Earth Care World Folktales to Talk About

Our relationship to the natural world is at the heart of the single largest problem facing us today. We have a choice. Hurt the Earth and we hurt ourselves. Care for it, and we reap its benefits. People the world over have always known this, and have expressed the consequences of these choices in their stories. Here are forty-one tales, fables, peons, stories, and numerous proverbs from over thirty countries or ethnic groups for folks to talk about. Grouped by concept, these tales touch upon both human and ecological themes: caring for the land -- the crops, the forests, and the wetlands; caring for other creatures; how all things are linked; how human greed leads to disaster; how no thing is without value; how pollution returns to the polluter; how one person can make a difference; how to husband the future by heeding the experience of the last; and how to unite our voices on the Earth's behalf.