The Stone Soup Leadership Institute's book and educational curriculum Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Everyday Heroes gives life to the Stone Soup fable. Over 120 communities use them to inspire and educate young people to become leaders in their lives, communities and our world. Founded in 1997, the Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. For over 20 years, The Institute has used the worked alongside those on the front lines of climate change, resiliency, social justice and economic equity: from inner cities to rural islands. We've empowered thousands of multicultural youth to become leaders in their lives, their communities and the world.
On a cold night a storyteller who knew the limitless power of words visited a famine-Stricken village and, finding no fireside for a fable, began boiling a stone in a big pot in sight of everyone. One by one the curious villagers were encouraged to join in the feast of Stone Soup and one by one they believed in and contributed to the feast that inevitably resulted. Once both stories and soup had been devoured it was agreed that in future, in tough times, a stone and a story were a marvellous way to bring people together. Stone Soup is a modern fable about business, community, entrepreneurship and sharing. Mixing a traditional folktale with telling the story of one woman's journey through life, it contains tasty morsels of wisdom on work, team-building, leadership and courage. This book will nourish the soul of managers, entrepreneurs, community leaders, activists and educators by giving you the fortitude to lead fearlessly in the face of apparently insurmountable obstacles and foster true innovation within your community, group or organisation. Social networking pioneer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Bill Liao, is the co-founder of the social network service XING (www.xing.com). He is also CEO of Finaxis AG, a privately held company in the financial services industry. Among his philanthropic endeavors is his participation as an investor and volunteer in The Hunger Project in Uganda, New York and Mexico. Bill is also a regular attendee at the TED conferences and also the World Economic Forum New Champions conference. In 2007, Liao founded Neo (www.neo.org), a non-profit social networking site where people can make a personal commitment for the future of the earth. Neo was set up to provide a forum for people to make a personal commitment for the future of the earth in the form of a Declaration of Global Citizenship.
The handbook for humanitarians, completely revised and updated with 5 new stories “Stone Soup for the World is a blueprint for building a better world. Its heroes are legendary people and ordinary folks who, by conviction, imagination, innovation, persistence, frequently hard work, and not infrequently moral or physical courage, have lifted their neighbors and their communities. They challenge each of us to respond in kind.” —Walter Cronkite, from the Introduction “The inspiring stories featured in this book are wonderful testaments to the ideals of good citizenship. Citizen service reflects one of the most basic convictions of our democracy: that we are all responsible for one another.” —Former president Bill Clinton “Stone Soup for the World tells many inspiring stories and reinforces a favorite quote of mine, ‘From now on in America any definition of a successful life must include service to others.’” —Former president George Bush “My father used to say that one person could make a difference and each of us should try. This book tells the stories of people who have made that difference, and they are an inspiration to us all.” —Caroline Kennedy “Wonderful . . . Young and old alike will be inspired by the hundreds of ideas for how we can help our children, our schools, our communities, and our country to be the best we can be.” —Retired General Colin Powell, Founding Chairman of America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth From the Trade Paperback edition.
Award-winning artist Jon J Muth retells the favorite tale of a selfish community who is tricked into creating a delicious soup from stones. Set in China in Muth's hauntingly beautiful watercolors. Three strangers, hungry and tired, pass through a war-torn village. Embittered and suspicious from the war, the people hide their food and close their windows tight. That is, until the clever strangers suggest making a soup from stones. Intrigued by the idea, everyone brings what they have until-- together, they have made a feast fit for a king! In this inspiring story about the strength people possess when they work together, Muth takes a simple, beloved tale and adds his own fresh twist.
Energy and Global Climate Change: Bridging the Sustainable Development Divide focuses attention on two urgent global development challenges faced by the UN and its member states: access to sustainable energy for all, and global climate change. This book presents compelling evidence about an often neglected aspect of the energy-climate change-development nexus faced by millions of poor: problems caused by the use of inefficient and polluting energy sources, and the lack of access to sustainable energy services. Based on a detailed examination of major UN global climate change and sustainable development negotiated outcomes over the course of several decades, this book argues in a powerful and insightful manner that intergovernmental negotiated outcomes aimed at solving the climate change and energy access challenges have been restricted by being placed in different negotiating silos. This “siloization” or compartmentalization has resulted in separate tracks of negotiated outcomes on two inextricably linked global development challenges; and, has thereby hindered prospects for integrated action. This book points out that the existence of these two silos is especially hard to ignore in light of the urgent UN-led quest for an integrated and universal post-2015 development agenda anticipated to be anchored by new sustainable development goals on energy access and climate change. By addressing the heavy reliance on inefficient and polluting energy services which result in indoor air pollution and short lived climate pollutants that tragically impact millions of poor people, this book highlights the unique importance of integrated action on the energy-poverty-climate change nexus in the UN’s post-2015 development era.
A gripping series about saving Earth's most endangered creatures-- and fighting for survival! Sink or swim! Twelve-year-old Adrianna Villalobos and her older brother Feye travel the globe with their parents, the hosts of a suspenseful nature show called "Wild Survival!" The show features daring animal rescues and the work the family does at their animal sanctuary. This time the family is off to Sri Lanka. They’ve heard a rumor that an extremely rare Pondicherry shark might have been sighted. Once they arrive, Adrianna, Feye, and their parents discover the rumored Pondicherry shark is the main attraction in a restaurant aquarium. Is this shark really the one they’re looking for? And if it is, can they convince the restaurant’s owners to release it back in the wild? Packed with animal facts and illustrations, as well as non-fiction backmatter, Wild Survival is a compelling series for anyone fascinated by the natural world.
A New York Times bestseller 'A sensation ... a rollicking tale well told' - The Times At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world's top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe's secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Travelling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.
Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes features the stories of 100 climate change trailblazers, environmental justice changemakers, sustainable business leaders, intergenerational legacy figures, green inventors and entrepreneurs from 38 countries around the world, and 32 U.S. cities who are creating sustainability solutions to the global climate crisis. Their stories inspire us and their Call to Actions invite us to support them and their organizations to maximize their impact in building a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
“A delight…Just the right mix of creepy and humorous, treading the line between scary and fun.” —Kirkus Reviews “Plenty of tasty vocabulary…As ghoulishly bright as a jack-o’-lantern.” —Publishers Weekly Three little witches and a bunch of spooky characters come together to prepare a delicious batch of Bone Soup in this Halloween tale based on the beloved fable, Stone Soup. This just-scary-enough picture book comes with a recipe for Bone Soup—perfect for Halloween eating. Trick-or-treat? Trick-or-treat! We’ve something usually good to eat! One Halloween morning three witches are looking for a tasty treat and they find only a small bone in their cupboard. So they decide to go from door to door in their village to find just the right ingredients for their Bone Soup. No one in the village is convinced that soup can be made from a bone, until the littlest monster reveals just what the special ingredient should be.
