Stories For Peace: Selected Bibliography
By their nature, folktale collections are a rich sources of stories that encourage rewarding relationships with others and with the planet. This list is mainly comprised of books and stories specifically selected for these themes. Some of the books are not in print, but I include them because the Internet has made it so easy to find out-of-print material. Like all selected bibliographies, this list is a work-in-progress.
Story collections
Bauman, Elizabeth Hershberger. Coals of Fire. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1982. Seven stories of people who returned good for evil.
Bennett, William J. Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Stories, essays, poems and speeches, with commentary by the former secretary of education, to illustrate moral virtues including self-discipline, compassion, and honesty. This book has spawned numerous offspring; two are listed here. For more, check your library or bookseller.
_____________. A Children's Book of Virtue. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
_____________. The Moral Compass: Stories for a Life's Journey. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Cox, Allison. The Healing Heart: Storytelling for Caring and Healthy Families. The work of dozens of storytellers from four countries, with discussion by the author, on themes such as disease prevention, children with chronic illness, grief, domestic violence. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, Jan./Feb. 2003.
_____________. The Healing Heart: Storytelling for Strong and Healthy Communities. The work of dozens of storytellers from four different countries on preserving culture and community. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, Jan./Feb. 2003.
De Spain, Pleasant. Tales of Wisdom and Justice. Books of Nine Lives, Vol. 3. Little Rock: August House, 2001. (Selected stories from Twenty-two Splendid Tales, below.)
_____________. Twenty-two Splendid Tales to Tell. Seattle: Merrill Court, 1992. Tellable multicultural tales, many related to conflict resolution and peace.
Durrell, Ann and Sachs, Marylin, eds. The Big Book of Peace. New York: Dutton, 1990. Contributions by 34 well-known authors examine peace, conflict, war, and resolution from a variety of points of view.
Feldman, Christina and Kornfield, Jack. Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart: Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Tales that illuminate the themes of love, faith, courage, compassion, wisdom and conflict resolution.
Forest, Heather. Wisdom Tales from Around the World. Fifty Gems of Story and Wisdom from Such Diverse Traditions as Sufi, Zen, Taoist, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, African and Native American. A wide range of tellable tales. Little Rock, AK: August House, 1996.
Frum, Thomas F. The Magic of Conflict. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. This book describes a stress reduction and conflict resolution tool based on the Japanese martial art and mind-body discipline of Aikido. It contains non-fictional stories and traditional tales.
Fry, A. Ruth. Victories Without Violence. Classic compilation of stories that celebrate non-violence through the ages. Libert Literary Works, Ocean Tree Books, 1986.
Ketchum, Katherine and Kurtz, Ernest. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Modern Wisdom from Ancient Classics. New York: Bantam Books, 1992. Through stories from various religious and spiritual traditions, this book explores the idea that inner peace and self-awareness can be enhanced by accepting human limitations.
Lehn, Cornelia. Peace Be With You. Faith and Life Press, 1980. Fifty-nine stories of peace heroes throughout the ages. Contains humor and sadness, global aspects and next-door neighbor-types, stories about the young and the elderly.
Livo, Norma J. Story Medicine: Multicultural Tales of Healing and Transformation. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Teacher Ideas Press, 2001. Forty tales from the world over on healing the self, relationships, the community and the earth.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About. Hamden, Connecticut: Linnet Books, 1992. Thirty-four world folktales dealing with the consequences of violence, the need for conflict resolution, and the possibilities of peace.
Marshall, Joseph M. The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living. Native American wisdom on ethics and character. New York: Viking, 2001.
Pearmain, Elisa, ed. Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 1998. Stories organized around themes including anger, compassion, consumerism, foregiveness, judgment, peace, philanthropy and responsibility.
Ram Dass and Gorman, Paul. How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. A thoughtful and provocative book about the nature of helping. The book contains stories that address such issues as compassion, suffering, listening, anger, conflict, burnout and healing.
Religious Education Committee of the Friends General Conference. Lighting Candles in the Dark: Stories of Courage and Love in Action. (2001) More than 40 stories about adults and children who dealt nonviolently with dangerous or difficult situations and social issues. Includes stories from Quaker history. Also available: Russian-English edition, activity book, audiotape. http://quakerbooks.org.
Rosen, Michael. South and North, East and West: The Oxfam Book of Children's Stories. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1992. Celebrating Oxfam's 50th anniversary, this collection contains 25 stories reflecting traditions, customs and beliefs from other cultures.
Shah, Idries. The Subtleties of the Inimitable Nasrudin. London: Octagon Press, 1989. Delightful Sufi tales of the Mulla Nasrudin, who through seemingly foolish and bizarre behavior helped to teach the path of true wisdom.
Thomas, Marlo. Free to Be, You and Me. Running Press, 1998. (Twenty-fifth anniversary edition.) Stories, poetry, songs, dialogues, essays that introduce the more serious realities of sexism to young children, but will be enjoyed by all ages. (Also available on CD, audiotape and video.)
Yolen, Jane. Favorite Folktales from Around the World. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Well-known tales, arranged by subjects including heroes; wonder tales; the getting of wisdom; tricksters, rogues and cheats.
Individual stories
Berger, Pamela. The Grain Miracle, in The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint. Beacon, 1985. With the help of a farmer, Mary tricks Herod's soldiers on the flight to Egypt.
Brown, Marica. Once a Mouse. Scribners, 1961. Growing big and powerful often brings us to forget our humble past.
Davar, Ashok. The Wheel of King Asoka. Follett, 1977. True story of an Indian ruler who abandoned war for peace.
Druon, Maurice. Tistou of the Green Thumbs. Scribner's, 1958. Plants grow wherever Tistou places his hands. He places them on his father's armaments factory.
Finlay, Winifred. The Fair Prince and His Brothers, in Cap o'Rushes and Other Folk Tales. Harvey, 1974. Out of print. The prince who will not fight, wins.
Freedman, Florence B. Brothers: A Hebrew Legend. Harper, 1985. Each brother thinks the other needs more of the harvest and tries to give it to him secretly.
Hodges, Margaret. The Wave, from Lafcadio Hearn's Gleaning in Buddha-fields. Houghton, 1964. An old man sets fire to his rice field to warn the village below of an approaching tidal wave.
Jacobs, Joseph. The Laidly Worm of Spindlestone Heugh, in English Fairy Tales. Dover, 1967. Child Wind rescues his sister not by slaying the dragon, but by kissing it.
Langton, Jane. The Fragile Flag. HarperTrophy, 2002. A children's crusade to stop missile-making.
Leichman, Seymour. The Boy Who Could Sing Pictures. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1973. A king doesn't realize how war hurts his people until a boy sings of the sadness he sees.
Lionni, Leo. The Alphabet Tree. New York: Pantheon, 1968. The letters of the alphabet deal with their fears of the wind and storm by arranging themselves into words for safety. The words are: "Peace on earth and goodwill toward all men."
Maruki, Toshi. Hiroshima No Pika. Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1982. A poignant story of the effects of the bombing of Hiroshima, especially on one family. (Grades 2-6)
Nagashkin, Dmitri. How the Beldys Stopped Fighting, in Folktales of the Amur: Stories from the Russian Far East. Harry N. Abrams, 1980 (out of print). A pair of wise twins stop war by changing the rules to make it impossible.
Pomerantz, Charlotte. The Princess and the Admiral. Feminist Press, 1992. A tiny kingdom is about to celebrate 100 years of peace when warships appear. What happens is not a war, and the celebration occurs after all.
Rose, Deborah Lee. The People Who Hugged the Trees: An Environmental Folk Tale. Roberts Rinehart, 1990. A ruler learns that trees are more useful as trees than as a fort.
Ryder. Arthur, trans. The Lionmakers, from The Panchatantra. U. Chicago Press, 1964. The experts know how to do it, but not when to stop. (Also in Schimmel, Nancy, In Just Enough to Make a Stoyr: Sisters Choice Press, and Tell Me a Story: Kartes Video.)
Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971. Demonstrates the important role each of us plays in solving environmental problems.
Swope, Sam. The Araboolies of Liberty Street. New York: Random House, 1989. A hilarious story about children as heroes and tolerating differences.
Synge, Ursula. Odilia and Aldaric, in The Giant at the Ford and Other Legends of the Saints. Atheneum, 1980, out of print. A contents of wills between an equally stubborn father and daughter.(Also on Burch, Milbre, Saints and Other Sinners (audio) Kind Crone).
Szilagyi, Mary. The Adventures of Charlie and His Wheat-Straw Hat: A Memorat Recounted by Berniece T. Hiser. Putnam, 1986. Charlie is so proud of the weat-straw hat his grandmother makes him that he defies Confederate soldiers to keep it.
Wolkstein, Diane. I'm Tipingee, She's Tipingee, We're Tipingee Too, in The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales. Knopf, 1978. Tipingee organizes her friends to all wear red like her, so the old man who has come to take her away won't be able to find her.
Wondriska, William. All the Animals Were Angry. New York: Holt, 1970. A dove tells the quarreling animals that she loves them all. (Ages 3-8)
Zolotow, Charlotte. The Hating Book. New York: HarperTrophy, 1989.
_____________. The Quarreling Book. New York: HarperTrophy, 1982.
Teaching with story
Brody, Ed, Goldspinner, Jay, Green, Katie, Leventhal, Rona, Porcino, John. Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope: Stories of Peace, Justice and the Environment. Revised edition. Philadelphia: New Society, 2002.) The ultimate resource for teachers who wish to use storytelling for their students, this book contains stories from different cultures and detailed activity guides.
Caduto, Michael J. and Bruchac, Joseph. Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1988.
Fredericks, Linda and the Colorado School Mediation Project. Using Stories to Prevent Violence and Promote Cooperation. Boulder: Colorado School Mediation Project, 1996.
_____________. Healing Wounds with Words: A Guide to Conflict Resolution Through Storytelling. Boulder: Colorado School Mediation Project, 2000.
Norfolk, Bobby and Sherry. The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, Hands-on guide includes 12 stories, suggested activities, source notes and bibliographies.
Thomas, Rebecca L. Connecting Cultures: A Guide to Multicultural Literature for Children. R. R. Bowker, 1996. Discusses children's multicultural literature for teachers and librarians on 1,637 recent fiction, folktale, poetry, and song books for use with preschoolers through sixth-graders.
Wichert, Susanne. Keeping the Peace: Practicing Cooperation and Conflict Resolution with Preschoolers. New Society Publishers, 1989. A handbook for parents, daycare providers, etc. striving to create harmonious groups, bolster children's self-esteem, and foster cooperative and creative interactions among kids aged two-and-a-half to six. Includes activities, anecdotes from the author's journals, plus a bibliography.
Zipes, Jack. Creative Storytelling: Building Community, Changing Lives. Routledge, 1995. This book grew out of a residency Zipes did with third and fourth graders. Assorted tales and creative ways to make use of them. Appropriate for a broad age range.
Web sites
www.zensufi.com/story.htm Collection of Sufi stories.
Afghanistan Online: Short Afghan wisdom tales, useful in this time of conflict.
www.afghan-web.com/culture/wisdom.html
www.wisdomtales.com Site of storyteller Elisa Pearmain, author of Doorways to the Soul (listed above), Includes stories and articles.
Audio/video
O'Halloran, Susan, Sacre, Antonio, Williams, La'Ron. Tribes and Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre. In a performance for high school and adult audiences, storytellers Sacre (Cuban American), Williams (African-American) and O'Halloran (Irish American) share moments from their lives traveling from the porches of their protective, ethnic neighborhoods to the wider world of politics. The 90-minute video is followed by a 20- minute discussion.
www.racebridges.net
Shenandoah, Joanne. Peacemaker. Silver Wave Record. www.silverwave.com, info@silverwave.com, 303-443-5617. Oneida woman Shanandoah wrote music to accompany the Iroquois tale of the Peacemaker.
Thomas, Marlo. Free to Be You and Me. (See collections, above.)
Voices of Illusion. Strength Through Story: Non-violent Means Told By Teens. Performed by the high school storytelling troupe Voices of Illusion, founded and directed by storyteller Kevin Cordi. www.youthstorytelling.com
This list was compiled with gratitude to many, including: Kevin Cordi, Allison Cox, Lorna Czarnota, Heather Forest, Lyn Fine, Linda Fredericks and the Colorado School Mediation Project, Heather Lawrence, Rona Leventhal, Margaret Read MacDonald, Jack Maguire, Jeff Miller, Loren Niemi, Rose Owens, Parenting for Peace and Justice Network, Elisa Pearmain, Peninnah Schram, Tim Sheppard, Laura Simms, Shelby Smith, Sue Tannehill and Cristy West. Special thanks to Nancy Schimmel, (Just Enough to Make a Story, Sisters' Choice Press, 1992); Margaret Read MacDonald, (Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About, Linnet Books, 1992); and Ed Brody, Jay Goldspinner, Katie Green, Rona Leventhal, John Porcino (Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope: Stories of Peace, Justice and the Environment. Revised edition. New Society, 2002).
All articles in this series:
- Introduction
- How does it work?
- Selected stories for peace and conflict resolution
- Storytellers and Story Educators for Peace
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