, please click here and scroll down the page to where it says "Customer Reviews." If you are a regular visitor of this blog, you've probably already noticed some big changes to the site. The blog has a new design with a totally new transcript store. There were a lot of technical problems with the previous store setup and I'm confident that this redesign of the site will dramatically reduce, if not eliminate, the problems many of you were having in terms of purchasing and downloading transcripts. Toca madera.  :) Many of you emailed saying that you'd like to purchase multiple transcripts for one price, so I'm going to start bundling transcripts in packs. There will still be individual transcripts for sale but only for select stories. As the story inventory grows (we're currently at 43 audio cuentos and counting), it will be easier to navigate the online store if transcripts are sold in packs instead of individual titles. In terms of the current state of the store, as of May 2, 2009, the Beginner section is fully operational and the Intermediate section has a bundled pack of transcripts with some individual transcripts for sale. The Advanced section of the transcript store is incomplete but I plan to have it restocked and operational over the next week. Will update this post when that is completed. In the meantime, the podcast is back with fresh new episodes. Also, at least two, possibly three, Cody's Cuentos listeners will be doing story readings for us in the coming weeks! ¡Qué emoción! The first reading will be "Before You Were Here, Mi Amor," an original story written by Samantha Vamos.  The story reader will be Cuban-American businesswoman and blogger extraordinaire, Carrie Ferguson Weir of Bilingual In The Boonies and Los Pollitos Dicen.  Stay tuned for this special audio treat which will be hitting your inbox (if you subscribe, haha) later next week. Still not a Cody's Cuentos subscriber? Signing up is free and is the best way to receive updates and new podcast episodes as soon as they are published online. There are multiple ways to stay connected, so you can choose whichever avenue is most convenient to you. Subscribe to Cody's Cuentos via RSS, email, iTunes or join Cody's fan club on Facebook.  You can also subscribe by clicking on one of the cute colored icons you see representing those services when you enter the blog at the bottom of the blog post excerpt. Well, I think that's all the noticias for now. Also, if you notice any glitches or bugs in the blog, please contact me. We did a lot of testing and triple checking stuff running behind the scenes of this blog but sometimes issues arise that we're not aware of unless someone tells us. So, please contact us here if you experience any problems using the site. You can also drop us a line if you just want to say "hola" or give suggestions. ¡Gracias de nuevo y os mandamos un abrazo muy fuerte desde Madrid! Eleena y Cody  :)

Vamos a remar, en un botecito, rápido, rápido, rápido, rápido, en un botecito. Vamos a volar, en un avioncito, rápido, rápido, rápido, rápido, en un avioncito. Vamos a pasear, en un cochecito, rápido, rápido, rápido, rápido, en un cochecito. Photo: "Row, row, row your boat", courtesy of Monkey & Timmy

Here's an entertaining story from the Brothers Grimm about three girlfriends who make a pact and then suffer from Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong! Megui is our reader on this tale and she blasts through it. If you have difficulty keeping up, get an enhanced transcript which includes definitions of 28 Spanish words and a practice exercise, to further your comprehension of the story's vocabulary. P.S. In Spain, a "judia verde" is a green bean. In Latin America, several different words are used to mean "grean bean," depending on the country. Here are some examples: habichuela, ejote, chaucha, poroto verde, vainita. The words "judío" and "judía" also mean "Jewish" in Spanish.

This is an adorable story about a patchwork quilt, a little girl and her grandmother. Get the enhanced transcript of "La colcha de retazos" in the Cody's Cuentos online store. Quilt and photo by Rebekah

Un cuento uruguayo, escrito por Horacio Quiroga Foto de Szeke Click here for a Spanish-English glossary of some words in this story. Cierta vez las víboras dieron un gran baile. Invitaron a las ranas y a los sapos, a los flamencos, y a los yacarés y a los peces. Los peces, como no caminan, no pudieron bailar; pero siendo el baile a la orilla del río, los peces estaban asomados a la arena, y aplaudían con la cola. Los yacarés, para adornarse bien, se habían puesto en el pescuezo un collar de plátanos, y fumaban cigarros paraguayos. Los sapos se habían pegado escamas de peces en todo el cuerpo, y caminaban meneándose, como si nadaran. Y cada vez que pasaban muy serios por la orilla del río, los peces les gritaban haciéndoles burla. Las ranas se habían perfumado todo el cuerpo, y caminaban en dos pies. Además, cada una llevaba colgada, como un farolito, una luciérnaga que se balanceaba. Pero las que estaban hermosísimas eran las víboras. Todas, sin excepción, estaban vestidas con traje de bailarina, del mismo color de cada víbora. Las víboras coloradas llevaban una pollerita de tul colorado; las verdes, una de tul verde; las amarillas, otra de tul amarillo; y las yararás, una pollerita de tul gris pintada con rayas de polvo de ladrillo y ceniza, porque así es el color de las yararás. Y las más espléndidas de todas eran las víboras de que estaban vestidas con larguísimas gasas rojas, y negras, y bailaban como serpentinas. Cuando las víboras danzaban y daban vueltas apoyadas en la punta de la cola, todos los invitados aplaudían como locos. Sólo los flamencos, que entonces tenían las patas blancas, y tienen como ahora la nariz muy gruesa y torcida, sólo los flamencos estaban tristes, porque como tienen muy poca inteligencia, no habían sabido cómo adornarse. Envidiaban el traje de todos, y sobre todo el de las víboras de coral. Cada vez que una víbora pasaba por delante de ellos, coqueteando y haciendo ondular las gasas de serpentinas, los flamencos se morían de envidia. Un flamenco dijo entonces: —Yo sé lo que vamos a hacer. Vamos a ponernos medias coloradas, blancas y negras, y las víboras de coral se van a enamorar de nosotros. Y levantando todos juntos el vuelo, cruzaron el río y fueron a golpear en un almacén del pueblo. —¡Tan-tan! —pegaron con las patas. —¿Quién es? —respondió el almacenero. —Somos los flamencos. ¿Tiene medias coloradas, blancas y negras? —No, no hay —contestó el almacenero—. ¿Están locos? En ninguna parte van a encontrar medias así. Los flamencos fueron entonces a otro almacén. —¡Tan-tan! ¿Tienes medias coloradas, blancas y negras? El almacenero contestó: —¿Cómo dice? ¿Coloradas, blancas y negras? No hay medias así en ninguna parte. Ustedes están locos. ¿Quiénes son? —Somos los flamencos— respondieron ellos. Y el hombre dijo: —Entonces son con seguridad flamencos locos. Fueron a otro almacén. —¡Tan-tan! ¿Tiene medias coloradas, blancas y negras? El almacenero gritó : —¿De qué color? ¿Coloradas, blancas y negras ? Solamente a pájaros narigudos como ustedes se les ocurre pedir medias así. ¡Váyanse en seguida! Y el hombre los echó con la escoba. Los flamencos recorrieron así todos los almacenes, y de todas partes los echaban por locos. Entonces un tatú, que había ido a tomar agua al río se quiso burlar de los flamencos y les dijo, haciéndoles un gran saludo: —¡Buenas noches, señores flamencos! Yo sé lo que ustedes buscan. No van a encontrar medias así en ningún almacén. Tal vez haya en Buenos Aires, pero tendrán que pedirlas por encomienda postal. Mi cuñada, la lechuza, tiene medias así. Pídanselas, y ella les va a dar las medias coloradas, blancas y negras. Los flamencos le dieron las gracias, y se fueron volando a la cueva de la lechuza. Y le dijeron: —¡Buenas noches, lechuza! Venimos a pedirte las medias coloradas, blancas y negras. Hoy es el gran baile de las víboras, y si nos ponemos esas medias,

This story is based on true events and deals with animal cruelty. It may not be suitable for very young listeners. A serial dog killer is on the loose in a wealthy Hong Kong neighborhood. For the past 20 years someone has been leaving chicken, laced with poison, along Bowen Road, a popular path for joggers and dog walkers in Hong Kong. More than 100 dogs have been poisoned since 1989. The authorities have never caught the person (or persons) responsible. There is currently a $150,000 reward in Hong Kong currency ($19,000 U.S./15,000 euros) for information that leads to the arrest of this villain. I wrote "El carnicero de Bowen Road" after reading a news article about the case in the Wall Street Journal. And while the real-life serial killer of Bowen Road doesn't carve up his/her victims, to me he (or she) is a butcher just the same. On the remote chance anybody out there reading this blog entry has information that can help the Hong Kong authorities catch this dirty rotten scoundrel, please contact the Hong Kong SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Here's the web site address: http://www.spca.org.hk/ Get the bilingual transcript for "El carnicero de Bowen Road" in Cody's Cuentos online store. Photo by Joan Vincent, used under license from iStockPhoto.com

The lovable brother-and-sister duo are back. This time they're playing hide-and-seek in the park. This BEGINNER-level story focuses on Spanish cardinal and ordinal numbers. If you don't know what those are, get the Spanish transcript, which also includes a complete English translation of the story. Photo: "Hide and Seek" used under license from iStockPhoto.com

Happy Valentine's Day! Read more about Cupid, in Spanish, in "El niño malo" transcript. (Update: Revised transcript available sometime in May 2009. Will update this entry when it is available.)

Say "hola" to Lidia! She's our newest and youngest voice here at Cody's Cuentos. If you enjoy hearing a child's voice doing some of the readings here at Cody's Cuentos, please tell us in the comments. ¡Gracias! Below are the lyrics and instructions to play this finger game "Dedo Pulgar." "Dedo Pulgar" Dedo Pulgar, Dedo Pulgar Chorus: ¿Dónde estás? - ¡Aquí estoy! - ¡Gusto en saludarte! ¡Gusto en saludarte! ¡Ya me voy! - ¡Yo también! Dedo Índice, Dedo Índice (Repeat chorus) Dedo Corazón, Dedo Corazón (Repeat chorus) Dedo Anular, Dedo Anular (Repeat chorus) Dedo Meñique, Dedo Meñique (Repeat chorus) Todos los hermanos, Todos los hermanos ¿Dónde estáis? -¡Aquí estamos! [*In Latin America: ¿Dónde están?] ¡Gusto en saludarte! ¡Gusto en saludarte! [*Plural you; In Spain "saludaros", in Latin America, "saludarles"] ¡Ya nos vamos, ya nos vamos! Vocabulario: Dedo pulgar: thumb Dedo índice: index finger Dedo corazón: middle finger Dedo anular: ring finger Dedo meñique: pinky finger INSTRUCTIONS: Start with both hands behind your back. When you get to the line "Aquí estoy" show your hands with only the thumbs raised. When you sing "Gusto en saludarte" bend both thumbs so it looks like they are waving at each other. At the line "Ya me voy," hide one of your hands behind your back. "Yo también," hide the other hand behind your back. Repeat from the beginning for each finger until the end and finish with both hands waving. INSTRUCCIONES: "Dedo Pulgar ¿dónde estás?" manos escondidas detrás de la espalda. "Aquí estoy": Enseñar las manos con los pulgares en alto. "Gusto en saludarte": Flexionar los dedos varias veces como si se saludaran. "Ya me voy" Esconder una mano detrás de la espalda. "Yo también": Esconder la otra mano detrás de la espalda. Repita los pasos para cada dedo hasta el final y saludarse con ambas manos.

This is a Spanish translation of  "Franny B. Kranny, There's a Bird in Your Hair!" written by Harriet Lerner and Susan Goldhor. This is a Latin American Spanish translation, so you will hear "ustedes" instead of "vosotros" in this story. Complete Spanish transcript available as part of the Cody's Cuentos' Advanced Story Pack. Anita Bonita tiene una larga e hirsuta cabellera, que siempre la mete en problemas. El pelo de Anita Bonita se enreda con él mismo, en nudos terribles con los botones de su vestido. El pelo de Anita Bonita ha hecho estornudar todos los días a la niña que se sienta junto a ella en el autobús escolar. La cabellera de Anita Bonita incluso se atoró en la puerta del refrigerador, pero Anita Bonita ama su largo e hirsuto cabello. Entre más hirsuto y largo, le gusta más. Continue reading this story by purchasing the complete Anita Bonita transcript, which is part of the Advanced Story Pack, only available here at Cody's Cuentos.

This podcast is an interview (in English) with Harriet Lerner, a well-known psychologist and best-selling author. While Harriet is famous for her numerous self-help books, she's also co-author (with her big sister Susan Goldhor), of two children's books, both of which are featured here on Cody's Cuentos. They are:  "What's so terrible about swallowing an apple seed?" and "Franny B. Kranny, there's a bird in your hair!" In this interview, Harriet talks about the true stories behind these amusing cuentos and gives us her opinion about classic fairy tales. In Spanish, we retitled Harriet's stories "¿Qué tan terrible puede ser comerse una semilla de manzana?" and "Anita Bonita, ¡hay un pájaro en tu cabello!" and you can find both of them, along with their Spanish texts, only here at Cody's Cuentos. Enjoy!

Una leyenda japonesa Hace mucho tiempo, existía la costumbre de abandonar a los ancianos al pie de cierta montaña, una vez habían llegado a los sesenta años y dejaban de ser útiles. En una aldea vivía un campesino que había cumplido sesenta años. Puesto que tales eran las órdenes del señor del lugar, había llegado el momento de abandonarlo en la montaña. Así que su hijo se cargó al anciano sobre las espaldas y emprendió el camino de las montañas. Mientras caminaban y se acercaban más y más hacia el lugar señalado, el anciano, montado sobre la espalda de su hijo, iba quebrando ramitas de los árboles para señalar la ruta. -Padre, padre, ¿por qué haces eso? ¿Es para encontrar el camino de vuelta a casa? –preguntó el joven. -No, pero vamos a un lugar muy lejano y agreste, y sería fatal que tú no pudieras encontrar el camino de regreso, por eso dejo estas señales. Al hijo se le llenaron los ojos de lágrimas al oír esto y constatar cuán generoso era su padre pero ¿qué podía hacer? Era imposible desobedecer las órdenes del señor. Continue reading this legend. Get the enhanced transcript of this INTERMEDIATE story in Cody's Cuentos' online store. Photo: "Plume Grass" used under license from iStockPhoto.com