COOPERATION STORIES |
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COOPERATION STORIES from Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Myths, Legends, Fables, Nursery Rhymes, Bible, Classics, General Information Scroll down or click on your choice below • Books about cooperation - All ages - Reference • Toys and Games about cooperation - Classroom Activities - Children • Online links to stories and information about cooperation • SOS - Searching Out Stories and information about cooperation ~~Advice, Discussion, References from Storytellers, Teachers & Librarians |
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BOOKS ABOUT COOPERATION - ALL AGES - REFERENCE
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Book titles are in dark blue and underlined. Click on them to learn more about the books and how to buy them.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
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Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline: The 7 Basic Skills for Turning Conflict into Cooperation by Becky A. Bailey. (2001)Focusing on self-control and confidence-building for both parent and child, Dr. Bailey teaches a series of linked skills to help families move from turmoil to tranquillity: 7 Powers for Self-Control to help parents model the behavior they want their kids to follow. These lead to: 7 Basic Discipline Skills to help children manage sticky situations at home and at school, which will help your children develop:7 Values for Living, such as integrity... |
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Bundle of Sticks (The)
by Josie Stewart and Lynn Salem. (2004)The farmer teaches his children that by working together they will be strong and successful. A tale by Aesop retold. Seedling books help beginning readers grow through engaging stories and kid-friendly photos and artwork. Best for reading at the earliest stages, these books use clear print, ample spacing, limited vocabulary, and simple story lines to help children practice word building, improve fluency, and garner a love for reading. |
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Elephant on My Roof
by Erin Harris. (2006 - Ages 4-8) A young boy wakes one morning to find an elephant perched on his roof. He goes to the townspeople, but no one will help. Everyone believes that an elephant in town will only cause trouble. After the townspeople finally agree, the entire village realizes that a single act of kindness can often come back around in unexpected ways. |
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Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging and Pleading and Get Kids to Cooperate
by Elizabeth Pantley with William Sears (Introduction). (1996)Would you like to know how to get your children to willingly cooperate? Would you like to eliminate many of your daily battles and end the yelling, nagging, and pleading? Would you like to handle discipline issues with knowledge and authority? During this process, would you like to learn how to boost your children's self-esteem, feel better about yourself as a person, and even improve your marriage? |
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Little Story About a Big Turnip (A)
by Tatiana Zunshine with Evgeny Antonenkov (illus). (2004 - Ages 4-8) Drawing from the history of Russian verbal art, this story about a family that must work together is an adaptation of a Russian children's folk tale. When the grandfather has trouble plucking a turnip from his garden, it takes the help of the entire family—grandmother, granddaughter, dog, cat, and mouse—to dislodge it. Rhythm and melody work in combination with a clever refrain. |
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Midnight the Cow Learns about Cooperation
by Karen Putzke with Lara Lombardo (illus). (2008 - Ages 4-8) Reader: A darling story, with a good character lesson, about a cow and her friends. Midnight the Cow is supposed to stay clean for the county fair. Unfortunately, Sheldon the Goat and Laney the Chicken accidentally cause Midnight to get dirty! Learn how a Wise Pony can teach the barnyard friends about cooperation. |
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Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids: 7 Keys to Turn Family Conflict into Cooperation
by Sura Hart and Victoria Kindle Hodson. (2006)This handbook urges parents to move beyond typical discipline techniques by creating an environment based on mutual respect, emotional safety, and positive, open communication. The seven outlined principles redefine the parent-dominated family by teaching parents how to achieve mutual parent/child respect without being submissive, set firm limits without using demands or coercion, and empower children to cooperate. |
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Sweet and Sour: Tales from China
by Yao-Wen Li and Carol Kendall with Shirley Felts (illus). (2007 - Ages 9-12) This intriguing collection of 24 folktales, parables and fables spans many eras and literary styles. See Ten Jugs of Wine. |
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Swimmy
by Leo Lionni. (1963 - Ages 4-8) An exquisite picture book. A little fish, the lone survivor of a school of fish swallowed by a tuna, devises a plan to camouflage himself and his new companions.--School Library Journal, starred review. ALA Notable Book; Caldecott Honor Book. Full-color illustrations. |
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Tale of Pip and Squeak (The)
by Kate Duke. (2007 - Ages 4-8) Charming mice take the stage in a delightful tale of two bickering brothers. Pip and Squeak share a home, but can’t get along. Everything the brothers do becomes a competition, including their annual midwinter celebration. Until one year, when their efforts to outdo each other turn into a theatrical collaboration . . . with the best results of all—brotherly love! |
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Team Challenges: 170+ Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication, and Creativity
by Kris Bordessa. (2005 - Young Adult)"I’ve seen lots of activity books for kids, but few are so all-encompassing." —LiveFreeLearnFree.com "A rare gift." —Deepfun.com "Great for teachers, and also fun for families." —Ashland Daily Tidings "Helps group leaders effortlessly guide a team through fun activities." —Family Magazine |
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Thomas & Friends: Calling All Engines (Pictureback(R))
by Rev. W. Awdry with Richard Courtney (illus). (2005 - Ages 4-8) Thomas and the Really Useful Engines are working hard getting the new airport ready for the grand opening. Then a terrible storm slows them down, and soon it is clear that all the engines are going to have to work together. The steamies and the diesels have never gotten along very well, but Lady appears in Thomas’ dream and tells him it will be all right. But can they count on help from the biggest diesel of them all–Diesel 10? |
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Three Monks, No Water
by Harvey Chan. (1997 - Ages 4-8) A young monk lives a simple life, meditating, tending to his vegetable garden and fetching water from a cold stream. Rain or shine, he never misses a day lugging this burden up the mountain to the temple. One day he invites a travelling monk to stay with him. Since they will share the water, they descend the mountain together to fetch it. Due to the difference in their heights, the men find themselves unable to carry the water... |
TOYS AND GAMES ABOUT COOPERATION - CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES - CHILDREN
Product names are in dark blue and underlined. Click on them to learn more about the products and how to buy them.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
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Fleece Cooperative Band, 12 ft., for 2-5 People Explore body movement and balance as a group with this Fleece Cooperative Band also known as a Chinese Jump Rope! This soft and stretchy 12 foot band is made of elastic cord covered with multi-colored fabric and is designed for group movement and cooperation activities. Holds 2-5 participants. |
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Parachute, 6' with 8 handles Cooperative play and movement exercises take on a new dimension with our parachutes! Made of multi-colored, rip-stop nylon fabric, they're sewn to last through the toughest play times. Each has its own storage bag. |
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Running Man (SET) Watch the man run from one end to the other as players roll up the string as quickly as possible. A fun way to exercise the wrists and forearms while integrating cooperation and teamwork. Players must communicate and work together to make the man run. Instruction and activity guide included. Each set includes 1 of each color: Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red and Yellow. |
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Shadows Over Camelot
(Ages 10+) As the incarnation of the Knights of the Round Table, you join forces against the game itself in an attempt to protect Camelot. But beware...all is not as it seems among these noble Knights. Featuring a richly illustrated gameboard of Camelot and its surroundings, finely carved miniatures of the Knights and their foes, and seven Quests to embark upon - Shadows over Camelot is your gateway to many a memorable game night among friends. |
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TeamWork Trekker for 4 (59" Long) (PR) WALK THIS WAY! TeamWork Trekkers are designed for your students to develop balance, coordination, agility and cooperation. Students must learn to communicate and work together in order to walk together. Each unit has a soft foam bottom that will not harm gym floors. Use indoors or outdoors. Recommended for ages 4 and up. |
ONLINE LINKS ABOUT COOPERATION - ALL AGES
Online links are in light blue and underlined. Click on them to go to the Internet for more stories/information.
Story titles are in bold type.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
• Cooperation stories from Environmental Storytelling.com
http://writingresults.net/EnvironmentalStorytelling/cooperationstori.html
• Destruction (The) of the Bison - an Atsinas folktale
http://tinyurl.com/cjgdpx
• Great Big Enormous Turnip (The) - by Alexei Tolstoy
http://www.infopeople.org/training/past/2009/jumpjive/JJ_turnip_script.pdf
• Hare (The) and the Water, a Tansanian Folktale from Water in Africa - lesson plan
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/africa/lessons/ESlang02/index.html
• Farmer (The), the Snake and the Heron, an African folktale (overcoming bias)
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/02/an-african-folktale.html
• Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict from EDsitement
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=380
• Folktales of Cooperation for your K-3 Class from Education World
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson172.shtml
• Jefferson School District Libraries, Daly City, CA
http://tinyurl.com/cg82sj
SOS - SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT COOPERATION
Advice, Discussion and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell plus original research)
Online links are in light blue and underlined. Click on them to go to the Internet for more stories/information.
Book titles are in dark blue and underlined. Click on them to learn more about the books and how to buy them.
Story titles in in bold type.
Attributions and entry dates are not included prior to 2005.
All posts are listed when they are received by Story Lovers World.
1) I checked the web for stories on cooperation and found a website I've never seen before that you may find useful. Maybe it was mentioned before, and if so, sorry for the repetition. What I like about it is that it has stories categorized by a lot of the more abstract themes that people on the list ask for time and time again. Here's the list of themes and the URL: Cooperation, courage, creative thinking, friendship, generosity, honesty, justice, kindness, learning, love, perseverance, regret and recovery, respect for Nature, restraint, self-awareness, selflessness.
http://www.storiestogrowby.com/
2) New Query 4/14/09 I'm nearly finished with my April Character Ed page of the month on "Cooperation." I will attribute your offering with a link to your website. Here is what I have so far...
• Anansi and His Six Sons is my lead story.
http://students.ou.edu/H/Shana.R.Hurst-1/story2.html
• Coyote Brings Fire
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~oban/coyofire.htm
Scroll down on this page to find this California Indian story about Coyote who enlists the help of his friends to bring fire back to the people. There are many, many versions of this story. Here is another from Canada called The Long Winter.
• The Piasa Bird
http://www.greatriverroad.com/Cities/Alton/PiasaBird.htm
A local Illinois legend where the Illiniwek must come together to destroy the mighty Piasa.
• The Enormous Turnip
http://tinyurl.com/d54ozl
The bones of the story of the enormous turnip. Everyone tries to pull the turnip but it is the smallest who succeeds. Also written as a Readers' Theatre.
• Stone Soup
http://www.extremelinux.info/stonesoup/stonesoup.html
The folktale about making soup out of a stone...with the cooperation of the village people. The fun thing about this story is it can be told in a variety of different ways.
The Ram and the Pig Who Set Up House
http://www.whootieowl.com/learn_english/Spanish/RP-story-shell.htm
This Norwegian tale reminds me of The Bremen Town Musicians towards the end. Animals come together to build a house eusing their special talents. And they protect the house again by using their special talents.
Marilyn K. 4/14/09
http://www.marilynkinsella.org
Response: There are some good ones in the Pentamerone - one is The Flea, and the other one is The Booby. Kids love them both, and I usually play a game with them while telling, letting them impersonate the characters with magical abilities or find objects to throw behind their backs to stop the giant, and so on. Another one is The Argonauts, it's long and better for older kids, but everyone there contributes to the adventure according to their own special skills. Same goes for Journey to the West.
• The Flea - http://www.zftrans.com/bbs/read.php?tid=12028&fpage=2
• The Booby - http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/pentam17.htm
• The Argonauts - http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php3?author=kingsley&book=heroes&story=_contents
Macsek 4/14/09
http://www.zalkacsenge.hu/
Response:
• Butterfly Friends -- 3 butterflies caught in rain, won't take refuge under the flowers unless all are welcome to come (and some are not because of their color)
• Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock -- in the end the animals cooperate with Little Spotted Deer to retrieve their food before Anansi wakes up
• Three Little Pigs -- cooperate in the last house -- one lets the others in, one builds fire, one fetches water, they all wait together
• Little Red Hen -- what happens when you don't cooperate
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Bundle of Sticks (The)
• What Made Tiddalick Laugh -- in my version the animals work together to think of ways to make Frog laugh -- birds sing, kooaburra tells jokes, kangaroos hop, rhinos do the splits, and in the end they all do the chicken dance and Frog laughs (nobody laughs at someone who is funny looking in my stories)
Sue B. 4/14/09
http://www.sue-black.com/
Response: Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. Odd companions make vital contributions to the hero's success. Mary Hamilton wove a humdinger version of this winto her NSN keynote one year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fool_of_the_World_and_the_Flying_Ship
In a serious mode:
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The Blind Men and the Elephant.
I understand it originated as a parable showing that each of us grasps just part of an issue (the nature of god in the original version), no one is wholly right, we need to listen to the conjectures of all. Variants which end with a sighted person revealing the identity of the elephant, seem to miss the point. Rather, I like David Roth's song version which ends with "What you believe depends on where you stand--and what you feel."
Fran S. 4/14/09
http://www.FranStallings.com
Response:
• The Brave Little Parrot
http://www.healingstory.org/treasure/little_parrot/brave_little_parrot.html
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/story/parrot.html
Karen C. 4/14/09
http://www.storybug.net/
Response: Which reminded me of The Monty Python Box Set (Monty Python & The Holy Grail/ And Now For Something Completly Different/ The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
Richard M., Dublin 4/14/09
http://www.legendarytours.com/storyteller.html
Response: How about Bunches of Sticks? It's a picture book—sorry, don't know the autho—about three brothers who are rug weavers. A prize is offered by the Caliph for the best wedding gift for his daughter. They start work on a rug, but start arguing about whose contribution to it is most important. All work stops. The father decides to intervene. gives each son a stick which he easily breaks. Takes the six sticks, ties them with cord. None of the sons can break the bundle. Alone they are weak, together they are strong. They learn to cooperate. We use this on in our Character Ed programs.
Carol C. 4/15/09
http://www.talesntunes.net
Response:
This also sounds like and Anansi stories about the gifts his seven sons his sons possess. They each use their gifts to rescue their father.
This just made me think of another tale, The Magic Pomegranate: A Jewish Folktale (On My Own Folklore)
Karen C. 4/15/09
http://www.storybug.net/
Response: If you've got room for one more: The Riddle of the Drum: A Tale from Tizap¦An, Mexico
http://lib.usm.edu/~degrum/html/research/findaids/aardema.htm
Another possibility is Slops - from Margaret Read MacDonald's Peace Tales
Judy S. 4/15/09
http://classes.kvcc.edu/webdesign150/winter2005/Margaret/Page465.htm
Response: The Three Little Pigs come to mind as does . . . The idea of "negative cooperation" - more or less cooperating towards something that hurts or harms others. For example, many bullying stories could be thought of as cooperation stories also.
Mary K.C. 4/15/09
Response: The Little Master Thief [in The Storytelling Star: Tales of the Sun, Moon and Stars
Added on 4/16/09: There are several published versions of the 5 Chinese siblings story. What we like about The Little Master Thief is that the abilities are skills developed in apprenticeships, rather than magical or superhero powers. About 25 years ago our kids had a book called something like The King and his 6 Friends. That now reminds me of Drakestail. Also there are many stories where the hero helps 3 or more objects, animals, etc. and they return the favor by helping the hero escape their wicked owner.
Tom & Sandy F. 4/15/09
http://www.spont.com/
Response: All these contributions about the cooperation of the unique talents of others to help achieve a goal, got me to thinking. Is there a list of these types of stories. I think we've listed at least 5 in two days?
Anansi and his Six (or seven) sons
The Fool and the Flying Ship
Baron Munchausen (is it only in the film where he is helped by others?)
The Riddle of the Drum
The Little Master Theif
The Magic Pomegranate
I found a few more on Wikipedia. Interesting.
Then there are the stories where animals use their abilities to achieve a goal - Coyote Brings Fire and The Long Winter.
Thanks for everyone's "cooperation!". I received so many that I'm going to open a special page linked to my cooperation page with all your wonderful contributions and comments.
Marilyn K. 4/15/09
http://www.marilynkinsella.org
Response: For cooperation stories I use a tale from the Slavey Nation called The Long Winter. A team of animals works together to find and rescue heat. Together they do what no one animal could have done. You can find a version on-line at
http://www.storiestogrowby.com/stories/long_winter_canada.html
I also use a story from the Dan tribe of Liberia. Head has a good life, but as he meets and teams up with arms, body and then legs he discovers how much more they can do when they work together. There's a picture book version, Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia
Another story that would work is the one about the quails who learn that they can escape the hunter's net if they all flap together. When they begin arguing the hunter triumphs. There's a version here
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7098371/Folktales-of-Giving-Lesson-Plan
Renée E., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.ReneeEnglot.com
3) The Musicians of Bremen is a good type of humorous tale. It shows all the elements of true humor. Its philosophy is healthy, it views life as a whole and escapes tragedy by seeing the comic situation in the midst of trouble. It is full of the social good-comradeship which is a condition of humor. It possesses a suspense that is unusual, and is a series of surprises with one grand surprise to the robbers at their feast as its climax..."
"In a simple tale like The Bremen Town Musicians it is surprising how much of interest can develop: the adventure in the wood; the motif of some one going to a tree-top and seeing from there a light afar off, which appears in Hop-o'-my-Thumb and in many other tales; the example of cooperation, where all had a unity of purpose; an example of a good complete short-story form which illustrates introduction, setting, characters and dialogue--all these proclaim this one of the fine old stories..."
Continued at:
http://sacred-texts.com/etc/sft/sft08.htm
4) Something has been gnawing at me about this cooperation theme, and maybe this message has hit on it for me. I believe this type of story motif is generally called "Magical Friends," and, though the friends are contributors, I'm not sure there is much evidence that they are cooperators. They simply sequentially give what talents they have to the hero of the story at whatever point he needs them. They don't interact with each other, and they are not motivated to bring about the good of all, but rather to bring about the hero's personal goals such as to marry the princess. They are more like outstanding employees than cooperators.
I tell several magical friends tales (One fun story not yet mentioned is Kanu Above and Kanu Below from one of Margaret Read MacDonald's Twenty Tellable titles — Twenty Tellable Tales: Audience Participation Folktales for the Beginning Storyteller
in the purest sense. (Like purity is a big deal with storytellers--right!!?)
On the other hand, so much is in the angle you put on a story that I can certainly see myself using one such story in a program on cooperation. Just puzzling here...
Mary Grace K. 4/16/09
Response: Thanks, Mary Grace, for helping us clarify our focus on these stories. I second both points: that Magical Friends tales might fit better for diversity than for cooperation, and that much can depend on the angle from which they are told.
This is the kind of deeper-than-paint thinking for which I appreciate Storytell!
Fran S. 4/16/09
(This web page updated 2/25/04; 4/15/09)
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