Go to Sleep, Gecko!: A Balines

"The world is all connected. Some things you just have to put up with."

Gecko may be small, but he has a giant-sized problem. Every night he is awakened by the fireflies outside his window. And when Gecko doesn't get his rest, he gets a little grumpy.

So he goes to Elephant, the head of the village, to complain. His request that the fireflies stop working at night sets off a comical chain of problems for everyone in the village and complicates everyone’s life. In the end, Elephant teaches Gecko that everyone has a purpose in the village: the fireflies provide light, the buffalo provides safety and the rain provides nourishment. Everything is connected.

Through this cumulative tale from the Balinese tradition, Gecko learns that his well-being depends on that of the entire village and he finally goes to sleep, a little wiser. This Balinese folktale will teach readers the importance of respect, sharing and citizenship. 

August House offers free lesson plans for Go to Sleep, Gecko!

Margaret Read MacDonald Bio: 

Margaret Read MacDonald is a professional storyteller, award winning author and highly respected consultant who travels the world telling stories and conducting workshops for educators. Her most popular workshop “Playing with Stories” has been offered in over 70 countries. She has been invited to storytelling and literary festivals in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore. In addition, Dr. MacDonald teaches storytelling to classroom teachers for the Lesley University Creative Education through the Arts program. For years, she also taught storytelling as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Washington Information School. 

Dr. MacDonald is the author of over 60 books on folklore and storytelling topics, including many award winning folktale picture books. She has been telling stories since 1964 in her work as a children’s librarian, and she holds a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University along with an M.Ed.EC. (Educational Communications Masters) from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s of Library Science (MLS) from the University of Washington. She is well known for her ability to create texts that delight the ear and are easy for teachers to share. Teaching with Story contains 20 of these useful stories that can be used by teachers with their students.