What was that story about Squoontum's house?

[MerryMarigold]

Popped into my head tonight chatting to Dd. I have a terrible memory so can't remember name of story or plot, but I think it was about a fox. I only remember that name and I think there was Squeentum's house too. We had it on a tape of audio stories in the late 70s. I'd love to get hold of the story.

Argh! We had this out from the library recently. The fox tricks different people into putting things in his sack? Forgotten the title, sorrt :(

Just had this exact same question pop into my head and you're the single, lone, only Google result for 'Squoontum's House'. I had that tape too, and with a bit of searching and brain-racking I was able to track down what it was, thanks to WorldCat. It's Vol. 4 in a series called Storytime Top 10. No particular title but I guess international traditional animal folk stories was the theme, and the narrator was the actor Ronnie Stevens (he's how I found it - I remembered his name). Stories on the tape were 'Mr. Fox', 'Anansi and the Pudding Tree', 'Rabbit and Elephant', and 'Mr. Wolf and his Tail'. Author is listed as Leila Berg, so I'd guess calling those characters Squoontum and Squeentum was her own whim.

I remember the Anansi story particularly. 'Ceiling, Thomas!'

The version of this story that I used to read to my DC is called Mr Fox and is in a collection by Leila Berg called Topsy Turvy tales. It starts off ‘ Now this is the tale of a Fox and all the things that went into his bag. And this is the way I tell it’. Mr Fox goes to Squintum’s house , and Squeeentum’s house and finally Squoooontum’s house. A great read aloud . This collection also includes the story Little Dog Turpie with the terrifying Hobyahs.

Thanks so much. I can't believe that 7 years later, I get my answer. Good old mumsnet. I'm off to Amazon. And yes, that was the tape we had with Anansi. I can remember the music too.

I couldn't get topsy turvy tales but I've ordered some folk tales by her so I'm really hoping it's in that collection. If not, she's a great story teller. My youngest is 14 now but I hope she'll appreciate it anyway.

I’ve been wondering about these stories for years and I found this today. I thought a couple of you might find it a pleasant read.

https://archive.org/details/folktalesforread0000berg/page/13/mode/1up#mode/1up

Yes, that's the copy I managed to order from Amazon. Just awaiting grandchildren now!