New stories! "Polka-dot!" and "The Marble"

Hello everyone!  Two new stories will be airing soon on Tales From Around the World (Channel 13 on CPA TV, Charlottesville VA):  

Polka-dot!  and The Marble

Both stories are 'almost true' stories -- many of the details are true, but not all happened at the same time, not all happened to me.  

On the show, I challenge you to listen carefully and decide which parts you think I "made up" or changed -- and which parts you think are true.

Please send me a comment and share your best guesses, or ask me a question, or tell me your story!  

Hope to 'hear' from you soon,

Holly

The Full Belly Bowl!

Hello! I really like The Full Belly Bowl story, and had great fun retelling it.

Jim Aylesworth is the author of the book where I found the basic idea for the story. He's written over 30 books:

http://www.ayles.com/booklist.html

Wendy Anderson Halperin was the illustrator for the book -- the illustrations are truly beautiful (so many details!).

http://www.wendyhalperin.com/books/bowl/bowl.htm

I changed several details of the story in my retelling. If you read the book and watch Tales from Around the World to hear my version, please post a message and tell me what differences YOU found.

Here's a link to a page with fun activities relating to the story:

http://www.ayles.com/fullbelly2.html

And here are two photos from the set:

Rainbow Crow (photo of felt story board)

Hope you enjoy the show!

Thanks to the author of the book (Nancy Van Laan) and to Lenape Elder Bill "Whippoorwill" Thompson whom Nancy first heard the story from!

Holly

Rainbow Crow [Lenape Native Americans]

Hello!

The story of Rainbow Crow is credited to Bill Thompson, a Lenape elder.

If you want to learn more about the Lenape, you might explore this website:
http://www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/

And this link has a Lenape language talking dictionary!
http://www.talk-lenape.org/

Do you know where the Lenape lived? I challenge you to research and find out, and to post your answers here!

*one of the places the Lenape lived was also where I lived as a child. My father and his brothers used to collect Lenape arrowheads in the fields.
Holly

Tales from Around the World blog revisions

Hello world! I will be trying to post more often to the Tales from Around the World blog, and will HOPE that more of YOU will read and comment!

My friend Jessie has worked very hard to share interesting information and photos of China. I hope you'll post a comment to share your appreciation, and/or to ask a question! THANK YOU, Jessie!

So far, Tales from Around the World stories (tales!) have come from Liberia, Japan, China and the USA (from the Lenape Indians/Native Americans). Can you find all of these countries on the map? Do you remember the stories?

Please explore the Tales from Around the World blog frequently and please post a comment or question (or both!).

Thank you,
Holly

China's geography

Geography & Landscape & Travel
*Do you have a map ready?
Please try to find and use a map of China as you study and learn from the information below. Please be sure to read the information before AND after the slideshow! 
Located in the east of the Asian continent, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, China has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers. China is a very diverse land in a changing configuration of broad plains, expansive deserts, and lofty mountain ranges, and fertile river basins.
Slideshow of China geography, landscape and travel:

In general, the eastern half of the country is a region of fertile lowlands, foothills and mountains, deserts, steppes, and subtropical areas. The western half of China is a region of sunken basins, rolling plateaus, and towering massifs (a massif is “a large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range” Answers.com/massif). The proportion of various landforms of China is as follows: 33% Mountains, 26% plateaus, 19% basins, 12% plains, and 10% hills.
China has a terraced terrain, which gradually descends from the west to the east step by step. The first, and also the highest terrace, is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters and known as "the roof of the world"!! The second step consists of the Inner Mongolia, Loess and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus, and the Tarim, Junggar and Sichuan basins, on an altitude of 1,000-2,000 meters. The third step, about 500-1,000 meters in elevation, begins at the line from the Greater Hinggan, Taihang, Wushan and Xuefeng mountain ranges eastward to the seacoast.
China's two Major Rivers, the Huang He (Yellow River) and the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) have provided the framework for agricultural development and population growth throughout Chinese history.
Few countries boast such a majestic landscape, a venerated history, and a rich cultural legacy as China. UNESCO has included 27 renowned Chinese scenic places on its lists of world cultural and natural heritage sites. For more information on China World Heritage, please go to http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/cn

An Introduction to China

March's story, The Empty Pot, originated in China. With each country that Tales from Around the World "visits," I like to share information and activities -- to encourage everyone to learn more about this amazing world we live in!

Below you will find beautiful photos from China and additional information. Please enjoy viewing and reading:

A Brief Introduction to China
National Flag:
The flag of the People's Republic of China is the "Five-Starred Red Flag.

Map of China:
China is situated in the eastern part of Asia, on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, bordering Japan, India, Mongolia, Russia etc. The territory area of China is as much as that of the United States.
At present, China is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region).

Population & People:
With around 1.3 billion people, China is the world's largest and most populous country. This is about one-fifth of the world's population!!
China has 56 ethnic groups, among which Han is majority, and makes up an estimated 90% of the population. China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups. Most of them are from the Northwest, Southeast and Northeast regions of China. Almost all of the minority groups have their own languages, and each of them displays a unique culture.
China is the most ethnically diverse country in the world! Chinese culture is also markedly diverse, and reveals strong regional characteristics.

Chinese Language:
The Chinese character is one of the most ancient character systems, and the only one which continues in use today. Chinese characters are known as pictographs, however, the vast majority of Chinese characters are truly pictophonetic characters consisting of a radical and a phonetic element.
Over its four thousand years of history, Chinese characters have experienced several different writing styles. They were engraved on oracle bones, bronze, stones, and later written on paper.
As a language family, Chinese has an estimated 1.3 billion speakers, outnumbering any other language in the world. Mandarin is the official language of the China, and has around 850 million native speakers.

Chinese History:
China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. China has a long history, with written records dating back 5,000 years ago. For over three thousand years since 2000 BCE, China was ruled by Emperors and their dynasties. Dynastic China went through Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, which is a country alternating between periods of political unity and disunity .
In the early 1900s, the country came out from under dynasty rule to create the Peoples Republic of China. In 1949, People’s Republic of China was established. China has been under control of a communist government from then and now.
Now enjoy the video “Welcome to China “ :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzRKJNwNy9Y&feature=related