Earth care : world folktales to talk about

In these forty-one tales, poems, stories, and in numerous proverbs, Margaret Read MacDonald uses ideas held by all peoples to show children how what we do affects our life on Earth. Organized by concept, these tales touch upon both human and ecological themes: caring for the land, the crops, the forests, and the wetlands; caring for other creatures; how all things are linked; how human greed leads to disaster; how no thing is without value; how pollution returns to the polluter; how one person can make a difference; how to husband the future by heeding the experience of the past; and how to unite our voices on the earth's behalf.

MacDonald includes two original stories and two contemporary poems with tales from over thirty countries or ethnic groups. Seven stories are from diverse native American peoples. There is also a short bibliography of tale collections with ecological themes; a list of good stories to tell; proverb sources; tale notes; and an ethnic/geographic index.

Caring for our land: Three green ladies -- Treasure in the vineyard -- Farmer and his crops -- Caring for our forest: Beast and tree -- Who is king of the world? -- Mikku and the trees -- Hold tight and stick tight -- Spider and the Palm-Nut tree -- Caring for our wetlands: Tiddy mun -- New lake -- Fox rules the streams -- Papa God's well -- Caring for our creatures: Two women hunt for ground squirrels -- Gluskabe traps the animals -- Mountain goats of Temlahan -- Alligator and the hunter -- Curupira -- All things are connected: Mosquito extermination project -- Gecko cannot sleep -- Golden plow -- Botany in the rain forest -- Our place in Earth's sacred space: Finding the center -- Avvalyar's rest -- Hidden divinity -- No thing is without value: Tailor's jacket -- Love the weeds -- Useless tree -- Folly of human greed: Too much sky -- Just a little more -- Origin of Puget Sound and the Cascade Range -- Pollution returns to the polluter: Sharing the wine -- Don't throw stones from "not yours" to "yours" -- Planning for the future: Tamarind tree -- Emptying the granary -- Planting for the next generation -- Past and the future -- Wisdom of the elders: Plowing up the road -- In your hands -- Many voices bring results: Frog and locust -- One person's dream can make a difference: Magic garden of the poor -- Afterward: End of the owls -- Tale collections with ecological themes -- More ecological tales to tell or read aloud -- Proverb sources -- Tale notes --