A story about a flamingo who attends school with a community of polar bears and has trouble meeting expectations.

(Suitable for all ages.)

(Suitable for all ages.)

This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once upon a time there was an anguished cave mother who finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Every night, she’d arrive back to her cave after hunting and gathering all day long, ready to fall asleep on her cozy boulder, but every night, without fail, her little ones would insist on a story before bed.

And back then, without a book to close, a goodnight story could go on and on until almost dawn.

In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for poor prehistoric mothers to miss out on sleep entirely because of little ones begging and pleading for the thousandth time, “Please Mama, tell us what happened next!!! Please, Please, Please!!”

But one day, this particular anguished mother just couldn’t think of what happened next.”

— From 'The Origins Of Happily Ever After'

(Suitable for all ages.)

This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once, there was a man who had a secret. A pretty big secret. You see, even though he looked like a regular man, inside he was really a pigeon.” — from 'A Pigeon At Heart'

A Pigeon At Heart is a story about a man who felt it was easier to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. Until someone found out the truth of who he really was…

(Suitable for all ages.)

A Pigeon At Heart was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Robert Baker had the flu, so he stayed home from work. He was told by his wife and also by his doctor to rest. But he couldn’t. He tossed and he turned and then gave up to watch TV in the living room.”

— FROM "CHANNEL 15 ½"

Channel 15 ½ is about a man who fears the whole world is against him and discovers it’s true. Sort of.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

Channel 15 ½ was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once upon a time in a town called Thornling, sass and backtalk were taking over. Kids wouldn’t lift a finger and the moms were going gray from stress…”

— from 'The Shears of Thornling’

The Shears of Thornling is a story about a town that discovers their old-fashioned ways of solving behavior problems aren’t always the best.

(Suitable for all ages.)

The Shears of Thornling was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once there was a boy who had OCD symptoms and tics. He would have to say certain things at certain times and clear his throat if he had the urge. His mom was pretty good at being empathetic but sometimes she got impatient. Especially when other circumstances in her life were adding additional stress. At those moments she’d say,” You have to be stronger! You have to delay that urge and learn to cope!” It sounded like the right thing to say, but underneath were different words, more truthful words: “I’m scared that my son is behaving like this and I’m tired. I wish he’d just stop.”

—from ‘The Boy Who Used Rituals To Cope'

A story about a mom who feels frustrated by her son’s OCD symptoms but then realizes that he’s really only doing the very best he can to cope with stressors out of his control.

(For adults only.)

This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.