IN THIS ISSUE:
- Using Stories to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
- Useful Links
- Suggested Books
- Story Related Links – Art Projects and Math
- WANT TO KNOW ABOUT TELLING GHOST STORIES?
- A Story to Tell: Three Impossible Gifts
- Story Synopsis and Answer to the Riddle
- Story Related Critical Thinking Connections

In ancient China, the two oldest son’s of a prosperous man married and brought their brides to live in the family home. The head of the household was their father-in-law. The brides had to ask his permission if they wanted to visit their relatives, as was the custom in those days. He asked them to bring him three gifts: fire in paper, water in paper and air in paper. If they could not return from their visit with these gifts, they could never leave the household again. The brides agreed, but when their visit was over they realized the gifts he wanted were impossible to get.
A clever girl helped them find fire in paper (a paper lantern), water in paper (a paper cup) and wind in paper (a paper fan), and their father-in-law was pleased.

Social Studies: Thecultural/historical references and social expectations found in this folktale from China provide many opportunities for critical thinking. This story is an excellent springboard for students to compare, contrast and evaluate the culture presented with what they know of their own. Students will enjoy using art to make and decorate paper lanterns, paper cups and paper fans as they learn more about China and its people.
Although the story provided herein is an abbreviated version of the original tale, expanded versions of the story can be easily found. Some texts contain additional riddles to solve – seeThe Young Head of the Family in Wise Women: Folk and Fairy Tales from around the World by Suzanne I. Barchers. (ISBN 1-56308-592-5. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., Englewood, CO, 1990). Different versions of this story can also be found under the following title: House of No Sorrow.
Language Arts: As students explore this story, re-tell it or act it out, their communication skills are enhanced and enriched when they discuss what they have learned. By encouraging further reading, students are able to compare and contrast the various adaptations of this story. If student groups take on the challenge of creating an adaptation of their own, they might enjoy writing and illustrating their work.
Science: Most students know what it’s like to feel homesick, so it is not difficult for them to understand why the sisters wanted to visit their family so often. Today, modern technology (telephones, Internet, audio recordings, video, etc.) provide options to communicate with our loved ones that were not available in the past. A discussion of thescientific contrasts between then and now will result in students using visualization, making comparisons and drawing conclusions from what they have learned.