The North Wind and the Sun

Source: Wildsmith, Brian. The North Wind and the Sun. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Summary: The North Wind sees a man riding though town wearing a new cloak and brags that he could easily blow it off his back. The Sun challenges the North Wind to see which of them can remove the man's cloak. First, the North Wind blows as hard as he can, but the man just pulls the cloak more tightly around him. Then, the Sun gives off a gentle warmth, which makes the man too hot and he takes off his cloak to go swimming.

Cultural origins: Aesop's Fables. This story is quite clearly a fable, with a moral at the end of the story. Although the book attributes the fable to La Fontaine, other sources trace it to Aesop.

Audience: Pre-school - 1st grade. This is a fairly simple tale that younger children could understand. They might also enjoy the imagery of the different things that happen when the wind blows.

Adaptation notes: I would add audience participation by creating a "windstorm" when the North Wind blows. The audience would create the windstorm by blowing and making noise while I continued to tell the story over the noise. I would also tell this part relatively fast to simulate being blown around by the wind. Then, I would bring the volume down and slow the pace to create the feeling of warmth and peace brought by the sunshine.