Season's creating circle round fans. To celebrate the season of giving, we hope you'll consider

giving to WBUR, the NPR station that makes circle round possible. When you make a contribution

to WBUR, we'll give you a thank you gift of your choice, like the adorable new lion stuffed

animal, as well as our picture books, tote bags, t-shirts, water bottles, we've even designed

some special holiday gift bundles for the circle round fans in your life. Grown-ups head

to www.orgslashcircleround and click circle round swag. Thank you and happy holidays!

WBUR Podcasts Boston

There's an old African proverb or saying that goes like this. If you think you are too small

to make a difference, you haven't spent a night with a mosquito. In other words, you don't

need to be enormous in size to be strong and powerful. And in today's story, we'll

meet a tiny critter who demonstrates that in a big way. I'm Rebecca Scher and welcome

to Circle Round, where story time happens all the time. Today our story is called Queen

of the Forest. Versions of this tale come from the Native American peoples who originally

lived in modern-day California. Some really great people came together to bring you our

adaptation of this folktale, including real-life husband and wife team, Yorma Takoni and

Marie Heller. Marie Heller has directed films like a beautiful day in the neighborhood

and can you ever forgive me and start in the Queen's Gambit. Yorma is a member of the musical

comedy group The Lonely Island, and he's the director of The Gruber, now streaming on

Peacock. You kids can find Yorma's book, Little Fox and the Wild Imagination at a bookstore

or library near you. So Circle Round everyone, for Queen of the Forest.

In a thick green forest on a steep rugged hillside, lived Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion had a

sleek brown body and a long, tan tail tipped with black. She was a beautiful creature, but

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