The Bundle of Sticks

このストーリーについて

The Bundle of Sticks, also known as The Old Man and His Sons, is one of Aesop's Fables: a father ends his sons' quarrelling by showing them that single sticks snap easily but a bundle tied together will not break. Similar stories, often told with a bundle of arrows, turn up in other parts of the world. This VoiceSmiths retelling gives the old farmer three squabbling children and an apple pie as the prize, as a warm full-cast audio story.

読み聞かせのコツ

• Try it with thin garden twigs: snap one, then try to break a small tied bundle. Supervise little hands.
• Ask children to name jobs that are hard alone but easy when everyone helps.
• Choose your own family word, like Sticks!, to use when a squabble starts.

よくある質問

What is the moral of The Bundle of Sticks?

Unity is strength, or as older translations put it, union gives strength. Single sticks snap easily, but tied together they cannot be broken, just as a family or a group that sticks together is stronger than any one member alone.

What is The Bundle of Sticks fable also called?

It is also known as The Old Man and His Sons or The Father and His Sons. It is traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.

What age is The Bundle of Sticks for?

It suits children from about 4 to 9, and works especially well for brothers and sisters who squabble. Nobody is scolded harshly: the father simply shows them, and the children share the prize.