The Summer of Story: Joules Young "Wizards Are Not Welcome Here."

 

   

The Summer of Story: 

Why Audio Adventures Are the Perfect Holiday Companion

By Katie Jones, Editor | The Young Listener's Chronicle

 

July 2025

 

There is something about summer that calls for stories. Perhaps it's the long, lazy afternoons stretching out like ribbons of sunlight. Perhaps it's the car journeys to unfamiliar places, the waiting in airport lounges, the picnics on blankets where a tale can drift on the breeze. Whatever the reason, July is a month made for listening.

 

And this July, I have found something rather special to share with you.

 

The Gift of Audio: Stories That Travel With You

Before we turn to this month's treasure, let us pause and consider the humble audiobook. In our previous explorations of the digital landscape, we talked about finding balance—using technology to enhance, not replace, the shared reading experience. But there is a particular magic to audio stories that deserves its own celebration.

 

An audiobook is a performance. It is a voice that becomes a world, a narrator who becomes a friend. It asks nothing of your eyes, leaving them free to watch the countryside blur past the car window or to close entirely as you drift into the space between waking and dreaming. It is, in many ways, the most ancient form of storytelling—the human voice carrying narrative across time and space.

 

For families on the move this summer, audio stories are a gift. They transform travel into adventure, waiting into wonder. They allow children (and parents) to sink into a world without the need for screens, for the constant pull of attention elsewhere.

 

A Story That Slips Between the Cracks of Time

This month, I want to introduce you to a tale that has captured my imagination and, I suspect, will capture yours. It comes from the Story Catcher, the enchanting Joules Young, whose work we have touched upon before in these pages. But this is something rather different.

 

Welcome to Nibble-on-the-Moor, where the scones are always warm, the cobblestones have a habit of nudging you in the right direction, and the sheep have developed some rather strong opinions about the weather. It is the kind of village that could only exist in a story—the sort of place where things generally tick along in a perfectly peculiar way, provided no one does anything too unexpected.

 

And yet, something is brewing.

 

Something that has the villagers peering cautiously from behind their lace curtains. Something that has the books in the shop holding their breath (if books could breathe, that is). Something that has the bakery's cinnamon buns considering whether now might be a good time to make a run for it.

 

The cause of all this disruption? A wizard. And not just any wizard—a wizard who, it seems, has not received the village's very firm, very clear, very embroidered-on-seventeen-woolly-sweaters message: "Wizards Are Not Welcome Here."

 

The Return of the Story Catcher

For those who have followed The Young Listener's Chronicle, the name Joules Young will be familiar. We have previously explored The Girl Who Became Untethered, a lyrical, profound journey through grief and belonging. But Joules Young is not just a writer of poetic picture books; she is also a masterful storyteller in the oral tradition.

 

"Tales from the Story Catcher" is her audio collection, and it is a gift to families who understand that a story, well told, is one of the most precious things we can share. In these recordings, Joules Young, plucking tales "from between the cracks of time" and delivering them directly to the listener's ear.

 

It is impossible to listen to her work without feeling that you are being told a secret, that the story is meant just for you. Her writing voice carries a warmth, a knowingness, a gentle humour that wraps around the listener like a favourite blanket. It is no wonder that her audio stories have become a cherished part of many family routines.

 

In "Wizards Are Not Welcome here." Nibble-on-the-Moor: A Village of Delightful Nonsense

The tale that has landed at Hollyhock Books Storytime this summer is a particularly delightful one. It introduces us to Nibble-on-the-Moor in all its peculiar glory, and to its inhabitants—creatures with wings, claws, and at least one resident made entirely of moss. There is Crispin Puff, a dragon with a flair for flaky pastry, who runs the bakery and is very firm indeed about his house policies. There is Beatrix Hootle, a venerable owl who owns the bookshop, although it is widely known the books are in charge. There is Griselda Shimmersnout, the badger in charge of the Anti-Wizard Committee, who takes her responsibilities very seriously indeed.

 

And then there is the wizard himself—Ollie Twiggle, who is perhaps not the most imposing of wizards, with his only-slightly-pointy hat and robes that look like they've been through one too many laundry mishaps. He is, however, a wizard of great enthusiasm and, it must be said, rather unfortunate timing.

 

The story of what happens when Ollie arrives in Nibble-on-the-Moor is one of my favourite listens of the year. It is brimming with the sort of delightful nonsense that makes the very best children's literature so enduring. There are portals that shouldn't be opened, teapots that should not be angered, and a dragon of the most wonderfully inconvenient variety who emerges from the chaos with an air of entitlement that is, frankly, magnificent.

 

Percival Luminos the Third is a character who will stay with you. He is orange, he is glittery, and he is convinced that the world revolves around him. He is also, I suspect, the kind of dragon who would be absolutely insufferable to live next to but utterly captivating to listen to. His arrival in Nibble-on-the-Moor sets off a chain of events that will have you laughing out loud and, quite possibly, reaching for a biscuit.

 

A Story for the Whole Family

One of the great gifts of audio storytelling is its ability to bring families together across ages. The story of "Wizards Are Not Welcome here." is one of those rare tales that works for everyone. Younger children will delight in the silliness, the sound effects, and the sheer energy of the telling. Older children will appreciate the wit, the wordplay, and the subtle nods to classic storytelling conventions. And adults? Well, there is a reason I found myself listening to this one on my own, long after the children were asleep.

 

Joules Young has a gift for layering meaning without losing the joy. Her stories are, on the surface, pure entertainment. But underneath the laughter and the glitter and the slightly-too-talkative sheep, there are gentle truths about belonging, about the trouble we cause when we don't read the signs, and about the unexpected friendships that can grow from the most chaotic of circumstances.

 

How to Listen This Summer

If you are looking for a story to carry you through July, through car journeys, through rainy afternoons, through those long, slow days when the children are restless and you need something to capture their attention, I cannot recommend this tale highly enough.

 

"Tales from the Story Catcher" is available exclusively in audio, and it is the perfect format for the season. You can listen as a family, each person bringing their own imagination to the world Joules Young creates. You can listen in the car, turning a tedious journey into an adventure. You can listen before bed, the narrator's voice soothing the day away.

 

And when you have finished, you may find yourself, as I did, wanting to visit Nibble-on-the-Moor. To taste Crispin's pastries. To see if the cobblestones really do nudge you in the right direction. To discover what those sheep are debating now.

 

Alas, Nibble-on-the-Moor exists only in the world of the story. But that, perhaps, is the greatest magic of all. A story that feels real enough to visit, real enough to miss, real enough to want to return to again and again.

 

Where to Find It

You can find "Tales from the Story Catcher" and other wonderful audio stories from Joules Young at hocksbox.com The Hocksbox universe is a treasure trove of quality storytelling, thoughtfully curated for young listeners and their families. It is the kind of resource that makes a tech-wise parent's heart sing, digital, yes, but intentional, crafted, and built around the art of the spoken word.

 

A Final Thought

Summer is a season of possibility. Of new places, new experiences, new memories. But it is also a season for slowing down, for savouring, for letting the imagination roam.

 

A good story, well told, can be the thread that ties a summer together. It becomes part of the fabric of the season, the voice you remember from the car, the laughter you shared, the world you explored together without ever leaving your seat.

 

This July, I hope you find a story that captures you. And if you are looking for somewhere to start, I know a wizard in a floppy hat who is causing rather a lot of trouble in a village that really should have known better.

 

Happy listening,

Katie

 

P.S. I would love to hear about your family's audio adventures this summer. What stories are you carrying with you? Share your recommendations in the comments below.

 

Next time on The Young Listener's Chronicle: We'll explore the art of the bedtime story, how to wind down, settle in, and choose the right tale for the end of the day.