The Farmer's Wife / La esposa del granjero - (Teaching Stories) by Idries Shah (Paperback)

About the Book

A woman loses an apple and makes a series of attempts to get it back. When the story takes a sudden and unexpected turn, children learn important lessons on how to solve problems creatively.

Book Synopsis

(Bilingual English-Spanish edition / Edición bilingüe inglés-español) This story tells how a woman loses an apple down a hole in the ground and then makes a series of attempts to retrieve it. Children love chanting the action sequence of this cumulative tale from memory, but when the plot takes a sudden turn that's contrary to all expectations, they also learn important lessons about the nature of problem solving and discovery. The strikingly beautiful illustrations by Rose Mary Santiago invoke the origins of the story - which comes from the Sufi tradition and has been told for hundreds of years in the Middle East and Central Asia - while at the same time lending a uniquely playful atmosphere to this very amusing tale.

Esta historia cuenta cómo una mujer pierde una manzana por un agujero en el suelo y luego hace una serie de intentos para recuperarla. A los niños les encanta recitar de memoria la secuencia de acciones de este cuento acumulativo, pero cuando la trama da un giro repentino que es contrario a todas las expectativas, también aprenden lecciones importantes sobre la naturaleza de la resolución de problemas y el descubrimiento. Las ilustraciones sorprendentemente hermosas de Rose Mary Santiago invocan los orígenes de la historia - que proviene de la tradición sufí y se viene contando durante cientos de años en el Medio Oriente y Asia Central - mientras que al mismo tiempo dan un ambiente lúdico único a este cuento tan divertido.

Review Quotes

National Parenting Publication Awards - Honors Award Winner (U.S.)

"This award-winning folktale from Afghanistan is a story from the Sufi tradition, collected and retold by Idries Shah. ... This delightful cumulative tale should tickle young [readers]." - School Library Journal (U.S.)

"Its pleasantly repetitive language makes it an ideal tool for developing reading readiness and beginning reading skills." - Denise Nessel, Ph.D., Consultant and Director of Publications National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (U.S.)

"These teaching stories can be experienced on many levels. A child may simply enjoy hearing them; an adult may analyze them in a more sophisticated way. Both may eventually benefit from the lessons within." - "All Things Considered," National Public Radio (U.S.)

"They [teaching stories] suggest ways of looking at difficulties that can help children solve problems calmly while, at the same time, giving them fresh perspectives on these difficulties that help them develop their cognitive abilities" - psychologist Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., in his lecture "Teaching Stories and the Brain" given at the U.S. Library of Congress

"Through repeated readings, these stories provoke fresh insight and more flexible thought in children. Beautifully illustrated." - NEA Today: The Magazine of the National Education Association (U.S.)

"Shah's versatile and multilayered tales provoke fresh insight and more flexible thought in children." - Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature

"These stories ... are not moralistic fables or parables, which aim to indoctrinate, nor are they written only to amuse. Rather, they are carefully designed to show effective ways of defining and responding to common life experiences." - Denise Nessel, Ph.D., Senior Consultant with the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (U.S.), writing in Library Media Connection: The Professional Magazine for School Library Media Specialists (U.S.)

"These enchanting stories Shah has collected have a richness and depth not often encountered in children's literature, and their effect on minds young and old can be almost magical." - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.)

"Shah has collected hundreds of Sufi tales, many of which are teaching tales or instructional stories. In this tradition, the line between stories for children and those for adults is not as clear as it seems to be in Western cultures, and the lessons are important for all generations." - School Library Journal (U.S.)

"... a series of children's books that have captivated the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. The books are tales from a rich tradition of story telling from Central Asia and the Middle East. Stories told and retold to children, by campfire and candlelight, for more than a thousand years." - NEA Today: The Magazine of the National Education Association (U.S.)

"... they not only entertain, but can be understood on many different levels and provide a form of 'nourishment for the brain' that can help develop thinking abilities and perceptions." - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.)