By Children/ For Children The works on this page function on two levels. As educational and artistic experiences they are written in such a way as to be works .
Table of contents
- Drama – Free Scripts for Kids
- 24 Wonderful Chinese Folk Tales for Kids – PragmaticMom
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- Connect with the Library
Jon Muth distills Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu ideas into three stories that both children and adults can relate to. The artwork is gorgeous and earned a Caldecott honor. Folktales of the World by Cherry Denman.
Drama – Free Scripts for Kids
Little Peacock is one among many peacocks who have a request for the Peacock Fairy. The others want to learn some of her magic. The Little Peacock spends the day helping others by sacrificing its feathers.
When the time comes for the Peacock Fairy to chose just one peacock to teach, she notices the Little Peacock because its tail is featherless. High up in the mountains lived the Lord of the Cranes.
He decides to visit mankind to see if they remembered to be kind and generous. Only an innkeeper is kind to him. Day after day, the Lord of the Cranes dressed as a beggar, visits the innkeeper and receives his gratis hospitality. Finally, the Lord of the Cranes asks to replay the innkeeper.
24 Wonderful Chinese Folk Tales for Kids – PragmaticMom
He paints dancing cranes on the walls that come to life. One day, the Lord of the Cranes returns and the innkeeper realizes who he really is. The cranes fly home but the innkeeper continues to keep a seat for anyone in need. This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of an orphan Tuan, who looks for a wife. In the fields one day, he finds a large snail which he takes home and tends to carefully. This is a kind of male Cinderella story of an impoverished boy, Da Wei, and father whose only treasure is a rock from the sea.
Right before his father dies, he tells him that the rock will bring him treasure and happiness when the light shines from the house on the rock. One day, this comes true and a cart appears. The cart eventually leads him to the bottom of the sea where he brings a small kitten home.
This is no ordinary kitten, and ultimately, this brings Da Wei great happiness and wealth. The youngest daughter saves a snake who is actually a dragon. When the dragon holds the father hostage in exchange for a daughter to take for a wife, only the youngest daughter agrees to this marriage proposal.
But how does one move a mountain? Ming Lo consults a wise man who gives them good advice. It turns out that moving a mountain is a matter of perspective. Think Aesop tales but with an Asian twist. How did the twelve animals come to be selected for the Chinese Zodiac? Thirteen animals race for one of twelve spots. How each animal performs determines their place in the Zodiac. Did you know that each person born under a particular animal is attributed with certain personality aspects?
Kindness is a theme in this Chinese Zodiac story of the sheep.
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A doctor finds a wounded sheep and nurses it back to health. When a monster threatens the village and demands a child from each family for sacrifice, the sheep turns itself into the form of a girl and volunteers to go. Using her wits, she drives the monster away. When it returns, the sheep sacrifices itself, and both turn into a rock formation that is still here today. This is a Chinese folk tale about a rich man obsessed with his money, and a poor man who played the flute for his family to enjoy.
The rich man gives the poor man a bag full of gold coins to distract him from playing his flute. The result is an interesting lesson about money and happiness. He calls for a parade so kids can present what they think it is. Could it be money, technology, beauty, or something else? As was the custom in China in the past, men had multiple wives. Yeh-Shen was an orphan of one of the two wives of a cave chief named Wu who lived in Southern China. He too, got sick, and died shortly after her mother, leaving Yeh-Shen with remaining wife who also had daughter her age. Because Yeh-Shen was more beautiful than her daughter, she was treated poorly.
Her only friend was a fish she caught and cared for as a pet. When her step mother caught wind, she caught the fish and cooked it.
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Yeh-Shen wishes for clothes to wear to the village feast but she is cautioned not to lose the slippers. After she loses one slipper, it finds it way to the Emperor who conducts a search and, instead of punishing the thief of the golden slipper, falls in love with her and marries her. The stepmother and stepsister end up crushed to death in a shower of flying stones. This is a retelling of Yeh-Shen. The deviation is that the girl is named Yeh Hsien and she uses the magic fishbones for riches that she hides in her corner of the cave. When she marries the king, he uses up the wishes on the bones and then buries the bones near the seashore where the tide washes them away.
Even though Europeans did not have the same beauty standard for feet, the slipper being so small as to fit only Cinderella persisted in their recountings. In this retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story from China, the wolf visits the children after their mother leaves to see their grandmother. The oldest daughter uses her wits to save herself and her siblings once she discovers that the wolf is in their home.
A stone carver, Chan Lo, creates what the stone tells him it wants to be. When the emperor gives him a piece of rare jade, he expects a dragon to emerge, but when Chan Lo listens to the stone, it tells him a different story. This is a gentle story about artistic truth. This fractured fairy tale takes the folk tale of the Seven Chinese Brothers and modernizes it with sisters with skills such as counting very high, soup making, mastery of karate, and riding a scooter. Androcles, an escaped slave, meets a lion in the woods.
A search for an apple dumpling leads to odd trades. Folk Tales, Fairy Tales and Legends from all over the world! Readers Theater is a wonderful form for building fluency, comprehension, and confidence in the classroom! It is an oral reading of a "Script" without the need for costumes, props or even a stage.
It encourages student interaction and engagement and with our Readers Theater Scripts they learn a Moral Lesson as well! Each Readers Theater Piece has been well crafted from our award-winning short stories; they include such Themes as Kindness, Gratitude, Friendship, Love and Courage to name a few. Enjoy our Reader's Theater Scripts at home or in the classroom and leave a lasting impression on the little ones in your life. Our Play Scripts are multi-cultural, kid-tested and all contain positive moral messages. Readers Theater is a wonderful way to engage learners with varying learning styles while teaching fluency, comprehension skills and having fun at the same time!
It has been proven to be a successful reading strategy. Our scripts are funny and inspiring too. So share a Storytelling experience today that will last a lifetime!
What does Kid-tested mean? Kid-tested and approved means they were edited until they were loved by our kid-testers. When kids love what they are reading, they internalize the stories.