"THE EMPTY POT" STORY |
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"THE EMPTY POT" by Charlotte Demi Hunt Huang Scroll down or click on your choice below • Book titled "The Empty Pot" by Demi • Online links to information about "The Empty Pot" • SOS: Searching Out Stories / Info about "The Empty Pot" ~~Advice/References - Storytellers, Teachers, Librarians |
BOOK TITLED "THE EMPTY POT" BY DEMI
Book titles are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
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Empty Pot (The) (An Owlet Book) by Demi. (1990 - Baby-Preschool)A long time ago in China there was a boy named Ping who loved flowers. Anything he planted burst into bloom. The Emperor loved flowers too. When it was time to choose an heir, he gave a flower seed to each child in the kingdom, saying,"Whoever can show me their best in a year's time shall succeed me to the throne!" Ping plants his seed and tends it every day. But month after month passes, and nothing grows. When spring comes, Ping must go to the Emperor with nothing but an empty pot. |
ONLINE LINKS TO INFORMATION ABOUT "THE EMPTY POT" BY DEMI
Online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
Short descriptions included for your convenience and to save you research time.
• http://library.thinkquest.org/J001709/thinkquest_values/story/empty_story/empty.html
Full text with illustrations, as retold by Bryson T.
• http://www.storiestogrowby.com/stories/empty_pot_china.html
"The Empty Pot" (China) from SimplyPlanters.com
• http://www.bu.edu/sed/caec/files/elemlesson.htm
"The Empty Pot" (China) - a elementary school lesson plan from CAEC at Boston University
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http://www.ywconnection.com/Lesson%20Help/pageM2L36theemptypot.html
Another version of "The Empty Pot" (China), this one by Cindy Smythe.
• http://www.bcplonline.org/kidspage/demi.html
Background information on Huang
SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFO ABOUT "THE EMPTY POT" BY DEMI
Advice, Discussion and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research)
Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Storytell posts are added chronologically as they are received by Story Lovers World.
1) Bones:
It is such a lovely story about an Emperor who devises a test to find a replacement for himself. He loves flowers, so gives every child in the kingdom a seed and tells them to bring him back whatever they could grow in one year. The hero of the story is a boy who loves to garden. He takes great care with the seed doing everything that a good gardener would do but with no luck. All year he works but can produce nothing. Finally the year has passed and it is time to return to the palace with his pot. He is ashamed and tells his father that he doesn't want to go. All of the other children have been bragging about their beautiful flowers. His dad tells him that he has worked his hardest and done his best and that is good enough. He encourages his son to go. So the boy takes the empty pot and stands amidst hundreds of children with their huge and colorful flowers. The emperor calls the boy forward and asks him what happens. In tears the boy tells of how hard he worked. Then the Emperor tells him that he will be the next Emperor. He says that he does not know how everyone else grew flowers, because what he had given them were boiled beans. He commends the boy for his honesty and claims him the next Emperor of China.
2) Another set of bones:
This beautifully illustrated tale, tells the story of a boy named Ping who had a knack for growing things – everything he touched burst into bloom! The Emperor, who was growing old, also loved gardening and decided to let the flowers choose his successor. So he sent out a proclamation to all the children in the land saying that he would give each one of them a special seed and whoever could show the Emperor their best in a year’s time, would become his successor. Ping was excited; he received his seed from the Emperor and was sure he would grow a beautiful presentation. But he could not make the seed grow. He changed the soil; he watered it; he watched and he waited - but nothing happened. And then the year was up. All the other children had pots full of beautiful flowers, but not Ping. He took his empty pot to the Emperor – for it was the best that he could do. Now as it turns out, the Emperor is not impressed with all the flowers the other children brought him because, in fact, the seeds that the Emperor had given all the children had been boiled and would not sprout – and Ping and only Ping had had the courage to appear with the “empty trutt." A beautiful, classic book about truth – sometimes being hard – and rewarding!
Paperback (32 pages)
Created 2002; last update 5/27/09