Tree with Golden Apples has been selected as a finalist in the 2023 Indie Book Awards Science/ Nature/ Environment category! Congratulations to Susan, Gretta Johnson (illustrator), and Ian Edwards (scientific contributions)!
Tree With Golden Apples is a rare collection of twelve myths, anecdotes and folk tales revealing the botanical wisdom of the ancients alongside the perspective of modern scientific discoveries. For possibly the first time, these parallel views of the extraordinary gifts of botanical life are presented side-by-side with the musical, poetic speech of the storyteller and the precise language of the scientist, expanding our awe for life on earth.
Susan weaves personal nature experiences and natural science with traditional myths from around the world. For children, she is a storyteller who embodies the animals and natural forces. For teachers and scientists, her Passionate Fact Storytelling Workshop elicits the Renaissance ideal of the scientist who is equally a philosopher and poet — a speaker from “The Book of Nature.”
Books
Susan’s children’s books introduce characters of the wild from world myths and anecdotes. For all ages, she reveals the art of storytelling in natural history and cultural interpretation.
Recordings
Listen to Susan bring to life her stories about birds, coyotes, wolves, bears, frogs, ponds, forests and seas in audio recordings. All recordings are available for purchase on CD or as downloads.
Performances
Susan crosses the bridge between science and mythology through performances that combine both scientific fact and ancient myth. Her audience experiences information as divine wisdom, science as archetype, and myth as truth.
“No teller embodies the animals with the same fierce aliveness as Susan!”
~ Dr. Linda Sussman, author of The Speech of the Grail
“Susan is a very creative collaborator and blended her original script beautifully with the music (The Firebird Suite). Her talent is so large that the children in the back rows of our 2800 seat hall were mesmerized.”
~ Peggie Schwartz, Oregon Symphony
“Strauss is a storyteller and her colloquial, rhythmic narrative just begs to be read or told aloud.”
~ School Library Journal, 1999
“I thought I had seen the best in storytelling until I met Susan Strauss. Susan lives her stories and embodies each of her characters, bringing them to life with such vivid visual and auditory detail that her audiences literally lose themselves in the fantasy. Absolutely captivating!”
~ Dr. Sam Ham, Professor of Interpretation, University of Idaho. Author of Interpretation: Making a Difference on Purpose and Environmental Interpretation: A Practice Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets
Sample the magic
In 2019, Susan performed Birds of Fortune and Coyote Goes to the Sky with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Shared with permission from composer Chris Castro and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.
