Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

Portable Collections Program 

Telling Stories 

Through Objects

Table of Contents 

Checklist: What’s in the Case? –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1 

Information for the Teacher: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 3 

How to Handle and Look At Museum Objects 

Introduction: Every Object Has a Story to Tell 

Information About the Objects in the Case 

Activities to Do with Your Students: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 10 

1 Introductory Activity: Word Play 

2 What Can Objects Tell Me? 

3 Make a Story Journal 

4 Show and Tell 

5 Reassemble a Story 

6 Playing with Proverbs 

7 Additional Activities and Curricular Connections 

Resources and Reference Materials: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 22 

Vocabulary Words 

Connections with New York State Learning Standards 

Corresponding Field Trips 

Bibliography and Web Resources 

Appendix: Stories About the Objects in the Case ––––––––––––––––––––– 26

■ CHECKLIST: WHAT’S IN THE CASE? ■ 

What’s in the Case? 

Objects 

Clay lamp 

Blue Willow plate 

Kiwi figure 

Spindle 

Ink stone and 

calligraphy brush 

Mola Conqueror mask 

TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 1 

Saltcellar 

Bark painting Kachina 

Shadow puppet 

Figure of Osiris 

Game board goldweight Puff adder goldweight Birds in a tree goldweight

■ CHECKLIST: WHAT’S IN THE CASE? ■ 

What’s in the Case? 

Objects 

Chicken head goldweight Porcupine goldweight 

Resources 

Rama and Sita: A Tale from Ancient Java by David Weitzman 

The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales by Neil Philip 

The Illustrated Book of Myths by Neil Philip 

Keys to Imagination DVD, by Story Watchers Club 

TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 2

■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■ 

How to Handle Museum Objects How to Look at Museum Objects 

Learning to handle objects from the Museum’s 

permanent collection with respect can be part of 

your students’ educational experience of the case. 

Please share these guidelines with your class, and 

make sure your students follow them in handling 

objects in the case: 

• Students may handle the objects carefully under 

your supervision. 

• Hold objects with two hands. Hold them by the 

solid part of the body or by the strongest area 

rather than by rims, edges or protruding parts. 

• Paint, feathers, fur and fibers are especially 

fragile and should be touched as little as possible. 

Remember that rubbing and finger oils can be 

damaging. 

• Do not shake the objects or the plexiglass cases 

they are housed in. 

• Temperature differences, direct sunlight, and 

water can be very harmful to certain objects. 

Please keep the objects away from radiators and 

open windows, and keep them secure. 


Objects have the power to fascinate people with their 

mere physical presence. Holding an object in their 

hands forms a tangible link between your students, 

the artist who made it, and the artist’s homeland. 

This sense of physical connection makes it easier for 

students to think concretely about the ideas and 

concepts you introduce to them in your lessons. 

Objects also have the power to tell us about their 

origins and purpose, provided we are willing to look 

at them in detail and think about what those details 

mean. Encourage your students to examine an 

object carefully, touch it gently and look at its 

design and decoration. Have them describe its 

shape, size, and color. Ask them questions about 

what they see, and what that might tell them. For 

example: 

• How was the object made? What tools did the 

artist need? 

• What materials did the artist use? Where might 

he or she have gotten those materials? 

• How is the object decorated? What might the 

decorations mean? 

• What does the object tell you about the person 

or people who made it?


Introduction: Every Object Has a Story to Tell 

To the teacher 

The objects included in this Portable Collections case 

can support your reading, writing, and language arts 

curriculum. They have been carefully selected and 

paired with stories (included in the Appendix, page 

26) that relate to them or to the people who made 

them. By sharing these objects and their stories with 

your class, you can inspire your students to think 

deeper, read more, discuss things enthusiastically, and 

write substantively about what they have learned. The 

objects and stories in this case also present a good 

opportunity for helping your students cultivate their 

abilities to observe and describe objects and to tell 

and listen to stories. 

A story can be understood for purposes of this case 

in the broadest terms, as an account of people and 

events. Stories may be personal and informal or public 

and literary. They may be brief or epic. They may 

relate fact, fiction, or some combination. They may 

be written down or told aloud. They may be presented 

in a book or magazine, a play, a movie, a website, 

or a television or radio program. Making the connection 

between objects and stories is a potent way to 

begin recognizing how stories are all around us. 

How do objects “tell” stories? How can 

you “tell stories through objects”? 

Some objects almost literally “tell” stories. The 

shadow puppet and conqueror mask in the case are 

two examples of objects made to be storytelling 

props. When wielded by a puppeteer or worn by an 

actor, these objects seem to come to life and stories 

flow through them naturally. 

Many objects—the kinds we often see in art, religious, 

or civic settings but also everywhere around us— 

represent characters in stories or depict stories. In 

the case, the statue of Osiris represents a god who 

appears in Egyptian myths (page 1); the kachina 

represents a spirit being who appears in stories and 

ritual dances (page 1), and the kiwi represents a bird 


whose special characteristics are explained by a traditional 

tale (page 1). The Blue Willow plate depicts 

some of the settings and characters in a story inspired 

by the fashion for Chinese goods in the late 18th 

century. 

Stories also often incorporate otherwise ordinary 

objects as accessories or agents of the action. Usually, 

if they are in the story, these objects are helping the 

storyteller to set the scene or move the action 

forward. Simple, functional objects like the ink stone 

and brush, the spindle, or the saltcellar in the case 

may play a role, even a pivotal role in a story. Here 

the actual object in front of us is not the one in the 

story. It may not even look like the one in the story. 

But the relationship between the object and the story 

can enrich them both: Looking at the saltcellar can 

remind us of the importance of salt in the folktale 

“The Necessity of Salt” (page 31); hearing the story 

of “The Dreaming Prince” (page 33) can make us 

look at the calligraphy tools in a different way. 

The mola, the bark painting, and all but one of the 

goldweights in the case do not have any particular 

stories (or, in the case of the goldweights, proverbs) 

associated with them, even though they look like 

they might. They suggest how students can approach 

objects whose stories they do not know either 

because the objects are unfamiliar (and maybe also 

because they look old, valuable, or prestigious) or 

because the students are not part of the cultures in 

which they were made and where their stories are 

widely known. With these objects, students can take 

clues from what they observe about the objects and 

use their imaginations to conjure up stories that fit! 

Objects also tell other kinds of story—stories of the 

people who made them, the culture in which they 

were made, the way in which they were used, the 

materials and techniques that went into making 

them, and their history as objects. To find and understand 

these non-fiction stories can lead your students 

to do research into different cultures, biography, 

technology, and history. Hints to these kinds of story 

are contained in the Information About Objects 

▲


Introduction: Every Object Has a Story to Tell (continued) 

section following this Introduction and opportunities 

for students to research can be found throughout the 

activities. 

The arts of telling and listening 

to stories 

People are always telling stories. When their parent or 

caretaker asks your students what they did at school 

today, how do they answer? That one simple question 

may lead a student to tell any number of stories. 

“You’ll never guess what happened on the playground 

today!” “I was on the way home from school 

when…” “Today my best friend did the funniest 

thing!” We all know, however, that even a fascinating 

story gains interest when it is well told. 

In the course of using this case, you may want to 

work with your students on different techniques to 

make their storytelling more exciting. The DVD in the 

case provides examples of story telling for children. 

Show them how varying their tone of voice can add 

nuance to their stories. Urge them to practice 

speaking softly to indicate secrecy, or loudly to 

indicate excitement. Their timbre can also help them 

differentiate between characters. They may represent 

a masculine or gruff-voiced character by speaking 

very low, or a feminine or shrill character by speaking 

warmly or higher. They can have fun repeating the 

same sentence with different expression—sad, loving, 

angry, regal, military, and so on. 

Students can also help create excitement and suspense 

by varying the pace at which they tell their 

tales. A dramatic pause can keep their audience on 

the edge of its seat. Gestures and simple sound effects 

may also be used to their advantage when telling 

stories, but remind your students that they should 

not overdo it on these features—their words are what 

will keep the story moving along. 

It is also important for your students to keep in mind 

that telling a story they have written or read does not 

mean they have to recite it from memory. In telling 

the story, they want it to seem fresh, as though it 


were happening right in front of their listeners. To do 

this, they may need to read a story several times and 

recreate the story as an unfolding experience in their 

minds. That experience creates mental landmarks 

from which the story in their own words will spin out. 

Tell your students not to worry about the words coming 

together just so—just start at the beginning, get 

yourself through the middle, and come to the end. 

Everyone’s words and style of storytelling will be 

unique to him or her alone. Your students do not 

need to imitate any other storyteller. If they have 

confidence that their stories are good, they have only 

to tell it in their own way and their audience will listen 

with rapt attention. 

Listening to stories is also a skill you can help your 

students cultivate. Explain to them that just as telling 

a story is not a recitation from memory but an active 

experience, listening to a story is a participatory rather 

than a passive act. When you read or tell a story to 

them, ask them to build a theater in their minds and 

to transform the words they hear into scenes, characters, 

and unfolding events. Stop at moments and ask 

them to elaborate on the story. What do they see 

that’s not in the story? What are the characters 

wearing? Have them describe the scenery. What do 

they think the characters feel about each other? What 

do they think could happen next and how might the 

story end? 

Objects and stories have a natural affinity. Both involve 

imagination, detail, character, event. They are mutually 

enlivening. Hitched together, as they are in this 

case, they can heighten students’ interest in each and 

serve to increase their abilities to observe, to imagine, 

to read, to write, to shape a part of the world. ❑ 

Words in boldface have been included in the Vocabulary 

Words section on page 23.


Information About the Objects in the Case 

For most (but not all) of the objects in the case, we have 

included a corresponding story in the Appendix at the 

end of this guide, as indicated below. All the stories have 

been adapted for this guide 

CLAY LAMP (Object No.41.76.5) 

Small, portable lamps made 

of terracotta clay were 

common in ancient Roman 

homes. Since they were massproduced 

from molds, they 

were numerous and fairly 

cheap. They were also easy to 

use. The wick stuck out of a 

hole in the spout and, when lit, burned by drawing 

the oil (usually olive oil) from inside the lamp. These 

lamps were so popular that they spread far and wide, 

and were used not only in Rome but also in distant 

Roman provinces. See the Greek myth of Cupid and 

Psyche, page 28. 

DROP SPINDLE (Object No. 70.19) 

The drop spindle is an ancient 

tool for spinning fibers like 

wool or cotton into a long, 

continuous thread. Today most 

yarn is spun by machines in 

factories, but in some parts of 

the world people still use hand 

spindles like this 20th century 

one. A spinner hand-twists one end of a handful of 

fiber into a short length of thread, and wraps the 

thread around the spindle shaft portion a few times 

to secure it. Then the spinner “drops” the spindle 

(lets go of it) and, holding it up by the thread, twirls 

it. The weight of the whorl (knobby end) keeps it 

spinning, which twists the fiber into thread. The 

spinner feeds a new handful of fiber into the thread 

as needed. See the German folktale of Frau Hulda, 

page 30. 


SALTCELLAR (Object No. 2006.17) 

A saltcellar is a small dish used 

to hold salt during a meal. For 

thousands of years, people 

have used salt to flavor and 

preserve their food. Today it 

is very common, but there 

was a time when it was valued 

as highly as gold! The saltcellar 

was an important vessel on the medieval or 

Renaissance table. Since salt was so expensive at that 

time, it was common to serve it in a fancy container. 

People used a small spoon to scoop up some salt 

and sprinkle it on their food. This version, from the 

late 19th or early 20th century, would have graced 

an elegant dinner table. See the Austrian folktale 

“The Necessity of Salt,” page 31. 

BLUE WILLOW PLATE (Object No. 2006.5.1) 

Blue and white porcelain from 

China was imported into 

England during the late 1700s. 

It was so popular that English 

potters were inspired to create 

an imitation Chinese style 

called Chinoiserie. The famous 

“Blue Willow” design that you 

see here was invented by an English potter named 

Thomas Taylor in 1780. There have been several 

versions of this design, the most famous of which 

tells the story of two faithful lovers (see pages 18–19). 

Blue and white porcelain was popular not only in 

England but in colonial America as well and it continues 

to be produced. This example probably dates 

from 1918. 

INK STONE AND CALLIGRAPHY BRUSH 

(Object No. 2006.21) 

Calligraphy brushes, ink, 

paper, and an ink stone (on 

which the dried ink is mixed 

with water) are known as "the 

four treasures of the studio." 

Chinese scholars have relied 

on these as their principal 

tools for writing or painting from ancient times to 

▲


Information About the Objects in the Case (continued) 

the present day. They are one of China’s many 

unique inventions, and countless writers and artists 

have used them to create great works of literature 

and art. See the story “The Dreaming Prince,” page 32. 

SHADOW PUPPET (Object No. 75.16.2) 

Indonesia (Java), 1970s 

Puppet performance is a type 

of theater common in many 

Southeast Asian countries. 

Each country or region has its 

own traditions and a unique 

style of puppets. In Indonesia, 

these performances are put 

on with shadow puppets 

called wayang kulit. Many puppet performances tell 

stories of Hindu or Islamic heroes and legends. They 

may be performed for many different purposes, such 

as to celebrate a wedding or observe the anniversary 

of a funeral. Wayang plays captivate children and 

adults alike, teaching them about their heritage and 

affirming the moral and cultural values of 

Indonesian society. Read the book Rama and Sita: A 

Tale from Ancient Java provided in the case. 

Wayang kulit are made from animal skins decorated 

with gold leaf and paint. The dalang (puppeteer) 

supports the puppet with a wooden rod attached to 

the body, while two smaller rods attached to the 

hands allow the puppets to express a wide range of 

gestures and emotions. Plays are performed behind 

a transparent screen backlit with small lamps. A 

typical dalang might have between 100 and 300 

shadow puppets in his set. The costumes, hairdos, 

facial features, and colors of the puppets identify the 

standard characters they represent, from princesses 

and warriors to clowns and scheming courtiers, and 

even the gods themselves. For example, this puppet 

is a female figure whose gold face and body represent 

either dignity or youth. Her refined features 

indicate that she is an aristocratic or morally good 

character, but the story that goes with her is 

unknown. She might be used to represent Sita, wife 

of Prince Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, a very 

long and very old Indian poem. 


KIWI FIGURE (Object No. 2006.15) 

The kiwi is a small, flightless 

bird that lives in the forests, 

grasslands, and swamps of 

New Zealand. It is a beloved 

national symbol of that country, 

whose residents commonly 

refer to themselves as kiwis. 

The kiwi is also a prominent 

character in the mythology of the Maori people 

(native new Zealanders). According to many Maori 

traditions, kiwis are the oldest members of the bird 

family, so they are, in effect, our older siblings. Kiwis 

are said to be very protective of humans, which is 

why they patrol the forests each night. See the story 

“How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings,” page 36. 

BARK PAINTING (Object No. 65.52.4) 

Australia, about 1964 

The aboriginal peoples of 

Arnhem Land (an area of 

northern Australia) paint 

pictures on bark cut from the 

eucalyptus tree. Using paintbrushes 

made of human hair 

or twigs with chewed ends, 

the artist works in shades of 

black, red, yellow, and white with paints made from 

ground-up minerals. This painting was made by a 

man from the Ingura tribe, and depicts a group of 

men dancing next to the fish they have speared. 

Any Ingura man may paint pictures of non-religious 

activities such as hunting, fishing, or historical events. 

The Ingura people hang these paintings inside their 

homes and use them to educate young people about 

hunting and fishing practices, ancient feats, and 

traditional stories. The Ingura also create secret, 

sacred paintings depicting the ancient spirits of their 

creation story. 

There is no specific story to go with this object. 

Students can make up their own, or do research and 

write a report on aboriginal people and their lives.



KACHINA (Object No. 79.29.193), Hopi, 

Southwestern United States,1960s 

The Hopi people of the 

Southwest U.S. believe that 

kachinas are the spirit beings 

who led the first humans to 

Earth. There are over 250 different 

Hopi kachinas, which 

may represent supernatural 

human figures, animals, plants, 

insects, and even death itself. In order to honor these 

spirits, Hopi men perform dances while wearing costumes 

and masks representing kachinas. The Hopi 

believe that performing kachina dances will bring the 

kachinas' goodwill and blessings (such as rain, healthy 

crops, and fertility). During kachina ceremonies, some 

of the dancers give kachina dolls (called tihu in Hopi) 

to the children and women in the crowd. This doll 

represents Hochani, a kachina spirit who performs in 

the Mixed Kachina Dance. The dolls have two purposes: 

they teach children about the important features 

of kachina spirits, and they bring the blessings 

of the spirits to the village. Kachina dolls are not toys. 

They are meant to be treasured, and are hung on 

the rafters of the owner's home, where they can be 

seen every day. See the traditional Hopi tale, page 38. 

MOLA (Object No. 96.13.1), Kuna Indian, Panama, 

about 1995 

A mola is an elaborate reverse 

appliqué panel used to decorate 

the blouses of Kuna Indian 

women in Panama. In the 

reverse appliqué process, the 

mola maker puts together several 

layers of fabric, and then 

cuts through the top layer or 

layers to expose the fabric underneath and create a 

design. This mola has writing embroidered on it: 

"Operación gato y ratón," which means "Operation 

cat and mouse." The mola shows a cat stitching himself 

back together while a mouse looks on. Kuna 

women make molas for themselves and for their families 

as a way to display their skill and creative abilities. 

They may wear molas, or make them for sale to 

tourists and for export to other countries. 


Contemporary molas feature scenes from the Bible or 

Kuna mythology, as well as a wide range of natural 

and abstract motifs, and elements drawn from everyday 

life and international popular culture. 

CONQUEROR MASK (Object No. 84.34.445), 

Guatemala, about 1960 

The Quiche Indians of 

Guatemala perform a masked 

dance known as Tecun Uman 

(or the Dance of the Conquest) 

as a way to remember the 

bravery of their ancestors during 

the Spanish Conquest of 

1524. The dance is named for 

the Quiche people's great warrior king, Tecun Uman, 

and tells the story of his death at the hands of the 

cruel Spanish general, Pedro de Alvarado. This mask 

represents one of the Spanish soldiers who fought 

with Alvarado, or perhaps Alvarado himself. Dance 

of the Conquest masks like this one are usually made 

by a morería, a business that rents dance masks and 

costumes. In recent times, though, the Dance of the 

Conquest has been performed less often because it 

is quite costly and requires many costumes. See the 

tale of Tecun Uman, page 40. 

FIGURE OF OSIRIS (Object No. 39.7.24) 

During the Late Period (from 

672 B.C. to 343 B.C.), ancient 

Egyptians mass-produced small 

statues in the forms of popular 

gods and sacred animals. 

They placed these statues in 

temples as offerings, or worshipped 

them at home. As god 

of the dead and the earth, Osiris was the most important 

and respected Egyptian god. Crossed over his 

chest he holds the crook and flail, a pair of farm tools 

that symbolize the duty of gods and kings to guide 

and protect their people and punish when necessary. 

The cobra on his crown (another symbol of royalty) 

is the emblem of the sun god, a noble serpent that 

protects the righteous and destroys evil. See the myth 

of Osiris, page 27.



GOLDWEIGHTS 

These miniature representations were made for a very 

special purpose: to measure gold dust. The Asante 

people used gold dust as their main form of money 

from the 1400s until 1889 (when their British colonizers 

forbid its use). Each Asante businessman owned a 

set of 70 or more goldweights of different sizes. The 

goldweight acted as a standard unit of measurement, 

helping people determine how much gold dust was 

needed to buy an item or pay a debt. 

Early Asante goldweights (those made from 1500 

to 1700) were geometric in shape, while ones like 

these, probably made in the 18th or 19th century, 

were more often realistic forms of plants, animals, 

everyday objects, and even humans. Many of these 

figurative weights recalled Asante proverbs about 

daily life. 

GAME BOARD GOLDWEIGHT (Object No. 66.36.1c) 

This is a miniature brass representation 

of a game board 

used for playing mancala, an 

ancient counting game that is 

still played by peoples in Africa, 

Asia, the Middle East, and the 

West Indies. Mancala is played 

using a number of markers 

(such as stones, shells, beans, or other small objects), 

and a game board made of 12 cups. See the traditional 

African tale, The Game Board, page 34. 

Asante goldweights were usually cast in brass, and 

sometimes had to be adjusted after casting to make 

them conform to existing standards. You can see in 

this goldweight where lead fill has been added to a 

few of the cups on the game board to make it heavier. 

PUFF ADDER GOLDWEIGHT (Object No. 84.31.26) 

This small brass figurine depicts 

a puff adder snake attacking a 

hornbill (toucan). According to 

Asante legend, the hornbill 

owed a large debt to the puff 

adder but did not pay the 

debt, believing that it could 

always fly away if the snake 

tried to catch it. However, one day the hornbill grew 

careless and the snake (which had been waiting quiet- 


ly and patiently for this opportunity) finally caught it. 

The Asante people recall this story with the proverb, 

“Although the snake does not fly, it has caught the 

hornbill, whose home is in the sky.” This proverb 

teaches optimism and patience. 

BIRDS IN A TREE GOLDWEIGHT (Object No. 84.31.42) 

This brass figure of a flock of 

birds sitting in a tree recalls an 

old Asante proverb: "Only 

birds of the same species play 

together on the same tree." 

This proverb suggests that people 

should be aware of their 

class and status in society, and 

only keep company with people who are like them. 

CHICKEN HEAD GOLDWEIGHT (Object No.84.31.45) 

This brass figure of a chicken 

head recalls an old Asante 

proverb: "You do not need a 

big stick to break a cock's 

head." This proverb is akin to 

"Don't make a mountain out 

of a molehill." It suggests that 

small problems call for small 

responses. 

PORCUPINE GOLDWEIGHT (Object No. 84.31.52) 

The quills on this shiny brass porcupine recall an old 

Asante proverb: "One should 

never rub bottoms with a porcupine." 

This proverb suggests 

that you should not get into a 

fight with someone who can 

hurt you more than you can 

hurt them. Porcupines were 

an especially popular form for 

goldweights among the Asante because, with their 

sharp quills and fierce defenses, porcupines were 

seen as a symbol of the Asante nation. 

You and your students can learn more about these 

objects and others from around the world by visiting 

our Collections Central Online database at 

www.brooklynkids.org/emuseum

ACTIVITY 1 

All Grades 

Related Objects: All 

Introductory Activity: Word Play 

In this exercise, students have fun changing each other’s 

perception of an object while practicing vocabulary. 

Students will also begin to sense the relationship between 

objects, words, and ideas. The word that is placed next 

to an object may color or change how we perceive it. You 

may find that several words can be applied to the same 

object. Students will become more aware that objects 

and words do not have one absolute meaning—instead, 

their meanings can change depending on their context. 

Materials: 

• Word Play” form (see following page), cut up into 

individual cards 

• A variety of everyday objects from the classroom 

• Objects in the case 

What To Do: 

1 Cut apart the words on the “Word Play” form. There 

should be enough words so that there is one per child. 

If not, some students may receive the same word, or 

you may add words of your own choosing. 

2 Place the words into a container and pass it around. 

Have each child take a word. 

3 Ask each child to read his or her word aloud. Make 

certain that each child understands the meaning of 

the word. 


4 Give the class four to five minutes to find an object in 

the classroom that they wish to associate with their 

word. Explain that the words can but do not have to 

identify or describe the object. Instead, they can relate 

to some aspect of the object’s use, purpose, or meaning. 

For example, “shield” might be associated with 

the window screen, which shields the room from sunlight. 

Encourage your students to make imaginative 

connections between words and object, while remaining 

true to each. 

5 Have each child explain to the class why he or she 

chose that object to go with their word. 

6 Repeat this exercise using the objects from the case. 

7 Have students discuss how their ideas or understandings 

about the words and/or the objects changed 

when the association changed. 

Discussion Questions: 

• What word/object connection did you make? 

• Why did you associate your word with that particular 

object? 

• What other word could you use with that same 

object? 

• Were you surprised at the objects other students chose 

to go with their words? Why? 

See page 23 for details on how this activity meets 

New York State Learning Standards.

Hold 

Emerge 

Hope 

Fix 

Listen 

Enter 

Inform 

Grow 

Play 

Measure 

Open 

Work 

Promise 

Show 

Call 

Tickle 

Say 

Trust 

Save 

Love 

Shield 

Tell 

Sing 

Fear 

Inspire 

Dream 

Recall 

Hide 

Help 

Forgive 

Remind 

Trust 

Protect 

Leave 

Imagine 

Keep

ACTIVITY 2 

Grades 3–5 

Related Objects: All 

This activity encourages your students to learn about the 

objects in the case through close observation. Ask them 

to focus on the physical properties of each object, using 

their senses to determine its color, smell, texture, and so 

on. After your students examine the objects, you can 

share more about them using information from this 

guide, the resources listed at the back, and your own 

knowledge. 

Materials: 

• Objects from the case 

• A copy of the “What Can Objects Tell Me?” observation 

chart for each student, OR a transparency of the 

chart and an overhead projector, OR a large piece of 

chart paper. 

What To Do: 

1 Depending on the age and interests of your students 

and the amount of time you would like to spend, you 

can do this activity using a handful of objects or every 

object in the case. 

2 Prior to the presentation of the activity, set the classroom 

up into stations (make sure there are enough 

stations that you have only 3–4 students working at 

each one). Place one or more objects and a magnifying 

lens on the table at each station. 

LITERACY 

EXTENSIONS: 

GRADE 3–5 

What Can Objects Tell Me? 


3 Distribute the “What Can Objects Tell Me?” chart and 

go over it with the students. 

4 Divide the children into groups and have each group 

explore their object and fill in the boxes of the chart. 

After a few minutes, have the groups rotate to a new 

station. Repeat this step as many times as you like. 

5 Have the students reconvene as a class to discuss their 

findings. You may want to use the chart paper to make 

notes about the students’ observations, and respond 

by presenting some background information on the 

objects. 


• What kinds of things can you learn about an object 

just by looking at it closely? 

• Based on the materials these objects are made of, what 

can you say about the people who made them or 

where they live? 

• How are these objects similar to things you might see 

in your everyday life? How are they different? 

• What stories do you think these objects might tell or 

refer to? 


New York State Learning Standards. 

• Tell your students that they can learn a lot about a group of people by 

examining the objects they make. Have each child choose one object from the 

case and write a paragraph about it. Remind them to be sure to describe the 

object and what it “told” them about the people who made or used it. 

• Have your students examine objects in the Museum’s online collection 

(www.brooklynkids.org/emuseum) and choose one that interests them. Students 

may investigate their object to see if there is a particular story associated with it, 

or they may write a short story about it themselves. Alternatively, they may write 

a short factual report about their object, or share what they learn with the class 

in an oral presentation.

PREDATORS AND PREY 13 

What color or colors is 

this object? 

What is its surface 

texture like? 

Describe its shape. What 

figure does it seem to 

have? 

What do you think its 

story might be? 

What can 

objects tell me? 

Look at each object closely. What kinds of things can we learn about an object just by 

examining it closely? What do objects tell us about the people who made them? Use this 

chart to record everything you discover.

MASKS 14 


this object? 


texture like? 



have? 



What can 





MASKS 15 


this object? 


texture like? 



have? 



What can 





ACTIVITY 3 

Make a Story Journal; Read Stories 

All Grades 

Related Objects: All objects; stories in Appendix 

As you introduce your students to and interact with the 

objects, you may wish to create a regular story time each 

day, when students may read the stories silently on their 

own, or hear you or their classmates tell them. The Story 

Journal will give your students a place to record their 

impressions of the stories they hear throughout this unit, 

as well as a place to draw or write down stories of their 

own. 

Materials: 

• Sheets of oak tag OR colored construction paper 

(8.5“ x 11“), one per student 

• Plain white paper (8.5“ x 11“) for interior pages 

• String or yarn 

• Hole punch 

• Glue 

What To Do: 

You may wish to construct a book yourself as a model to 

show the class how it is done. 

1 Give each student one sheet of oak tag or construction 

paper, several sheets of plain white paper, and a 

length of string. 

2 Have students fold these sheets in half widthwise to 

form a small book. The oak tag or construction paper 

should be on the outside, forming the book’s cover. 

3 Students should then punch two holes evenly spaced 

out along the fold line. 

4 Have students thread one end of their string through 

each of the two holes, so that the string runs along 

the inside of the book’s centerfold. They should tie 

the two ends of the string together neatly to hold 

their book together. 

5 Students may decorate their book’s cover as they 

please. 

6 You may incorporate the Story Journal into the class’s 

daily activities in a number of ways. For example: 

• Read aloud to the class one of the stories in the 

Appendix. Then give your students time to write or 

draw about it in their journals. They may wish to 

write a short summary of the story’s plot, or record 

their reaction to it (such as what they liked or didn’t 

like about the story, and any questions they have). 

They may also wish to draw a picture of a scene or 

character from the story, or a picture of the object 


that inspired it. Repeat with a different story each 

day, or have students themselves read the stories 

to the class or silently to themselves. 

• Have students make up and write down their own 

story for an object. 

• Use the Story Journal for other writing, drawing, and 

research activities in conjunction with the case. 


• Are all stories written down? Can you name some 

examples of stories (from your own life or from cultures 

around the world) that aren’t traditionally written 

down? 

• What are the pros or cons of writing a story down? 

(Hint: Writing a story down may make it easier for 

people to remember, or it may keep a story from 

being lost. However, it may also keep people from 

hearing the story repeated out loud, or from feeling 

like they can experiment with a story and make it 

their own.) 

• What different kinds of stories and writing are there? 

Talk about the meaning of words like tale, legend, 

myth, report, and other terms used for different kinds 

of writing (see Vocabulary). 



ACTIVITY 4 

All Grades 

Related Objects: All, DVD 

Show and Tell 

Objects that remind us of the past can also prompt us to 

re-tell tales of times, people, and events from the past. 

For us, these objects may represent a cherished family 

history. However, other people may look at the same 

object and think of something completely different. 

In this activity, your students will have the opportunity 

to tell a story about an object from their own lives, and 

how it conveys their personal history. 

Materials: 

• Objects brought from home, one per student 

• Optional: Story Journal (see page 16) OR writing 

paper and pencils 

• Optional: DVD in case 

What To Do: 

1 Assign your students the task of bringing in an object 

from home. They may choose anything they like, but 

the object they choose should have some sort of personal 

story behind it, and it should be something they 

are willing to share with others (and thus not be too 

personal or precious). For example: 

• A student who brought in a souvenir from far away 

could tell a story about his or her vacation. 

• A student with a baby shoe could tell the story of his 

or her own birth, or of the day a younger brother or 

sister came home from the hospital. 

2 Play students the Keys to Imagination DVD in the case 

and review the characteristics of good story telling 

(see introduction). 

3 Have students present their object and tell their story 

before the rest of the class. Alternatively, they may 

draw a picture of their object and write their story 

down in their Story Journal. 


Variation for Older Students: 

1 Have students place their objects on a table in the 

classroom. 

2 Each student should choose an unknown object from 

the table (this activity works best if each student 

chooses a different object, so that all objects are used). 

Students should examine their object carefully, and 

think of a story to go with it, without consulting the 

object’s owner. Just from looking at the object, what 

do they think it is about? Their stories should, of 

course, be respectful since the objects are personal to 

their classmates. 

3 Students may tell the stories they created to each 

other in small groups, present them out loud before 

the class, or record them in their Story Journals. 

4 After students have told the stories they made up, they 

should reclaim the objects they originally brought in. 

They may write or tell their classmates the stories 

they chose to go with their own objects. 

5 Optional: Have students write down on separate 

pieces of paper the two stories they created to go 

with the unknown and familiar objects. Place the 

objects from home around the classroom, and post 

the two stories that were written about each object 

(one by its owner, and the other by a classmate) next 

to it. Have students go around the classroom and see 

if they can tell which story was written by the owner. 


• What made you choose this object as the one you 

wanted to share with the class? 

• What story does your object have to tell? 

• What do you think people can tell about you from 

the object you brought in? 



ACTIVITY 5 

Grades 3–5 

Related Objects: Blue Willow plate 

Reassemble a Story 

There are many ways to tell the same story, and the 

same words can be used to tell a dozen different stories. 

This activity will allow your students to take a story and 

reconstruct it in their own way. 

Materials: 

• Copies of the “Fragmented Story” form (see following 

page), one per group 

• Scissors 

• Small bags or envelopes 

• Paper 

• Glue or tape 

What To Do: 

1 Preparation: Make several copies of the “Fragmented 

Story” form. Cut each one into pieces with one sentence 

on each piece, keeping the pieces of each copy 

together (perhaps in an envelope). 

2 Show the class the Blue Willow plate, and ask them 

to identify the image’s main characters and features. 

3 Explain to the class that each group will reconstruct 

the story shown in the plate by rearranging fragments 

of the story as it sees fit, and provide it with 

an ending. 

4 Divide the class into groups of three or four students. 

Give each group one cut-up copy of the story. 

5 Have members of the class each read aloud one of 

the story fragments (in no particular order). 

6 Have students arrange the cut-up sentences in their 

preferred order. Then they should glue or tape their 

arrangement on a piece of paper. 

7 At the bottom of the paper, have them write a few 

sentences to wrap up the story. 

8 Have a representative from each group read their 

reconstructed tale and added conclusion. 


9 Share with your students the usual ending to the 

Blue Willow story: The Official’s guards put Chang to 

the sword, and Koong-se set fire to their house while 

she is still inside. Thus the two lovers perish. The 

gods, touched by their love, immortalized them as 

two doves, eternally flying together in the sky. (Note 

that this story is not a traditional Chinese story, but 

was made up by the European ceramicist who invented 

the image during the fashion for things Chinese 

during the 18th and 19th century. This fashion is 

called Chinoiserie.) 

10 Show the class the Blue Willow plate again, and ask 

students what parts of the story are represented. 

Does the plate show the story as a sequence? 

11 Have students write about the Blue Willow story in 

their Story Journals. 


• How did you decide to rearrange the fragments of the 

story? Do you think they could have been arranged 

another way that would have worked just as well? 

• What do you think happens to Koong-se and Chang at 

the end of the story? Is the ending you wrote happy or 

sad? 

• Look closely at the Blue Willow plate from the case. 

Can you name some of the different elements of the 

story that are represented on the plate? 

• Do you think someone who looked at the plate would 

know what it is about? 



A Fragmented Story: The Blue Willow Story 

There was once a rich and powerful court Official who 

had a beautiful daughter, Koong-se. 

The Official employed a secretary, Chang, who fell in 

love with Koong-se. 

This angered the Official, who regarded the secretary as 

unworthy of his daughter. 

Chang was banished, and the Official had a fence 

constructed around his estate so that the lowly 

secretary could never see Koong-se. 

Koong-se was lonely, and spent many days walking in 

the gardens and along the water's edge. 

One day as she walked by the water’s edge, a small 

shell made into a boat floated by her. 

It contained a poem and a bead which Koong-se had 

given to Chang. 

Koong-se knew that her lover was not far away. 

Soon after this, Koong-se was dismayed to learn that she 

had been betrothed to Ta-jin, a noble warrior and duke. 

When her father announced that her future husband 

would soon arrive, bearing a gift of jewels to celebrate 

his betrothal, she was full of despair. 

The night of the betrothal banquet, Chang borrowed 

the robes of a servant and slipped into Koong-se’s room. 

The two lovers embraced and vowed to run away 

together. 


The Official, Ta-jin, the guests, and all the servants had 

drunk so much wine that the couple almost got away 

without detection. 

Koong-se's father saw her at the last minute and ordered 

his soldiers to chase the lovers across the bridge. 

The couple escaped, but Koong-se’s father had a plan. 

Koong-se had given Ta-jin’s jewels to Chang, and her 

father swore that when he caught Chang, he would use 

the jewels as an excuse to execute him. 

One night the Official’s spies reported that a man was 

hiding in a house by the river. 

When the Official’s guards raided the house, they found 

that Chang had jumped into the river to escape them. 

Koong-se thought that he had drowned. 

Chang had managed to swim away through the raging 

torrent. 

That night he brought a boat to the window and took 

Koong-se away to safety. 

The couple settled on a distant island, and over the 

years Chang became famous for his writings. 

The Official heard about Chang’s success and sent his 

guards to find the missing couple.

ACTIVITY 6 

Grades 2–5 

Related Objects: Goldweights 

Playing with Proverbs 

A proverb is a pithy statement expressing a truism about 

everyday life. Four of the five Asante goldweights in the 

case are symbols of common Asante proverbs. The goldweights’ 

connection to the proverbs is similar to the connection 

that other objects in the case have to the stories 

in this teacher guide—the proverbs may be shorter than 

the stories, but in each instance, one simple object can 

bring to mind a particular statement and set of values. 

In this activity, your students will have the chance to 

explore the meaning of several proverbs, and try to write 

a few themselves! 

Materials: 

• Blackboard or chart paper 

• Paper and pencils 

What To Do: 

1 Review with the class what a proverb is. Cite a few 

examples to illustrate this literary form, and ask your 

students to explain them. For example: 

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 

• A penny saved is a penny earned. 

• No news is good news. 

You and your students may also visit 

www.manythings.org/proverbs/ to learn about 

proverbs and see more than 200 examples. 

2 Pass around the small case containing the goldweights. 

Ask students to guess what each one depicts. 

3 Write on the board or recite aloud one of the following 

Asante proverbs associated with the goldweights, 

and see if the class can figure out which goldweight 

represents that proverb: 

• Puff adder: “Although the snake does not fly, it has 

caught the hornbill, whose home is in the sky.” 

LITERACY 

EXTENSIONS: 

PROVERB 

POWER! 


• Birds in a tree: "Only birds of the same species play 

together on the same tree." 

• Chicken head: "You do not need a big stick to break 

a chicken’s head." 

• Porcupine: "One should never rub bottoms with a 

porcupine." 

4 After the class has matched the proverb to the goldweight 

that represents it, have them discuss that 

proverb’s meaning (see Discussion Questions below). 

Pages 9, 34–35 contain more information about 

Asante goldweights and proverbs. 

5 Repeat steps 3–4 for each of the four proverbs (or as 

many times as you like). 

6 Working individually or in groups, have students try to 

write their own proverbs. Remind them that their goal 

is to express a universal truth about everyday life, but 

to do so as succinctly as possible. This may be more 

difficult than it sounds, so encourage them to be creative 

and to keep trying! 

7 Have students add their proverbs to their Story 

Journals. 


• What does this proverb mean? 

• How does it apply to everyday life? 

• Do any of the Asante proverbs remind you of similar 

proverbs in American culture or any of the other cultures 

to which your students may belong? (Hint: The 

Asante birds in a tree proverb is remarkably similar to 

the more familiar “Birds of a feather flock together.”) 

• What was the hardest part of trying to write your 

own proverb? 


New York State Learning Standards. 

Divide the class into teams of 3–4 students each, and have each team brainstorm 

and write down as many proverbs as it can think of. Turn this exercise into a game 

by setting a time limit (perhaps 5–10 minutes) and creating a point system. For 

example, you might award one point for each proverb that a team comes up with, 

and two points for each proverb it thinks of that no other team has written down. 

(Additional bonus points could be awarded for coming up with proverbs from 

other cultures and/or languages.) The team with the most points wins!

ACTIVITY 7 

Additional Activities and 

Curricular Connections 

Arts and Literacy Extension: Perform a story 

Grades 2–5 

As the shadow puppet in this case demonstrates, there 

is more than one way to tell a story. Working in groups 

of four or five students, have children choose a story 

from this guide, from one of the books in the case, or 

from another source of their choosing. The students 

should dramatize that story to perform for the class. 

They may create puppets or masks to represent their 

characters. Students may ad-lib their performances, or 

older children may write a script for the action. Give 

them time to rehearse their plays, and ask each group 

to perform its play at the front of the classroom. If you 

wish to invest more time and preparation, you might 

have students create scenery, props, or costumes to 

accompany their performances, and invite parents or 

other classrooms to watch their performances. 

Literacy Extension: 

What do you think is going on? 

All Grades 

For most of the objects in the case, we have included a 

corresponding story about that object or the people 

who made it in the Appendix at the end of this teacher 

guide. But two of the objects, the mola and the bark 

painting, do not have stories about them. Challenge 

your students to pick one of these objects and create a 

tale of their own about it. Ask them to examine their 

object carefully before they begin writing, and base 

their story on what they see. What is going on in the 

picture? Who are the characters in their story? What are 

they doing? What will happen to them? Encourage 

your students to think up creative plots and vivid 

characters, but remind them to be true to the objects 

they are writing about, too. Students may write or draw 

their stories in their Story Journals, or tell them aloud 

before the rest of the class. 


Geography Extension: Mapping objects 

All Grades 

Copy the information pages and cut out images of the 

objects in the case. Share information about these 

objects with your students. Look at the places each 

object comes from on a world map, and have students 

tape each image to the country or region it comes 

from. Older students may do library or Internet research 

to find out more about the types of stories that are 

traditionally told in each of those countries. 



■ RESOURCES AND REFERENCE MATERIALS ■ 

Vocabulary Words 

aboriginal: 

related to the native peoples of Australia. 

account: 

a report or record of an event or a description of a 

situation. 

casket: 

a box or coffin. 

Chinoiserie: 

An imitation Chinese style fashionable in Europe 

particularly in the 18th century. 

crook: 

a staff used by a shepherd to hook the legs of sheep 

to guide, assist, and control them. 

depict: 

to make a picture of something in words, images, 

movement, or another medium. 

diary: 

a record that someone writes every day about what 

he or she did or thought that day. 

emerge: 

to come out of. 

fiction: 

writing that comes from the imagination and is not 

necessarily based on fact. 

flail: 

a farmer’s staff with attached beaters used to strike 

grain to knock the edible kernel free from the husk 

that surrounds it. 

goldweight: 

a sculptured metal object that is placed on one side 

of a scale to act as the counterweight to a certain 

amount of gold dust, which would be placed on the 

other side of the scale. 

ink stone: 

a flat stone used by Asian brush work artists to 

grind sticks of dried ink into powder form and add 

water to make liquid ink. 

journal: 

a diary, but often with more extended and reflective 

statements about one’s daily events and thoughts 


legend: 

like myths, legends originated in the past and often 

feature supernatural characters; unlike myths, legends 

generally do not have a religious cast. 

myth: 

a story, often about gods and goddesses, told in the 

distant past and preserved through oral tradition, 

that tries to explain origins or the reasons for the 

way things are. 

porcelain: 

china made from extremely smooth and fine white 

clay 

proverb: 

a pithy statement expressing a truism about everyday 

life. 

report: 

a written document or oral presentation describing 

events or summarizing reading or research. 

represent: 

to create or be an image of something; also to symbolize 

or typify something. 

spindle: 

a weighted stick that is used to spin fiber into yarn 

or thread 

story: 

a written or oral account of an event or course of 

events that may be real or fictional 

tale (folk tale; fairytale): 

a short, simple narrative like a story but with more 

emphasis on events, sometimes magical events, 

than on the personalities of the characters. 

timbre: 

the distinctive quality of a voice or sound; a tone 

color. 

tone: 

the pitch of a voice; the quality of a voice. 

wick: 

a bit of cloth or cord that extends from a pool of 

flammable liquid such as olive oil, usually in the 

body of a lamp, to a spout were it burns the oil 

slowly and provides light.


Arts 

Arts 

Arts 

Arts 

Arts 

Arts 

Arts 

Correlations with New York State Learning Standards 

The activities included in this guide meet the following New York State Learning Standard Performance Indicators for elementary students (K–5): 

New York State Learning Standard Performance Indicators (Elementary Level) 

Standard Area Standard # Subject Letter Students will 

English 

Language 

Arts 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

1 

1 

1 

3 

3 

4 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Visual Arts 

Listening & 

Reading 

Listening & 

Reading 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Listening & 

Reading 

a 

b 

d 

a 

b 

a 

c 

Experiment and create art works, in a variety of 

mediums (drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, 

printmaking, video, and computer graphics), 

based on a range of individual and collective 

experiences 

Develop their own ideas and images through the 

exploration and creation of art works based on 

themes, symbols, and events 

Reveal through their own art work understanding 

of how art mediums and techniques influence 

their creative decisions 

Explain their reflections about the meanings, 

purposes, and sources of works of art; describe 

their responses to the works and the reasons for 

those responses 

Explain the visual and other sensory qualities 

(surfaces, colors, textures, shape, sizes, volumes) 

found in a wide variety of art works 

Look at and discuss a variety of art works and 

artifacts from world cultures to discover some 

important ideas, issues, and events of those 

cultures 

Create art works that show the influence of a 

particular culture 

Gather and interpret information from children's 

reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic 

bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, 

oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, 

graphs, maps, and diagrams 

Ask specific questions to clarify and extend 

meaning 

Present information clearly in a variety of oral and 

written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, 

brief reports, stories, posters, and charts 

Select a focus, organization, and point of view for 

oral and written presentations 

Use details, examples, anecdotes, or personal 

experiences to explain or clarify information 

Observe basic writing conventions, such as correct 

spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well 

as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate 

to written forms 

Read aloud accurately and fluently, using phonics 

and context cues to determine pronunciation 

and meaning 


Activity 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

• • • • • • 

• 

• • • • 

• • • 

• • • 

• 

• • • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • • 

• • • • • 

• • • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

• •


ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

ELA 

Correlations with New York State Learning Standards 

The activities included in this guide meet the following New York State Learning Standard Performance Indicators for elementary students (K–5): 

New York State Learning Standard Performance Indicators (Elementary Level) 

Standard Area Standard # Subject Letter Students will 

Social Studies 





Math, 

Science, & 

Technology 

2 

2 

4 

4 

4 

2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

2 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Speaking & 

Writing 

Create their own stories, poems, and songs using 

the elements of the literature they have read and 

appropriate vocabulary 

Observe the conventions of grammar and usage, 

spelling, and punctuation 

Listen attentively and recognize when it is 

appropriate for them to speak 

Take turns speaking and respond to others’ ideas 

in conversations on familiar topics 

Recognize the kind of interaction appropriate for 

different circumstances, such as story hour, group 

discussions, and one-on-one conversations 

Study about different world cultures and 

civilizations focusing on their accomplishments, 

contributions, values, beliefs, and traditions 

Understand the roles and contributions of 

individuals and groups to social, political, 

economic, cultural, scientific, technological, and 

religious practices and activities 

Explore the lifestyles, beliefs, traditions, rules and 

laws, and social/cultural needs and wants of 

people during different periods in history and in 

different parts of the world 

Study about how people live, work, and utilize 

natural resources 

Locate places within the local community, State, 

and nation; locate the Earth's continents in 

relation to each other and to principal parallels 

and meridians. 

Access needed information from printed media, 

electronic data bases, and community resources 


Activity 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

• • • 

• • • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • 

• • 

• • • 

• 

• 

• • • • • • •


Corresponding Field Trips 

The following museums and organizations have 

exhibits or programs that feature stories and storytelling 

around the world, or objects and cultures discussed 

in this guide. Check with each for details. 

American Museum of Natural History 

Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan 

(212) 769-5100 

www.amnh.org 

Brooklyn Museum 

200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn 

(718) 783-6500 

www.brooklynmuseum.org 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 

1000 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan 

(212) 535-7710 

www.metmuseum.org 

New Victory Theater 

c/o The New 42nd Street 

229 West 42nd Street, 10th Floor 

New York, NY 10036-7299 

(646) 223-3020 

www.newvictory.org/ 

Brooklyn Public Library 

Central Library 

Grand Army Plaza 

Brooklyn, NY 11238 

(718) 230-2100 

www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org 

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum also offers programs 

on a variety of cultural topics. For a listing of programs 

currently available, please see our website at 

www.brooklynkids.org, or contact the Scheduling 

Assistant at 718-735-4400, extension 118. 


Bibliography and Web Resources 

The following books and websites may help you to 

enrich your experience with the objects in the case: 

Aliki. The Gods And Goddesses of Olympus 

(Trophy Picture Books). New York, New York: 

Harper Trophy Books, 1997. 

Badoe, Adwoa. The Pot of Wisdom: Ananse 

Stories. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books, 

2001. 

Conrad, Pam. Blue Willow. New York, New York: 

Philomel Books, 1999. 

Demi. Liang and the Magic Paintbrush. 

Minneapolis, Minnesota: Sagebrush, 1999. 

DK Publishing. Ancient Egypt (DK Eyewitness 

Books). New York, New York: DK Publishing, 

2004. 

Hofmeyr, Dianne. The Star-Bearer: A Creation 

Myth From Ancient Egypt. New York, New York: 

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. 

Russell, William F. Classic Myths to Read Aloud: 

The Great Stories of Greek and Roman 

Mythology, Specially Arranged for Children Five 

and Up. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1992. 

Spence, Peggy. The Day of the Ogre Kachinas 

(Council for Indian Education). Boulder, 

Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1994. 

Sullivan, Robert. Weaving Earth and Sky: Myths 

and Legends of Aotearoa. New Zealand: Random 

House New Zealand Ltd., 2002. 

Trezise, Percy. The Peopling of Australia (Stories 

of the Dreamtime—Tales of the Aboriginal 

People). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Gareth Stevens 

Publishers, 1988. 

Goldweights as Proverbs: 

This site features images of many West African goldweights 

and a discussion of the meaning of their 

related proverbs. 

www.marshall.edu/akanart/abrammoo_abramob 

e.html 

Little Horus: 

Designed and developed for kids by the Egyptian 

government, this website contains many links to 

Egyptian history and contemporary culture. 

www.horus.ics.org.eg/en/Default_HTML.aspx

APPENDIX 

Stories About the Objects in the Case 

The stories that follow are related to the objects in the 

case. Reading them and discussing how they relate to 

the objects is an activity in itself (see Activity 3-Make a 

Story Journal). You can read them to your students or 

have students read the stories to themselves or to each 

other, depending on their age. If you choose to have 

your students read them, we have included pronunciation 

for some of the less familiar names. 


Not every object in the case has a corresponding story 

in this section of the teacher guide. The shadow puppet’s 

story is represented by the book Rama and Sita: A Tale 

from Ancient Java by David Weitzman, which is included 

in the case. The puff adder, birds in a tree, chicken head, 

and porcupine goldweights have corresponding proverbs 

rather than stories (see Proverb Power activity on page 

20). Finally, the mola (below) and the bark painting in 

the case have no corresponding stories at all, but we 

encourage you and your students to write stories about 

them yourselves (see Literacy Extension on page 21).

The Myth of Osiris 

An Ancient Egyptian myth 

Osiris (O-sire-us), the king of Egypt, was kind and just. 

He taught his people how to plow the earth and how 

to honor the gods, and he gave them laws to live by. 

He was beloved by all his people and by Isis (Eye-sis), 

his queen. But his brother, Set, was jealous of Osiris and 

plotted against him to take over the throne. Queen Isis 

was constantly on her guard when Set was around, as 

she never felt safe from his scheming. But Osiris loved 

his brother and did not believe himself to be in danger. 

One day Osiris held a big banquet for his court. This 

was the moment Set had waited for. Together with his 

accomplices, he set his plan in motion. At the banquet, 

Set began to describe a wonderful casket that he had 

been given, and soon the other guests asked for him to 

have it brought in so they could see it. The casket was 

indeed beautiful, made of the finest wood, and gilded 

and painted with beautiful designs. Set promised to 

give it as a gift to whoever fit into it exactly. One by 

one, each of the guests tried the casket on for size, but 

just as Set had planned, Osiris was the only one who fit 

into it. The moment the king climbed inside, Set’s 

accomplices quickly nailed the lid shut and whisked the 

casket out of the palace! They threw it into the Nile 

River, where the current carried it away. 

Queen Isis was overcome with grief, and went out to 

look for her husband. She searched all over the 

kingdom and beyond without finding a trace of the 

casket containing his body. She wandered for a long 

time, weeping and searching for the casket, and 

eventually came into the land of Byblos (Be-blos). 

Here the people spoke about a wonderful tree that 

suddenly had started to grow on the riverbank. After 

hearing about the magical properties of this tree, Isis 

believed that her husband’s casket must have floated 

ashore and gotten stuck in the tree, which then grew 

tall and strong under his divine influence. But the king 

of Byblos had cut down the tree and used it to make a 

pillar in his palace. 


Isis made her way to the palace and convinced the 

queen of Byblos to give her the pillar made from the 

wonderful tree. She instantly chopped it into pieces, 

and sure enough, she found the golden casket inside! 

Isis opened the casket and embraced her dead 

husband, weeping over his body. He looked as if he 

were only sleeping. With her husband’s casket in tow, 

Isis sailed back up the Nile to Egypt. After a long 

journey, she brought the casket ashore and hid it in the 

marshlands, believing that it would be safe there. 

But that one day Set and his men were out hunting 

nearby. When Set happened upon the casket, he 

recognized it, and flew into a rage. He broke into the 

casket and tore Osiris’ body into many pieces, which he 

spread out all over the land of Egypt, thinking that Isis 

would never be able to find all of them. 

When Isis saw the empty casket, her cry of anguish 

shook heaven and earth. She called out to her sister 

Nephtys (Nef-tiss), who came to console her, and once 

more she went on her way to look for her husband’s 

body. For many long, sorrowful years Isis and Nephtys 

patiently searched the land together. One by one, they 

found all the pieces of Osiris’ body. When at last all the 

parts had been assembled, Isis made Osiris into the first 

mummy. She then used her powerful magic to breathe 

new life into Osiris. Her husband remained alive long 

enough for her to conceive a son, Horus, but he had 

been dead too long to remain in the land of the living. 

Instead he became king of the Land of the Dead. 

Isis’ and Osiris’ son, Horus, grew into a man as strong 

and wise as his father. He fought against his uncle Set 

to win back his father’s throne and become the king of 

Egypt.

Cupid and Psyche 

An ancient Greek and Roman myth 

Once upon a time there lived a maiden named Psyche 

(Sigh-key), who was so beautiful that people said she 

was even prettier than Venus, goddess of love. Men 

traveled great distances to court her. When Venus heard 

about her mortal rival, she grew jealous, and asked her 

son, Cupid, to make sure that no man would ever love 

her. But on his way to deal with Psyche, Cupid 

accidentally pricked his finger on the tip of one of his 

magical arrows, and fell in love with her himself. Even 

so, Cupid followed his mother's orders, using his 

powers to make sure that no man would look upon 

Psyche with love. 

Psyche’s parents were surprised to find that their 

daughter suddenly no longer had any suitors. They 

consulted the Oracle of Apollo to find out what was the 

matter. The Oracle revealed that their daughter had 

angered the gods in some way, and must be sacrificed 

to a monster to appease them. The wrath of the gods 

was quite a fearsome threat, so while Psyche’s parents 

were sorrowful, they knew they must obey the Oracle. 

They took their daughter to the top of a nearby 

mountain and left her there to await her fate. 

Soon Zephyr, the god of the winds, came along and 

carried Psyche along to a beautiful palace. The palace 

was empty, but Psyche heard a voice tell her to enjoy 

the house and the grounds around it. Invisible servants 

brought her food and wine, drew her a bath, and 

granted her every request. At night, when it grew dark, 

Psyche went bed, where she was startled to find herself 

joined by a lover. He introduced himself as her new 

husband, but refused to tell Psyche who he was. He 

said that she must never look upon him. He was gentle 

and loving toward her, but he was gone by morning. 

Psyche lived like this for some time. Though she often 

requested to see her husband in the light, he always 

refused, playfully covering her face with a soft blanket. 

Finally, one night Psyche kept an oil lamp near the bed, 

and when she knew her husband was asleep, she lit the 

wick. Lying next to her was the god Cupid, and what 

she had taken for a soft blanket was his wings! 


In her shock, Psyche spilled a drop of hot oil from the 

lamp, which landed on her husband’s shoulder. Cupid 

awoke instantly. He was so angry with Psyche for 

breaking his command to not look upon him that he 

fled, abandoning her. Psyche chased after him, but 

since she could not fly she was soon left behind. 

Desolate without her husband, Psyche searched for him 

all over, but she was unable to find Cupid on her own. 

Eventually Psyche went to Venus, his mother, and 

begged for her help. Venus was still angry at the lovely 

mortal girl, and decided to punish her. She refused to 

help unless Psyche performed three impossible labors to 

show her devotion to Cupid. Psyche agreed, and set 

about her tasks. 

First Venus showed her a huge storehouse full of grain, 

and asked Psyche to sort the grains by their type. 

Despairing, Psyche pleaded to the other gods for aid. 

An army of ants appeared and picked up the grains one 

by one, placing them in neat piles of barley, oats, and 

wheat. 

Next Venus directed Psyche to gather wool from some 

wild and dangerous sheep. Psyche cleverly waited in a 

briar patch by the riverside where the sheep came to 

drink. As the sheep passed by, the briars pulled out 

small tufts of wool. After they left, Psyche gathered a 

handful of wool from the briars. 

Venus was not happy to find that the girl had 

performed her tasks so well, so she made the final task 

even more difficult. She told Psyche to go to Proserpine 

(Pros-er-peen), wife of Hades, god of the underworld, 

and ask for a little of her beauty. Psyche undertook the 

perilous trip to the underworld and met the queen of 

the dead, who gave her a box but commanded her not 

to open it. Psyche traveled out of hell again, but on her 

way back to Venus, she began to think that she had 

worked so hard for so long that she deserved some 

reward. She decided to open the box and take a little 

of the beauty out for herself. However, when she 

opened the box she found that what lay inside was a 

deathly sleep. Psyche collapsed.

Cupid and Psyche (continued) 

By this time Cupid had recovered from his small burn. 

He was sorry he had argued with his wife and left her 

in such a brutish manner. He went out searching for 

Psyche, and discovered her lying on the ground as if 

dead. He went to her, brushed away the sleep from her 

body, and embraced her again. 

Together Cupid and Psyche brought the box to Venus 

on Mount Olympus, home of the gods. Cupid 

addressed the other gods and pleaded for their help. 

After hearing the tale of Cupid’s love and Psyche’s 

devotion, the gods agreed to make Psyche one of their 

own. She was given a cup of ambrosia to drink, which 

made her immortal, and butterfly wings so that she 

might fly alongside her husband. 


Frau Hulda (or, The Tale of a Spindle) 

A German folktale 

There once was a woman who lived with her lazy 

daughter and her kind and beautiful stepdaughter. The 

stepdaughter was treated harshly and made to do all 

the work about the house. She never had any time to 

herself. When the housework was done, she was 

expected to sit by the well outside the cottage and spin 

wool into thread. But despite her aching bones and her 

bossy stepmother’s demands, the girl never 

complained. 

One day she had been spinning wool for so long that 

her hand formed blisters and started to bleed. The 

spindle was stained with blood. She dipped the spindle 

into the well to clean it, but she lost her grip and the 

spindle dropped into the water. The girl went to her 

stepmother and explained what had happened, but the 

stepmother yelled at her and beat her, telling her she 

had better get the spindle out of the well again. The 

poor stepdaughter was at a loss, so she took a deep 

breath and jumped into the well. But instead of falling 

into the water, she found herself in a strange and 

wonderful land! 

She looked around for her spindle, but did not see it, so 

she began to walk around searching for it. After a little 

while she came to a bread oven. The bread cried out to 

her, “Let me out, let me out, I shall burn!” The 

stepdaughter kindly took the bread out of the oven. 

Soon she came to an apple tree. “Shake me, shake 

me!” cried the tree “My apples are ripe! Shake me!” 

The stepdaughter shook the tree and gathered up all 

the apples into a neat pile. 

She then came to a small cottage occupied by an old 

woman. The woman introduced herself as Frau Hulda, 

and asked if the girl would do her housework in 

exchange for food and lodgings. The stepdaughter 

agreed. She worked hard for Frau Hulda, and shook her 

feather bed every day until the feathers flew. She stayed 

with Frau Hulda for many days until she was overcome 

by a great tiredness and realized that she was 

homesick. When Frau Hulda learned that she wanted to 

leave, she took the girl to a door in the cottage. When 


she opened it, a shower of gold pieces fell upon the girl 

and stuck to her. “That is your reward for your hard 

work!” said Frau Hulda, handing the girl the long-lost 

spindle that she had dropped in the well. All of a sudden, 

the girl found herself back home! She heard the cockerel 

crow, “Cock a doodle-doo, your golden child has come 

back to you!” Thanks to the small fortune in gold that 

she carried, her stepmother and stepsister welcomed 

her home with open arms. She told them everything 

that had happened to her. 

The stepmother was eager for her own daughter to be 

blessed in the same way, so the two of them worked 

out a plan. The lazy daughter took the spindle to the 

well. She pricked her finger on a thorn, stained the 

spindle with blood, and dropped it down the well. 

When she jumped into the water, she found herself 

next to the bread oven. But she would not listen to the 

bread's pleas for help. “I will only get my hands dirty!” 

she said. She passed by the apple tree, too, and again 

refused to help it. “I won't shake you—an apple might 

fall on my head!” the lazy girl exclaimed. 

When she reached Frau Hulda's cottage, the daughter 

immediately offered her services and the old woman 

took her on. For the first day, she forced herself to do 

the housework. The second day she did very little work, 

and the third day she did none. Soon she refused to 

even leave her bed. Frau Hulda gave the lazy child her 

notice and led her to the door. As it opened, ashes 

rained down on the lazy daughter. Back in her mother's 

village, the daughter heard the cockerel crow, “Cock a 

doodle-doo, your foolish child has come back to you!” 

The ashes never came off.

The Necessity of Salt 

An Austrian folktale 

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three 

daughters. Because they were good and beautiful, he 

loved them all sincerely, and they loved him in return. 

The king was very happy, but he was also uneasy because 

he did not know which one he should appoint as queen. 

As his birthday approached, the king summoned his 

daughters and said to them, "My dear children, I love 

all three of you very much, and for a long time have 

not known which one of you I should name as heir to 

my throne. But I have decided I shall make queen the 

one among you who brings to me a birthday present 

that is the most necessary in human life. Go and make 

your plans accordingly." 

The old king's birthday arrived, and the two oldest 

daughters brought him presents that were very necessary, 

but at the same time extremely expensive. However, 

the youngest daughter brought him nothing more than 

a little pile of salt in a decorated container. When the 

king saw her simple present, he became very angry! In 

his rage, he drove his daughter out of the castle, forbidding 

her ever to darken his door again. 

With deep sorrow the young princess went out into the 

world, comforted only by her faith in her own good 

sense. After walking a long while she came to an inn. 

There she asked the innkeeper for a job, and found work 

as an apprentice cook. The princess worked long and 

hard to perfect her dishes, and soon exceeded even the 

innkeeper in the art of cooking. 

News spread far and wide of the excellent cook in this 

inn, and everyone who came this way stopped to be 

served a roast or something even tastier. Eventually even 

the king in his castle heard of this cook's excellent 

reputation, and he hired her sight unseen to cook for 

his court. 

Now it came to pass that the oldest princess was getting 

married, and the famous cook was assigned to prepare 

the wedding feast with no expenses spared. On the day 

of the wedding, she sent out one elegant dish after 

another, loading up the tables until they almost cracked. 

Everything was deliciously prepared, and guests from 


far and wide praised the excellence of the meal. Finally 

the king's favorite dish arrived. Quickly taking a spoon, 

he tasted it. "This has not been salted!" he cried out 

angrily. "Have the cook brought before me!" 

A footman quickly ran to get the cook, who entered 

the hall undaunted. Dressed in peasant garb, none of 

her family or friends recognized her. 

"Why did you forget to salt my favorite dish, you careless 

girl?" shouted the king. 

The cook answered, "You drove away your youngest 

daughter because she thought that salt was so necessary. 

Perhaps you can now see that your child was not 

so wrong." 

When the king heard these words he recognized his 

daughter instantly, and begged for her forgiveness. He 

bid her to be seated at his side, and accepted her once 

again as his dear child and the future queen. Thus the 

wedding became doubly joyful, and the king lived 

happily with his children for many years thereafter.

The Dreaming Prince 

Story By Leon Waller, 1995 

Long ago in ancient China, there was a pair of twin 

brothers who did not get along. They did not like each 

other in the least. Their father was a powerful king, and 

it was up to him which of the two would become king 

when he passed away. 

The first twin was almost certain that he would be ruler 

someday, but he was not absolutely sure. This 

uncertainty troubled him and made him brood. 

Whenever he could he would cause trouble for the 

second twin, and point out to their father what he saw 

as his brother’s unsuitable qualities for becoming king. 

The second twin was not particularly concerned with 

the future. He did not even think about his father's 

eventual death and passing. He seldom saw his father, 

the king, who was always busy, and he avoided his 

troublesome brother as much as possible. The second 

twin kept to himself for the most part. He daydreamed, 

thought, and saw things that no one else seemed to 

see or understand. For that reason, he was called “the 

dreaming prince.” 

There were times when the dreaming prince would 

have the most amazing idea or fantastic vision, and 

would be so eager to speak of it to someone that he 

would take the chance of mentioning it to his brooding 

brother. And it is this mistake that takes us to the heart 

of this tale. 

One morning after having a scary yet wonderful dream 

the dreaming prince mentioned it to his brooding 

brother. Said the dreaming prince, "I dreamt of a small 

and wonderful creature. I was asleep when I saw a 

mouse-like creature enter my room through an open 

window. It flew three circles around my room and 

around my head, and then returned to the window 

again and hung from the sill upside down like a bat. 

Then it began to weep for reasons I cannot say. The 

tears fell and were as black as ink." 

"You lie, you lie, you lie!" shouted the brooding prince, 

and ran off to inform their father of how foolish his 

brother was. After hearing another of his brother’s silly 

dreams, he thought, how could their father ever make 

the dreaming prince a king? 


Days later, the dreaming prince had another scary yet 

wonderful dream, and again he took the chance of 

mentioning it to his brooding brother. "I have dreamt 

of the most curious creature,” he said. “It seemed to be 

both a lion and a dog, and had the most fearsomely 

sharp teeth. I woke and found it sitting in the middle of 

my room carving a hollow in the surface of a stone 

with its teeth.” 

"Amazing!" said the brooding prince. "And did you see 

or dream anything more?" 

"Yes," said the dreaming prince, encouraged by his 

brother's unusual interest. "Just the night before, I saw 

or dreamt about a beautiful bird. It had gold and silver 

feathers and its wings burned when it flew. It was there 

for just a moment, and then it was gone." 

"You lie, you lie, you lie!" shouted the brooding prince, 

and ran off to inform their father of how foolish his 

brother was. After hearing another of his brother’s silly 

dreams, he thought, how could their father ever make 

the dreaming prince a king? 

Deeply hurt by this betrayal of trust, that night the 

dreaming prince went to bed in tears, feeling very 

much alone. He had begun to believe that no one liked 

him, not even his father. In the course of the night he 

woke from his shallow, fitful sleeping four times. 

The first time he woke, he noticed the bat had returned 

and that its black tears were pooling on the windowsill. 

The second time he woke, he noticed the lion-dog in 

the middle of the room with an object in its mouth, 

which it left on the floor before disappearing. The third 

time he woke, the burning bird had returned with a 

burning stick. He should have feared the fire, but it did 

not seem to matter. The bird flew off, leaving the 

flaming stick behind. 

Now he slept until the edge of morning. Then he woke 

to the sound a great weight dragging itself around the 

room. He opened his eyes and saw a dragon wrapped 

around his bed. He looked into the violet burning eyes 

of the dragon for a long time. The dragon gave him

The Dreaming Prince (continued) 

several of its flat scales before unfolding its leathery 

wings and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. 

As the daylight streamed into his room, the 

dreaming prince suddenly found himself with several 

sheets of the purest white paper in his lap. On the 

windowsill he found a tablet of dried black ink and a 

brush with a tapering, flame-like end. There was an ink 

stone on the floor. All of these tools he arranged 

together. When he mixed water with the tablet of ink 

on the surface of the ink stone, he heard tiny voices 

calling out to him from the puddle of black liquid. They 

said, “We are six and six magicians in this ink, here to 

serve you and help you. Whatever you write or paint 

with us will be wonderful, exceeding even your wildest 

dreams.” 

Encouraged, the dreaming prince opened his heart, 

and wrote and painted about the many things he cared 

for. He filled page after page with his visions. When he 

had finished, he took this work to his father. At first the 

busy king could not find a moment to look at the sheaf 

of papers, but when he did, he lingered over it for a 

long time. When he was done reading, he smiled at his 

son. “After me, you shall be king,” he said. 

“I have no desire to rule,” said the dreaming prince. 

“My only wish, Father, has been to do something that 

would someday, somehow, make you smile.” And with 

this his father smiled, a bright smile, for a second time. 


The Game Board 

A traditional African tale 

Once a man in the town of Nebri carved a beautiful 

gebeta game board for his son. He made it from the 

wood of an olive tree. When he was finished he showed 

his son how to play games upon it. The boy was very 

glad to have such a beautiful thing, and in the morning 

when he went out with the cattle to the valley where 

they grazed he took his gebeta board along. 

Everywhere he went he carried his board under his arm. 

One morning while he followed the cattle, he came 

upon a group of wandering Somalis with their camels, 

gathered around a small fire in a dry riverbed. 

"Where in this country of yours can a man get wood?" 

the Somalis asked. 

"Why, here is wood," the boy said. And he gave them 

the fine gebeta board, which they put into the fire. As 

it went up in flames, the boy began to cry: "Oh, now 

where is my fine gebeta board that my father has 

carved for me?" 

"Do not make such a racket," the Somalis said, and they 

gave him a fine new knife in place of the game board. 

The boy took the knife and went away with his cattle. 

As he wandered, he came to a place where a shepherd 

was digging a well in the sand of the riverbed so that 

his goats could drink. 

"The ground is hard," the shepherd said. "Lend me your 

knife to dig with." 

The boy gave the man the knife, but the man dug with 

it so vigorously that the blade broke in two. 

"Ah, what has become of my knife?" the boy wailed. 

"Quiet yourself," the man said. "Take this spear in its 

place." And he gave the boy a beautiful spear trimmed 

with silver and copper. 

The boy went away with his cattle and his spear. He 

met a party of hunters. When they saw him, one of 

them said, "Lend me your spear, so that we may kill the 

lion we are trailing." 


The boy gave him the spear, and the hunters went out 

and killed the lion. But during the hunt, the shaft of the 

spear was splintered. 

"See what you've done with my spear!" the boy cried. 

"Don't carry on so," the hunters said. "Here is a horse 

for you in place of your spear." 

The hunters gave the boy a horse with fine leather 

trappings, and he started back toward the village. On 

the way he came to a place where a group of workmen 

were repairing the road. As they worked they caused a 

landslide, and the earth and rocks came down the 

mountain with a great roar. The horse became 

frightened and ran away. 

"Where is my horse?" the boy cried. "You have made 

him run away!" 

“There is no need to shout,” the workmen said. “We’ll 

give you this ax instead.” 

The boy and his cattle continued on toward the village. 

As he passed by a forest, he met a woodcutter. 

“I lost my ax in the forest,” the woodcutter said. “Lend 

me yours so that I may get some wood.” 

The boy loaned the woodcutter his ax, but the 

woodcutter chopped with it and broke it. 

The boy cried out in frustration, and the woodcutter 

said, "Never mind, here is a limb of a tree." 

The boy took the limb upon his back and gathered up 

his cattle once more. As he came near the village, he 

passed by a woman who said, "Where did you find the 

wood? I need it for my fire." 

The boy gave it to her, and she put it in the fire. As it 

went up in flames he said, "Now where is my wood?"

The Game Board (continued) 

"Here," the woman said. "Here is a fine wooden gebeta 

board." 

The boy took the gebeta board under his arm and went 

home with the cattle. As he entered the house, his 

father smiled and said, "What is better than a gebeta 

game board to keep a small boy out of trouble?" 


How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings 

A traditional Maori tale 

A note on Maori (Maah-au-ree) pronunciation: You and 

your students can hear Maori phrases spoken on various 

websites. Just enter “Maori pronunciation” in your browser 

and select a site with sound. When two vowels are together, 

each is pronounced separately but blended quickly. “Wh” is 

pronounced like “f” in some places and in others like “wh” 

in “whale.” 

One day, the forest god Tanemahuta (Tah-neh-mah-hutah) 

was walking through the forest. He looked up at 

his tree children reaching for the sky, and he noticed 

that they were starting to grow sick from the bugs that 

infested them. He talked to his brother, the bird god 

Tanehokahoka (Tah-neh-haw-kah-haw-kah), who called 

together all of his children, the birds of the air, to ask 

them for help. 

Tanemahuta spoke to them. "Something is eating my 

children, the trees. I need one of you to come down 

from the forest roof and live on the floor to eat the 

bugs before they get to the leaves, so that my children 

can be saved, and your home in the trees can be saved. 

Who will come?" 

All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. 

Tanehokahoka turned to the tui (tu-ee). “Tui, will you 

come down from the forest roof?" 

Tui looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering 

through the leaves. Tui looked down at the forest floor 

and saw the cold, dark earth and shuddered. "No, 

Tanehokahoka, for it is too dark and I am afraid of the 

dark." 

Tanehokahoka turned to the pukeko (poo-keh-kaw). 

"Pukeko, will you come down from the forest roof?" 

Pukeko looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, 

damp earth and shuddered. "No, Tanehokahoka, for it is 

too damp and I do not want to get my feet wet." 



Tanehokahoka turned to the pipiwharauroa (pee-peephah-rahwah). 

"Pipiwharauroa, will you come down 

from the forest roof?" 

Pipiwharauroa looked up at the trees and saw the sun 

filtering through the leaves. Pipiwharauroa looked 

around and saw his family. "No, Tanehokahoka, for I am 

busy at the moment building my nest." 

All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. And great was the 

sadness in the heart of Tanehokahoka, for he knew that 

if one of his children did not come down from the 

forest roof, not only would his brother lose his children 

the trees, but the birds would have no home. 

Tanehokahoka turned to the kiwi (key-wee). "Kiwi, will 

you come down from the forest roof?" 

Kiwi looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering 

through the leaves. He looked around and saw his 

family. He looked at the cold damp earth. Looking 

around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and 

said, "I will." 

Great was the joy in the hearts of Tanehokahoka and 

Tanemahuta, for this little bird was giving them hope. 

But Tanemahuta felt that he should warn kiwi of what 

would happen. "E kiwi, do you realize that if you do 

this, you will have to grow thick, strong legs so that 

you can rip apart the logs on the ground? You will lose 

your beautiful colored feathers. You will have to grow a 

very long beak to dig for insects. Your wings will grow 

short and weak, so that you will never be able to return 

to the forest roof. You will never see the light of day 

again." 


"So Kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?"

How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings (continued) 

Kiwi took one last look at the sun filtering through the 

trees and said a silent goodbye. Kiwi took one last look at 

the other birds, at their wings and their colored feathers, 

and said a silent goodbye. Looking around once more, 

he turned to Tanehokahoka and said, "I will." 

Then Tanehokahoka turned to the other birds one by 

one and said, "Tui, because you were too scared to 

come down from the forest roof, from now on you will 

wear two white feathers at your throat as the mark of a 

coward. 

“Pukeko, because you did not want to get your feet 

wet, you will live forever in the swamp. 

“Pipiwharauroa, because you were too busy building 

your nest, from now on you will never build another 

nest again, but instead lay your eggs in other birds 

nests. 

“But you, Kiwi, because of your great sacrifice, you 

will become the most well known and most beloved 

bird of them all." 


How the Hopi Indians Reached Their World 

A traditional Hopi tale 

When the world was new, the ancient people and the 

ancient creatures did not live on the top of the earth. 

They lived under it. All was darkness, all was blackness, 

above the earth as well as below it. 

There were four worlds: this one on top of the Earth, 

and below it three cave worlds, one below the other. 

None of the cave worlds was large enough for all the 

people and the creatures. 

The people increased so fast in the lowest cave world 

that they crowded it. They did not know where to turn 

in the blackness. Whenever they moved, they jostled 

one another. The people filled the place with their 

complaints and disgust. 

Some people said, "It is not good for us to live in this 

way." 

"But how can it be made better?" one man asked. 

"Let it be tried and seen!" answered another. 

Two spirit beings known as the Two Brothers decided 

to help the people. They pierced a hole in the roof of 

the cave and planted a cane tree, which grew so tall 

that it rose through the opening in the roof, and was so 

strong that men could climb to its top. 

Up this cane many people and spirit beings climbed to 

the second cave world. When some of them had 

climbed out, they feared that this cave also would be 

too small, so they shook the cane tree and caused those 

who were coming up it to fall back. Then they pulled 

the cane tree out. 

After a long time, the second cave became filled with 

people and spirit beings, as the first had been. The 

people complained and wrangled as they had in the 

beginning. Again, a cane tree was placed under a vent 

in the cave’s roof, and once more men and beings 

entered the next cave world. But the same thing 

happened in the third cave world. Although larger than 

the others, it was just as dark as the first two. 


The people longed for light and sought once again an 

escape from darkness. They climbed to the fourth 

world, which was this world, the Earth. But it too was 

dark, for it was closed in by the sky, just as the cave 

worlds had been closed in by their roofs. Men went 

from their lodges and worked by the light of torches 

and fires, which the Two Brothers gave them. The 

world was damp and dark, and people did not know 

what to do. 

With the people were five spirit beings that had come 

forth with them from the lower cave worlds: Spider, 

Vulture, Swallow, Coyote, and Locust. The people and 

these spirit beings consulted together, trying to think of 

some way of making light. Spider was asked to try first. 

She spun a mantle of pure white cotton. It gave some 

light but not enough. 

Then the people found and prepared a white deerskin, 

which they made into a shield case and painted 

turquoise. It shed such brilliant light that it lit the whole 

world, and made the light from Spider’s cotton mantle 

look faded. So the people sent the mantle to the east, 

where it became the moon. 

Down in the cave world Coyote had stolen a jar that 

was very heavy. He was curious to see what it 

contained. Now that light had taken the place of 

darkness, he opened the jar. From it many shining 

fragments and sparks flew out, singeing his face. That is 

why the coyote has a black face to this day. The shining 

fragments and sparks flew up to the sky and became 

stars. 

By these lights the people found that the world was 

indeed very small and surrounded by waters, which 

made it damp. The people appealed to Vulture for help. 

He spread his wings and fanned the waters, which 

flowed away to the east and to the west until 

mountains began to appear.

How the Hopi Indians Reached Their World (continued) 

Across the mountains the Two Brothers cut channels. 

Water rushed through the channels, and wore their 

courses deeper and deeper. Thus the great canyons and 

valleys of the world were formed. The waters have kept 

on flowing and flowing for ages. The world has grown 

drier, and continues to grow drier and drier. 

Only a small number of people were able to climb up 

from their secret hiding places and emerge into the 

Fourth World. Legends reveal the Grand Canyon is 

where these people emerged. From there they began 

their search for the homes the Two Brothers intended 

for them. These few were the Hopi Indians that now 

live on the Three Mesas of northeastern Arizona. 


The Tale of Tecun Uman 

A Quiche Indian tale 

Long ago, deep in the highlands of what is now 

Guatemala, the Quiche (key-chay) people ruled over a 

small territory. Their ancestors had lived there for 

hundreds of years, and they were the most powerful 

people in the land until foreigners from a distant shore 

invaded their kingdom. 

At first the Quiche heard nothing but rumors about these 

strangers, the Spaniards, who arrived on great ships and 

were said to be pale. But even before the Quiche laid 

eyes on the strangers, they fell victim to the Spaniards’ 

most unusual weapon: foreign diseases, which killed the 

Quiche in great numbers. Bodies lay piled in the streets, 

where they were eaten by dogs and vultures. Parents 

died, and many children were left orphaned. 

Only after enduring four years of Spanish plagues did 

the Quiche finally meet the Spaniards face to face. Led 

by a conquistador (con-keys-tah-door; a conqueror) 

named Pedro de Alvarado, an army of Spanish soldiers 

marched into the highlands, ready to defeat the Quiche 

once and for all. 

The news of the Spaniards’ approach was brought by a 

dwarf named Ajitz (Ah-jeetz), who was jester in the 

palace of the Quiche prince. The prince, a gallant young 

warrior named Tecun Uman (Tay-koon Ooo-ahn), knew 

that the Spaniards were powerful, but he met their 

threat with great bravado. “Ajitz, my friend,” he said, “I 

do not fear evil or death, nor does torture make me 

tremble. Tell my soldiers to make themselves ready! I 

will face this insolent young Pedro Alvarado and send 

him to the underworld.” 

So many of the Quiche had died that their army was 

full of young, inexperienced fighters, some no more 

than children. Tecun Uman led them, wearing a crown 

of rare jewels and metals. His body was covered with a 

suit of beautiful feathers from the quetzal (kwet-zahl) 

bird, which made him look like an eagle. 

When the two armies met in battle, the Quiche fought 

bravely. Wearing his suit of quetzal feathers, Tecun 

Uman seemed to rise in flight as he attacked Pedro de 


Alvarado. But the Spaniards were too powerful, and 

after a long fight, Alvarado stabbed Tecun Uman in the 

chest with his spear. The Spanish general admired his 

dead foe’s strength and beauty so much that he called 

all his soldiers to come and see this Indian. He told 

them he had not seen another Indian so handsome and 

regal in any other town they had conquered. And so 

Alvarado said that the name of their battleground 

would be Quetzaltenango (meaning “the place of the 

quetzals”), in honor of the brave prince Tecun Uman.

Acknowledgments 

Beth Alberty 

Chrisy Ledakis 

Michelle Zatta 

Nobue Hirabayashi 

Whitney Thompson 

■ 

Portable Collections Series Coordinator 

Melissa Husby 

■ 

Special Thanks 

Leon Waller 

The Teachers of the New York City Department of Education 

■ 

Funding 

Creation of this Portable Collections case is made possible 

by a Learning Opportunities Grant from 

the Institute for Museum and Library Services. 

■ ■ ■ 

© 2006 

Brooklyn Children’s Museum 

145 Brooklyn Avenue 

Brooklyn, New York 11213 

718-735-4400 ext. 170 

www.brooklynkids.org 

For information about renting this or other Portable Collections Program cases, 

please contact the Scheduling Assistant at 718-735-4400 ext. 118.

Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

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