# Phoenix Food

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 4 Mar 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70250468/at475_phoenixfood_mixdown.mp3

A troll and a giant are hungry for something to eat, and the first thing they spy is a phoenix! ritten especially for this podcast by Alice. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice. We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Yo, Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
[0:18] Speaker 1: where you suggest the animal for us to write a
[0:20] Speaker 1: story about. My name's Josephine and I've got a brand
[0:24] Speaker 1: new animal story here just for you. For a tiny fee,
[0:29] Speaker 1: you can listen to all Animal Tales stories advert free
[0:33] Speaker 1: via our premium service, where you'll also get over eighty
[0:37] Speaker 1: premium only stories. Find out more in the text that
[0:41] Speaker 1: accompanies this episode. Hugo is from Dublin in Ireland, and
[0:47] Speaker 1: he would like a story featuring a phoenix, a troll
[0:50] Speaker 1: and a giant. You can learn more about these creatures
[0:54] Speaker 1: in the animal facts after the story. Now settle back, relax,
[0:59] Speaker 1: and begin Phoenix food. Somewhere in a cave in southern Ireland,
[1:08] Speaker 1: there lived a very tall, but skinny giant and a
[1:12] Speaker 1: very squat but fat troll. The giant was called Jumbo
[1:17] Speaker 1: and the troll was called Pudge, and they were friends,
[1:21] Speaker 1: although this was mainly down to the fact that they
[1:24] Speaker 1: didn't know anyone else. I'm hungry, Jumbo moaned, patting his
[1:30] Speaker 1: growling belly. Have another carrot, then, said Pudge, throwing a
[1:36] Speaker 1: handful of vegetables the Giant's way, but don't eat all
[1:40] Speaker 1: of them. I'm making soup later. I'm tired of raw vegetables,
[1:46] Speaker 1: and your cold soup is horrible, Jumbo moaned. I want
[1:52] Speaker 1: something proper, to eat, something meaty and tasty. Well, it's
[1:58] Speaker 1: not going to happen, said the troll. All the clever
[2:03] Speaker 1: animals ran far away from here a long time ago.
[2:07] Speaker 1: I've not even heard a bird chirp in ages. Well
[2:12] Speaker 1: I don't want any more cold potatoes, the giant replied,
[2:16] Speaker 1: heaving himself to his feet. They're not good for my teeth.
[2:22] Speaker 1: You can have your raw veggies and cold, watery soup.
[2:26] Speaker 1: I'm going to find something else to nibble on. The
[2:30] Speaker 1: giant strode away, the ground, shaking with every step he took.
[2:36] Speaker 1: Pudge looked down at the pile of dirty carrots, pulled
[2:39] Speaker 1: a face, then decided to follow him. Not too far
[2:45] Speaker 1: away was a phoenix eating an apple. His name was Hugo,
[2:50] Speaker 1: and he had been flying across Ireland. When he'd spied
[2:53] Speaker 1: in abandoned orchard below him, it seemed like a good
[2:57] Speaker 1: opportunity to rest and eat. The phoenix was so wrapped
[3:02] Speaker 1: up in his delicious lunch of fruit that he failed
[3:05] Speaker 1: to notice that no birds were singing, No insects were buzzing,
[3:10] Speaker 1: and no little mammals were rustling through the undergrowth. He
[3:14] Speaker 1: didn't wonder why the orchard might be abandoned, or why
[3:18] Speaker 1: so many apples were free for the taking. Perhaps worst
[3:22] Speaker 1: of all, he completely failed to notice the thump, thump,
[3:27] Speaker 1: thump of the approaching giant. One moment, Hugo was eating apples.
[3:34] Speaker 1: The next he was snatched up and shoved headfirst into
[3:38] Speaker 1: an old potato sack. I got one, Jumbo cried, hopping
[3:44] Speaker 1: from foot to foot with glee. I've got me a dinner.
[3:49] Speaker 1: Good job, Jumbo Pudge cried as he came skipping up.
[3:54] Speaker 1: That'll spice up the soup. The giant held up the sack,
[3:59] Speaker 1: proudly weighing his prize. He was about to boast of
[4:03] Speaker 1: how smart and cunning he was when the sack burst
[4:07] Speaker 1: into flames and the phoenix broke free. Nice try, Hugo
[4:14] Speaker 1: chuckled as he circled over the heads of the cave dwellers.
[4:19] Speaker 1: He's flying away, the troll cried in despair. He burnt
[4:24] Speaker 1: my hand, Jumbo grumbled, sucking at his red fingers. Well
[4:31] Speaker 1: don't you worry, Jumbo, said, the hungry troll, I'm going
[4:35] Speaker 1: to get that birdie Further down the valley, Hugo had
[4:40] Speaker 1: stopped briefly to rearrange his feathers. Burning the sack had
[4:45] Speaker 1: been simple enough for a phoenix, but in the process
[4:48] Speaker 1: he had got himself into something of a mess. A
[4:51] Speaker 1: bit of preening should sort that out. Without any other
[4:56] Speaker 1: living creatures in the valley, all was peaceful. It occurred
[5:00] Speaker 1: to Hugo that he had not slept in a while, so,
[5:03] Speaker 1: thinking himself safe, he closed his eyes for a short nap.
[5:08] Speaker 1: Unfortunately for Hugo, his bright orange phoenix feathers stood out
[5:13] Speaker 1: against the valley's background colours, meaning that Pudge the troll
[5:17] Speaker 1: spotted him in no time. There was a river nearby
[5:22] Speaker 1: where a recent storm had swept all sorts of material downstream.
[5:27] Speaker 1: Large branches had created a small dam where they were
[5:30] Speaker 1: too large to flow under a bridge, and so it
[5:33] Speaker 1: was here that Pudge got to work. He selected the strongest,
[5:38] Speaker 1: wettest sticks and tied them together with twine from his pocket. Then,
[5:44] Speaker 1: very quietly, he crept up to the sleeping phoenix and
[5:48] Speaker 1: thrust him into the wooden cage he had built. Gotcha,
[5:53] Speaker 1: Pudge laughed rudely, awoken, Hugo scratched and pecked at the sticks,
[6:00] Speaker 1: but they would not budge nice one. Pudge Jumbo laughed
[6:05] Speaker 1: as he caught up with his friend, that Birdie won't
[6:09] Speaker 1: get out of there so easily. It's too wet to burn.
[6:14] Speaker 1: The cave creatures giggled with glee as they dashed home
[6:18] Speaker 1: with their prize. They sang of phoenix stew and bird
[6:23] Speaker 1: burghers and feathery fries. Hugo, though refused to be defeated.
[6:29] Speaker 1: Concentrating hard the phoenix, warmed himself up again until the
[6:34] Speaker 1: wet wood of the cage began to steam as it
[6:37] Speaker 1: dried out. Mighty clever idea, pudge Jumbo said, as they
[6:43] Speaker 1: neared their home. I never would have thought of it.
[6:48] Speaker 1: That's because I'm very smart for a troll, Pudge replied smugly,
[6:53] Speaker 1: I'm tromendous, definitely smarter than this silly fire chicken. Hugo,
[7:01] Speaker 1: of course, was far far smarter than a chicken, and
[7:05] Speaker 1: his quick thinking had evaporated all the water from the
[7:08] Speaker 1: once soaking sticks. He ignited into a ball of roaring flame,
[7:14] Speaker 1: setting alight the cage. Being swung from the troll's large
[7:18] Speaker 1: hand beow screamed Pudge loudly as Hugo rose from the
[7:24] Speaker 1: ashes of his prison, sticking his tongue out as he did. So.
[7:30] Speaker 1: What a stinker, Pudge cried as he hopped around the
[7:34] Speaker 1: charred remains of the cage. Our dinner as escaped again.
[7:40] Speaker 1: We're back to raw veggies and cold soup, Jumbo sighed.
[7:46] Speaker 1: Not yet, said the troll, licking his singed knuckles. I
[7:51] Speaker 1: saw which way he went. That tasty birdie isn't getting
[7:55] Speaker 1: away that easily. Back at the river, Hugo landed in
[8:01] Speaker 1: the shallows for a refreshing drink and to check himself over.
[8:06] Speaker 1: Two run ins with the cave dwellers had left him shaken,
[8:10] Speaker 1: and he still had a long flight ahead of him.
[8:13] Speaker 1: He decided to take a moment to calm down. Despite
[8:18] Speaker 1: being a creature of fire, when he wasn't surrounded by flame,
[8:22] Speaker 1: Hugo enjoyed a good bath, and the cool water was
[8:26] Speaker 1: welcome against his feathers. He began dipping his head and
[8:30] Speaker 1: dunking his neck as the cold trickles ran across his back.
[8:35] Speaker 1: It was very refreshing and exactly what he needed. Once again,
[8:41] Speaker 1: the phoenix had become distracted and so once more, he
[8:45] Speaker 1: was taken by surprise. The long arm of the giant
[8:49] Speaker 1: reached out and grabbed Hugo in a very unusual grip.
[8:54] Speaker 1: Something cold and metal was wrapped around his hand, and
[8:59] Speaker 1: it took Hugo and moment to realize that it was
[9:01] Speaker 1: a large metal door bent and twisted to make a
[9:05] Speaker 1: giant's mitten. Got it, Jumbo cried. Hugo struggled, but the
[9:13] Speaker 1: metal was hard and the giant's grip was strong. Good job,
[9:18] Speaker 1: Jumbo pudg cried excitedly. Our dinner can't escape now. Furious
[9:26] Speaker 1: and desperate, Hugo ignited his flames. The hard metal mitten blackened,
[9:32] Speaker 1: but would not catch fire. Nice try, chuckled the troll,
[9:38] Speaker 1: but we came prepared this time. Laughing at their cleverness,
[9:44] Speaker 1: the troll and the giant marched swiftly for their cave,
[9:48] Speaker 1: licking their lips and wiping drool from their chins. All
[9:53] Speaker 1: the Phoenix could do was struggle on, hoping to make
[9:57] Speaker 1: a difference. You who had a grand idea making me
[10:01] Speaker 1: an oven glove, said the giant. It can't burn me
[10:06] Speaker 1: through this, and he can't set it on fire either,
[10:11] Speaker 1: said the troll, smugly I do believe I must be
[10:14] Speaker 1: some kind of genius, and he was right. Metal does
[10:20] Speaker 1: not burn like fabric or wood, but when it gets hot,
[10:24] Speaker 1: something else happens. They were just entering the dark cave
[10:29] Speaker 1: when Jumbo noticed the strange, warm light on the rocky wall.
[10:35] Speaker 1: Where's that light coming from? He asked the oven glove yelped, Pudge,
[10:42] Speaker 1: it's glowing. It was only then that the giant felt
[10:47] Speaker 1: the heat. It had been building slowly like a pan
[10:51] Speaker 1: on a stove, warmed by Hugo's constant flame. The metal
[10:56] Speaker 1: had stored the heat, growing hotter and hotter until it
[11:01] Speaker 1: glowed a dangerous red. My hand, screamed the giant. It
[11:07] Speaker 1: is burning. He threw open his fingers in an effort
[11:12] Speaker 1: to shake off the mitten, releasing Hugo in the process.
[11:17] Speaker 1: But the metal door had been bent into place in
[11:19] Speaker 1: such a way that it needed to be touched to
[11:22] Speaker 1: bend it back, and it was now too hot to
[11:26] Speaker 1: do so. Do something, bellows Jumbo as he hopped and
[11:32] Speaker 1: danced on the spot. Pudge reached out to grab the
[11:36] Speaker 1: mitten's edge, only to holler in pain as he burned
[11:40] Speaker 1: his finger tips by the light of the glow. The
[11:44] Speaker 1: pair of them put on quite a show. Hugo, meanwhile,
[11:49] Speaker 1: had taken to hiding beneath the pear's black caldron, in
[11:52] Speaker 1: which sat their cold, watery soup. He was more than
[11:56] Speaker 1: a little amused at the misfortune the troll and the
[11:59] Speaker 1: giant had created for themselves. Steadily, though, the folded metal
[12:04] Speaker 1: door did cool, and the miserable duo were able to
[12:08] Speaker 1: peel it from the giant's red and blistered hand. Oh me,
[12:13] Speaker 1: poor throbbing palm, sobbed the giant, and my sorry blackened
[12:20] Speaker 1: finger tips sniffed the troll. But all that was forgotten
[12:26] Speaker 1: when the giant lifted his gigantic nose and took a
[12:30] Speaker 1: great sniff, his nostrils twitching. Do you smell that? He
[12:36] Speaker 1: asked the troll. All I can smell is our burned fingers,
[12:42] Speaker 1: groaned Pudge. No, not that, said Jumbo. It's your soup.
[12:49] Speaker 1: It actually smells good. Pudge sniffed long and hard, and
[12:56] Speaker 1: his mouth began to water. It does, doesn't it, he replied.
[13:02] Speaker 1: The pair of them shuffled over to the coldron, where
[13:05] Speaker 1: it bubbled with warmth. Neither of them thought to look
[13:09] Speaker 1: beneath to where Hugo was hiding, Jumbo snatched up a
[13:14] Speaker 1: wooden spoon and scooped up a mouthful. It's hot, he said,
[13:20] Speaker 1: giving it a taste, and it tastes great. We've never
[13:26] Speaker 1: thought to have hot soup before, said the troll, taking
[13:30] Speaker 1: a taste for himself. Unnoticed, Hugo slipped between their legs
[13:36] Speaker 1: to the safety of the cave entrance, and it was
[13:39] Speaker 1: only then that he spoke. Have you been eating cold
[13:43] Speaker 1: soup all this time? He asked, Not all the time,
[13:48] Speaker 1: the giant replied. Sometimes we eat raw vegetables too, straight
[13:54] Speaker 1: out of the ground, added the troll. That's why we
[13:59] Speaker 1: thought you would be tasty, said Jumbo. Something different. Did
[14:05] Speaker 1: you make this soup hot, asked Pudge. I did, confirmed Hugo,
[14:12] Speaker 1: and I could show you how to make a fire.
[14:15] Speaker 1: If you want. Fire is very dangerous and as you've discovered,
[14:19] Speaker 1: you must be very careful around it. But used properly,
[14:24] Speaker 1: you could have all the hot meals you want if
[14:27] Speaker 1: you promise not to try to catch me. That is,
[14:31] Speaker 1: only if you promise not to burn us any more,
[14:34] Speaker 1: said Jumbo. Very well, said Pudge, that sounds fair. With
[14:42] Speaker 1: a truce reached, Hugo taught the pair how to select
[14:46] Speaker 1: and store wood, gather kindling, and how to stack it
[14:50] Speaker 1: in order to build a fire. He demonstrated how to
[14:54] Speaker 1: rub wood together quickly to get a fire started, or
[14:58] Speaker 1: to use a piece of flint to create sparks. It
[15:02] Speaker 1: wasn't easy work, but after sharing out the soup, the
[15:06] Speaker 1: Troll and the Giant wanted nothing more than to learn
[15:09] Speaker 1: how to make a fresh Caldron's worth. This is so
[15:14] Speaker 1: much better, said Pudge, taking a sip from a wooden spoon.
[15:20] Speaker 1: Potatoes are way tastier like this, Jumbo agreed through a mouthful.
[15:27] Speaker 1: With his job done, the Phoenix announced that he really
[15:30] Speaker 1: should complete his journey. He was rested and refreshed, and
[15:35] Speaker 1: his belly was full of a fantastic soup. It was
[15:39] Speaker 1: now time to go. He flew off into the Irish skies,
[15:44] Speaker 1: leaving the Troll and the Giant to wave him off
[15:47] Speaker 1: with bandaged hands. And they've been very sensible around fire
[15:53] Speaker 1: ever since. Animal fact, the phoenix is a bird from
[16:02] Speaker 1: myths and legends, although for many years it was believed
[16:06] Speaker 1: to be real. In the stories, whenever they died, they
[16:10] Speaker 1: would burn up into ash and then re emerge as
[16:13] Speaker 1: a new phoenix from the ashes. Trolls and giants don't
[16:19] Speaker 1: quite fall under the category of animals. Giants have appeared
[16:23] Speaker 1: in many ancient tales, particularly in Ireland, where the giant
[16:28] Speaker 1: Finn mac cool is said to have created the Giant's Causeway.
[16:33] Speaker 1: Trolls had their origins in the folk tales of Denmark,
[16:37] Speaker 1: Norway and Sweden. In sum they must be wary of
[16:41] Speaker 1: sunlight in case it turns them into stone. Thank you
[16:45] Speaker 1: for your suggestion, Hugo. We hope that you all enjoyed
[16:49] Speaker 1: the story. Wherever you are listening in the world, don't
[16:53] Speaker 1: forget to look at our animal tales books over on
[16:56] Speaker 1: Amazon Great bedtime reading, especially if if you've discovered the
[17:00] Speaker 1: joy of reading for yourself. Make sure you join us
[17:04] Speaker 1: next time for another great animal tale. Goodbye,

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.