Munchy's Moon Mail 💌 🌙 A New Alien Family, Puppuccinos & The Dimpled Dumpling Cafe Returns?

[00:00:13] Hello and welcome to Munchy's Moon Mail, where we go through all the posts that's arrived from the Koala Kingdom and learn what our friends there are getting up to. There's sure to be juicy bits of news from the Kingdom and some sneak peeks at future episodes. But before we dive into all that, let me tell you what I've been getting up to over the summer. I have been surfing. I went to Cornwall with my daughter and some friends and as well as doing some lovely long coastal walks,

[00:00:39] eating ice creams almost as big as my face and flying my mega kite on the empty beach. I had a go at surfing. I'm terrible at it and I got a lot of water up my nose, but I was still brave and I had a go and I had a lot of fun watching for the best waves and trying to catch them. If you have any pro tips for me, please can you let me know? Just write it on a postcard and send it in because I'd really like to get better. Okay, back to the Koala Kingdom now then.

[00:01:05] This morning, Munchy tapped on my window with one hand and he had his red motorbike helmet tucked under his other. And just as he was opening his mailbag, he told me not to worry because there were only letters in there today. Well, of course that caught my interest and I had to ask him what he meant. Well, what he told me was both surprising and intriguing. Just a few weeks ago, Munchy had been quite puzzled to discover there was something other than letters in his mailbag.

[00:01:35] In fact, there was a monster in it, a cute little parcel with sharp little teeth. And that monster made doing his normal rounds a little bit tricky for Munchy, to say the least. He wouldn't tell me anymore, he just said, if we wanted to hear the rest of that story, we'd have to look out for it on Koala Shine next month. So keep your eyes peeled guys. Munchy's mailbag monster, I can't wait. All right, onto the letters then. First up.

[00:02:03] Oh yes, I recognise this very beautiful curly handwriting. This must be Isla. Dear Abby, I hope you're well. Just a couple of days ago, it was my favourite day of the year. School picture day. When the whole of Lower Starry School gets together to have their photo taken. Except, you won't believe what happened that very morning. My tooth fell out. Yes, one of my front teeth, leaving a big gap.

[00:02:33] I was so afraid that it was going to ruin the school picture, but do you know who saved the day? My friends. Aren't friends just the best? I won't spoil the surprise by telling you how they did it. Okay, I've got to head to school now. Bye. Oh, poor Isla. Losing her tooth right before the picture. Make sure you listen to Koala Moon this week to find out how the day got saved.

[00:03:00] Now, I've got another rather strange letter here. That's written in a language that isn't like any we have on Earth. But let me let you in on a little secret. I speak alien. So don't worry. I can read this letter. Dear Abby, it says. Bleep bloop here. I'm an alien who's just moved into the middle of nowhere from a distant planet. Except I'm still waiting for some of my family to arrive.

[00:03:30] We've told them to travel through space until they see a land with a big koala moon. The only problem is, I'm not sure whether they know what a koala is. Keep your fingers crossed that they get here and don't end up on some other planet. Bleep bloop. A new alien family in the middle of nowhere. How exciting. We love meeting new friends, don't we? I wonder if Bleep Bloop's family will find their way.

[00:03:58] Now we have a letter that seems to have a stamp on it from Greece. And, oh, what a surprise. When I opened the envelope, little wisps of clouds seem to slip out and fade into the air. How magical. Let's read it. Hi, Abby. Marinos here. Usually, here on the Greek island of Skyros, I'm visited by ancient gods who want to go on all kinds of exciting adventures. But, just recently, a much sleepier god came to visit me.

[00:04:28] Morpheus, the god of dreams. He took me on the coziest journey to see some old friends of mine. I won't tell you who, but I'll give you a hint. They're a brother and a sister, and one is a koala and the other is a panda. Can you guess? Bye, Abby. Oh, Marinos. I know he's been on a lot of adventures on Koala Shine, but this will be his first time on Koala Moon. I can't wait to hear what sleepy adventure he got up to. Right, next letter.

[00:04:58] Oh, what's this? This envelope is covered in some brown splodgy stains. Is it coffee? Tea? Mud? Who knows? One thing's for sure. A letter with stains can only be from our favourite pair of mucky pups. It's Hector and Sunny. Happy autumn time, Abby. We just got back from the Dimple Dumpling Cafe, where we went to have a couple of Uma's special,

[00:05:27] 100% unique recipe puppuccinos. Except, well, there was a little bit of a problem with the ingredients in Uma's storeroom. A cheeky little gnome had got in and caused a bit of a mess. We won't tell you how we solved that particular situation, but let's just say us doggos have strong noses. All right, Abby. See ya. A gnome let loose in the Dimple Dumpling Cafe.

[00:05:55] What a lot of fun that sounds. And between you and me, I'd like to try one of those puppuccinos myself. I just can't wait to read that story. Now, I've got two more postcards, and they've both got special stickers on them that say, Coco Club. Which means that these stories are only available for Coco Club members. So if you want to hear more about them, make sure you join us over on Premium. Details to join can be found in the show notes.

[00:06:24] Now then, this first postcard has some lovely, very peaceful looking pine trees on it. Which I think I recognize. Yep. It's sleepy forest. This postcard is from Coco and Kira. They say they've recently been out shopping to buy back to school supplies. And Kira found a pair of shiny black shoes she just loved. But you won't believe it, they write.

[00:06:53] These school shoes turned out to be magical. And they took us on a rather unexpected journey. We won't tell you where we went. You'll have to listen to the story for that. But they made us feel much better about going back to school. My, my, magical school shoes. Whoever has heard of such a thing? I can't wait to find out where they take Coco and Kira. And how they make them feel more reassured about the start of the new school year.

[00:07:21] Now this second postcard has a beautiful picture of the beach at Harmony Cove on the front. And look, it's from our old friend Zen the Pufferfish. Abby, he writes, have I got the most relaxing meditation coming up soon for you? Recently, I met a fish called Sandy, who'd lost all his confidence and he couldn't puff up anymore.

[00:07:47] Well, of course, I took him on a peaceful journey around the sea to remind him that it doesn't matter whether you've got your puff or not. True confidence comes from within. Oh, Zen. You can always trust him to puff you up when you're feeling a bit deflated, can't you? I'll certainly look forward to diving into that cozy meditation.

[00:08:11] And don't forget, if you want to hear either of these two episodes, make sure you join us over on Coco Club. Chimpkin's news for Shine and Tots. It looks like we're all out of letters now. But Munchie has also delivered a copy of the Koala Kingdom Gazette. I wonder what that brilliant little chicken journalist Chimpkin has written in her newspaper.

[00:08:36] Oh my, the front page contains a special announcement for something huge that's coming to Koala Shine, our daytime story show with Kelly. Let me read it out. Something shadowy this way comes. A strange figure has been spotted stalking around the Koala Kingdom, causing all kinds of chaos.

[00:09:00] A figure that looks strangely like our friend Coco, except dark and diabolical and cloaked in shadows. Coco, but a baddie. Will this mystery ever be solved? Only one thing's for sure, to defeat the shadow baddies, it will take someone who knows all too well what it's like to use your powers for evil.

[00:09:28] Shadow Baddies is a brand new series starting at the beginning of October. Only for subscribers on Koala Shine Plus. Keep your eyes out for more information, coming soon. Ooh, doesn't that sound exciting? A brand new series. And a dark version of Coco getting up to mischief. I wonder who's going to save the day. Someone who knows what it's like to use their powers for evil.

[00:09:58] Hmm. Does that make you think of anyone in particular? I just cannot wait for October now. Now, let me turn the page to some other headlines. Here they are. Look. Tiny Hedgehog Enormous Mystery. Prickles on hunt for owner of petrifying paw print. Wow. Doesn't that sound rather terrifying? Here's what it says.

[00:10:26] On a field trip, Nervous Hedgehog Prickles has to trace the whereabouts of a creature with the biggest footprint in the jungle. Is it an elephant? A rhinoceros? Or something much, much scarier? Find out this month only on Koala Shine. And down here at the bottom of the Gazette, Chimpkin's given us some information about what's coming up on Koala Tots in the next few weeks. I'll read what she's written.

[00:10:56] Make sure you all tune in for some of the coziest little stories ever. This month, we've got a heartwarming story about Hector's trip to the puppy playpen. At first, all those puppies make him feel a bit overwhelmed. But soon he begins to play, makes friends, and feels much more confident. This is the perfect story for you dog lovers out there. The playpen is sure to have every breed of puppy imaginable.

[00:11:26] Well, thank you for that, Chimpkin. I cannot wait to read all of those Koala Tots stories. That's it for Munchie's mailbag. Until next month, when we'll have a whole new bag of letters and postcards to read. I hope you've enjoyed having a rummage around in that mailbag with me, and that you're excited about what's coming up on the pod. So until next time, I'm wishing you many cosy, calm bedtimes, and the very sweetest of dreams.