Reviews for Learning to Write/Writing to Learn

The average rating for Learning to Write/Writing to Learn based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-01-03 00:00:00 Matthew Sager I'd actually give this one a 3 1/2 if there were half stars. It's a collection of tales about peace that are short enough or repetitious enough to be told aloud. I found the stories themselves to be uneven in quality, some being very good, and others being...blah. Interspersed with the stories were proverbs and sayings from different cultures, which were often quite good. My favorite stories were "Reaching for the Moon" from Tibet, "Not Our Problem" from Burma and Thailand, "The War Between the Sandpipers and the Whales" from the Marshall Islands, "The Lion's Whisker" from Ethiopia, "Slops" from Wales, "Heaven and Hell" from China, and "The Rose Prince" from Romania. Recommended for storytellers!

Review # 2 was written on 2014-06-01 00:00:00 Maritn Neumann Margaret Read MacDonald knows very well how to compile the best stories into collections. She has gathered many from all over the world talking about war and peace. All of these stories, when told, will lead to much discussion within your class about right and wrong, kindness and cruelty, fairness and injustice. My favorites are: 1. "Strength" about animals who want to know who is the strongest and man who uses his gun to kill elephant as he doesn't understand the difference between strength and death. 2. "Two Goats Under a Bridge": There are two tales with this title and they are quick and simple and show how war and peace can happen. In one story, the goats refuse to move and blame each other for their stubbornness. In the other, they move for each other and each say how cooperative the other is. 3. "Old Joe and the Carpenter": A great story of peace. Two neighbors argue and one digs a river between their properties. The other hires a man to build a wall between them but instead he builds a bridge which unites the neighbors. 4. "Two Foxes": A fantastic tale for not arguing. Two foxes see all the other animals bickering and they aim to try to do the same but in the end realize they like their friendship as it had been, with no fighting at all. Definitely a wonderful addition to any folktale collection, and a great resource for storytellers.