What if the seal looking back at you from the water isn't simply a seal?

In Episode 21 — The Selkie: Between the Land and the Sea, Jan travels north to Orkney and down to the shore for a traditional story that belongs to the sea.

A man discovers Selkie women dancing on a beach after shedding their seal skins. He steals one of the skins, leaving its owner unable to return to the water. She remains on land, becomes his wife and has children — but she never forgets the sea. Years later, when her hidden skin is discovered, she finally has a way home.

There isn't only one Selkie story. These tales have been told and retold in different places for generations, with versions of Selkie traditions found beyond Orkney, elsewhere in Scotland and in related stories in Ireland.

Living close to the shore in Orkney, Jan reflects on the landscape in which stories like these have travelled: seals watching from the water, creatures disappearing back beneath the waves and thick seaweed lying along the coastline. She doesn't claim this explains how the Selkie tradition began — we don't know — but it's easy to understand how landscape, animals and imagination might make somebody wonder: what if?

Jan also considers echoes she hears in other stories about land, sea and the human imagination, while being careful not to equate Selkies with The Little Mermaid or the Sirens of The Odyssey.

And underneath it all is a question she keeps returning to:

What did the Selkie want?

Different listeners may hear love, belonging, homesickness, possession or freedom. Others may simply hear a wonderful story about people who become seals.

Perhaps that's part of the reason these stories continue to travel.

Explore further

Scottish writer and storyteller Kenny Boyle is someone Jan thoroughly enjoys listening to. His YouTube channel offers another doorway into Scottish folklore and storytelling:

https://www.youtube.com/@KennyBoyleOfficial

Across Lake Rotorua came music.

Hinemoa lived at Ōwhata on the eastern shore. Across the water, on Mokoia Island, lived Tūtānekai. They loved one another, but Hinemoa's family did not consider Tūtānekai a suitable match.

They were so determined to prevent Hinemoa crossing the lake that they removed the hoe, the paddles, from the waka.

Hinemoa found another way.

In Episode 20 — Hinemoa and Tūtānekai: The Story That Crossed the Water, Jan tells the story of Hinemoa tying together six empty gourds to help keep herself afloat before swimming through the darkness towards Mokoia Island and the sound of Tūtānekai's music.

But the story doesn't end at the shores of Lake Rotorua.

Jan remembers how it travelled into her own family. Her brother Richard, a strong swimmer who knew what Hinemoa had done, decided as a teenager to swim Lake Rotorua himself. Years later, the family is still telling that story.

Then there's cousin Vinnie — talented musician, definitely not a gangster — who encountered the story during a family trip to Rotorua, found a nose flute and decided he was Tūtānekai.

Jan also carefully distinguishes that family memory from the tradition surrounding Tūtānekai. The instrument associated with him is a Māori flute, and one treasured kōauau connected with Tūtānekai is Te Murirangaranga. Accounts differ in some details about the flute and even who produced the music Hinemoa heard.

It's a story about Hinemoa and Tūtānekai — but also about what can happen when stories are told again and again, travelling through generations and sometimes becoming woven into our own family memories.

In the beginning, there was Te Kore — the void. Then Te Pō — the darkness. And from that darkness came Ranginui, Sky Father, and Papatūānuku, Mother Earth.

In Earth Mother and Sky Father: The World of Light — Papatūānuku and Ranginui: Te Ao Mārama, Jan tells a Māori creation story she has known for many years.

Ranginui and Papatūānuku are locked together in a close embrace, with their children living in darkness between them. After others try unsuccessfully to separate them, Tāne, god of the forests and trees, pushes Sky Father upwards from Mother Earth and creates the space for Te Ao Mārama — the world of light.

Jan reflects on what she hears in the story now: not only earth, sky and the forests of Aotearoa, but a family facing different opinions, a difficult decision and its consequences. The children gain light, space and a world in which to grow, while their parents lose one another.

She also remembers standing beneath Tāne Mahuta, the great kauri tree in Waipoua Forest, in the early 1980s — an experience whose majesty and silent power has stayed with her.

The episode considers the enormous question human beings across cultures have explored in different ways: how did all this begin? Jan also distinguishes these creation stories from the scientific account of the Big Bang while reflecting on the curiosity behind questions about beginnings.

And she returns to something very simple: the way an old story can make us look again at a tree, the earth beneath our feet and the sky above us.

Explore further

Te Ao Māori — New Zealand Ministry for the Environment
Explore one telling of the Māori creation story and discover more about Ranginui, Papatūānuku and their children:
https://environment.govt.nz/te-ao-maori/te-timatanga-o-te-ao-maori/

The OER Project — Origin Stories
Explore origin stories from different cultures around the world:
https://www.oerproject.com/topics/origin-stories?WT.mc_id=00_00_2026_CONV_CLM_TOP_ROWT2_CK-topics_AK-originstories_OER-SEM_&WT.tsrc=OERSEM&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23936471894&gbraid=0AAAAACd_5E3n0l1D5eMQafRoxtb_fmEEh&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4orUBhCjARIsAIbF3qzIExZY4BNBnBzHHfbr_n16jF7OiNrRIH_IpTC_ORCqx9tVXU28eJwaAtbAEALw_wcB

Why do some stories survive for hundreds — even thousands — of years?

Series 3 of Stories from the Mat with Jan begins with The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a story so familiar that even people who haven't read Aesop's Fables may know exactly what's coming.

But how did that story travel all the way to us? And why are we still telling it?

Jan explores the extraordinary way stories have carried memories, history, culture and identity from one generation to another. She considers why stories from very different cultures can sometimes contain familiar patterns, from Hinemoa and Tūtānekai in Aotearoa to Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story and even Lady and the Tramp.

This episode also opens the door to the journey ahead in Series 3: an adventure through traditional stories, legends and storytelling from around the world.

Because sometimes learning begins with one very simple question:

“Have you ever heard the story about...?”

When I began these reflections, I thought I was simply responding to conversations with four wonderful children's authors.

What I didn't expect was how much they would change the way I saw the world.

Linda Murphy encouraged me to think differently about what "enough" really means. Laura Strachan reminded me that children don't always need new stories – sometimes they simply need familiar ones read with love. Julie Ball showed me that wonder begins with noticing, and Ruth Shevlin helped me recognise that creativity often lives quietly in the ordinary things we do every day.

This final reflection isn't a summary of the series. It's a chance to pause, look back and consider the things we've come to appreciate along the way.

I hope these conversations have encouraged you to notice the confidence, wonder and creativity already present in your own family life.

Thank you for joining me on the mat this series.

And as Julie would say... here's to a little more joyment.

Find out more about:-

Linda- https://www.lindamurphybooks.com

Laura- https://laurastrachanbooks.com

Julie- https://www.julieballauthor.com

Ruth- https://rdschildrensbooks.com

🌿 Join the Club: https://www.janfalconerauthor.com/join-the-club

Following my conversation with children's author Ruth Don Shevlin, I found myself reflecting on the meaning of creativity.

Is it something reserved for artists and musicians, or is it woven into the everyday moments of family life?

In this episode, I explore how imagination grows through lived experiences, relationships and play. Inspired by Ruth's stories and supported by the work of Sir Ken Robinson and Lev Vygotsky, we consider how baking, gardening, storytelling, making and sharing memories are all creative acts that shape children's lives.

A gentle reflection for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone who has ever wondered whether creativity is much closer than we think.

Learn more about Ruth Don Shevlin and her books at Ruth Don Shevlin Children's Books

Where do stories come from?

In this episode of Stories from the Mat with Jan, I talk with children's author and illustrator Ruth Don Shevlin about the childhood memories, family experiences and everyday moments that inspired her writing.

From the story behind Rebecca's Dream That Wasn't to the origins of Esmeralda and the Lollipop Tree, Ruth shares how imagination, creativity and a lifelong love of children shaped her journey as an author.

Along the way, we discuss storytelling, teaching, illustration, photography, puppet shows and why some of the most memorable children's books begin with the ordinary moments of family life.

To learn more about Ruth Don Shevlin and her books, visit Ruth Don Shevlin Children's Books.

Before confidence... before skills... there is wonder.

Following my conversation with children's author Julie Ball, I found myself thinking about the quiet moments that so often become the beginning of learning.

A gecko hiding behind a cinnamon broom. A butterfly in the garden. A child who notices something the rest of us walk past.

In this reflection, I explore how curiosity, imagination and a sense of wonder develop through noticing the ordinary rather than searching for the extraordinary. Drawing on Julie's experiences, together with the work of Alison Gopnik and Rachel Carson, we consider why children don't always need us to teach them wonder—they may simply need us to make space for it.

A gentle reflection for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone who believes learning begins with curiosity.

Learn more about Julie and her books at Julie Ball's website