The Wayward Wind - Folktales for March

  

The Wind's Tale: Picking Flowers and Herbs
by Edmund Dulac, 1911

"A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine." ~ Anne Bronte

The calendar tells us it is spring, yet snow continues to fall in New England. The strong March winds blow through the trees, breaking their boughs and reminding us that Mother Nature is still in charge.

Patiently we wait for spring to appear. The old saying goes,"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." So until then, we will entertain ourselves with stories of the wind.



The Wind’s Tale
by Hans Christian Andersen

When the wind sweeps across a field of grass it makes little ripples in it like a lake; in a field of corn it makes great waves like the sea itself: this is the wind's frolic. Then listen to the stories it tells; it sings them aloud, one kind of song among the trees of the forest, and a very different one when it is pent up within walls with all their cracks and crannies. Do you see how the wind chases the white fleecy clouds as if they were a flock of sheep? Do you hear the wind down there, howling in the open doorway like a watchman winding his horn? Then, too, how he whistles in the chimneys, making the fire crackle and sparkle. How cosy it is to sit in the warm glow of the fire listening to the tales it has to tell! Let the wind tell its own story! It can tell you more adventures than all of us put together. Listen now:—

'Whew!—Whew!—Fare away!' That was the refrain of his song.

'Close to the Great Belt stands an old mansion with thick red walls,' says the wind. 'I know every stone of it; I knew them before when they formed part of Marsk Stig's Castle on the Ness. It had to come down. The stones were used again, and made a new wall of a new castle in another place—Borreby Hall as it now stands.

'I have watched the highborn men and women of all the various races who have lived there, and now I am going to tell you about Waldemar Daa and his daughters!For the rest of the story go to
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17860/17860-h/17860-h.htm#THE_WINDS_TALE

MORE STORIES

Angry Wind – West Africa
https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2018/09/angry-wind-african-folktale-story.html

The Boy Who Went to the North Wind – Norway
http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales13.html#northwind

Chinook Wind – Native American/Yakima
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Chinook-Wind-Yakima.html

Fearing the Wind
http://spiritoftrees.org/fearing-the-wind

Michigan Winds - United States
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/michigan_winds.html

Origin of the Winds – Inuit/Native American
https://www.worldoftales.com/Native_American_folktales/Eskimo_folktale_29.html#gsc.tab=0

The Lad Who Went to the North Wind - Norway
https://www.storyberries.com/fairy-tales-the-lad-who-went-to-the-north-wind-by-asbjornsen-and-moe/

The Story of the Wind – Hans Christian Andersen
http://hca.gilead.org.il/the_wind.html 

Sun, Moon and Wind Go Out to Dinner – India
http://worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Indian_folktale_27.html

The Warm Wind Brothers vs. The Cold Wind Brothers – Native American
https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheWarmWindBrothersvsTheColdWindBrothers-Unknown.html  

The Wind and the Moon - India
http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-folktales/jataka-tales/wind-and-moon.html

The Wind Demon – Turkey - The story is on 112 in this public domain book.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64807/64807-0.txt

The Wind and the Sun - Greece/Aesop
https://fairytalez.com/the-wind-and-the-sun/

Yaponcha the Wind God – Native American/Hopi
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Yaponcha_The_Wind_God-Hopi.html

CURRICULUM

Traditional Stories About the Wind – Stories and lesson plans for grades K-4.  Unfortunately, this site is no longer active but you may still access it via the Wayback Machine here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120905035353/http://www.arcticclimatemodeling.com/lessons/acmp/acmp_k4_Wind_TraditionalStoriesAboutWind.pdf

U.S. Department of Energy – Wind Energy Curricula and Teaching Materials - “This page provides a list of wind energy curricula and teaching materials for elementary, middle school, and high school students that can bring wind energy into the classroom, even for students at schools without a wind turbine installation.

https://windexchange.energy.gov/education-workforce

WINDExchange - Lessons plans, curriculum, books, videos, and more.
https://windexchange.energy.gov/k12

Wonders of Wind Teacher’s Resource Guide – Students learn about the wind through reading and activities; for grades K-8.

http://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/guides/Wonders%20of%20Wind%20Teacher%20Guide.pdf   

CRAFTS

Ladybug Wind Chime 
http://tinyurl.com/5uzvhpu

Wind Sock
http://easypreschoolcraft.blogspot.com/2012/03/wind-sock-craft-2.html

Cloud Wind Puppet
http://tinyurl.com/5tu9m7m

Pinwheels 
http://tinyurl.com/6a8vbdd

SONGS

Music and Songs About Weather 
http://www.preschooleducation.com/sweather.shtml

The Wind Blows High – Jump Rope Song
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1321&c=51

Wind – Song for Teaching Rhyming Words
http://www.songsforteaching.com/avni/wind.htm

BOOKS

A Bed for the Wind by Roger B. Goodman – This was one of my son’s favorite books when he was little.
https://www.amazon.com/Bed-Wind-Goodman-root/dp/0671661175  

Listen to the Wind
http://tinyurl.com/4752uln

Willa and the Wind
http://www.amazon.com/Notable-Childrens-Books-Younger-Readers/dp/076145232X

Where Does the Wind Blow
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Does-Sharing-Nature-Children/dp/1584690410

Carol Hurst - Wind in Children’s Books
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/wind.html

And if you are seeking some additional stories to celebrate the windy month of March, head over to the blog below.

March Comes In Like a Lion – Folktales That Roar!
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/03/march-comes-in-like-lionfolktales-that.html

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace  2011 ©
This blog post was painstakingly researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my newsletter via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Tales of Japan-Sharing Their Stories



Kitagawa Utmaro (Japan 1752 – 1806)


I know our hearts are heavy with grief and worry for the people of Japan. With so many miles between us it seems the only things we can offer are prayers and donations for their recover. But perhaps we can also offer stories, in our programs, libraries and classrooms. Let’s bring their tales into the world and maybe our words will travel and help sustain their spirits during these challenging times.

I have faith that the Japanese people will survive but until they are ready, let us carry their stories for them.

“When love is deep, much can be accomplished.” ~ Shinichi Suzuki



The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower

Long, long ago there lived an old man and his wife who supported themselves by cultivating a small plot of land. Their life had been a very happy and peaceful one save for one great sorrow, and this was they had no child. Their only pet was a dog named Shiro, and on him they lavished all the affection of their old age. Indeed, they loved him so much that whenever they had anything nice to eat they denied themselves to give it to Shiro. The word Shiro means "white," and he was so called because of his color. He was a Japanese dog, and very like a small wolf in appearance.

The happiest hour of the day both for the old man and his dog was when the man returned from his work in the field, and having finished his frugal supper of rice and vegetables, would take what he had saved from the meal out to the little veranda that ran round the cottage. Sure enough, Shiro was waiting for his master and the evening tit-bit. Then the old man said "Chin, chin!" and Shiro sat up and begged, and his master gave him the food... For the rest of the story go to
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4018/4018-h/4018-h.htm#trees


More stories from the Land of the Rising Sun: All of the books are in the public domain.

Fairy Tales of Old Japan by William E. Griffis, 1923 – From the Baldwin Project
http://tinyurl.com/6de2ano

Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales by Grace James, 1912 – Free, downloadable book from Google Books.
http://tinyurl.com/6kzywql

Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu) translated by William N. Porter, 1909
http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/hvj/index.htm

Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki, 1908
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4018

Japanese Fairy Tales by Teresa Peirce Williston, 1911
http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/jft2/index.htm

Old-world Japan : legends of the land of the gods by Frank Rinder, 1895
http://www.archive.org/details/oldworldjapanleg00rind

Tales of Old Japan by A.B. Mitford, 1910
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13015/13015-h/13015-h.htm

Additional Resources

Storybug.net - These two blogs posts offer additional stories, curriculum and craft resources on Japan.
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/12/folding-cranes-finding-peace.html
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2009/04/fools-tricksters-festivals-and-spring.html


BOOKS

Folktales from the Japanese Countryside - A collection of 46 of Hiroko Fujita's traditional stories edited by Fran Stallings. The book includes a brief summary of Japanese history by emeritus professor Harold Wright, an overview of Japanese storytelling by Miki Sakurai, and a section of games, recipes, and crafts as well as facinating background notes on the stories.
http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?isbn=9781591584889

Children’s Books on Japan K-8
http://www.ceas.ku.edu/outreach/documents/children-lit-review-japan.pdf 


Karen Chace  2011 ©
This blog post was painstakingly researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my newsletter via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.