When a young teacher sets out to the remote community of Las Delicias in the Amazon rain forest, she is eager to share her knowledge of science, math and geography. While the town’s children love the books she brings, they still keep repeating the legend about a great and dangerous serpent. While in disbelief that her young students could still care about the nonsense of folk tales, the river begins to rise, and suddenly the stories don’t seem to be nonsense after all. Perhaps there are other ways to learn wisdom of past generations besides in books.
Wisdom
Mr. Filkins In The Desert
When Mr. Flikins sets off for his ninetieth birthday party, he has no idea how eventful the journey will be. Crossing the desert to visit his family, armed only with a picnic, a walking stick, and an umbrella, Mr. Flikins faces (and hides from) many remarkable dangers. Luckily he has in his backpack something quite ordinary that turns out to have extraordinary powers.
Animal Village
The story is especially relevant to sub-Saharan Africa as it focuses on the devastation of drought and the importance of received knowledge. With its dual themes of wisdom and grit, the book happily entertains while it teaches the importance of hard work and persistence as keys to success.
A Grain of Rice
When a humble farmer named Pong Lo asks for the hand of the Emperor’s beautiful daughter, the Emperor is enraged. Whoever heard of a peasant marrying a princess? But Pong Lo is wiser than the Emperor knows. And when he concocts a potion that saves the Princess’s life, the Emperor gladly offers him any reward he chooses except the Princess. Pong Lo makes a surprising request. He asks for a single grain of rice, doubled every day for one hundred days. The baffled Emperor obliges only to discover that if you’re as clever as Pong Lo, you can turn a single grain of rice into all the wealth and happiness in the world!
Benjamin Franklin’s Wise Words
Discover history through the eyes of one of the smartest, funniest, and coolest figures from America’s past. This book presents 50 of Benjamin Franklin’s famous “wise words” from Poor Richard’s Almanack, his personal letters, and other writings, with sage advice on everything from good citizenship and manners to friendship and being happy. Sayings are paired with hilarious illustrations and witty translations for modern audiences. It’s a great go-to for inspirational and innovative ways to practice mindfulness, industriousness, and self-improvement.
Confucius
His sayings are repeated throughout the world. His teachings set the course of Chinese society for 2,500 years. But Confucius remains merely a name to many readers, rather than the central figure of world history that he deserves to be. Now award-winning author-illustrator Demi illuminates his life and influence in this elegant biography that will appeal to readers of all ages. Confucius loved books and learning, but he grew up during a time of great suffering and warfare in China. Troubled by the chaos he saw all around him, he devoted his life to reforming his society and government, with ideas about education and leadership that still resonate today. He encouraged everyone — especially rulers — to live moral lives, emphasizing the value of tradition and compassion. And five hundred years before Jesus set forth his Golden Rule, Confucius declared his Golden Mean: Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.
From the Heart of Africa
A collection of African wisdom gorgeously illustrated by artists from Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canada, the United States and more.
Judge Rabbit And The Tree Spirit: A Folktale From Cambodia/Bilingual In English And Khmer
Judge Rabbit solves the problem of a mischievous tree spirit who has taken on human form.
Baba Yaga And The Wise Doll
A memorable Russian fairy tale about a little girl who, with the advice of her wise doll, escapes a truly terrifying witch and her slimy, child-gobbling toads.
A Question of Magic
Serafina was living the normal life of a village girl, when she gets a mysterious letter—her first letter ever, in fact—from a great aunt, she’s never heard of. Her great aunt is actually a Baba Yaga, a magical witch who lives in an even more magical cottage. Serafina’s life takes an amazing turn as she finds herself becoming the new Baba Yaga. But leaving behind home and the boy she loves isn’t easy, and as Serafina grows into her new and magical role answering the first question any stranger might ask her with the truth, she also learns about the person she’s meant to be, and that telling the future doesn’t always mean knowing the right answers.