Tale Teller Kids 🐛

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Shorts for Kids

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Chapter 2: Into the Echo, Rat Gang Crew, Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare for Tale Teller Kids

Chapter 2: Into the Echo

The tunnel got narrower the deeper they went. Pipes hissed and clicked above their heads like a nervous audience.

"Let me go in front," said Synthia, "I can hear better there." Scarlett, who was usually ahead of others due to bravery (and a teeny bit of older sister bossiness) nodded and stepped back. After all, Synthia had skills and she was the biggest. Also, Scarlett really liked Synth and hoped they would be bezzies one day soon. Leading the way now, torch angled downward to catch every tiny shift in the ground, Synthia held her breath so she could listen even harder.

“It’s definitely louder,” Ivy whispered, holding her glasses so they wouldn’t slip off and checking her equipment. “Signal amplitude has escalated by a minimum threshold of 40%, indicating a significant surge in waveform energy across the transmission field since the junction.”

“I never understand the maths stuff,” Scarlett muttered, ducking under a dripping valve.

“I do,” said Synthia. “It means we’re close.”

Listen to the full chapter on our podcasts above.

to be continued

Fun Kid Friendly Shorts Synthia’s not Normal by Tale Teller Kids™

Monday, July 14, 2025

Maths with Dolly by Tale Teller Kids™ #learningisfun #lovemath

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Prologue: Diary Entry, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia’s Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare

📖 “Normal is a setting on a washing machine. Not a measure of worth.”

— Anon

Rat Gang Crew: Synthia’s Not Normal

A Story About Neurodiversity, Friendship, and the Underground Code

Synthia's Diary, The Wrong Kind of Rat

Date: Don't Care
Place: My Bolt Hole, Pipe Junction 8b
Time: Too Early, Too Loud

Dear Diary,

I don’t know if you count as a friend, but you’re all I’ve got.

Today was another day where nothing fit, not the world, not my clothes, not even my own thoughts. Everything was itchy. The noise of the Overground felt like a thousand forks scraping plates in my brain. Too many smells, too many rules, too many “Why are you like that?” stares.

The other rat kids laugh when I flap or when I say too much all at once. They say I’m “weird” or “wired wrong.” Some days I try to mask it, to pretend I’m like them, but it makes my tail hurt, like it’s trying to curl around my tummy really hard. And then I explode. Or freeze. Or run.

I got suspended again. Fourth time this term. Mum cried. I didn’t mean to kick the bin over in Science, it was just too bright and echoey and the new supply teacher wore citrus perfume and said, “Use your common sense, girl!” I tried. But I don’t have that kind of sense. I’ve got uncommon sense.

I’m officially autistic and have ADHD too. That’s what the paper says. The one the adults pass around like it’s a spell that’ll explain me.

Spoiler: it doesn’t.

I’m not bad. I’m not broken. I just see patterns other rats don’t. I hear the walls hum. And sometimes—when the vibrations start under my feet, I feel something shifting deep, deep below us. Not everyone notices the tremor under Station Corner or the way the grates tremble like they’re breathing. But I do. And lately, it’s been getting louder.

Last night I couldn’t sleep. My brain was whirring like an old synth in meltdown mode. That’s why they called me Synthia, after Dad’s music gear, because when I was born, I made more sounds than a drum machine possessed by ghosts. Still do.

Anyway, I went to my thinking place, near the old pipe junction. That’s where I heard it.

A voice.

Mechanical. Almost musical. Like someone trying to speak in Morse code through steel and sorrow.

It said: “Initiating sequence.”

Nobody believes me, of course. Nobody ever does. But I know what I heard.

Something is waking up beneath the Overground.

And maybe, just maybe…

It’s like me.

Yours in the static,

Synthia

🧠 Author’s Note

To every kid who’s ever been told they’re too much, too loud, too intense, too different—this story is for you.
Synthia’s world doesn’t always make sense to others. But she sees things they can’t. Hears signals they ignore. Feels patterns that aren’t in the textbooks.
She isn’t “not normal.” She’s brilliantly neurodivergent.
In this book, difference isn’t a problem, it’s the key to everything.

Tale Teller Kids™
Episodes & Posts from our podcasts

Chapter 1 The Rumble Begins, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare #autism #ADHD

Rat Gang Crew: Synthia’s Not Normal, Prologue A Story About Neurodiversity #autism #ADHD

We Love Counting Clapping Song #maths #learning #fun

The Autism Caravan Project, What is it? Let's find out by Sarnia de la Mare.

One Times Table Fun With Math Learning Shorts Confidence with Multiplication #maths

Two Times Table Poem Short Sweet Math Fun #familyfavourites building confidence

Two Times Table Song Long Version for Schools and Families Fun Clapping Confidence Building

How the Fairy Violet Lost Her wings RGC Best Books Kids and Families #familyfavourites

Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders Chapter 13: The power of Dreams #sarniadelamare

Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders Chapter 12: The Choice of the Nexus #sarniadelamare

The Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders, Chapter 11: The Guardians of the Nexus

The Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders Chapter 10: Ivy’s Breakthrough #ratgangcrew

The Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders, Chapter 9: Scarlett’s Secret Mission #ratgangcrew

The Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders, Chapter 8: Atlas and the Rat Biker Crew #ratgangs

The Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders Chapter 7: Amelie Takes the Lead #rats #kids #mice

The Rat Gang Crew™ and the Overgrounders, Chapter 6: Wings in the Night. #kids #adventure

We Love Santa Clause by iServalan #christmas #poem #poetry #song

The Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders Chapter 5: The Warning in the Walls #adventure

Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders Chapter 4 Convincing Tommy Smith #adventur

Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders, Chapter 3: The Overgrounders’ Warning #adventure

The Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders, CH 2, The Special Meeting is Called #adventure

The Rat Gang Crew and The Overgrounders Ch 1 Amelie and the Yellow Monsters #adventure

Toddle Poddle™ no 2 (Paperback Magazine Free Read Aloud Version) #vaporpunk

Clap 👏 for Christmas 🎄 by Toddle Poddle Interactive Teacher Parent Kids 👧 🧒 👶 Songs

The Rainbow Explorers and the Crystal Cavern from the Toddle Poddle Books Series

The Rainbow Explorers’ First Adventure from the Toddle Poddle Books Series no 1

The Adventure Song for Kids by Tale Teller Club for Toddle Poddle Radio #interactive

💥 Kids' Newsflash 🚨 Bulletin India 24th August 2024 👧 Breaking News for Children #newsflashnina

💥 Kids' Newsflash 🚨 Bulletin USA 24th August 2024 👧 Breaking News for Children #nina

Adventures of Pinocchio 🤥 Ch 36 C. Collodi Free Books Tale Teller Club Kids 👶at Toddle Poddle™

Chapter 1, The Rumble Begins, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare #autism #ADHD

📚 Synthia isn’t like the other rats.

She’s been called difficult, disruptive—even dangerous. She hears sounds others can’t. Feels vibrations in the tunnels no one else notices.
She’s been kicked out of school, laughed at by her peers, and told to stop being weird.

But when a strange voice echoes through the underground—“Initiating sequence...”—it’s Synthia who understands. Something ancient, forgotten, and maybe alive is waking beneath the Overground. And only the Rat Gang Crew can stop it.

To save the city, they’ll need bravery, brains, spanners…

…and one rat who’s definitely not normal.Chapter 1 The Rumble Begins, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare #autism #ADHD.

Chapter 1, The Rumble Begins, Rat Gang Crew: Synthia's Not Normal by Sarnia de la Mare #autism #ADHD.

Synthia waited at Pipe Junction 8b, counting the drips.

Drip Drip Drip.

Thirty-seven drips per minute, three more than yesterday. The difference made her uneasy. The world was full of patterns, safe ones, jagged ones, loud ones, but when they shifted it meant something was coming. Something big. Anything that was different was frightening and should not be ignored.

Her ear twitched.

There it was again that low thrumm vibrating through the metal under her paws. Not a train or wind or anything the other rats would believe.

She rubbed her paws together, stimming hard until the vibrations settled in her bones like an angry song. “Initiating sequence,” the walls had said last night. But walls don’t talk do they?

A distant shout snapped her out of the trance.

“Synth! Are you glitching again or can we come in?”

Scarlett’s voice was bold and bossy as usual. She swung down from the ladder with Atlas right behind her, his massive tail wrapped around his waist like a scarf. Ivy and Amelie climbed down more carefully, Ivy blinking through her giant glasses, Amelie hopping the last rung like a gymnast and finishing with a twirl that would pass any audition.

The whole Rat Gang Crew, plus Synthia. Because she was still the maybe on a trial period before becoming official.

Scarlett eyed her. “We’ve been calling for five minutes.”

“You were loud,” said Synthia flatly, “and early.”

Amelie grinned. “You said midday.”

“It is midday,” said Ivy, checking her wristwatch. “Depending on whether you’re counting from sun-up, station chime, or,”

“Can we not do the nerd stuff right now?” groaned Scarlett. “We’ve got actual business. Something’s shaking the vents by the tram wires.”

Synthia froze. “You felt it too?”

Scarlett blinked. “Wait, what, I thought it was my imagination, or ants?”

Synthia stood, tail flicking. “There’s a vibration under the junction too. It’s irregular. Low frequency. Possibly directional.”

Everyone stared.

Atlas scratched his head. “Right. So… not the usual ‘the boiler's having a tantrum’ thing?”

"And not ants? I get scared of ants when they all visit at the same time!" said Ivy hiding behind Atlas.

“No.” Synthia pressed a paw to the wall. “It’s… awake.”

Everyone stood in Silence.

Then Amelie burst out laughing. “Oh wow, we missed your drama Synth. You've gone full Overground sci-fi.”

“I’m not joking.”

“I know,” said Ivy, softly. “That’s why it’s a bit scary.”

Scarlett stepped forward. “We’re not here to mock you. Look, the gang needs you. Just… explain what you mean. And do it slowly in case any of us mice are a bit, you know, NOT CONCENTRATING!”

Synthia blinked. Usually this was where she got the eye-roll or the whisper, the why can’t you just be normal face. But now they were waiting. Everyone was listening. Four pairs of eyes glinting and blinking, all waiting for her expertise.

“I think there’s something mechanical moving underground,” she said. “Not trains. Something old. Maybe alive. Maybe listening.”

Atlas whistled. “Like… a robot?”

"I hope it can dance," giggled Amalie.

Synthia frowned...

“Like… an AI. A network. A forgotten one.” She paused. “Something’s changed.”

Scarlett cracked her knuckles. “Right. Well, let’s go see what woke it up. Everyone bring torches?”

Ivy held up a torch the size of a space rocket. “Check.”

Atlas grinned. “Snacks too,” holding up a huge bag of mousey potato crisps.

Amelie twirled a spanner. “Let’s break into something.”

Synthia hesitated. “You really want me to come?”

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. “Synth, if something creepy and codey is coming alive under the city, who else would we want on the crew? You’re the only one who actually likes haunted tech. Plus, you know your audio!”

A quiet warmth bloomed in Synthia’s chest.

Maybe she was different. But maybe different was exactly what the Rat Gang Crew needed.

She followed them down the rusted pipe path, toward the echo of a repeating rhythm. The rhythm of something that wanted to live.

And behind them, in the dark, the walls vibrated once more.

Initiating sequence…

to be continued...
© 2025 Sarnia de la Mare

Chapter 2: The Rat Gang’s Secret Meeting, Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders by Sarnia de la Mare

Chapter 2: The Rat Gang’s Secret Meeting

Amelie Fastrun didn’t make it all the way home before the weight of her secret became too much to bear. She darted through winding alleyways and slipped into the hidden entrance of The Burrow—an underground hideout known only to the Rat Gang Crew. It was a safe space where mouse-kids and rat-kids whispered plans, dreamed big, and occasionally gobbled up cheese puffs by the pawful.

Waiting for her were her sisters, Scarlett and Ivy, and her cousin, Atlas—a handsome and clever rat-boy with a talent for sneaking up on anyone. He had started the Rat Gang Crew when he was four years old and decided that calling it the Rat and Mouse Gang Crew was a bit long but that mice could join too. Besides, all his girl cousins were mice and they were a bit bossy.

The moment Amelie entered, Scarlett’s ears twitched with excitement. She had been practicing her “investigator stare,” but she still looked like she was trying not to sneeze.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Amelie Fastrun, terror of the streets!” Scarlett teased, while Ivy, the quieter one, fiddled with her pencil, colouring in her “Big Book of Famous Mouse Singers. She really loved Mousey Swift.”

“You wouldn’t be running like your tail was on fire unless there was serious trouble,” Atlas said, trying to appear cool but dropping a cheese puff.

“Sit down, Amelie, and spill it,” Scarlett added. “Don’t leave out a single whisker-twitching detail!”

Amelie’s paws were trembling. She took a deep breath and began, describing everything from the yellow monster’s enormous teeth to its terrifying roar. As she spoke, Scarlett’s eyes widened, Ivy dropped her pencil, and even Atlas stopped munching.

“D-diggers?” Ivy stammered, her voice barely a squeak. “Are they going to—”

“Knock down our burrow?!” Scarlett interrupted. “Not on my watch.”

“That’s what Inspector Cluehunt thinks,” Amelie said, her voice heavy. “He said I should go home and let the grown-ups handle it. But I think he’s scared.”

The four fell silent for a moment, processing what this meant. If the diggers from Smithies Construction really were coming, it wasn’t just any threat, it was a threat to their entire underground world.

Atlas broke the silence, his eyes flashing with determination. “Grown-ups? Pfft. They always say they’ll handle things. But this is our home too! If we don’t act, who will?”

“Exactly!” Scarlett’s voice rose, filling the room. “We need a plan!”

“What kind of plan?” Ivy asked nervously, doodling a tiny yellow monster in her book. “It’s not like we can just march up to Smithies and demand they leave…”

“Why not?” Atlas said, puffing out his chest. “We’ll outsmart them. Rats are smarter than people think!”

Amelie’s mind raced. “Wait! The old tunnels, the ones under the construction site! We could use them to get close and see what they’re planning.”

“Brilliant!” Scarlett declared, clapping her paws. “Operation Tunnel Sneak is a go!”

Everyone cheered. Well, almost everyone. Ivy raised a paw timidly. “Um… what if they catch us?”

Scarlett draped an arm over her sister. “They won’t. Not if we stick together.”

That night, the Rat Gang Crew gathered supplies: flashlights, a map of the old tunnels, and, of course, cheese puffs for emergency snacking. They slipped out of The Burrow and crawled through a narrow passageway leading to the forgotten tunnels.

As they crept forward, the air grew thick with dust, and their flashlights flickered eerily. Shadows danced on the walls, making it feel as though a hundred watchful eyes were upon them.

“Shh,” Scarlett whispered. “Listen.”

From somewhere above, there was a rumbling sound—the unmistakable growl of the yellow monster. It made the ground vibrate, sending a shower of dirt and pebbles down onto their heads.

“It’s right above us,” Atlas whispered, his voice trembling. “Be brave, everyone.”

They crawled closer, pressing their ears to the cold stone walls. Voices echoed from above. It was the workers from Smithies Construction. The rats strained to listen.

“We start at dawn,” one voice said gruffly. “All burrows cleared and flattened. No exceptions.”

Scarlett’s paw shot into the air. “That’s our cue! We have to stop them.”

“But how?” Ivy asked, eyes wide with fear.

Amelie’s eyes glinted with determination.

“By showing them we’re not just any rats. We’re the Rat Gang Crew, and this is our home!”

The group nodded, hearts pounding. Whatever came next, they knew one thing for sure: they’d face it together.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Chapter 1, Amelie and the Yellow Monster The Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders

The Rat Gang Crew

and the

Overgrounders

Sarnia

De la Mare

This book is a Tale Teller Kids Publication by Tale Teller Club

Chapter 1, Amelie and the Yellow Monster

Chapter 2: The Rat Gang’s Secret Meeting

Chapter 3: The Overgrounders’ Warning

Chapter 4, Convincing Tommy Smith

Chapter 5: The Warning in the Walls

Chapter 6,Wings in the Night

Chapter 7, Amelie Takes the Lead

Chapter 8, Atlas and the Rat Biker Crew

Chapter 10, Ivy’s Breakthrough

Chapter 11: The Guardians of the Nexus

Chapter 12, The Choice of the Nexus

Chapter 13, The Power of Dreams

Chapter 1, Amelie and the Yellow Monster

Amelie was running fast, faster than she ever knew she could run. Even though her full name was Amelie Fastrun she had never run this fast!

“Oops! Sorry madam, miss, misses, lady. So sorry!”

The lady was cross.

“Well, I never did, not ever in my life, young ruffians these days, really, no manners! Did you see that?” she asked her friend from the parents' association who was clutching her black patent bag so hard her knuckles were white.

“Do you suppose she was about to rob us, Doreen?”

“Well, I always say, leave your valuables under the bed and don't let strangers into your burrow. You can't trust anyone!”

The two rat ladies carried on their journey to the bakery for rat and mouse treats for supper still mumbling and moaning.

Amelie was long gone, still running.

She arrived at the police station huffing and puffing. Inside and now sitting on a chair, she was still coughing and spluttering.

“Whatever is the matter Amelie Fastrun?” Asked a concerned rat-cop called Inspector Cluehunt.

“Cough, cough, splutter, splutter,” Amelie was struggling to get her words out.

“Get the girl some water! I think she may be about to pass out,” said the Inspector to another rat-cop who was looking worried.

“Should we call the mouse-nurse,” she asked as she handed the water to Amelie.

“No, no, I'm fine, honestly, but something terrible is coming!”

“Whatever is the matter mouse-girl?” Asked the Inspector who had never seen such a panicked mouse in all his years keeping criminals out of the burrows in Ratropolis.

A small crowd had formed around her, all looking very worried and twitching whiskers.

“There is a huge creature, a monster, it is bright yellow with enormous teeth, as big as a dinosaur!”

“Ah,” said one of the onlookers, “a vivid imagination, there is a pill for that.”

Haha, everyone was laughing.

“I am not joking, and I do not have a problematic imagination! You always think the mouse-girls are a bit crazy with our clothes and our colouring in but I tell you, the monster is real!”

“Ok,” said the Inspector, “tell me more. What was the real size, and what noise did it make?”

Amelie thought for a very long time.

“Well, it really was yellow, and it had a huge mouthy thing that went up and down, with giant teeth. And it made a noise like a deep sounding motorbike. Like the rat-girl vehicles but louder. And it had a word on its door that said…”

The Inspector butted in…

“Smithies Construction,” he said.

One of the older rat-cops gasped.

“Yes! said Amelie, “now do you believe me?”

“Yes, yes, my dear. Now listen, you have done the right thing. I want you to go home and leave this with the grown-ups.”

“But what about the yellow monster?”

“You go home, like I said, and don't mention this to anyone else. I will sort the problem out this very evening.”

Amelie walked home thinking hard. She was still worried and now she was wondering how she would keep it from her family. Deep down she knew that she would have to tell her sisters, Scarlett and Ivy, and her cousin Atlas too.

“What is going on Inspector?” Three rat-cops asked at the same time.'

Inspector Cluehunt was white as a sheet. He knew exactly what the yellow monster was.

“They are sending in the diggers!” he said, looking more worried than ever.

Everyone in the station looked scared and everything went really quiet. A pink tear trickled down the snout of the head of admin.

“Surely not again,” she said.

To be continued….