The Importance of Me

Bibliography
Compiled by Rose Owens

Stories can provide opportunities to support character education. This was one use of
stories in earlier times and it is still used today. No bibliography could possibly list all of the
stories one might use to support character education. Here are some of my favorite books,
stories and web sites.

In the quest for stories:
Identify the characteristics you want to teach.
Sift through the stories that deal with these characteristics and qualities.
Choose stories with hidden inner wisdom that each listener can "pull out" for himself.
Discard trite stories with obvious morals that may erect barriers rather than reach out to the listener's
inner self.
Be careful not to over moralize and over discuss. Let the listener discover and sort out some
messages for himself.


Picture books

Agathas Feather Bed (Compassion, Integrity), Carmen Agra Deedy, Peachtree Publishers,
Ltd., Atlanta, 1991.

Flossie and the Fox, (Responsibility) Patricia C. McKissack, Dial Books, 1986.

The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South (Compassion, Integrity, Self-Discipline)
Retold by Robert D. San Souci, Dial Books for Young Readers, New York.

The Grouchy Ladybug (Compassion, Respect) Eric Carle, Harper Collins, 1977.

The Lion and the Little Red Bird (Compassion, Respect) Elisa Kleven, Duttons Childrens
Books, New York, 1992.

Little Penguins Tale, (Self Discipline) Audrey Wood, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Publishers, San Diego, 1989. (Sometimes you can make bad choices and not have
immediate consequences but bad choices eventually catch up to you.)

Ma Liang and His Magic Brush (China), China Books and Periodicals, 1981.
Tye May and the Magic Brush (China), Molly Garrett Bang, Turtleback, 1992. (Tye May is a
girl but the folktale is basically the same folktale as The Magic Brush.)

Mucky Moose (Integrity, Self-Discipline) see my adaptations
at http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/MuckyMooseAdaptation.htm

The Rough-Face Girl (Compassion, Honesty, Integrity) Retold by Rafe Martin

Who Is the Beast? (Respect) Keith Baker, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, New York,
1990.

Stories

Anansi and the Pot of Beans (Honesty, Respect) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and Sherry
Norfolk.

Beauty and the Beast (Compassion) The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor; Best-
Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole, Anchor Books, 1982.

The Brave Little Parrot (Integrity, Self-Discipline, Responsibility) The Hungry Tigress:
Buddhist Myths, Legends, & Jataka Tales, as told by Rafe Martin. My retelling of this story
may be found at http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/OneSmallBird.htm under the title
of One Small Bird.

The Cat and Mouse in Partnership (Honesty) The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor.

The Dancing Hyena (Responsibility) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.

Diamonds and Toads (Compassion), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor.

The Farmer and the Snake (Aesop
Fable) http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/AesopFables.htm

The Frog Prince (Integrity, Honesty), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor; Best-
Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole, Anchor Books, 1982.

The Emperors New Clothes (Honesty, Self-Discipline, Integrity) The Book of Virtues, William
J. Bennett.

The Fox and the Crow (Self-Discipline), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor; The
Aesop for Children, Scholastic, New York, 1994.

The Gingerbread Boy Rap (Responsibility, Self-Discipline) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and
Sherry Norfolk. (We dont solve our problems by running away from them.)

The Golden Touch (Self-Discipline), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett,
editor; Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud, Jim Trelease.

Half Chick (Compassion) http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/HalfChick.htm; Best-
Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole.

Hic! Hic! Hic! (Self-Discipline, Responsibility) Twenty Tellable Tales: Audience Participation
Folktales for the Beginning Storyteller, Margaret Read MacDonald.

How Much Land Does a Man Need? (Self-Discipline) The Book of Virtues, William J.
Bennett, editor.

How to Break a Bad Habit (Self-Discipline) Twenty Tellable Tales, Margaret Read MacDonald.

The Indian Cinderella (Compassion, Integrity, Honesty, Self-Discipline) The Book of Virtues,
William J. Bennett, editor; Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud, Jim Trelease,
editor; Cinderella, Judy Sierra; Also called Little Burnt Face in Ready-To-Tell Tales, David
Holt & Bill Mooney, editors; Also called The Invisible One in Cinderella, Judy Sierra.

The King and His Hawk (Self-Discipline), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor.

La Mueta: Godmother Death (Self-Discipline, Honesty, Integrity) Ready-To-Tell Tales, David
Holt & Bill Mooney, editors.

The Lion and the Mouse (Compassion, Respect), The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett,
editor; The Aesop for Children.

The Lion Makers, (Responsibility) Wisdom Tales from Around the
World, Heather Forest. (Just because you can do something doesnt mean you ought to do
it. A story about using common sense and thinking about consequences before acting.)

The Little Old Woman Who Hated Housework (Responsibility, Self-Discipline), Shake-It-Up
Tales! , Margaret Read MacDonald.

The Little Rooster and the Turkish Sultan (Honesty, Integrity) Twenty Tellable Tales, Margaret
Read MacDonald.

The Magic Brocade (Compassion, Responsibility) Best-Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna
Cole.

The Magic Brush (Integrity, Self-
Discipline) http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/MagicBrush.htm

The Magic Thread (Self-Discipline) Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud, Jim Trelease,
editor.

One Small Bird (Self-Discipline, Compassion, Making a Difference) Retold by Rose
Owens http://www.civprod.com/storylady/stories/OneSmallBird.htm

The Piece of String (Honesty) The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor.

The Pied Piper of Hamlim (Honesty) The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett,
editor; Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud, Jim Trelease, editor.

Poor Turkey Girl (Compassion, Self-Discipline, Responsibility) Cinderella, Judy Sierra.

The Rabbit and the Well (Responsibility, Self-Discipline, Honesty,
Integrity) Twenty Tellable Tales, Margaret Read MacDonald.

The Secret Heart of the Tree (Respect, Integrity) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and Sherry
Norfolk.

The Silent Couple (Responsibility) The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor.

The Tailor (Self-Discipline) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.

The Talking Skull (Honesty, Integrity) Ready-To-Tell Tales, David Holt & Bill Mooney,
editors.

Three Billy Goats Gruff Rap (Compassion) The Moral of the Story, Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.

The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal (Honesty) Best-Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna
Cole, Anchor Books, 1982.

Tigers Whisker (Compassion) Wisdom Tales from Around the World, Heather Forest; Best-
Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole. (This story may be found in other collections
under the title of Lions Whisker.)

Tipingee, The Magic Orange Tree, (Compassion) Diane Wolkstein.

Im Tipingee, Shes Tipingee, Were Tipingee, Too (Readers Theater
Presentation), Presenting Readers Theater: Plays and Poems to Read Aloud, Caroline Feller
Bauer. The text has been simplified and elementary students will be able to read and
perform it.

The Waterfall of White Hair (Integrity, Responsibility) Mother and Daughter Tales, retold by
Josephine Evetts-Secker; Also called The Waterfall in Tales from the Enchanted
World, Amabel Williams-Ellis.

The Wise Judge (Honesty) Ready-To-Tell Tales, David Holt & Bill Mooney, editors.

The Wooden Bowl (Compassion, Respect) Wisdom Tales from Around the World, Heather
Forest; Also called Grandmothers Table in The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor;
Also called Half Blanket in Ready-To-Tell Tales, David Holt & Bill Mooney, editors.

The Wooden Sword (Integrity, Responsibility, Compassion) Wisdom Tales from Around the
World, Heather Forest.


Collections of Stories

The Aesop for Children, Scholastic, Inc., New York, 1994.

Best-Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole, Anchor Books, 1982.

The Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993.
This book has sections on Self-Discipline, Compassion, Responsibility, Honesty. Look up
stories cited in the index since the Table of Contents only lists categories of stories.

Children Tell Stories: A Teaching Guide, Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Richard C. Owens
Publishers, Inc., Katonah, New York, 1990. (Many of the short stories included for children
to tell are also value tales.)

The Childrens Book of Virtues, William J. Bennett, editor, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995.

Cinderella, Judy Sierra, Oryx Press, 1992. (Multicultural Cinderella stories)

Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud, Jim Trelease, editor, Penguin Books, 1992.

The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, Bobby & Sherry Norfolk, August
House Publishers, Little Rock, Ark., 1999.

Ready-To-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories from Americas Favorite Storytellers, David Holt & Bill
Mooney, editors, August House, Little Rock, Ark., 1994.

Twenty Tellable Tales: Audience Participation Folktales for the Beginning Storyteller, Margaret
Read MacDonald, H.W. Wilson Company, 1986. (Has an excellent chapter on finding and
learning tales.)

Wisdom Tales from Around the World, Heather Forest, August House, Little Rock, Ark., 1996.

Web Sites

Stories and Related Sites

Aesops Fables Online Collection (655+) http://www.AesopFables.com

Cinderella Stories http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/cinderella.html

Folklore and Mythology http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

Hans Christian Anderson Fairytales (127) and http://hca.gilead.org.il/

Mikmaq Cinderella (Story) http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stories/cinder3.html

Mi'kmaq Indian Cinderella vs Perrault's Durable Myth http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stories/cinder.html

Native American Resources http://www.kstrom.net/isk/mainmenu.html#mainmenutop

Selected stories from Rose the Story Lady http://www.civprod.com/storylady

SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages http://www.surlalunefairytales.com

Tales of Wonder (Folk and Fairy Tales from Around the
World) http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/

Lesson Plans and Storyteller Helps

Folktales http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1993/2/


Storytelling Lesson Plans and Activities by
Heather Forest http://www.storyarts.org/lessonplans/index.html