A retelling of a Hawaiian legend. The god Maui was the smallest but smartest of his brothers, who often made fun of him because he couldn’t fish very well. Sometimes Maui would go out on a boat with his brothers, distract them when they had a fish on the line, and steal it from them, claiming it...

Golden Rule versions from the book The Golden Rule. ...

Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre, text copyright 2008. Used with permission by Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.Read the story dramatically and have fun with the sound effects! Trout are made of trees. In fall, trees let go of leaves, which swirl and twirl and slip into streams....

We gratefully acknowledge Dawn Publications for permission to use the text of the children's picture book The Tree in the Ancient Forest by Carol Reed-Jones. This is the ancient forest. This is the three-hundred-year-old tree That grows in the ancient forest....

Once there was a farmer. He was very old and ill and knew he would soon die. He had lived a good life and his only regret was that his three children fought all the time. None of them seemed interested in taking care of the large farm the old man had established. They were rather lazy....

In the land of Australia, where koalas climb high in eucalyptus trees and kangaroos bound across grassy plains on great big feet, a baby bird pecked his way out of his shell. His mother called him Kejaro, and she brought him good fruit to eat. Every day, for dessert, she brought him bugs. His...

A Lamp in Every Corner (Boston: Skinner House, 2004). On a day not so very long ago, in a place not so very far away, a grass seed lay waiting. All through the cold, dark days of winter the seed waited, covered by a blanket of earth....

Once upon a time in Kenya, on a peaceful river near the east coast of Africa, a herd of hippopotamus was surprised by heavy rain. The rain washed them away from their river home, toward the Indian Ocean. Then came something worse. A tsunami! In the huge, windy storm the ocean waters became strong.

Adapted with permission from the version of a Native American folktale on Stonee’s WebLodge: A Native American Lore Website. I. Adapted short version A long time ago, humans came into being and they loved the world. They loved the springtime with the beautiful emerging green plant life....

Adapted from "Why the Sky is Far Away" in The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson (Cambridge: Barefoot Books, 2009). Used by permission. In the beginning, they sky was close to the earth. So close you could reach up and touch it. And you could eat it! In those days, people...

Adapted from a National Park Service website; used by permission of Wind Cave National Park. In this Native American legend, Lizard sings a happy song about his home: “Zole, zole, zole, zole, zole, zole, rock is my home.” Bear wants to learn the song. Lizard shares the song, but Bear keeps...

This story is designed to be used with Leader Resource 2, Beehive Poster in Activity 3. What Do Bees Do at Home? How do you think bees get into their hives? (Point to the opening in the hive on the poster.) That's right; the hive has an opening so the bees can go in and out. Last week we talked...

One day some worker bees made a honeycomb in the hollow trunk of an oak. They settled nearby to rest. Then, the drones from their hive flew by. The drones said, "We made that honeycomb. It belongs to us." "You did not make that honeycomb," replied the worker bees. "You know very well that you did...

In the warm salty waters of the great blue sea, little orange and white fish called clown fish played their favorite game: chasing each other round and round, swimming as fast as they could go. Yet always they stayed close to their sea anemone home. Their sea anemone had thousands of soft white...

Adapted from "The Grumpy Gecko" in The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson (Cambridge: Barefoot Books, 2009). Used by permission. In a shady glade, the chief of the jungle slept. Until, GECK-O! GECK-O! GECK-O! Tiger woke up with a snort. He opened one yellow eye....

Russell was an amateur geologist, paleontologist, and professional teacher. He took his young charges on an overnight field trip. While sitting around the campfire, he brought out a bag, took out five rocks, and held up a round, grapefruit-size rock....

Adapted from a Haitian tale.To whom does the water belong? There was once a drought in the country. The streams dried up and the wells went dry. God saw there was no place for the animals to drink. God provided a well with the condition that it must be taken care of so all may use it. God said,...

Adapted from "One Flower in a Field" by Joshua Searle-White, in Magic Wanda's Travel Emporium: Tales of Love, Hate and Things in Between (Boston: Skinner House, 2007). Once upon a time there was a field. It had dry grass, brambles and thistles, and high places and low places, and rocks scattered...

Adapted from a version on the 2003 International Year of FreshWater website. One day a long time ago, the elephant acted like a bully. He challenged the Rain God. "You covered the Earth in green," the elephant said, "and I'll bet you feel pretty good about yourself. But guess what!...

Lydia Maria Child is not as famous now as she was when she lived— famous as a radical and reformer, a brilliant thinker and author, and a tireless advocate for oppressed members of society, specifically Native Americans, children, Africans and African Americans held in slavery, and women. Lydia...