Munchy’s Moon Mail 💌 🌙 Shadow Baddies Are Coming, A Magical Maize Maze & Can The Jupiter Twins Save Halloween?

[00:00:00] Hey Koala Kids, it's Kelly here from Koala Shine. Did you know that if you're a Koala Kids Plus subscriber through Supercast or Apple Podcasts, you have full ad-free access to every episode of my daytime story show, Koala Shine? That's alongside all your exclusive Koala Moon Bedtime Stories. And now, there's something brand new coming to Koala Shine. Shadow baddies. Something strange is sweeping across the Koala Kingdom. Shadowy versions of familiar faces are appearing.

[00:00:30] And they're not quite as cuddly as their Sleepy Forest counterparts. They're darker, they're naughtier, and they're causing trouble wherever they go. The characters you know and love are about to be seen in a way you've never seen them before. And stopping the shadow baddies will mean turning to the last person anyone ever expected. Packed with mystery, magic, excitement and cliffhangers, Shadow Baddies is a brand new series with exciting multi-part episodes landing every month.

[00:00:59] And if you're not yet a subscriber, but you want to follow the story from the start, now's the time to join Koala Kids Plus. Tap subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or follow the link in our show notes to listen through Spotify, Yoto and other podcast players. Shadow Baddies, coming October 6th. Exclusive to Koala Kids Plus and only on Koala Shine.

[00:01:34] Hello and welcome to Munchies Moon Mail, where we go through all the posts that's arrived from the Koala Kingdom, and we learn what our friends there are getting up to. There's sure to be some juicy bits of news from the Kingdom, and some sneak peeks at future episodes. But before we get into that, I'm wondering how many of you have pets who are afraid of bad weather?

[00:01:56] After a long, dry summer here, we've now got thunderstorms, and Sunny, my funny, sweet, working cocker spaniel, is hiding in the darkest corner of the house, cosy in some old clothes and towels. She's shaking, and she won't even go out for a walk with me. I'm thinking of putting some soothing music on so she can't hear the thunder, but I'm not sure it will work. How do you help when your dogs are scared?

[00:02:20] It's quite useful to know as we go into autumn, actually, because in autumn there will be fireworks on November the 5th, which are very loud for dogs, and before that we have Halloween. And at Halloween we have all sorts of things, bonfires and sparklers, and people dressing up as all kinds of eerie characters and saying boo suddenly. Oh, and there's plenty of pumpkin-based fun too, but that's not so scary.

[00:02:46] Speaking of strange characters, I saw a headline on the front of the Koala Kingdom Gazette, which Munchie delivered earlier, and in huge letters it said, Shadow baddies descend. Who will save the kingdom? Well, of course I couldn't resist reading the whole article, and here's what it said. Something strange is afoot in the Koala Kingdom.

[00:03:10] Shadowy versions of our favourite faces are appearing, and they're definitely not here to make friends. They're darker, they're naughtier, and they're causing trouble wherever they go. Who can save the kingdom? The answer might surprise you. Rumour has it that Coco has been seen teaming up with none other than Unchilled Jill, the baddest baddie the kingdom has ever seen.

[00:03:37] Can these sworn enemies work together to stop the Shadow baddies? Or will the kingdom fall into their hands? Find out in the brand new premium series, Shadow Baddies, exclusively on Koala Shine. My, my, dark and naughty versions of our favourite Koala Kingdom characters. Unchilled Jill and Coco teaming up to save the kingdom. That sounds unmissable to me.

[00:04:06] Like the article says, Shadow Baddies is coming very soon on our daytime story podcast, Koala Shine, for Koala Kids Plus subscribers. If you already subscribe to Koala Moon on Apple Podcasts, or the Koala Kids Plus bundle on Supercast, you can listen to each of these exclusive new episodes as soon as they launch. And if you haven't signed up yet, you'll find everything you need to join in our show notes.

[00:04:33] All right, now let's get onto the letters Munchie delivered. First up is some handwriting I know all too well. It's from Coco. Hey Abby, how are you doing? I'm just writing to tell you about the coziest, most mysterious adventure Kira and I recently went on. For an autumn surprise for all of us in Sleepy Forest, Hamper the Hare built a huge maze in a field of maize. Get it?

[00:05:01] But this was no ordinary maze. Instead, there were talking scarecrows who gave you riddles to answer and secret potions that gave you magical powers. If you want to find out if Kira and I were the first ones to make it out of the Sleepy Forest maze maze and get Hamper's autumn surprise, make sure you listen to Koala Moon next week. A maze made out of maize? Doesn't that sound magical?

[00:05:31] I can't wait to hear how Coco and Kira made it out of there. And make sure you listen out for the winning characters from Coco's summer camp, who I'm sure are going to make an appearance in this maze. Now, I've got a letter that's decorated in all sorts of Halloween-themed stickers, pumpkins and bats and whatnot. And, oh, how lovely it's from the Jupiter twins. Here's what it says. Dear Abby, Jake and Lily here. Being witches and wizards,

[00:06:01] it won't come as any surprise that Halloween is one of our favourite times of the year. And this year was extra special. You see, there was meant to be a big party in the Lower Starry Skies Village Hall, but then it got a leak in the roof. For a second, it looked like Halloween was going to be cancelled. But then we decided that if anyone could save Halloween, we could. We would throw the party ourselves. Where, you ask? Well, we'll just give you one clue.

[00:06:31] Spooky treehouse, that's all we'll say. Have a spooky season, Abby. Well, if I could go to anyone's Halloween party, I think it would have to be Jake and Lily's. I bet that will be an unforgettable occasion. Make sure you tune in to Koala Moon this month to find out how it went. Hmm. It sounds like it's going to be an exciting, spooky season here in the Koala Kingdom. And I've already heard rumours here at Koala HQ

[00:07:00] that we're going to be releasing a huge compilation of all of our favourite sleepy Halloween stories. That is two hours of the coziest seasonal stories to fall asleep to. Wow. And I thought gifts only came at Christmas time. Now then, I've got a couple more letters to read, 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.

[00:07:30] So, if you want to hear more about them, make sure you join the Coco Club for access to our premium stories. As usual, you'll find all of the details in the show notes. The first has some muddy paw prints on it, which means it must be from Hector and Sunny. Hey there, Abby. Happy Halloween. You won't believe what a wonderful story we've got to tell you this month. Just the other day, we were on a walk in the woods

[00:07:57] when we bumped into a young witch called Wisely. She'd just passed her witchery exams and was out flying on her own when her broom went out of control and flew off without her. She couldn't find it anywhere. Well, Abby Wisely was in luck. If anyone can find a broomstick in the forest, it's us. Do you reckon we managed to find Wisely's lost broom? I guess you'll have to wait and see.

[00:08:23] Oh, Hector and Sunny meeting Wisely Witch when she's lost her broom. Isn't that a stroke of luck? I can't wait to read that story this month. All right, we are on to our final letter, which is from Cappy and Tito, our favourite friends from Wonder Jungle. And here's what they have to say. Hello, Abby. Cappy and Tito here. Can you believe that we've now been at our new school in Wonder Jungle for two whole months?

[00:08:54] We're loving it and making loads of friends. But there's one friend in particular who we want to tell you about. Vera the Vampire Bat. Vera is one of the funniest and kindest creatures we've ever met. But, well, lots of people don't know that because they avoid her. She's got a reputation for being kind of spooky, you see, being a vampire bat and all, and she struggles to make friends. But don't worry.

[00:09:22] When we heard about her troubles, we concocted a brilliant plan to help other people see her for who she really is. And it involved a fabulous costume party. We can't wait for you and the listeners to hear all about when we met Vera. Speak to you soon. Oh, isn't that very kind of Cappy and Tito, taking poor Vera the Vampire Bat under their wings? Make sure you listen to that premium episode this coming month

[00:09:51] to hear all about it. 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. Make sure you all tune in for a couple of stories about some of our favourite friends' first adventures back when they were little tiny babies. We're going to join Prickles as a cute little hoglet,

[00:10:18] trying his first ever slice of pumpkin pie and even learning how to make one himself. And then we're off to see what Baby Coco got up to on his first Halloween. You might wonder what he wore for his first Halloween costume or whether he had fun trick-or-treating for the first time ever. To find out, make sure you keep an eye out for the stories only on Koala Tots. Well, thank you for that information, Chimpkin.

[00:10:47] That sounds like the perfect way to find out about Prickles and Coco's earliest adventures. I can't 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. But don't forget about our new Koala Shine series, okay? It's called Shadow Baddies. It starts on Tuesday the 6th of October.

[00:11:14] So if you want to follow the biggest adventure in the Koala Kingdom yet, make sure you sign up. Okay, that's all from me. I'm off to go and find some nice classical music for Sunny to help her rest a little bit. I hope you rest well too. Sleep well. Good night. Sleep well. Sleep well. Thank you.