Showing results by narrator "Phillip J Mather" in All Categories

Tales From Shakespeare was originally written in 1807 by Charles Lamb and his sister, Mary, as more comprehensible (and enjoyable) versions of the original Shakespearian texts, specifically but not exclusively for children.

Rudyard Kipling's classic tale (first published in The Jungle Book, and considered by many to be the best of those stories) details the fearless exploits of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a young mongoose whom misadventure had fortuitously brought to live at the bungalow of an expatriate British family in India. Rikki Tikki through great presence of mind, fortitude, and simply by being a mongoose saves the family from the murderous intent of two cobras.

Shakespeare wrote for grown-up people, for men and women, and in words that little folks cannot understand. Hence Nesbit's Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare: to reproduce the entertaining stories contained in the plays of Shakespeare, in a form so simple that children can understand and enjoy them.

In The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Colonel Abernathy tells a tale to a club acquaintance – a tale of 1950s British Guyana in South America, and the Colonel’s encounter with a lion. But this is no ordinary lion. This lion has been extinct for 10,000 years!

The Just So Stories began as bedtime stories told to "Effie" (Josephine, Kipling's firstborn). When the first three were published in a children's magazine, a year before her death, Kipling explained: "....in the evening, there were stories meant to put Effie to sleep, and you were not allowed to alter those by one single little word. They had to be told just so; or Effie would wake up and put back the missing sentence." (Wikipedia)

How the Whale Got His Throat is the first of Kipling’s Just So stories (published in 1902) as series of fantastical children’s stories, themed with explaining oddities from the animal kingdom. Phillip J Mather’s skilful narration captures the spirit of the age, and will appeal to adults and children alike.

The Just So Stories began as bedtime stories told to "Effie" (Josephine, Kipling's firstborn). When the first three were published in a children's magazine, a year before her death, Kipling explained: "....in the evening, there were stories meant to put Effie to sleep, and you were not allowed to alter those by one single little word. They had to be told just so; or Effie would wake up and put back the missing sentence." (Wikipedia)

The Just So Stories began as bedtime stories told to "Effie" [Josephine, Kipling's firstborn]. When the first three were published in a children's magazine, a year before her death, Kipling explained: "....in the evening, there were stories meant to put Effie to sleep, and you were not allowed to alter those by one single little word. They had to be told just so; or Effie would wake up and put back the missing sentence." (Wikipedia)

The book describes a tragic story involving a young maiden of 'the rarest beauty'. She loved and wedded an eccentric painter who cared more about his work than anything else in the world, including his wife. The painter eventually asked his wife to sit for him, and she obediently consented, sitting "meekly for many weeks" in his turret chamber. The painter worked so diligently at his task that he did not recognize his wife's fading health, as she, being a loving wife, continually 'smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly'.

Written in 1914 by Rudyard Kipling, "For All We Have and Are" exhorts the British people to rally together with courage and strength in the coming desperate struggles.

This World War I poem by Henry Newbolt exhorts the British people to face the onset of war with the belief that God will defend their efforts in a righteous cause, exhorting the nation to “Pray that God defend the Right”. The Vigil was published in 1914, in “Poems of the Great War”, the net profits of which were donated to the Prince of Wales’ Fund.

The narrator pledges to donate 50% of his proceeds to The Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal - please support. "The United Front", by Alfred Noyes [1880-1958], was published in Poems of the Great War, in 1914, on behalf of The Prince of Wales' national relief fund. Unable to join the fighting forces due to defective eyesight, Noyes worked on propaganda and by wrote morale-boosting short stories.

"The Stars in Their Courses" by John Freeman [1880 - 1929] was published in Poems of the Great War in 1914 on behalf of The Prince of Wales’ national Relief Fund.

The kangaroo once ambulated on four legs. This charming story by Rudyard Kipling, and wonderfully narrated by Phillip J. Mather tells us how the kangaroo became the marsupial we know today.

In "Wake up England", published in 1914 at the start of the Great War, Poet Laureate Robert Bridges urges the British citizenry to support the war by appealing to their sense of patriotism and duty, mindful that God is on their side.

"The Beginning of the Armadillos" is a tale that focuses on two days in the lives of three creatures "who lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon": Stickly-Prickly the hedgehog, Slow-and-Solid the tortoise, and Painted Jaguar.

"The Man Who Keeps His Head" by Harold Begbie (1871-1929) was published in Poems of the Great War in 1914 on behalf of The Prince of Wales' national Relief Fund. A reporter with the Daily Chronicle at the start of the war, Begbie wrote a number of recruiting poems and visited America to aid the recruitment effort there.

"A Ghost" is an old man's reminiscence of a supernatural event that has haunted him for more than half a century....

"We Willed It Not" by John Freeman (1882-1937) was published in Poems of the Great War in 1914 on behalf of The Prince of Wales' national Relief Fund.

Kipling’s timeless classic of How the Leopard Got His Spots is skilfully narrated by Phillip J. Mather. Phillip’s mellifluous tones transport the listener, young or old, back to a time when the world map was indeed coloured red!