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Stories to Solve: A Chapter Book of Intriguing Mysteries and Brain-Teasing Puzzles from World Folklore for Children
Fourteen mind-bending mysteries from the world of folklore—solving them will require smart and savvy readers! A great choice for emerging readers who are ready for chapter books and like puzzles, brain-twisters, and more. How can a thirsty crow drink from an almost-empty pitcher? How does arresting a stone help a judge find a boy's stolen money? This artfully illustrated book presents fourteen intriguing mysteries from world folklore. Each brain-teasing tale is followed by a simple explanation of the solution, while notes at the back of the book describe the origins of these classic mysteries.
56 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
George Shannon
57 books25 followersGeorge Shannon is a popular storyteller and former children's librarian whose many notable picture books include Tomorrow's Alphabet, Lizard's Guest, and White Is for Blueberry. Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!, illustrated by Laura Dronzek, was named a Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book. George Shannon lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
January 18, 2019
I love these puzzles. I particularly like Shannon's collections because he notes original cultural sources. In this one I did solve the Clever Bride that stumped others, but did not figure out One Word, the penultimate story about the murderous boatman. I will def. continue to look for more in the series.
October 17, 2017
A collection of fourteen different riddle-based folk stories, with the hook that the set up is such that one reads the story and then can guess the solution. For example, the Aesop fable of the Crow and the Pitcher -- turn the page to find out how the crow got his drink!
About half the stories were new to me. Some I figured out, if not the right answer, at least a plausible one. Others stumped me. I'll specifically call out one of the stumpers, the Armenian "The Clever Bride", whose solution was terrifically clever and terribly obvious, and which I doubt I would have found, even given years in which to try.
The way the tales were told could have been improved, but the content was great, and I have very fond feelings toward the genre. It is one partially responsible for my blissful married state. Future Esteemed Spouse and I were being chauffeured by our chaperones, and had to find subjects to talk about on the way from Scenic Site A to Tourist Trap B - this was before the internet being available on cell phones obviated the need for conversation. One of these subjects was riddles/logic puzzles, of which well-read me had a large store (I don't believe this choice was a conscious decision on my part). Future Esteemed Spouse was not well-read, and had an indifferent education in a worse-than-indifferent country, but my goodness, FES was an absolute genius at solving them. Cleared the "is this person smart enough to get married to?" hurdle with miles to spare.
4/5 - If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like.
Note 1: Esteemed Spouse thought about "The Clever Bride" for thirty minutes and came up with the correct solution. Still got it!
Note 2: For user Manybooks, who will appreciate it - there are a couple pages at the back in which the author lists the country of origin and sources for each tale.
About half the stories were new to me. Some I figured out, if not the right answer, at least a plausible one. Others stumped me. I'll specifically call out one of the stumpers, the Armenian "The Clever Bride", whose solution was terrifically clever and terribly obvious, and which I doubt I would have found, even given years in which to try.
The way the tales were told could have been improved, but the content was great, and I have very fond feelings toward the genre. It is one partially responsible for my blissful married state. Future Esteemed Spouse and I were being chauffeured by our chaperones, and had to find subjects to talk about on the way from Scenic Site A to Tourist Trap B - this was before the internet being available on cell phones obviated the need for conversation. One of these subjects was riddles/logic puzzles, of which well-read me had a large store (I don't believe this choice was a conscious decision on my part). Future Esteemed Spouse was not well-read, and had an indifferent education in a worse-than-indifferent country, but my goodness, FES was an absolute genius at solving them. Cleared the "is this person smart enough to get married to?" hurdle with miles to spare.
4/5 - If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like.
Note 1: Esteemed Spouse thought about "The Clever Bride" for thirty minutes and came up with the correct solution. Still got it!
Note 2: For user Manybooks, who will appreciate it - there are a couple pages at the back in which the author lists the country of origin and sources for each tale.
February 23, 2024
Mind-exercise for 6-10 year olds. The kid was a little too young for this book, but I think he got at least an introduction to some analytic thinking principles from this.
Here is a great example of a "story to solve." It's story #1 - "Fishing" - One fine summer day two fathers and two sons went fishing at their favorite lake. They fished and talked all morning long and by noon everyone had caught one fish. As the two fathers and two sons walked back home, everyone was happy because each had a fish even though only three fish had been caught. Two fathers and two sons. Only three fish and no fish were lost. How can this have happened?
Also, this book is illustrated by Peter Sis of "Fire Truck" and "Trucks" (some family favorites). However, instead of simplistic sharpie-style, there is a more classic, pointillistic (if that's a word) illustration.
Here is a great example of a "story to solve." It's story #1 - "Fishing" - One fine summer day two fathers and two sons went fishing at their favorite lake. They fished and talked all morning long and by noon everyone had caught one fish. As the two fathers and two sons walked back home, everyone was happy because each had a fish even though only three fish had been caught. Two fathers and two sons. Only three fish and no fish were lost. How can this have happened?
Also, this book is illustrated by Peter Sis of "Fire Truck" and "Trucks" (some family favorites). However, instead of simplistic sharpie-style, there is a more classic, pointillistic (if that's a word) illustration.
January 29, 2012
Short stories from multiple cultures make this title a "can't miss" within the learning community, particularly with the new focus on reading, thinking, and listening critically. Noah and Maddie love to tell and to hear these kinds of stories that invite the reader/listener to figure out, "how did they do that?" I can see lead learners using one story a day as a bell ringer or as a kick off to the day's activities. This is probably better done with sticky notes or as a thought capture as some children may be familiar with these kinds of stories.
May 27, 2011
These mysteries/puzzles collected from folktales from around the world are short, fun, and the answer is on the following page if you get stumped! Great for a car ride or to entertain different ages, 2nd grade thru great-grandparents and everyone in between!
July 15, 2022
I read it as a kid and remember loving it. I did find most of them a bit easy to solve now though but I think it would be great for younger readers still.
June 25, 2013
Fun brain teaser-type fables -- some of them were tricky enough I didn't come up with the answer, some were easy enough for my 5-year-old to figure out. A very satisfying bedtime read for both of us. He now wants to borrow More Stories to Solve from the library.
November 26, 2008
This is a great book! I only got 8 of the 14 puzzles right. How sad! My brain needs more exercise! I will read (and probably fail)the sequels. :)
March 19, 2020
A book containing 14 puzzles to solve. Most I think I had run across in other contexts but still a nice book.
1) Fishing - Two fathers and two sons go fishing all catch a fish, but only 3 fish in total, how is that possible?
2) Crossing the River - Man needs to transport a wolf, a goat and a cabbage but can only carry two of those items in his boat. How can he transport everything across without anything getting eaten?
3) Two Mothers - Two women are fighting over a boy, the king tells them whoever holds fast the longest will determine the mother, both start to pull and the boy calls out in pain, and one woman instantly lets go. The king has found the true mother. (A less violent version of the story from the bible.)
4) A Drink for Crow - A crow sees water in a pitcher too low for him to get at so he comes up with a plan to access the water.
5) Which Flower - The Queen of Sheeba challenges King Solomon to find the real flower in a room filled with very convincing fakes. When Solomon gets the queen to open a window he instantly knows the answer.
6) The Clever Bride - A bride loves chickpeas and is often cooking and eating them. Her mother-in-law suspects her daughter-in-law of taking the chickpeas, but the bride knows she is suspected so one day while cleaning the house she notices a chickpea on the ground and convinces her mother-in-law she couldn't be the thief by saying three words (what is this)
7) The Sticks of Truth - A judge can't figure out which person is the thief so he gives them all sticks and says the guilty party's stick will grow 2 inches by the next morning. The next day it is the person with the shortest stick that he declares is the guilty party, why?
8) Three Rosebushes - A woman is turned into one of three identical rose bushes but is allowed to spend the night with her husband and child. She tells her husband she can return to him if he can successful determine which rose bush she is. Which he does.
9) The Cleverest Son - A man tries to figure out which of his three sons is the cleverest. He gives them a couple coins and asks them all to go into market and buy something to fill up the most of the room. The eldest buys straw, the middle buys feathers, but the youngest comes home with some small in his pocket but he ends up being the winner.
10) Working in the Field - A farmer works on a rich man's land. The Rich man demands that all his farmers smooth out the land in their care. But Yasohachi just goes home and rests rather than doing the work. Then he advertises in the paper that he will climb a bamboo pole to heaven and a huge crowd comes to see him attempt this feat. He fails at that, but does not fail at leveling his land, how does he do it?
11) The Guilty Stone - A boy finds that the coins he earned from selling greasy pastries have been stolen from his basket while he was sleeping. A judge says that since only the boy and the stone were there as he was sleeping, the stone must be guilty. He takes the stone to court and has a trial for the stone, finds it guilty and begins whipping the stone. A crowd laughs at the sight and the judge fines them all for laughing. He brings in a pot of water and has them all drop the fine in the jar of water. As folks are dropping their money in, the judge suddenly says. That is the thief how did he know (grease coming off coins in water - which is kind of wonky - did no one else touch something greasy today? Was the thief the only one who hasn't washed his hands?)
12) Dividing the Horses - In a father's will, it states that the eldest son will get 1/2 of the family horses, the middle son will get 1/3 and the youngest will get 1/9. The family had 17 horses and couldn't figure out how to divide them according to their late father's wishes. It was only when they borrowed a horse that it worked out.
13) One Word Solves a Mystery - A sailor realizes it would be easy to kill a merchant. So he does so and hides the body and then goes to the house and asks the wife why the merchant has yet to arrive. A judge takes both the wife and the sailor separately to ask what exactly happened and realizes that thief gave himself away by asking for the wife to see where her husband was, if he truly didn't know he would have asked for the merchant himself thinking he was still at home.
14) Heaven and Hell - a man gets to go and see both heaven and hell before he dies. In Hell they are all hungry because they are sitting around a table laden with food but with three foot long chopsticks that makes it impossible to feed themselves. In heaven amazingly it was the same, same food, same long chopsticks, but here all were well fed and healthy how was that possible? (cooperation)
1) Fishing - Two fathers and two sons go fishing all catch a fish, but only 3 fish in total, how is that possible?
2) Crossing the River - Man needs to transport a wolf, a goat and a cabbage but can only carry two of those items in his boat. How can he transport everything across without anything getting eaten?
3) Two Mothers - Two women are fighting over a boy, the king tells them whoever holds fast the longest will determine the mother, both start to pull and the boy calls out in pain, and one woman instantly lets go. The king has found the true mother. (A less violent version of the story from the bible.)
4) A Drink for Crow - A crow sees water in a pitcher too low for him to get at so he comes up with a plan to access the water.
5) Which Flower - The Queen of Sheeba challenges King Solomon to find the real flower in a room filled with very convincing fakes. When Solomon gets the queen to open a window he instantly knows the answer.
6) The Clever Bride - A bride loves chickpeas and is often cooking and eating them. Her mother-in-law suspects her daughter-in-law of taking the chickpeas, but the bride knows she is suspected so one day while cleaning the house she notices a chickpea on the ground and convinces her mother-in-law she couldn't be the thief by saying three words (what is this)
7) The Sticks of Truth - A judge can't figure out which person is the thief so he gives them all sticks and says the guilty party's stick will grow 2 inches by the next morning. The next day it is the person with the shortest stick that he declares is the guilty party, why?
8) Three Rosebushes - A woman is turned into one of three identical rose bushes but is allowed to spend the night with her husband and child. She tells her husband she can return to him if he can successful determine which rose bush she is. Which he does.
9) The Cleverest Son - A man tries to figure out which of his three sons is the cleverest. He gives them a couple coins and asks them all to go into market and buy something to fill up the most of the room. The eldest buys straw, the middle buys feathers, but the youngest comes home with some small in his pocket but he ends up being the winner.
10) Working in the Field - A farmer works on a rich man's land. The Rich man demands that all his farmers smooth out the land in their care. But Yasohachi just goes home and rests rather than doing the work. Then he advertises in the paper that he will climb a bamboo pole to heaven and a huge crowd comes to see him attempt this feat. He fails at that, but does not fail at leveling his land, how does he do it?
11) The Guilty Stone - A boy finds that the coins he earned from selling greasy pastries have been stolen from his basket while he was sleeping. A judge says that since only the boy and the stone were there as he was sleeping, the stone must be guilty. He takes the stone to court and has a trial for the stone, finds it guilty and begins whipping the stone. A crowd laughs at the sight and the judge fines them all for laughing. He brings in a pot of water and has them all drop the fine in the jar of water. As folks are dropping their money in, the judge suddenly says. That is the thief how did he know (grease coming off coins in water - which is kind of wonky - did no one else touch something greasy today? Was the thief the only one who hasn't washed his hands?)
12) Dividing the Horses - In a father's will, it states that the eldest son will get 1/2 of the family horses, the middle son will get 1/3 and the youngest will get 1/9. The family had 17 horses and couldn't figure out how to divide them according to their late father's wishes. It was only when they borrowed a horse that it worked out.
13) One Word Solves a Mystery - A sailor realizes it would be easy to kill a merchant. So he does so and hides the body and then goes to the house and asks the wife why the merchant has yet to arrive. A judge takes both the wife and the sailor separately to ask what exactly happened and realizes that thief gave himself away by asking for the wife to see where her husband was, if he truly didn't know he would have asked for the merchant himself thinking he was still at home.
14) Heaven and Hell - a man gets to go and see both heaven and hell before he dies. In Hell they are all hungry because they are sitting around a table laden with food but with three foot long chopsticks that makes it impossible to feed themselves. In heaven amazingly it was the same, same food, same long chopsticks, but here all were well fed and healthy how was that possible? (cooperation)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2024
Puzzle books are admittedly difficult to do well, because a lot of them repeat puzzles, especially when cribbing from other sources like this one admits to doing (#4 is a direct Aesop’s Fable, and #8 is a Grimm's Fairy Tale).
That said, the ones I hadn't heard before ARE pretty good... except:
- "Working the Field": The lazy man's job is to "flatten" the field, which he does without doing any work by . How is that helpful at all? There are still stones in the field that do the field no good! Literally the job just wants FLAT land? Also, I can't imagine the field is actually THAT flat at the end of the day.
- "Heaven and Hell": The difference is , which is... ALMOST clever, but is it actually "heaven" or "hell" to be in that situation?
(Mind you, I don't really like ANY interpretation of Heaven/Hell, since it's segregation, eternally, for reward/punishment for behaviour over an insignificantly short time.)
Reviewed accordingly, since this is pretty good IF you haven't heard the puzzles before. I'm vaguely annoyed I couldn't solve the ones that stumped me (besides the two headscratchers mentioned above), since it's nigh impossible to go back and try to solve a puzzle later after peeking at the answers. Oh, to have selective memory!
That said, the ones I hadn't heard before ARE pretty good... except:
- "Working the Field": The lazy man's job is to "flatten" the field, which he does without doing any work by . How is that helpful at all? There are still stones in the field that do the field no good! Literally the job just wants FLAT land? Also, I can't imagine the field is actually THAT flat at the end of the day.
- "Heaven and Hell": The difference is , which is... ALMOST clever, but is it actually "heaven" or "hell" to be in that situation?
(Mind you, I don't really like ANY interpretation of Heaven/Hell, since it's segregation, eternally, for reward/punishment for behaviour over an insignificantly short time.)
Reviewed accordingly, since this is pretty good IF you haven't heard the puzzles before. I'm vaguely annoyed I couldn't solve the ones that stumped me (besides the two headscratchers mentioned above), since it's nigh impossible to go back and try to solve a puzzle later after peeking at the answers. Oh, to have selective memory!
June 4, 2024
I read the Romanian version of this which includes all stories from the three volumes in the series. Some stories I was familiar with, some easily solvable, some required a lot of thinking and some had very beguiling solutions. Overall this is an enjoyable collection of puzzles from all over the world and it is good to have around when going on a long trip or when you have some downtime with both adults and children.
March 5, 2018
14 stories to solve: 1. Fishing, 2. Crossing the River, 3. Two Mothers, 4. A Drink for Crow, 5. Which Flower?, 6. The Clever Bride, 7. The Sticks of Truth, 8. Three Rosebushes, 9. The Cleverest Son, 10. Working the Field, 11. The Guilty Stone, 12. Dividing the Horses, 13. One Word Solves a Mystery 14. Heaven and Hell
October 29, 2018
This is a fun traditional literature book for grades 4-5. I like how the folktales in this book are culturally diverse and would appeal to anyone. I think that these folktales, which are like riddles, would keep kids entertained while they are trying to solve all of them.
May 13, 2020
Intermediate kids love this book. I read them a story and let kids whisper their solution in my ear while others take more time to think. in 2019/2020 I made it as far as _______ with the Garrison and McKinlay 4/5 classes.
September 26, 2017
A quick, fun read. Brain teaser stories from around the world, good for middle grade students.
December 10, 2017
I remembered a lot of these from when I first read it, but it was still a fun book to read.
April 22, 2018
A neat little book that makes you think! Great quick read.
September 30, 2019
Billed as folktales, but not really folktales so much as riddles. Some of the stories are from the Bible, so I enjoyed the implication it is a folktale.
July 28, 2022
عنوان ترجمهٔ فارسی: هم قصه هم معما
اگر در بچگی میخواندمش عاشقش میشدم!
اگر در بچگی میخواندمش عاشقش میشدم!
July 7, 2023
Really good for thinking out the box, short and sweet!
July 20, 2023
Quick read. Knew several and figured out most of the rest.
February 4, 2024
Short ancient riddles from around the world to solve with answers & illustrations. Great for testing school kids.
February 18, 2024
I had fun solving the puzzles, and I think most kids will as well.
October 2, 2024
This is a nice, little treasury of fun folktales to solve. I look forward to sharing these with my students. I think they'll enjoy discussing them and solving them. :)
March 2, 2020
o Genre – Traditional Literature – Folktale
o Awards: none
o Grades: 3-7
o Main characters: as this is a collection of folktales from around the world, there is not one set of main characters. However, a common theme is talking, human-like animals as the center of the story.
o What other versions of the story are you familiar with: A few of the stories were familiar as similar to local folktales and riddles, but most were completely new to me.
o Would you use this story for storytelling: This would be a fun interactive read aloud. Students may need to get up close to some of the pictures and think and discuss the folktales, though, so having this book at a reading center or give each table a different riddle to solve and share with the class could be really fun.
o Awards: none
o Grades: 3-7
o Main characters: as this is a collection of folktales from around the world, there is not one set of main characters. However, a common theme is talking, human-like animals as the center of the story.
o What other versions of the story are you familiar with: A few of the stories were familiar as similar to local folktales and riddles, but most were completely new to me.
o Would you use this story for storytelling: This would be a fun interactive read aloud. Students may need to get up close to some of the pictures and think and discuss the folktales, though, so having this book at a reading center or give each table a different riddle to solve and share with the class could be really fun.
March 26, 2015
This book was a blast to read. That may sound weird at first, but I am someone who loves problem solving and mysteries. This book challenged my problem solving skills, and I became excited when I was able to solve them. I loved how the book gave the reader an explanation with every tale, and the explanations were easy to understand. I think this would be a fun book to share with students, and it can be a great way to push their critical thinking skills.
September 15, 2013
A nice and clever short set of stories. However, if you had read this before, you will know the answers, which this happened to me. Even through this, I still had lots of fun guessing how they did the riddles-with wisdom, perhaps.
July 31, 2019
A fun collection of puzzles to solve. I loved that they were short enough to maintain interest and many must have been based in oral tradition. I liked the illustrations as well. I’m anxious to share with my children.
January 13, 2008
Great stories for parents to read to kids.
Makes you think. Well written and interesting stories. Classic.
Makes you think. Well written and interesting stories. Classic.
May 22, 2009
I love this book!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews