Recordings by Rafe Martin
Audio and Video
ANIMAL DREAMING: ENCOUNTERS IN THE NATURAL WORLD
70 min., 1992
“These stories are part of a conversation we all need to have. They challenge us to think personally about our own relation to animals and the natural world.”
— Turning Wheel
Yellowmoon Press writes: “This is our second tape with Rafe, and one whose message is timely. In clear and eloquent language, Rafe reacquaints us with something we all know is true—our connection and kinship with the natural world of animals, plants, and earth. The stories featured here come from times in Rafe’s life when he has felt linked to the natural world. They express a deep yearning to reestablish our connection to our origins in nature, and a sense of urgency this connection will help us all survive. The stories range from an encounter with two belugas at an aquarium, to a haunting story of cows that scratch messages with their hooves, to a pet rat named Lenny, lovingly remembered. If you believe that we are stewards of the Earth, this marvelous tape is for you and your children.”
“Rafe Martin touches something transcendent.”
—Yarnspinner *
“These seven extraordinary narratives are deeply moving and intensely spiritual. In each, Rafe Martin explores the powerful connection between animals and humans, the experiencing of which can be personally transforming. These stories are at once painful, haunting, and exhilarating. These are not spontaneous musings, nor do they flow spontaneously form the author’s mouth; his reading is occasionally awkward, but nonetheless affecting. The message is that in encounters, such as these, with animals—domestic and wild, caged and free—we humans remember who and why we are. All who have pondered the mysteries of life will be deeply moved by these remarkable stories.” —Booklist
“The theme of earth-animal-human unity permeates each of these stories. Rafe Martin is a master at building suspense and using figurative language and imagery, qualities which will hold listeners spellbound. The audio quality is excellent and the stories are separated by appropriate animal sounds. . . . Public and school libraries serving young adults will want to give this storytelling experience serious consideration. It will also be useful for high school ecology curriculum.”
—School Library Journal
*Yarnspinner is the publication of the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling—NAPPS
