Wolfeboro Library Hosting free performance by Odds Bodkin

WOLFEBORO —Wolfeboro Public Library will close its Every Hero Has a Story summer reading program with a special performance by Odds Bodkin, a master storyteller, musician, author, and educator, hailed by Billboard Magazine as "a modern-day Orpheus" and by The New York Times as a "consummate storyteller."

The free family program will be held on Saturday, August 15 at 10:30 a.m. at Anderson Hall on the Brewster Academy campus in Wolfeboro.

Bodkin will share two Little Heroes stories. The Wise Little Girl, a Russian folktale, tells the story of a seven-year-old girl who bravely answers riddles posed by the Tsar in an effort to save her father. In the Italian fairytale The Little Shepherd, a hard-hearted boy goes on a wild adventure with animals and witches to find a mysterious girl who is hidden in a singing apple. Odds' vivid character voices, uncanny vocal effects, and compelling action keep kids and adults imagining and smiling. Plus there is the joy of listening to original music on 12-string guitar and Celtic harp.

Bodkin is renowned for his huge repertoire of folk tales from cultures around the world, an extensive collection of Greek myths, American and New England folklore, ghost stories and teaching fables, all performed with live original music, character voices, vocal effects and narration. Twice the subject of Lincoln Center Institute in New York's Window on the Work, he has performed at The White House and across America at schools, museums, universities, special performances, and festivals. His many recordings and picture books have won Indie awards, Parents' Choice Gold and Silver awards, Storytelling World awards, the Dove Foundation award, Booklist's Editors' Choice, and the New York Public Library's "100 Best Titles for Reading and Sharing" award, among others.

Wolfeboro Public Library is able to present this free performance thanks to the support of the Friends of Wolfeboro Public Library, Q. David Bowers, the Marsh Family, and anonymous donors.