Jataka TalesYour child and the Monkey King Bridge
↗When the king's archers surround the mango tree, the Monkey King stretches himself across the river so his troop can run over his back to safety. Your child, a young forest gatherer, sees the last little monkey too scared to cross. Your child wades in to the waist, holds the trembling monkey up, and helps it onto the king's back. The Monkey King, aching, whispers thanks before the archers lower their bows.
Lesson: A true leader makes a bridge of himself for the smallest
Jataka TalesYour child and the Banyan Deer
↗The Banyan Deer offers his own neck so a mother doe will not be sent to the king's kitchen, and the king is so moved he sets all the animals free. Your child hears this from a monk at the village vihara. That week the class picks a scapegoat for a broken vase. Your child steps forward and says, 'Punish me instead,' and the teacher, surprised, decides nobody needs to be punished at all.
Lesson: Stand in for the weak and the strong may change their mind
Jataka TalesYour child and the Hare in the Moon
↗The hare has nothing to give the hungry traveller but himself, so he offers to jump into the fire; the traveller, really the king of the gods, catches him and draws his shape on the moon. Nani tells Your child this on a full-moon night. The next day a hungry boy at the bus stop has no tiffin. Your child gives half of the parathas, and looks at the moon that night to see if the hare is smiling.
Lesson: The gift that costs you something is the one the moon remembers
Jataka TalesYour child and the Golden Goose Feather
↗ A poor mother is given one golden feather at a time by a goose, until greed makes her pluck them all and they turn to ordinary white. Your child hears the tale from Dadaji and thinks of the guava tree in the lane. The neighbours are stripping it bare while it is still green. Your child persuades the children to take only the ripe ones and leave the rest, and the tree gives fruit for weeks.
Lesson: Take a little each day and the gift keeps coming
Jataka TalesYour child and the Elephant and the Quail
↗ A tiny quail begs the elephant king not to step on her nest, and the great elephant stands guard over it until every other elephant has passed. Your child is at the village fair where a bullock cart is about to roll over a sparrow's nest fallen from a tree. Your child runs in front, waves both arms, and the cart driver stops. Together they lift the nest back into the branches.
Lesson: The biggest can protect the smallest, and so can you
Jataka TalesYour child and the Wise Parrot
↗ The wise parrot of the fig tree kept eating its fruit even after the tree went dry, because a friend does not leave when times are hard, and the tree bloomed again. Your child hears this at bedtime. When Your child's best friend Meera moves to a smaller flat and stops inviting anyone over, the others drift away. Your child keeps visiting every Sunday with a bag of sweets, and Meera's smile blooms back.
Lesson: Stay with a friend when their tree has gone dry
Jataka TalesYour child and the Lion and the Woodpecker
↗ A woodpecker pulls a bone from a choking lion's throat, and even when the lion later refuses to share his meal, the woodpecker does not grow bitter. Your child hears this from the school librarian. When Your child helps Rohan finish his project and Rohan does not even say thank you, Your child is hurt. But Your child decides to help the next classmate anyway, and finds that helping still feels good on its own.
Lesson: Help because it is right, not for the thank you
Jataka TalesYour child and the Mouse Merchant
↗ A boy with nothing but a dead mouse sells it as cat food, buys a coin's worth of sweets, and by trade after honest trade becomes a rich merchant. Dadi tells Your child this when Your child wants to buy a cricket bat but has no money. Your child starts by selling old newspapers, then watering plants for the neighbours, and after two months buys the bat. Dadi says the first rupee is the hardest.
Lesson: Start with what you have and trade honestly, one step at a time
Jataka TalesYour child and the Prince and the Swan
↗ Young Prince Siddhartha finds a swan struck by his cousin's arrow, pulls out the arrow, and refuses to give the bird up, saying a life belongs to the one who saves it. Your child hears the story at school. On the way home, Your child finds a pigeon tangled in kite string on the terrace. Your child spends an hour untangling it with care, gives it water, and lets it fly at sunset.
Lesson: The one who saves a life is the one who cares for it
Jataka TalesYour child and the Patient Ox
↗ An ox named Nandivisala can pull a hundred carts, but when his master calls him lazy and rude names, he will not move; when spoken to kindly, he pulls them all. Your child hears this from Dadaji at the village. The next day Your child's little cousin refuses to do his homework while everyone scolds. Your child sits with him, says, 'You can do this,' and he finishes every sum.
Lesson: Kind words move what harsh words cannot
Jataka TalesYour child's Quail Net Lesson
↗ A flock of quails escapes the hunter's net by all flying up together, but the day they start quarrelling, they get caught. Your child hears this while the housing society's children are quarrelling about who will play the lead in the Republic Day play. Your child suggests everyone gets a line, writes them out on chits, and the play goes on with thirty small heroes and no net at all.
Lesson: Together you lift the net; apart it falls on you
Jataka TalesYour child and the Forest Fire Bird
↗ A tiny quail chick, too young to fly, tells the forest fire the truth: he has wings that cannot lift him and legs that cannot run, and the fire, hearing such plain honesty, turns aside. Your child hears this on the night before admitting to Papa that the cricket ball broke the neighbour's window. Your child tells the plain truth, and Papa, instead of anger, takes Your child next door to apologise together.
Lesson: Tell the plain truth and even fire turns aside
Jataka TalesYour child and the Elephant Who Remembered
↗ An old elephant who once lived in the palace is found starving in the forest, and only the boy who fed him as a calf can coax him to eat. Your child hears the story on a visit to Dadaji in the hill town, where the old dog Sheru will not eat since Dadi passed. Your child remembers Dadi hummed while feeding him, hums the same song, and Sheru eats from Your child's hand.
Lesson: Love remembers the song even when the singer is gone
Jataka TalesYour child and the Two Merchants of the Desert
↗ Two caravans cross the desert; the hasty merchant throws away his water when a stranger says there is rain ahead, and the careful one keeps it and saves everyone. Your child hears this before a school trek. When the guide says the stream is near and the boys empty their bottles for fun, Your child keeps a full bottle, and shares it cup by cup when the stream turns out to be dry.
Lesson: Keep your water even when someone promises rain
Jataka TalesYour child and the Crab and the Crane
↗ A crane promises to carry the pond's fish to a better lake but eats them one by one, until a clever crab holds his neck and makes him take it safely home. Dadi tells Your child this when a stranger online offers free game coins for a password. Your child thinks of the crab, closes the app, and tells Amma. Amma changes the password and buys Your child a real ice cream instead.
Lesson: Hold on tight and check the promise before you trust the crane