ABOUT THE AUTHOR • My name is Saket Bolisetty. I am in 11th Grade. I go to a special Ed school called The Calais School in Whippany, NJ. I live in Randolph, NJ. In my spare time, I love to visit the city and go to different museums and college campuses. • I love to read different children’s folktales from around the world.
Table of Contents • 1. How the Robin Stole the Moon: Northwestern • 2. Swetha and the Magic Flute: Indian • 3. Tanisha and the Spider: African • 4. The Tortoise Who Broke Her Shell: Latin American • 5. Yanmin and The Talking Dumpling: Chinese • 6. The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Samurai : Japanese
Story 1: How the Robin Stole the Moon: A Northwestern Folktale based on Raven •
Long Long ago in a Pacific Northwestern coast, it was dark and stormy. The winds were strong and blowing really, really hard. It was a dark and stormy night. People were begging for food and water. They were hungry and thirsty. But Robin came and said “I will search for the moon”. Robin flew across the rivers and across the lake She flew across the pine trees too. There was darkness everywhere. Robin saw darkness until she saw a house with a little bit of light in it. Robin flew there. Robin stood on a pine tree and saw a beautiful young girl drinking water from a basket. Robin turned herself into a pine needle. She had fallen down from the tree and landed onto the water. The girl drank again and swallowed the pine needle. After a time, the girl gave birth to a child. Can you guess who the child was? It was Robin. The young woman’s husband was pleased with the little girl. He played with her and made toys for her. The elders gathered in a circle and saw the beautiful child. Robin-child was trying to find out where the moon was hidden. She saw a box in the corner of the lodge. It was glowing. Robin-child started crying because she wanted the light. The young woman placed the box in front of Robin-child. She took the lid off of all the boxes and light poured out of it and it flooded the room. The light in the box was the moon. Robinchild started playing with it. When she played with it, she turned back into herself. Robin flew out of the house and into the sky. She threw the moon onto the dark sky. The people cheered for Robin and thanked her. The people gave Robin a piece of fish to thank her for bringing them the moon. Everyone lived happily ever after. The End
Story 2: Swetha and The Magic Flute: A Tale from India •
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Long Long ago in a village in India, there live a young Indian girl named Swetha. For her birthday, she got a flute that whenever she played it, everyone started dancing. One day, the evil money king came and stole the flute from Swetha’s house. Swetha woke up the next morning and found out her flute had been stole. Swetha said “Oh no, my flute is gone. Swetha ran all around the Indian village looking for her flute. She asked the people who were helping the cows. “Have you seen my flute”? The people who helped the cows said nothing, but continued to milk the cows. She asked the people who were with the elephant. “Have you seen my flute”? The person who had the elephant said noting, but continued to feed the elephant. Swetha did not give up. Swetha worked really hard on finding the flute. When all of a sudden, she heard a voice. Swetha walked into the evil monkey king’s home and saw her flute broken into pieces. Swetha saw that the monkey king did it. Swetha ran to the monkey king angrily and yelled “Look what you did to my flute”. The money king almost put a curse on Swetha. But Swetha ran to the flute and cried. “My flute is broken” she cried. All of a sudden, tears fell onto the flute and the flute was fixed. Swetha looked at her flute in amazement. The flute played by itself. Every one of the village came into Swetha’s house and started having a party. Swetha was happy to have her flute fixed. Everyone in the village lived happily ever after. The End
Story 3: Tanisha and The Spider: A Tale from Africa •
Long Long ago in a jungle in Africa, there lived a girl named Tanisha. One day, Tanisha was walking around the whole jungle. When all of a sudden, she heard a voice. The voice said “Hey Tanisha, Come here”. Tanisha peeked into a rock and she saw a talking spider. The spider was named Anansi. Tanisha did not like Anansi and wanted to kill him. Anansi followed Tanisha everywhere she went. He went with Tanisha to her house one day. The whole family got scared. Anansi told the family that he wasn’t going to hurt her. At dinner time, Tanisha’s mother had made some yummy African soup. Tanisha wasn’t hungry. “Tanisha dear, aren’t you going to eat?” her father asked Tanisha. “I’m not hungry” Tanisha said. Tanisha was not in the mood to talk to anyone. “Leave me alone” Tanisha told Anansi”. Anansi told Tanisha they should just try harder and things will get better. Tanisha ran away bursting into tears. Anansi tried to cheer Tanisha up, but Tanisha was still upset. So Tanisha grabbed Anansi and threw him on to the wall. Anansi was then dead. Tanisha was shocked to see the spider dead. “What have I done?” Tanisha cried. Her dad ran into the room and asked Tanisha what’s wrong; Tanisha told her dad she was sorry. Tanisha picked up Anansi and kissed her and you know what happened next? Anansi turned into a handsome African prince. Tanisha looked up at Anansi in excitement. Tanisha and Anansi decided to get married. Everyone in the African jungle came to Tanisha’s and Anansi’s wedding. Tanisha and Anansi got married and live happily ever after. The End
Story 4: The Tortoise Who Broke Her Shell : A Latin American Folk Tale •
Long Long ago in a forest in South America, there lived a tortoise named Tortuga. Every day, Tortuga would go outside into the forest and play her flute. All of the birds of the rainforest loved her music. All except for Eagle, who was jealous of Tortuga and waiting for the day when he could eat the little tortoise. Tortuga went to Parrot and played her flute. Parrot love the sound of the flute and she danced to the music. Macaw heard the beautiful music of the Tortuga. She flew in loops when Tortuga played. One day, Tortuga was playing near the river side making the fish dance in circles to this beautiful music. When all of a sudden, Eagle came. “Excuse me”? Tortuga asked Eagle. “Yes” said Eagle. “I was just wondering if I could play my flute for The Queen of Heaven”? Tortuga asked Eagle. “Why not?” asked Eagle. “Climb on my back little friend”. So Tortuga climbed onto Eagle’s back. Eagle was flying Tortuga all above the South American trees. When all of a sudden, Eagle swooped and turned upside down. Tortuga lost hold of Eagle’s back and slipped off. Tortuga went tumbling down the sky. She called out to the leaves and the trees to make way for Tortuga, but not the rock. Tortuga fell onto the rock with a CRACK! And her beautiful shell broke into pieces. Tortuga cried with sadness to see her beautiful shell broken into pieces. “My shell is broken” cried Tortuga. Suddenly, Parrot, Macaw, and Toucan came and saw Tortuga’s beautiful shell broken into pieces. Without making a sound, the trio of birds took all of the pieces of Tortuga’s shell and fixed it. When they were done, Tortuga played a song of thanks to them. Everyone sang except Eagle, who still cannot sing. Everyone in the forest lived happily ever after.
Story 5: Yanmin and The Talking Dumpling : A Tale from China •
Long Long ago in a village in Ancient China, there lived a young Chinese girl named Yanmin. Yanmin had a very nice family. She had a little brother named Changuri, her mom and her dad, and her pet cat Sagwa. One day, Yanmin went to a Chinese restaurant with her family. She wanted to have dumplings for dinner. Her father said “Yes” So Yanmin took the menu and sat at the table with her family. Yanmin was about to sit down when all of a sudden, she heard a voice. “Hey Yanmin, Come here” it said. Yanmin quietly walked to where that sound was coming from. She peeked under the table and at her surprise, she saw a talking dumpling. The dumpling kept bothering Yanmin. Everywhere Yanmin went, the dumpling followed her everywhere. Her father aked Yanmin “Is everything okay Yanmin”, “Yes, Everything is okay dad” Yanmin said. Yanmin got so mad at the dumpling. “Go away” she told the dumpling. “The dumpling would not listen to Yanmin and kept following her. The more the dumpling followed Yanmin, the angrier she would get. Yanmin was so angry, she ran out of the restaurant crying. “Please don’t cry Yanmin” the dumpling told Yanmin. “Would you please leave me alone” she cried. All of a sudden, Yanmin got even more angry, she took the dumpling and stepped on him. When Yanmin lifted up her feet, she was shocked to see her dumpling friend dead. “What have I done”? She cried. Yanmin’s father came out of the restaurant seeing her daughter cry. Yanmin told her father she was sorry for killing the dumpling. Tears fell on the dumpling and the dumpling turned into a handsome Chinese king. Yanmin looked up in amazement. “Will you marry me” asked the king. Yanmin agreed to marry King Bohai. Years later, Queen Yanmin and King Bohai got married. They were very happy to be together. The whole Chinese village cheered and lived happily ever after. The End
Story 6 :The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Samurai: A Tale from Japan •
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Long Long ago in a small Japanese village, there lived a samurai named Daiki. Daiki had a partner named Goro. Together they would fight and have fun with each other. They were both best friends. One day, Daiki and Goro were walking through a Japanese garden with a lot of cherry blossoms. When they met a beautiful Japanese boy. His name was Miki. Miki was a clever young Japanese boy. He wanted to be a samurai just like Daiki and Goro. “It’s not easy to be a samurai child” said Daiki. “It takes a lot of work and a lot of practice” said Goro. “But I really want to be tough like you guys” whined Miki. Miki found a really cool toy sword and played with it. “Let’s help you become a samurai” said Goro. The two samurai’s and the boy went into the middle of the Japanese gardens. Daiki and Goro taught Miki some very cool Japanese tricks. Miki was excited. First, they did some fighting, but Miki was just playing around. Miki was not paying attention. “Should we fight with this boy?” asked Goro. “We should teach him, not hurt him” said Daiki. Daiki gave Miki some steps for being a samurai. Miki tried and tried, but he gave up. Miki ran away crying. “I give up” he wailed. “I can’t do this”. “Don’t give up my friend” said Daiki. “You can do it” said Goro. “I can?” asked Miki”. “You can” the two samurai’s said. Miki tried and tried and guess what, he did it. The two samurai’s were very proud of Miki. Years later, Miki became a real samurai. Miki had a partner named Daichi. Miki and Daichi became the best of friends. The both fought with each other in a tough and friendly way. The whole Japanese village cheered for the two samurai’s and they both lived happily ever after. The End
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