Hello everyone, it's Elizabeth of Sparkle Stories, and this is the Sparkle Stories podcast.

Welcome. I'm so glad you're here as we continue our series of listener favorites, your favorite stories. And this week, we have something new.

We have a duo, two people introducing the same fun, beloved story. I'm not going to say much more

from that. They're from Hertfordshire, England, and they do an amazing job together. Before I share their recommendation,

I want to encourage you to subscribe if you're not already a subscriber. We have over 1,500

original stories, all as delightful as the one you're about to hear. All you have to do is go

to the website and click start free trial in the top corner of any page, SparklStories.com, start free trial button.

You can then listen to our entire library, as often as you like, as much as you like, anytime you like, it's all yours to enjoy. Okay, now

here is today's listener favorite. Hi, I'm Mark and this is Oli, who is five. You're about to hear a

Martin and Sylvia story called The Cruds.

This is one of my favourite stories because of how much Martin wants to do the same things as his daddy.

As a daddy myself, I hope that my son will always want to do the same things as me.

Do you think that will happen, Ollie?

Yes.

We hope you enjoy it. The Cruds Martin and Sylvia live in a tall house with lots of windows.

From their second-story loft bedroom,

they can see their long backyard,

bordered by the brown farm horse fence on one side and a line of forsythia bushes on the other they can also see the sparkling of the brook that lines the back of their yard most of the year the brook is quite slow and shallow, but during the spring, it swells with lots of extra water which rushes by quickly.

Brother and sister, know to stay clear of the brook when it is moving with such force.

Every year when the brook gets deep and fast like that,

it is a sign that Daddy's birthday is coming and his annual canoe trip through downtown all the way to the lake.

It is something he looks forward to and has a whole ritual that leads

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