introduction

Rub My Tummy Tales is a fun, feel-good adventure through the stories that center on Monkeys in the Jataka Tales, stories about the many births of Buddha. The Jataka Tales have been famously re-told for many years, drawing readers in with their witty humor and entertaining characters. What drew me to the Jataka Tales was the idea of Buddha. Buddha has always been an interesting character to me because of my unfamiliarity with Asian culture and Buddhist religion. Buddhism is a detailed, very interesting religion and I think you will enjoy traveling through some of the stories that the Buddha himself used to teach his followers. I am excited for you to travel with Flexy, one of my dearest Spider Monkey friends, and me through the Monkey stories of the Jataka. I hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are – we’ve been preparing for this for quite some time.

The stories that we have chosen to include in our adventure all have to do with Monkeys either as main characters or being used to set moral examples. One of the main reasons I chose to center our stories on Monkeys is because they are one of my favorite animals – do you like Monkeys? The way Monkeys get to play all day - without a care in the world - makes me envious of their lifestyle. They bounce around, hang from trees by their tails, and leap from tree to tree with such natural ease; the forests are their jungle gyms all day, every day. Also, Flexy has many wise Monkey friends who were willing to sit down and share with us their tales of the Jataka Monkeys. We had many fun nights around the fire telling Jataka stories to get ready for our adventure. Flexy’s grandpa, Edward, was a huge contributor to our adventures. Hopefully you’ll get to meet him sometime along our adventure.

One of the stories Flexy and I really think you’ll enjoy is the story of The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls. When Edward told us this story, Flexy and I could not stop smiling the whole way through. It characterizes the girl monkey almost as if she were human; the story shows the misfortunes that can result from showing off too much glitz and glam – being too materialistic.

Another story we want you to experience is The Stupid Monkeys. I initially wanted to hear this one because of the title – it is very intriguing, wouldn’t you agree? The Monkeys are portrayed as being really ignorant – unfortunately for them, their ignorance “eats their lunch!” If they are going to act this way they deserve it though, right?

My third story focuses on the intelligent side of the monkeys in the Jataka Tales. Originally based off of the story of the Monkey and the Crocodile, my story is a similar variation that focuses on building the monkey's character while showing his wit and intelligence. The moral of the story focuses on what happens when someone makes assumptions about another person's intelligence and then realizing through one's own mistakes that assuming can only "Make an ASS out of U and ME."

My fourth story is a re-telling of the story "A Prince of Monkeys." It is another story that shows how intelligent monkeys can be in contrast to the selfish or ignorant monkeys in the first two stories. In this story you learn the importance of paying attention to the surrounding environment and staying on cue with what is going on; if it hadn't been for this acute alertness, the monkey in this story would not have been able to trick the King, or did he?! You'll have to read on to find out.

At this point you are probably getting antsy – ready to dive right into the adventures we have in store for you instead of reading more and more about what we have planned for you. Quite frankly, I could not agree more! I am super ready to get this exciting journey started. So get out your traveling boots, put on your imagination and get ready for one tree-swingin’ good time because Flexy and I are ready to show you the Jataka Tales at their best.

Caution: Monkeying around recommended and almost always a must.

Go Ahead...Get back HOME.

Or Rub Some More Tummies on the Cover Page.

Story One: The Queen's Pearls

Story Two: The Gardener's Beheading
Story Three: Flips and Croco the Dumb Crocodile
Story Four: The Prince Monkey Claims the Thrown