Tales Of Wise And Foolish Animals

A retelling of fourteen familiar and lesser known tales about the fox who acts as shepherd, the rabbit who steals water from a well, the bear's encounter with a man, and many others.

A retelling of fourteen tales, including the fox who acts as shepherd, the rabbit who steals water from a well, the bear's encounter with a man and others.

Around the beginning of the common era, Indian Buddhists began to collect fables, or jataka tales, illuminating various human virtues and foibles—from kindness, cooperation, loyalty and self-discipline on the one hand to greed, pride, foolishness, and treachery on the other. Instead of populating these stories with people, they cast the animals of their immediate environment in the leading roles—which may have given the tales a universal appeal that helped them travel around the world, surfacing in the Middle East as Aesop's fables and in various other guises throughout East and Southeast Asia, Africa, Russia, and Europe. Author and painter Mark McGinnis has collected over forty of these hallowed popular tales and retold them in vividly poetic yet accessible language, their original Buddhist messages firmly intact. Each story is accompanied with a beautifully rendered full-color painting, making this an equally attractive book for children and adults, whether Buddhist or not, who love fine stories about their fellow wise (and foolish) creatures.

The White Elephant The Grain of Corn The Timid Little Rabbit Singh Rajah and the Cunning Little Jackals The Kingdom of Mouseland The Alligator and the Jackal The Bold Blackbird The Kid and the Tiger The Brahmin and the Tiger The Bear's Bad Bargain The Man Who Rode a Tiger

Thirty Hopi tales about Coyote the Trickster, Medicine Man badger, and the Chipmunk Girls reflect Hopi attitudes towards such issues as courtship, friendship, courage, healing, and the treatment of children.

Offers over eighty short stories from around the globe, including Asia, Mexico, and eastern Europe.

A collection of twenty-five short Russian folktales with lessons and morals.