October 16, 2024 • 15 mins
Ever wondered why the sky seems so distant, or how a simple folktale can teach us profound lessons about our relationship with nature? Join me, Ishara, as we explore the captivating Nigerian folktale "Why is the Sky So Far Away?" beautifully retold by Mary Joan Garson and brought to life through Carla Golumbi's vibrant illustrations. This episode takes you on an unexpected adventure that starts with a library visit and leads to a world where the sky was once so close, offering its tempting flavors to all. Hear how the mighty King Vaoba and his subjects navigate the abundance of their world, and discover the consequences that unfold when they begin to take nature's gifts for granted.
As we turn each page, themes of gratitude, creativity, and the crucial importance of conservation emerge, painting a vivid picture of a time when the sky warned the land of its growing discontent. The tale, enriched by Golumbi's intricate artwork, isn't just a story but a reflection on the value of respecting the natural world. With every word and illustration, the folktale invites listeners to ponder their own habits and the impact of wastefulness. You can watch this episode on my Youtube channel or grab your headphones and prepare to be enchanted by a narrative that’s more than a tale—it's a reminder of the wisdom passed down through generations.
Keep on reading and being an inspiration to each other!
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Please consider becoming a monthly subscriber. All proceeds will be used to buy building materials to create roadside libraries to encourage kids of all age to read. In addition, your donations will support my travels as I hit the road to interview the authors and illustrators of the books I will be reading on the podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, welcome to the Ishara's Reading Podcast, and
I'm Ishara.
Today we're reading why is theSky so Far Away?
A Nigerian Folktale retold byMary Joan Garson, and pictures
by Carla Golumbi.
By Carla Golumbi.
Well, it looks like for some ofus it's actually the halfway
(00:28):
mark, but for home solars likeme, the school never ends.
It keeps following you.
It keeps following you aroundwherever you go.
I'm so sorry if I soundedcreepy, I just wanted to make it
(00:49):
funny.
Well, it was quite an adventureto find this book.
By the way, this book won theNew York Times in its book
review, so it was a realadventure to find this book.
(01:11):
Me and my grandmother werehungry for tasty treats, so we
tried to find a bakery.
We found one bakery, but wecouldn't eat the food, wah-wah.
Then I noticed there was alibrary, so I wanted to lighten
the mood and go in there.
Like I love books, so I reallywanted to just look at all the
(01:34):
books and read maybe every oneinside there.
So that's how I got to thispoint.
So then this one caught my eyeand decided to read it and I
really liked it.
I read it about twice.
I read it about twice in thelibrary.
(01:55):
So that's how I got this book.
When you open up the book yousee a beautifully illustrated
page by Miss Carla.
So the book says in thebeginning the sky was very close
(02:25):
to the Earth.
Actually, scientifically, themoon is actually used to be very
close to the Earth, closer thanit is now.
Fun fact, fun Facts.
(02:49):
In that time men and women didnot have to sow crops and
harvest them.
They did not have to preparesoup and cook rice, but children
did not have to carry waterfrom the stream or gather sticks
for the fire.
Anyone who was hungry justreached up and took a piece of
(03:11):
the sky what Coconuts it was andate it.
It was delicious too.
Sometimes the sky tasted likemeat stew.
That tastes very nice, welllike.
(03:34):
Sometimes like roasted corn ohmy grandfather would love that
and sometimes like ripepineapple.
That's my favorite.
There was very little work to do, so people spent their time
weaving beautiful cloth, carvinghandsome statues and retelling
(03:59):
tales of adventures, like we'redoing.
And there were always festivalsto prepare for.
The musicians practiced, themask carvers, the mask makers
carved their masks in secret andeverywhere the children watched
(04:21):
the preparation in wonder, asyou can see the page.
You can see the page has a lotof the people working.
The king of the land was calledVaoba and his court was
magnificent.
At the royal palace there was ateam of servants whose only
(04:44):
work was to cut and shape thesky for ceremonies.
You could see them cutting andshaping the sky.
One looks like a fish, anotherlooks like a carrot and to me
that last one looks like the topof a pineapple.
But the sky was growing angrybecause the people were wasteful
(05:09):
.
Most often they took more thanthey could possibly eat and
threw the leftovers into garbageheaps.
I am tired of seeing myselfsoured and spoiled on every
rubbish bin of the land Brewedthe sky.
So one morning at sunrise thesky turned very dark and thick
(05:32):
black clouds Gathered over forOba's house and a great voice
boomed out from above Oba mightyone, your people have wasted my
gifts.
I am tired of seeing myself onheaps of garbage.
Oba mighty one, your peoplehave wasted my gifts.
I am tired of seeing myself onheaps of garbage Everywhere.
(05:58):
I warn you do not waste mygifts any longer or they will no
longer be yours.
The Oba, in terror, sentmessengers carrying the sky's
warning to every corner of theland.
In every village, people weretold about the sky's unhappiness
.
Children were warned never totake a piece of the sky unless
they were truly hungry.
You can see the page haveopened.
(06:18):
It looks very serious, but Ican tell he's very scared.
The people were very, very,very, very, very careful.
I added a couple extra berriescuz I thought might spedazz it
up a little.
That is for a while.
(06:40):
Yeah, you probably should haveseen that coming.
Then the time of the greatestfestival of the year.
It was the festival thatcelebrated the power of Baobab,
the most important palace.
Dancers performed all throughthe night and Vaoba himself, in
(07:03):
ceremonial robes, danced for hissubjects.
Da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da that, with all thedancing and mirroring, the
people might forget the sky'swarning.
(07:24):
So he made sure no one tookmore sky than he or she,
absolutely.
Now there was this woman in thiskingdom who was never satisfied
.
She could barely move when shewore all the weighty coral
necklaces.
Her husband had bought her butshe still carved more necklaces.
(07:49):
She had eleven children of herown, I think of her own means
genetically related somehow.
That's a lot of kids, but shefelt her house was empty.
What, and most of all, adiceloved to eat.
(08:11):
Okay, well, I can tell sheloves to eat, because it looks
like she's talking to the watermodel Saying you look tasty, oh,
I'm going to enjoy you.
On the very last night ofcelebration, adise and her
husband were invited to theOba's palace.
Oh no, there they danced anddanced and ate.
(08:36):
Well past midnight.
Oh no, what an evening it was.
Adise fought later standing inher own garden Again.
How I wish I could relivetonight the drumming.
I heard the riches, I saw thefood I ate.
(08:56):
She looked up at the sky,hoping to taste again the cocoa
lambs and meet Stu, the skyoffender.
She took a huge piece to eat,but she had only finished one
third of it when she couldswallow no more.
(09:18):
What have I done?
Well, daddies, I can't throwthis away.
Oh no, no, she screamed,calling her husband Come finish
this piece of sky for me.
Her husband, exhausted from allthe dancing and stuffed with the
sky, he had eaten at Boba'shouse.
(09:39):
He could only eat two bites.
Where's my children?
Bites with my children,screamed daddies.
Now the children had spent allnight at the masquerade and
party.
After their dinner, most ofthem were still too full to even
nibble at their mother's pieceof sky.
(10:01):
Oh no, and the neighbors,neighbors, were called.
But Adi still had in her hand abig chunk of sky.
What does it matter, she said.
Finally, one more piece of skyon the rubbish heap.
I think it does matter.
(10:24):
And just to make sure it didn'tmatter, she buried the leftover
garbage in the bin back at herhouse.
Suddenly the ground shook withthunder and lightning creased
the sky above the old westpalace.
But no rain fell.
Nope, sometimes that actuallycan happen.
(10:48):
Oba, mighty one, boomed a voicefrom above.
Your people have not treated mewith respect.
Now I will leave you and movefar away.
But what will we eat, criedViola.
How will we live?
You must learn how to plow theland, gather crops and hunt in
(11:10):
forests, answered the sky.
Perhaps, through your own labor, you will learn not to waste
the gifts of nature.
Whoa, that was a little intense.
Let's see what happens afterthat.
(11:31):
No one in the land slept verywell that night.
The rising sun uncovered theheads of the men and women
peering over the rooftops andwindows, straining to see if the
sky had really left them.
It truly had.
It sailed upward, far out oftheir reach.
(11:53):
From that day onward, men andwomen and children had to grow
their own food.
They tilled the land, plantedcrops and harvested them, and
far above them rested the sky,distant and blue just as it does
(12:13):
today.
Whoa, this story is at least500 years old, first told in
Bini, in the Bini tribe found inAfrica, where they are is now
Nigeria.
Are is now Nigeria.
(12:37):
This story was told to teachthe children of many of the Bini
tribe to not waste gifts ofnature.
Well, wastefulness is a very bigproblem in today's world.
So many reasons why we've justbeen wasteful on our garbage.
But, as told in this book, wecould potentially save it.
We could save our home.
Remember, earth is the onlyhome we know of today, so might
(13:00):
as well save it as much as wecan, because there's no planet
number two.
Earth is the one and only thatwe've found that contains life.
While climate change is a bigproblem in today's world,
wastefulness is really the bigproblem.
(13:21):
When someone gives us a snack toeat and we don't finish it all
and just throw it in the trash.
Or when we buy food but then welook at the expiration date and
then we just throw it in thegarbage.
Well, or when we don't.
Or when we don't eat the foodthat someone's prepared us, or
(13:45):
we don't eat the food that camefrom some place.
Someone had to grow thatlettuce, someone had to grow
that food or feed that cow thatwe eat on either a burger or an
everyday salad.
So remember, do not waste thegifts of nature.
(14:05):
Just like how the sky said, donot waste the gifts of nature
because nature is wonderful.
Because nature is wonderful.
If there is a way for you torecycle things around your house
, if there is a way for you torecycle things around your house
(14:28):
, do it.
Save this planet.
There's no planet number two.
We have not found one yet, butlet's save this one as long as
we're on this earth.
Nature provides so much of theworld we see today.
Nature provides the wood tobuild houses, the food, the air
(14:53):
that we breathe, the food thatwe eat, the water we drink.
Nature provides us with almosteverything, so make sure to save
nature.
When you don't care aboutnature, you hurt the environment
(15:14):
.
Our environment is the worldaround us, so save nature, care
about it.
There's no planet number two,not yet.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Shara's Rating
Podcast.
Don't forget to like, reviewand smash that subscribe button
(15:38):
Bye-bye.
Hi, welcome to the Ishara's Reading Podcast, and
I'm Ishara.
Today we're reading why is theSky so Far Away?
A Nigerian Folktale retold byMary Joan Garson, and pictures
by Carla Golumbi.
By Carla Golumbi.
Well, it looks like for some ofus it's actually the halfway
(00:28):
mark, but for home solars likeme, the school never ends.
It keeps following you.
It keeps following you aroundwherever you go.
I'm so sorry if I soundedcreepy, I just wanted to make it
(00:49):
funny.
Well, it was quite an adventureto find this book.
By the way, this book won theNew York Times in its book
review, so it was a realadventure to find this book.
(01:11):
Me and my grandmother werehungry for tasty treats, so we
tried to find a bakery.
We found one bakery, but wecouldn't eat the food, wah-wah.
Then I noticed there was alibrary, so I wanted to lighten
the mood and go in there.
Like I love books, so I reallywanted to just look at all the
(01:34):
books and read maybe every oneinside there.
So that's how I got to thispoint.
So then this one caught my eyeand decided to read it and I
really liked it.
I read it about twice.
I read it about twice in thelibrary.
(01:55):
So that's how I got this book.
When you open up the book yousee a beautifully illustrated
page by Miss Carla.
So the book says in thebeginning the sky was very close
(02:25):
to the Earth.
Actually, scientifically, themoon is actually used to be very
close to the Earth, closer thanit is now.
Fun fact, fun Facts.
(02:49):
In that time men and women didnot have to sow crops and
harvest them.
They did not have to preparesoup and cook rice, but children
did not have to carry waterfrom the stream or gather sticks
for the fire.
Anyone who was hungry justreached up and took a piece of
(03:11):
the sky what Coconuts it was andate it.
It was delicious too.
Sometimes the sky tasted likemeat stew.
That tastes very nice, welllike.
(03:34):
Sometimes like roasted corn ohmy grandfather would love that
and sometimes like ripepineapple.
That's my favorite.
There was very little work to do, so people spent their time
weaving beautiful cloth, carvinghandsome statues and retelling
(03:59):
tales of adventures, like we'redoing.
And there were always festivalsto prepare for.
The musicians practiced, themask carvers, the mask makers
carved their masks in secret andeverywhere the children watched
(04:21):
the preparation in wonder, asyou can see the page.
You can see the page has a lotof the people working.
The king of the land was calledVaoba and his court was
magnificent.
At the royal palace there was ateam of servants whose only
(04:44):
work was to cut and shape thesky for ceremonies.
You could see them cutting andshaping the sky.
One looks like a fish, anotherlooks like a carrot and to me
that last one looks like the topof a pineapple.
But the sky was growing angrybecause the people were wasteful
(05:09):
.
Most often they took more thanthey could possibly eat and
threw the leftovers into garbageheaps.
I am tired of seeing myselfsoured and spoiled on every
rubbish bin of the land Brewedthe sky.
So one morning at sunrise thesky turned very dark and thick
(05:32):
black clouds Gathered over forOba's house and a great voice
boomed out from above Oba mightyone, your people have wasted my
gifts.
I am tired of seeing myself onheaps of garbage.
Oba mighty one, your peoplehave wasted my gifts.
I am tired of seeing myself onheaps of garbage Everywhere.
(05:58):
I warn you do not waste mygifts any longer or they will no
longer be yours.
The Oba, in terror, sentmessengers carrying the sky's
warning to every corner of theland.
In every village, people weretold about the sky's unhappiness
.
Children were warned never totake a piece of the sky unless
they were truly hungry.
You can see the page haveopened.
(06:18):
It looks very serious, but Ican tell he's very scared.
The people were very, very,very, very, very careful.
I added a couple extra berriescuz I thought might spedazz it
up a little.
That is for a while.
(06:40):
Yeah, you probably should haveseen that coming.
Then the time of the greatestfestival of the year.
It was the festival thatcelebrated the power of Baobab,
the most important palace.
Dancers performed all throughthe night and Vaoba himself, in
(07:03):
ceremonial robes, danced for hissubjects.
Da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da dada da da da da da da da da da da
da da that, with all thedancing and mirroring, the
people might forget the sky'swarning.
(07:24):
So he made sure no one tookmore sky than he or she,
absolutely.
Now there was this woman in thiskingdom who was never satisfied
.
She could barely move when shewore all the weighty coral
necklaces.
Her husband had bought her butshe still carved more necklaces.
(07:49):
She had eleven children of herown, I think of her own means
genetically related somehow.
That's a lot of kids, but shefelt her house was empty.
What, and most of all, adiceloved to eat.
(08:11):
Okay, well, I can tell sheloves to eat, because it looks
like she's talking to the watermodel Saying you look tasty, oh,
I'm going to enjoy you.
On the very last night ofcelebration, adise and her
husband were invited to theOba's palace.
Oh no, there they danced anddanced and ate.
(08:36):
Well past midnight.
Oh no, what an evening it was.
Adise fought later standing inher own garden Again.
How I wish I could relivetonight the drumming.
I heard the riches, I saw thefood I ate.
(08:56):
She looked up at the sky,hoping to taste again the cocoa
lambs and meet Stu, the skyoffender.
She took a huge piece to eat,but she had only finished one
third of it when she couldswallow no more.
(09:18):
What have I done?
Well, daddies, I can't throwthis away.
Oh no, no, she screamed,calling her husband Come finish
this piece of sky for me.
Her husband, exhausted from allthe dancing and stuffed with the
sky, he had eaten at Boba'shouse.
(09:39):
He could only eat two bites.
Where's my children?
Bites with my children,screamed daddies.
Now the children had spent allnight at the masquerade and
party.
After their dinner, most ofthem were still too full to even
nibble at their mother's pieceof sky.
(10:01):
Oh no, and the neighbors,neighbors, were called.
But Adi still had in her hand abig chunk of sky.
What does it matter, she said.
Finally, one more piece of skyon the rubbish heap.
I think it does matter.
(10:24):
And just to make sure it didn'tmatter, she buried the leftover
garbage in the bin back at herhouse.
Suddenly the ground shook withthunder and lightning creased
the sky above the old westpalace.
But no rain fell.
Nope, sometimes that actuallycan happen.
(10:48):
Oba, mighty one, boomed a voicefrom above.
Your people have not treated mewith respect.
Now I will leave you and movefar away.
But what will we eat, criedViola.
How will we live?
You must learn how to plow theland, gather crops and hunt in
(11:10):
forests, answered the sky.
Perhaps, through your own labor, you will learn not to waste
the gifts of nature.
Whoa, that was a little intense.
Let's see what happens afterthat.
(11:31):
No one in the land slept verywell that night.
The rising sun uncovered theheads of the men and women
peering over the rooftops andwindows, straining to see if the
sky had really left them.
It truly had.
It sailed upward, far out oftheir reach.
(11:53):
From that day onward, men andwomen and children had to grow
their own food.
They tilled the land, plantedcrops and harvested them, and
far above them rested the sky,distant and blue just as it does
(12:13):
today.
Whoa, this story is at least500 years old, first told in
Bini, in the Bini tribe found inAfrica, where they are is now
Nigeria.
Are is now Nigeria.
(12:37):
This story was told to teachthe children of many of the Bini
tribe to not waste gifts ofnature.
Well, wastefulness is a very bigproblem in today's world.
So many reasons why we've justbeen wasteful on our garbage.
But, as told in this book, wecould potentially save it.
We could save our home.
Remember, earth is the onlyhome we know of today, so might
(13:00):
as well save it as much as wecan, because there's no planet
number two.
Earth is the one and only thatwe've found that contains life.
While climate change is a bigproblem in today's world,
wastefulness is really the bigproblem.
(13:21):
When someone gives us a snack toeat and we don't finish it all
and just throw it in the trash.
Or when we buy food but then welook at the expiration date and
then we just throw it in thegarbage.
Well, or when we don't.
Or when we don't eat the foodthat someone's prepared us, or
(13:45):
we don't eat the food that camefrom some place.
Someone had to grow thatlettuce, someone had to grow
that food or feed that cow thatwe eat on either a burger or an
everyday salad.
So remember, do not waste thegifts of nature.
(14:05):
Just like how the sky said, donot waste the gifts of nature
because nature is wonderful.
Because nature is wonderful.
If there is a way for you torecycle things around your house
, if there is a way for you torecycle things around your house
(14:28):
, do it.
Save this planet.
There's no planet number two.
We have not found one yet, butlet's save this one as long as
we're on this earth.
Nature provides so much of theworld we see today.
Nature provides the wood tobuild houses, the food, the air
(14:53):
that we breathe, the food thatwe eat, the water we drink.
Nature provides us with almosteverything, so make sure to save
nature.
When you don't care aboutnature, you hurt the environment
(15:14):
.
Our environment is the worldaround us, so save nature, care
about it.
There's no planet number two,not yet.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Shara's Rating
Podcast.
Don't forget to like, reviewand smash that subscribe button
(15:38):
Bye-bye.
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