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.
Celtic Folk Tales
Brewery Of Eggshells
A Welsh mother suspects her twins have been swapped for fairy changelings, and a wise man’s trick with an eggshell makes them reveal who they are.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light from the Sun
Captured by a fire-breathing dragon, Kweku Tsin plans a rope-ladder escape to the sky using rice, bones and a magic fiddle, and becomes the sun.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Squirrel and the Spider
Spider steals Squirrel’s farm by claiming a farm needs a road, then loses the whole harvest to a crow who uses the very same kind of argument.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Robber and the Old Man
A wise old man teaches a thief to escape the judge by pretending to be mad and answering only “Moo,” and is paid back with the very same trick.
African Folk Tales
Kwofi and the Gods
Orphaned Kwofi hunts meat every day but his jealous stepmother never gives him a share, until a god arrives with a bag of death for the village.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race
Father Anansi seals all the world’s wisdom in a pot to punish people, but his young son’s simple advice at the foot of a tree spoils the plan.
African Folk Tales
How We Got the Name ‘Spider Tales’
To win the right to have every story named after him, Anansi the spider must deliver live bees, a boa-constrictor and a tiger to the sky-god.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
Tom Thumb
No bigger than a thumb, Tom drives a cart from a horse's ear, slips through window bars, and rides home inside a hungry wolf.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Turnip
A poor gardener’s giant turnip wins the king’s favor; his rich brother’s envy ends with a “sack of wisdom” swinging in a tree.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Three Languages
A count's son learns only what dogs, birds, and frogs say—then those "useless" languages save a tower, a country, and make him pope.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
The Four Clever Brothers
Four brothers master theft, stars, the bow, and magic sewing—then argue who rescued the princess, until the king pays each half a kingdom.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
Hansel and Gretel
Abandoned in the forest, Hansel and Gretel find a house of bread and sugar—and Gretel turns the witch's own oven against her.