TALES TO TEACH VALUES

Our children learn to be kind, caring to treat each other well.   Our stories can help them learn these  and other values.  

For my picture books which impart values click on "Keywords" and click on individual traits such as "compassion",  "Friendship", "Self-control".  

Here is a list of stories that impart values:

KINDNESS:

KINDNESS TO THE ELDERLY:

"Old Man Wombat"  Aborigine Tale.   Retold from Pauline Johnson’s tale in Gadi Mirabooka: Australian Aboriginal Tales from the Dreaming.  Edited by Helen K. McKay.  Retold by Pauline E. McLeod, Francis Firebrace Jones, and June E. Barker.  (Libraries Unlimited, 2001.)

LAZINESS/ DOING YOUR PART:

"Why Koala Has No Tail"  an Aborigine folktale .  In Twenty Tellable Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W. Wilson, 1988)

"The Pancakes" a Siberian folktale.  In  Three Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2004).

DON’T MAKE FUN OF PEOPLE:

Fat Cat  by Margaret Read MacDonald, illus. by Julie Paschkis.  (August House, 2002).

PUT UP WITH THE FOIBLES OF FRIENDS:

 "How to Break a Bad Habit"  in Twenty Tellable Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald ( H.W. Wilson, 1988).

FIND VALUE IN THE MISCREANTS:

"Kanu Above and Kanu Below"  A Limba folktale. The Storyteller’s Start-up Book  by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 1993).

RESPECT YOUR CHILD’S DIFFERENCES:

"The Bear Child"  An Inuit tale.   Look Back and See by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W. Wilson, 1991)

SHARING:

"The Rich Man Seeks a Daughter-in-Law"  In Shake-it-up Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2002).

  "Grandfather Bear is Hungry".  In  Look Back and See by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W. Wilson, 1991).

RECOGNIZE THE GOODNESS IN OTHERS: 

The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog  by Margaret Read MacDonald.  August House,  2007) .     [Great Britain]

STORIES OF KIND AND UNKIND CHARACTERS:

 "Roly-Poly Rice Ball"  in Twenty Tellable Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald.  American Library Association,  2005).       [kind and unkind man] [Japan]

Singing Turtle  (Japanese)    in Look Back and See:  Twenty Lively Tales for Gentle Tellers by Margaret Read MacDonald.  H.W. Wilson,  1991)  [ kind and unkind man] [Japan]

PATHWAYS TO PEACE:

All titles in Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About by Margaret Read MacDonald(August House, 2005).

ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY:

"Not Our Problem"  a Thai folktale.   In Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2005).).

"In Your Hands"  A folktale from India.  In Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk About

by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House 2005)..

 ACCEPTING OTHERS AS THEY ARE:

"How to Break a Bad Habit" a West African folktale.  In Twenty Tellable Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald. (H.W. Wilson, 1986.)

"Ms. Mouse Need a Friend"  a folktale from Siberia.  In A Parent’s Guide to Storytelling by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House,  2001.)

 ADMITTING YOU WERE WRONG & REACHING OUT IN ACT OF KINDNESS:

 "Blind Man and the Bird"  an Ndebele folktale.  In  Three Minute Tales  by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2004).  And in Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2005).

 ANGER/ SAYING YOU ARE SORRY:

"Five Threads"  Folktale from Iraq.    As told in:  Celebrate the World by Margaret Read MacDonald. (H.W.Wilson, 1994).  

COOPERATION:

"Two Goats on a Bridge"  folktales from Eastern Europe.  As told in: Two Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald. (August House, 2004).  And in Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2005).)

GROUP COOPERATION:

"Lifting the Sky"  as told by Vi Hilbert,  Upper Skagit elder,  Skagit Valley, Washington. 

Found in:  Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About.  By Margaret Read MacDonald.  (August House, 2005).) 

OVERCOMING TAUGHT HATRED:

"Little Boy Frog and Little Boy Snake"  an Ekoi folktale. In Shake-it-Up Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2002).

PROBLEM SOLVING TO RESOLVE CONFLICT:

 "Grandfather Bear is Hungry" an Eiven folktale from Siberia, in Look Back and See  by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W.Wilson, 1991 ).

SEEING THROUGH YOUR NEIGHBOR’S EYES:

Slop: A Welsh Folktale by Margaret Read MacDonald, illus. by Yvonne LeBrun Davis  (Fulcrum, 1997).  Also in  Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About.  By Margaret Read MacDonald.  (August House, 2005) 

 QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF VIOLENCE:

"Strength"  a Limba folktale from Sierra Leone, in Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald.  (August House, 2005).

CARING FOR OUR PLANET:

  All titles in Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk About by Margaret Read MacDonald (Linnet Books, 1999).

SAVING/RECYCLING:

"The Tailor’s Jacket" a Jewish folktale.   In Three Minute Tales  by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2004). 

SHARING HABITAT: 

Surf War!   by Margaret Read MacDonald.  Illus. Geraldo Valério.  (August House, 2009).

OTHER VALUES:

SLOTHFULNESS:

"Chin Chin Kobokama"  a Japanese folktale.  In Tuck-Me-In Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 1996)   (Slothfulnesss)

DON’T TRY TO PLEASE OTHERS, USE YOUR OWN HEAD:

"Please All…Please None."   An Aesop fable retold.  In Look Back and See by Margaret Read MacDonald. (H.W. Wilson, 1991)

SPOILED BEHAVIOR:

"The Spoiled Little Kitten"  an Indonesian folktale.   In   Indonesian Folktales by Murti Bunanta, Ed. by Margaret Read MacDonald (Libraries Unlimited, 2003).

TAKE ADVICE FROM YOUR ELDERS:

Mabela the Clever,  a Limba folktale from Sierra Leone.  Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald, illus. Tim Coffey. (Albert Whitman, 2002). 

BE CAUTIOUS WHEN YOU ARE OUT:

Mabela the Clever,  a Limba folktale from Sierra Leone.  Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald, illus. Tim Coffey. (Albert Whitman, 2002). 

VALUE THINGS OTHER THAN MONEY:

"Singing Together"  in Three Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2004)

STICK TO A TASK:

"Look Back and See"  a folktale from Tanzania in Look Back and See by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W. Wilson, 1991)

"Gecko" in The Storyteller’s Start-up Book by Margaret Read MacDonald. (August House, 1993).

BE CONTENT:

"What a Wonderful Life"  a folktale from the Jewish tradition.  In Shake-it-Up Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald. (August House, 2002). 

Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle by Margaret Read MacDonald.  Illus. by Yvonne LeBrun Davis.  (August House, 1995.)  Also in The Storyteller’s Start-up Book by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 1993)  

Too Many Fairies A Celtic Tale.  Illus. by Susan Mitchell (Marshall Cavendish, 2010).

"The Little Old Woman Who Hated Housework"  A folktale from the British Isles.  Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald.  In Shake-it-up Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2002).  

The Boy from the Dragon Palace: A Folktale form Japan,   By Margaret Read MacDonald.  Illus. by Sachiko Yoshikawa.  Albert Whitman, 2011.

GREED: 

"Todo o Nada"  A folktale from the Mexican tradition of Texas.   In Celebrate the World by Margaret Read MacDonald (H.W. Wilson, 1994)

ACCEPT WHAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE:

 "Gecko Wakes the Chief"  a folktale from Bali.  In Earth Care  by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2002).  

 "Learn to Love the Weeds" in Earth Care (Linnet Books, 1999)

VALUE THINGS OTHER THAN MONEY:   See also  BE CONTENT

"Singing Together"  in Three Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 2004)

VANITY:

The Girl Who Wore Too Much    A Phu-Thai folktale.  Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald, illus by Yvonne LeBrun Davis.  (August House, 1999).  And a more tellable version in Shake-it-up Tales (August House, 2002).

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS:

"Tale of the Linani Beasts"  a folktale from Kenya. Retold by Margaret Read MacDonald.  In More Ready-to-Tell Tales  by David Holt and Bill Mooney  (August House, 1994)

DON’T MAKE EXCUSES:

"Aayoga with many excuses"    Retold in The Storyteller’s Start-up Book  by Margaret Read MacDonald (August House, 1993)

Ayat Jamilah:  Beautiful Signs:  A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents.   Collected and adapted by Sarah Conover and Freda Crane.  Illus. Valerie Wahl.  Eastern Washington University, 2004.

Gadi Mirabooka:  Australian Aboriginal Tales from the Dreaming.   Edited by Helen K. McKay.  Retold by Pauline E. McLeod, Francis Firebrace Jones, and June E. Barker.  Libraries Unlimited, 2001. 

Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World. Elisa Davy Permain. Pilgrim Press,  1998.

Earth Care:  World Folktales to Talk About by Margaret Read MacDonald.  Linnet Books, 1999.

The Healing Heart for Families:  Stories to Encourage Caring and Healthy Families  by Allison Cox and David Albert.  New Society Publishers, 2003.

The Healing Heart for Communities:  Stories for Strong and Healthy Communities by Allison Cox and David Albert.  New Society Publishers, 2003.

Kindness:  A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents.  Collected and adapted by Sarah Conover.  Illus. by Valerie Wahl.   Eastern Washington University Press, 2001.

The Moon in the Well:  Wisdom Tales to Transform Your Life, Family, and Community by Erica Helm Meade.  Open Court, 2001.  (has a useful theme index)

The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.  August House, 1999.

Once Upon a Time…Storytelling to Teach Character and Prevent Bullying by Elisa Davy Permain.  Character Development Group, 2006.

Peace Tales:  World Folktales to Talk About  by Margaret Read MacDonald.  Linnet Books, 1992.

Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart:  Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World.  Edited by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield.  HarperSanFransicsco, 1991.

Stories for Telling:  A Treasury for Christian Storytellers by William P. White. Augsburg, 1986.

Weaving Words, Spinning Hope:  A Collection of Stories and Teacher Activities to Help Children Explore Issues of Peace, Justice, and Social Awareness.   Compiled by Storytellers for World Change Network. Philadelphia:  New Society Press, 1991.

Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Heather Forest.  August House, 1996.