Religious stories for children

By Ambal’s grace two 3.5 year old half Indian children have come into my life and I want to begin educating them early starting with regular visits to the temple and telling them stories from puranas and the Vedas etc….

The problem is that I am finding a serious lack of well written and produced material for children that teach the stories and values of our Sanatana Dharma in English language….

So what I am looking to do is take stories that I do have access to in their originals that are translated and make them accessible to the girls by adapting them with increase level of detail as they age.

Can any of you suggest good stories and sources to start with? Currently I am working on some from the Periya Puranam (stories of the nayanar saints), the Linga Puranam (can anyone suggest any stories within in particular), and I am looking at purchasing the Skanda Puranam which is massive and full of wonderful stories for them but quite expensive).

What are some good stories from Vedas that would be approachable for them?

There is a beautiful story of a child who approaches a guru in hopes of joining his gurukulam and learning but when asked about his heritage he does not know because his father abandoned him and his mother. The guru declares him worthy as his honesty is such that it is an example for all Brahmin children. Where is this story located? It’s been so many years since coming across it I cannot remember. I believe he is the son of Jamala(?)

Where can I find the original text of the story of Sri Adi Shankara reprimanding his devotees for how they were treating one of their brethren who happened to be slow of wit. He then calls to him and he walks on the water to his guru showing his purity and attainment was far beyond those who ridiculed him?

Any help with this project of mine would be greatly appreciated and I will happily contribute them all back to the community and forum if so desired.
 
As of now I can suggest two
1. Prahladha stories
2. Thirukolur Pen pillai stories. For this you may get from sources in net. Otherwise my suggestion is if you go through the fb pages of Desikan Narayanan(sujatha desikan) he has given in different time and he is going to publish this in sooner time. They have trust (rdmctrust) to publish these kind of books. Just for reference I am giving his blogspot because I couldn't give a link to his FB page.

 
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As of now I can suggest two
1. Prahladha stories
2. Thirukolur Pen pillai stories. For this you may get from sources in net. Otherwise my suggestion is if you go through the fb pages of Desikan Narayanan(sujatha desikan) he has given in different time and he is going to publish this in sooner time. They have trust (rdmctrust) to publish these kind of books. Just for reference I am giving his blogspot because I couldn't give a link to his FB page.

Namaskaram, I really appreciate your input. Thank you for taking the time.

I will look into this and it brings up another point…. I am also very interested in any religiously themed nursery rhymes in either Tamil or Sanskrit that anyone can contribute text or links to as well.
 
With regard to Adi Sankara you can have reference of movie in Sanskrit in 1983 I watched it in TV if I get the link I will give.
I’m pretty sure I watched this years ago and that it’s available on YouTube. I remember it being in Sanskrit and having to watch it with English subtitles but I can probably rewatch it and paraphrase the gist from some of the stories for sure. Great idea!

This parenting thing is very new to me. Honestly, even talking about my faith to anyone outside of Brahmin communities in general is very new to me. I have always been a quiet person and this subject (living the dharma) has always been so fundamental to my core that I have protected it as such and kept it in a kind of walled garden in my heart and life.

It is only recently in my older age that this upsurge in interest in the dharma amongst Indian youth (in both Bharat and abroad) and my growing belief that if we don’t teach and share Sanatana Dharma to those who inquire freely and openly, that we are indeed the ones at fault for its suffering against proselytizing religions such as Islam and Christianity have begun to weigh on my conscience.

When I look at the continued growth of Islam and Christianity that occurs at the expense of Sanatana Dharma’s active and practicing peoples I feel great responsibility for creating cogent, intelligent, and most importantly accurate materials for the dissemination of its values to our younger generations.
 



I have been part of Chinmaya group, i used to run Bal Vihar. Present-day children are lot savvier than kids of our days. So be prepared to be honest and accept that they may not accept everything you suggest. Respect their views.

Join a Chinmaya Group for Bal-Vihar. or any other similar organization.
 
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//walled garden in my heart and life.//

This phrase reminds me of the story of king and a normal devotee where the god goes to him saying a story that he has built temple in his heart.

Text from Google search.

The "temple in the heart" is an anecdote about Poosalar Nayanar, a devotee who couldn't afford a physical temple, so he visualized one in his heart. Lord Shiva appeared to a king in a dream, announcing he would attend Poosalar's temple opening that same day, not the king's grand temple. The king, discovering Poosalar was a poor cobbler, found he had already consecrated the temple in his heart, which was more important to Shiva than the king's construction, highlighting the power of complete devotion.
 
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