Help Gepetto make Pinocchio. Then take the adventurous puppet to meet characters who ask him some tough questions.
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Browser Game: Seven Dwarfs Diamond Mine Arcade
You’re a dwarf from ‘Snow White’ and you’re in the diamond mine trying to hit as many diamonds as you can while your energy lasts.
Browser Game: Beanstalk Climb
Get Jack up the beanstalks to grab the gold coins. Watch out, because the giant is throwing things. If you’re good enough, you can play level 2.
Storybook: The Panchatantra (a folktale from India)
translated and illustrated by Vaibhav Kodikal (Mumbai, India)
This illustrated story is one of the most wonderful things we ever received at Candlelight Stories. It was sent to us back in 1997 by a young man named Vaibhav Kodikal from Mumbai, India. This was one of his first illustration projects, finished while he was still in school. The Times of India did an article about how he made this story and published it on Candlelight Stories. He was and remains one of our very favorite artists. We hope he is doing very well indeed today.
The Panchatantra – The Brahmin’s Tale is from the oldest extant collection of fables in Sanskrit literature. Dating from the 4th century AD, it is based on still earlier collections of folk tales. The Panchatantra is sometimes attributed to an Indian sage, Bidpai (flourished about 300 A.D.). The tales, primarily about animals, are organized into five books on such topics as winning friends, losing property and waging war. They were originally intended to instruct a young prince in the conduct that would ensure his worldly success.
The Tale Begins
Long, long ago there was a poor Brahmin named Krishnan. He could not find enough work to do. Sometimes, he and his family had to go without food.
Inspiration From the Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights have inspired writers, poets, composers and painters in the West.
In 1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of ‘Treasure Island,’ wrote:
‘There is one book, for example, more generally loved than Shakespeare, that captivates in childhood, and still delights in age – I mean the ARABIAN NIGHTS – where you shall look in vain for moral or for intellectual interest. No human face or voice greets us among that wooden crowd of kings and genies, sorcerers and beggarmen. Adventure, on the most naked terms, furnishes forth the entertainment and is found enough.’
The History of the Arabian Nights
The Arabian Nights have a history that is largely mysterious. However, it is widely considered that they may include tales told by ancient travelers and merchants along the Chinese Silk Route. As they made their way from Northern China to the Middle East and Egypt, the travelers stopped in various towns and trading posts where they would tell these stories to each other for entertainment.