The Raspberry Worm

Hooray! It's raspberry season! While enjoying the raspberries they have collected, some children discover a worm. Sisters Aina and Tessa save the worm from the bottom of their brother's shoe and then from the beak of a hungry bird. Little do they know, they have just helped the Raspberry King and will be rewarded for their good deeds. The next morning, Tessa and Aina depart from their home to pick more raspberries. To their excitement, they discover a large raspberry patch in the woods and happily fill their baskets. When it is time to return home, they realize that they are lost and must spend the night where they are. The Raspberry King uses his magic to provide them with food and a place to rest. The next morning, when Tessa and Aina wonder who has been so kind to help them, the Raspberry King reveals himself. He explains that he has ruled the raspberry thicket for thousands of years, but that he must live one day as a tiny raspberry worm every hundredth year. He thanks the girls for saving him from their brother and the bird on the day that he was a worm, and he then calls for a little bird to lead them home.

Aina, Tessa, Raspberry King, Bird

A series of 39 individual animated folk tales from the creators of HBO's "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales and Animated Epics". Most stories were animated in the country the tale takes place in. Each thirty-minute edition features two story adaptations representing two different countries and featuring a variety of innovative animation techniques.

"Animated Tales of the World" was inspired by a simple idea: no nation is poor in stories, and we are all enriched by sharing them. In this series, village storytellers become global storytellers for all the children in the world. These indigenous tales and mythology form part of the heritage of each country, and each has been painstakingly crafted in a style of animation that reflects the spirit of its own culture.

If you happen to visit Finland in July or August, you are in luck because you have arrived just in time for raspberry season! Berries grow in abundance in Finland's wooded areas, with about 50 different species of wild berries grown throughout the country. It's no wonder that berries have become a part of Finland's folk literature tradition. This particular tale is linked to Zacharias Topelius, a Finnish author of the 19th century known for his stories based on Finnish folk and fairy tales.

Stories include:

• The Crown and the Sceptre (Arabia)
• The Chief and the Carpenter (Caribbean)
• The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep (Denmark)
• Cap O' Rushes (England)
• The Enchanted Lion (Germany)
• Edward Congeger (France)
• Persephone (Greece)
• The Two Brothers (Russia)
• Raven (American Indian)
• Three Golden Apples (Holland)
• King March (Wales)
• John Henry, Steel-Driving Man (U.S.A.)

Production companies include:

• Arab Radio and Television
• BBC Alba/BBC Scotland
• Channel 4 Television Corporation
• Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig
• Danmarks Radio
• Discovery Kids
• Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO)
• La Cinquième
• PTS
• Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV)
• RTV
• Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
• Right Angle
• SBS Independent
• School TV
• Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C)
• TG4
• TNB
• TV Ontario
• Tamuz Productions
• Tele-Français Ontario (TFO)
• Television Corporation of Singapore
• Telewizja Polska