Why We Are in Need of Tales: Part Three

In Why We Are in Need of Tails, we learn how we all used to have tails that helped us connect to each other and the world around us. When we lost our tails, we also lost our most nuanced way of communicating, so the story goes. Best friends Huk and Tuk explore ways we can compensate for this loss. They discover that by telling stories - or tales, if you like - and by discussing the intriguing questions they raise, we're able to create a deeper understanding of ourselves, each other and the world we live in. Although Huk and Tuk's tales seem simple at first, the questions they raise are nuanced and complex, making them rewarding for adults and children to ponder together.

Now, in Part III, the latest in the Why We Are in Need of Tales series, Huk and Tuk gain an understanding of the different choices we make in different situations - and how important choices can be. And they learn that in order to make careful choices, we have to keep our eyes wide open.

Doing philosophy with children inspired Maria daVenza Tillmanns to write these whimsical, playful stories about profound, weighty ideas to help recreate the bonds of meaningful communication with one another - the young and not so young alike.

Maria teaches a "Philosophy with Children" program in underserved San Diego schools in partnership with the University of California, San Diego. In 1980, she attended Dr. Matthew Lipman's workshop on philosophy for children and later wrote her dissertation on philosophical counseling and teaching under the direction of Martin Buber scholar Dr. Maurice Friedman. She has publications in a number of inter-national journals. For Maria, philosophy is an art form, and she enjoys painting with ideas. Philosophy has helped her navigate the world in all its complexity, including having a multicultural background and having been raised in the US as well as in the Netherlands. She came back to the US to study and moved across the Atlantic multiple times.