Why We Are in Need of Tales: Part Two

In Why We Are in Need of Tails, we learn that our most nuanced skills for communication were lost when we lost our tails - or so the story goes. Huk and Tuk explore ways to compensate for this loss by developing polyphonic listening or by entering into dialogue with each other rather than carrying on a monologue. And they learn that telling tales helps connect us when actual tails no longer can.

In Why We Are in Need of Tales, Part I, Huk and Tuk discuss six different picture books by Arnold Lobel and Leo Lionni and explore the intriguing questions the tales inspire, gaining a new understanding of the deep connection we have to each other and the world we live in.

In Why We Are in Need of Tales, Part II, Huk and Tuk discuss another important aspect of telling tales: making dreams come alive. Here they discuss six more tales by Arnold Lobel and Leo Lionni and learn that we cannot live without the dreams that our imaginations create. Dreams give us hope and imagination and - with the help of courage and determination - allows us to create extraordinary things.

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.