Showing results by narrator "Mike Polischuk" in All Categories

A riotous Grimm folktale that turns everyday chores into catastrophe. When Frederick asks for a hot meal and a draught of ale, Catherine’s good intentions ignite a cascade of comic blunders: ale floods the cellar, fine flour becomes mop-up, and a secret stash of “yellow buttons” vanishes...

Step into a world where elegance hides danger… and curiosity may cost everything.In Blue Beard, one of the most haunting tales from Charles Perrault, a young bride marries a wealthy nobleman whose charm masks a dark and terrifying secret. Given the keys to his vast estate—with one strict...

In a bustling Manhattan café at midnight, an unnamed narrator meets E. Rushmore Coglan, a swaggering globe‑trotter who swears he’s a citizen of the world and loyal to no patch of earth. With trademark wit, O. Henry skewers vanity and provincial pride as Coglan grandly mocks borders, boasts...

A forbidden love. A broken promise. A mortal princess willing to defy a goddess to reclaim the husband she lost. Psyche is so extraordinarily beautiful that people begin comparing her to Venus herself. Enraged by the mortal princess’s growing fame, the jealous goddess commands her son Cupid to...

A wickedly funny Grimm Brothers tale of runaway imagination and marital mischief. Clever Elsie is famed for her foresight—but her “wisdom” is really catastrophic overthinking. When a pickaxe left above a beer cask sends her spiraling into tears over the fate of a child she doesn’t have...

In this searing Christmas parable from Charles Dickens, Nobody—a humble laborer by a mighty river—struggles to keep hearth, hope, and family alive while the pompous Bigwig family debates his fate from a comfortable distance. As ignorance takes root and a devastating pestilence descends...

A rare cold snap grips the South, and a lonely new bishop—quarantined with the measles—watches a brilliant red cardinal plead for help outside his window. Across the way, brave little Gwinie phones from the orphanage, and a simple request for birdseed sparks a quiet cascade of charity. As...

When Bunny Face, a small, curious boy with wiggling ears and a heart full of questions, hears whispers about the Spirit of Christmas, he sets out to find it. His search leads to a rescued cat named Agnes, a warm kitchen at the parson’s house, and an unexpected friendship with the town’s...

A king’s cruel decree drives twelve princes into the forest. Years later their golden‑starred sister finds them—only to unleash a curse that turns her brothers into ravens. To save them, she must keep a seven‑year vow of absolute silence and never laugh. As seasons pass, a hunting king...

A snowbound train platform, a cheerful country welcome, and one irresistible misunderstanding set the stage for a Christmas to remember. When solitary New Yorker John J. Alston is mistaken for “Uncle John” by a bustling New England farm family, he steps into their holiday with open hands and...

Every morning, twelve princesses awaken with their satin slippers worn to shreds—though their door is triple-bolted. When the Duke proclaims that anyone who solves the mystery may choose a bride, a dreamy orphaned cowherd named Michael, nicknamed the Star Gazer, dares to try. Guided by a lady...

Charles Dickens offers a timeless meditation on the season in this tender, uplifting Christmas essay—an invitation to gather the living and the lost around the hearth of memory. With warmth and clarity, he traces our journey from childhood wonder to adult gratitude, forgiveness, and hope...

Where the Gray Bird Returned follows Thomas Alder, a sharp-tongued old man living at Fairford House, who spends his days watching a small gray bird in the crooked tree outside his window. As the bird builds a nest and raises its young, Thomas is drawn through memories of his late wife, his daughter Claire, and the family life that has slowly moved beyond his reach. Tender and quietly moving, Where the Gray Bird Returned is a literary novella about aging, memory, family, and the love that remains after letting go.

On a stormy Christmas Eve, an unexpected delay leads one lonely traveler to the holiday celebration she never knew she needed. Known affectionately as “the Princess,” a wealthy young woman is traveling by carriage when a wheel becomes hopelessly trapped in the mud. While her driver searches...

Four decades ago, when I started my own small business, I looked for a book that would explain all the nuts and bolts of day-to-day survival as a small business. There wasn’t one. And there still isn’t one. So, I wrote one.

For years, people have thought day trading was impossible. Or, they started trading and totally lost their shirt. But while beginners might read a book or take a course and it leads to a few big wins, they can never keep these profits consistent. The secret behind day trading is that it can be life-changing if you have a system in place to minimize your risks and maximize your profits. Once you finally get it (aka how to build your profit system), turning a massive profit in day trading is incredibly easy!

From sorrow grows a tree of wonder—and the promise of a new life. A young girl’s peaceful home is destroyed when a cruel witch transforms her mother into a sheep, steals her identity, and takes her place within the family. Before the enchanted mother is killed, she gives her daughter one...

A magical horse. An impossible challenge. A youngest son destined for greatness. In Dapplegrim, Andrew Lang presents a classic Norwegian fairy tale filled with wonder, danger, courage, and enchantment. When the youngest of twelve brothers receives only a dapple-gray foal as his inheritance, he...

Magic, kindness, and transformation weave together in this timeless fairy tale from Andrew Lang. In The Nettle Spinner, listeners are drawn into an enchanting world of devotion, perseverance, and quiet courage as a young woman undertakes a mysterious and difficult task that may change fate...

Why is the sea filled with salt? Ancient folklore holds the answer. In Why The Sea is Salt, Andrew Lang retells a timeless legend woven with mystery, magic, greed, and the endless power of the sea. Rich with mythic atmosphere and classic storytelling, this beloved fairy tale explores how wonder...