Many years ago, the proudest animal in the jungle was not the peacock. The proudest animal was the tiger. In this timeless folktale from Vietnam, we see how Tiger's pride leads him to covet wisdom and, with the help of a wise farmer, earn his stripes.
In this story from Peru, we meet a baker who is so stingy that he wants to charge people just for smelling his baked goods. When the baker takes his case to court, the wise judge decides to teach the greedy man a well-deserved lesson.
In this timeless tale from Thailand, A girl cannot decide which of her many silken dresses and lavish jewels to wear to the dance, so she wears them all. Her foolish decision, teaches her a valuable lesson.
When the barnyard animals are invited to a party by their neighbors, they dress in their Sunday best and set off for a day of merriment. But when dinnertime arrives, the famished animals are perplexed to find a simple meal of cornbread. Most of them are polite but Rooster turns his beak up in disgust and rudely leaves the party, missing the treasures hidden for the guests. The surprising twist at the end of the story explains why, ever since, Rooster scratches in the dirt. Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss capture the rhythms and idioms of this rural Southern tale, and Don Tate's whimsical acrylics serve up a regular hoedown of fun.
A humorous retelling of an Italian tale in which a Genoese merchant, richly rewarded for solving an irritating problem for the king of the Spice Islands, causes a greedy rival to try and gain a fortune in the same way.
The baker, Van Amsterdam becomes known in Colonial America for baking his St. Nicholas cookies but his greed drives hime to he become stingy in his business. When an old woman buys a dozen cookies from him and expects to receive 13, he withholds the last one. Unfotunately, his business goes downhill until the day she returns for 12 more cookies. But this time he gives her an extra measure and the custom of offering a "baker's dozen" or 13 items spreads throughout the colonies.
Three brothers embark on separate journeys to different parts of the world to fulfill their father's dying wish. In their journeys, they visit distant lands, find curious treasures, and learn the true meaning of unselfish giving when they need to work together to save a life.
