Wisdom & Cleverness
Resourceful escapes, sharp observations, advice and ingenious tricks shape these tales. Look beyond who wins: what information did a character use, whose help mattered and who was harmed? Comparing an effective trick with a well-judged decision makes room for different readings of cleverness and wisdom.
The Holy Quail
Left behind in the nest by his frightened parents as a forest fire roars closer, a young quail who cannot yet fly turns the flames back with an Act of Truth.
Arabian Nights
The Fourth Voyage of Sinbad: Escape from the Cannibals
Sinbad escapes man-eating islanders, introduces riding equipment at a royal court, and survives a burial cave through desperate violence before an animal shows him an exit.
Southeast Asian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Mouse-Deer and the Crocodiles
Mouse-deer needs to cross a flooded river, so he tells the crocodiles that the king wants them counted, and they line up across the water for him.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 3-5
The Ant and the Grasshopper
On a winter day a hungry grasshopper asks ants for grain. Their question about her summer singing leads to a sharp answer about winter dancing.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 3-5
The Fox and the Grapes
A hungry fox jumps again and again for a bunch of grapes hanging out of reach, then strolls off insisting they were sour all along.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Vikram and the Vampire: The King’s Ultimate Test
During one night in a cremation ground, a king repeatedly carries a talking corpse whose riddles delay a dangerous ceremony.
European Fairy Tales
The Glass Mountain
Where knights on fine horses have failed, a cheerful schoolboy with lynx claws on his hands and feet sets out to climb the slippery Glass Mountain.
European Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
The Three Golden Hairs of Grandfather Knowitall
A king tries everything to stop a charcoal-burner’s son from marrying his daughter, even sending him to fetch three golden hairs from the Sun himself.
Arabian Nights
The Enchanted Horse
A flying wooden horse carries a Persian prince to the Princess of Bengal, and when its vengeful owner steals her away, a clever trick wins her back.
Turkish Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Nasreddin Hodja and the Smell of Soup
A poor man softens his dry bread in the steam from a cook's pot, and when the cook demands payment, Nasreddin Hodja finds a perfect way to pay him.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Ape Sun Wu Kung
A stone ape learns magic, steals Heaven’s peaches and pills of life and defeats whole armies of gods, until he makes a bet with Buddha he cannot win.
The Firebird, the Horse of Power, and Princess Vasilisa
A young archer ignores his wise horse and picks up a firebird's feather, and his greedy Tzar sends him on ever deadlier errands to the edge of the world.