The Lion Book of Wisdom Stories from Around the World

A compilation of fifteen tales, most of them brief, from Europe, the Middle East, Russia, India, Afghanistan, Africa, Jamaica and America. Each contains a message of universal truth demonstrating the vital fact, that we all have something to learn from other communities. So we have an Anansi story telling how the spider learned that wisdom increases through sharing, an ideal starting point for the book. Those that follow include a biblical tale, ‘The Lost Coin’, a practical demonstration of how everyone benefits from welcoming strangers into a community, a lesson about the pointlessness of arguing and the final tale from the Middle East showing how the most important things in life are not material possessions.

The style of telling is spare and direct as befits the oral tradition, and the tales are best, as the author intended, read aloud. Balit’s highly patterned illustrations embellish the prose, being executed in rich hues and with a solemnity and gravitas to them.

I can see this collection being a handy standby for assemblies and as a part of personal and social education sessions.