WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

Think about the place you call home.

What does your home look like?

What does it feel like?

Is it comfy and cozy, welcoming and warm?

We're about to meet some animals whose home is none of those things.

So they decide to settle someplace new. Little do they know, but they'll have a whale of a time

getting there.

I'm Rebecca Shear, and welcome to Circle Round, where story time happens all the time.

Today, our story is called Over the Sea. It comes from the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, who have lived on this continent between

the Pacific and Indian oceans for over 50,000 years.

Some really great people came together to bring you our version of this folktale, including

actress, singer, and producer Tatiana Ali from the Fresh Prince of Bell Air and Abbott Elementary.

As part of Scholastic's Rising Voices series, she's written a new children's book called

Aussie and the Octopus.

So circle around, everyone.

For Over the Sea.

Long ago, in the world's earliest days, the animals that you'll find in what we now call Australia, lived somewhere else entirely.

Cuala, kangaroo, platypus, and all the rest resided in a distant land across the sea. It was a flat, wind-blown place, desolate and barren.

So it wasn't exactly home-sweet home.

Then, one day, Eagle came gliding down from the sky with an announcement.

Listen up, everyone.

...