Gather 'round for a music-rich storytelling with 'Circle Round'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Produced and created by parents of young children, "Circle Round" opens a sound and music-rich world of radio plays for all who listen.

"Circle Round is a weekly storytelling podcast distributed by Boston's NPR station WBUR," stated Rebecca Sheir the creator of Circle Round. "We take age-old folktales from around the world, and we adapt them as modern-day audio plays for today's families."

Sheir added, "We like to say that Circle Round is for ages 3 to 103, it can even go 103+, but we tell the stories in such a way that they are engaging and accessible for everyone."

Each episode, explores important topics with invaluable lessons in kindness, persistence, and generosity. At the end of a listen, there's an activity that promotes deeper conversation between children and adults.

"The neat thing about Circle Round is that it doesn't talk down at all, it's very intelligent, it's very elevated even though it's very child appropriate and child friendly," shared Jessica Rau, a singer and voice actor.

You can listen to the Circle Round podcast on a variety of platforms, including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and more. And if you enjoy listening, you'll also love how the folktales come to life on the page through the Circle Round picture books.

"We took episodes written for the ear, and I changed the script to be written for the eye," recalled Sheir. "And we just started the Circle Round club, which is a special membership club for Circle Round super fans."

Circle Round also brings stories to life on stage with recordings of brand new tales and live music featuring local actors. Eric Shimelonis is the show's composer, creating original music for each story.

"We get to be onstage with our actors reading opposite each other, Eric's playing an instrument live, and we get to have the audience's feedback," said Sheir. "They laugh, they clap, they gasp...I love doing Circle Round in the studio, but there is a magic of the live experience that you just can't capture."

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