Once Upon an Adventure
A pocket podcast where families pause the busy world and step into stories together. Every fortnight we share one theme, two books, and one simple way to connect - because the feelings we carry as adults, kids carry too.
Once Upon an Adventure
Episode 1: Busyness & The Art of Slowing Down
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this first episode of Once Upon an Adventure, we explore the experience of being busy, especially as the pace of life increases toward the end of the year. Through two thoughtfully chosen books, one for children and one for adults, we look at how constant activity shapes us and what it means to make room for rest.
Our children’s pick, The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister by Linda. R Lodding offers a humorous but recognisable picture of overscheduled childhoods and the value of unstructured play. For adults, we turn to Haemin Sunim’s The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, which invites us to pay attention to what we miss when life becomes too full.
We consider how these two books speak to each other, why stillness matters at every age, and how small pauses can help us reconnect with joy, curiosity, and one another. The episode also includes further book recommendations for different age groups and a weekly mini mission designed to bring a little more calm into everyday routines.
Find the books mentioned in this episode
Most titles referenced are listed on our affiliate bookshop that supports independent and local sellers.
Visit our linktree for more information: https://linktr.ee/onceuponapod_