Last updated on March 18th, 2018

One of my favorite things, growing up, was listening to a bedtime story, whether it was one my mom made up herself or one that she read from a storybook (my favorite was Goodnight Moon). Listening to someone tell you a story at any age is one of the longest running human pastimes. And podcasting provides a medium for just that. There are podcasts for everyone, including children.

Hugh Fraser, “Bertie”, director of Storynory, has been writing and producing children’s stories and making podcasts since 2005, before podcasting was a popular form of media.

“I had worked for BBC radio and I loved the idea of having my own radio station,” said Fraser. “A friend of mine called, Matthew Lynn, said that his kids were always listening to stories on CDs in the car. Storynory was born.”

Storynory is a London-based podcast group that writes and produces original stories for children to listen to. It takes an entire team to do well. They also share traditional myths from around the world.

There are other children’s podcasts out there but Storynory has been building its library of stories and episodes for quite some time. Fraser estimates that since their founding in 2005, they have put 667 stories (originals and classic myths, tales, etc.) into podcast form. When they started, Fraser said that it was a sort of “backwater” practice in which to venture.

NPR came out with Wow in the World in May of 2017 and since then, Fraser said the children’s podcasting space has become much more competitive but Storynory has an edge — its longevity. Additionally, their tactics are slightly different.

“The typical way is to do it [make a children’s podcast] is in a slightly, hyper excited way and we’re different,” said Fraser. “We’re a little bit more sedate and laid back so we do stand out but we’re not quite so attention grabbing.”

Fraser said that creating the stories is quite a process.

“It takes me a day or sometimes two to write the stories,” said Fraser. “We have brilliant actors, Richard, Natasha, and Elizabeth, who read our stories. The actors put in time prepping the stories. Then we book a recording session with the actor who comes over to our home studio. Jana, our editor, usually proofs the text and sound edits the story. I sometimes add effects. Sometimes we add music, I often draw a picture. It takes a lot of time!”

The popularity of the podcast as well as their website– which is kid-friendly– shows that the work pays off. They receive around 100 comments from kids on their site each day. Fraser said the stories even get comments from entire classes of children that have been assigned to listen to one of their podcasts and respond to a certain question.

Storynory’s audience is spread across the globe. The United States has the most listeners followed by the UK, and Fraser said their most enthusiastic listeners come from Australia and New Zealand. He said they also have a lot of listeners based in Asia, some of whom are adults working on improving their English skills.

Responses from the show come from all ages.

“Some older kids, perhaps even as old as 20, tell us they have been listening for years and grew up with Storynory and owe a love of literature or the spoken word to us,” said Fraser. “Those are the messages we cherish.”

There are benefits, Fraser believes, that come from kids listening to podcasts on Storynory. He thinks listening skills benefit from listening to orally told stories among other things.

“The benefits, parents tell us, are that children who have listened for quite a while have good vocabularies,” said Fraser. “I think it stimulates the imagination a lot, it’s the same as reading it doesn’t have pictures because it stimulates your mind.”

He hopes kids listening to their podcasts discover a love for literature or learn something new.

Right now, they are working on expanding the scope of their podcasts and adding new elements. Now, Fraser said, they hope to include more history lessons and interviews as they move forward with Storynory.

They have received two offers from podcast networks, one from Wondery and one from Panopoly, but declined both and plan on remaining independent, apart from a rare sponsorship. They do their best to make sure they do not commercialize any part of their show because their audience is primarily children, so any sponsorship is unusual for them.

As for the future, Fraser said they will continue to podcast but he has aspirations for furtherment of his content.

“I’m hoping that it will transfer into different mediums like books or film,” said Fraser. “That would be a wonderful goal to reach a bigger audience, because ultimately the stories and characters are the heart of it and it would be nice if they lived in different ways.”