Book excerpt: The Jataka tales is a an essential part of Indian folk literature. The tales refer to a voluminous body of literature concerning the previous births of the Buddha. These are the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form. We are presenting select 51 short stories from these tales for children and teenagers( 6 to 15 years) . All the stories have a moral. The collection of stories in this volume include:-THE GOLDEN GOOSE THE FOUR SEASONS THE MOUSE AND THE STONE-CUTTER THE ELEPHANT AND THE DOG THE DISCIPLE'S FAITH THE CLEVER TURTLE THE PIGEON AND THE CROW THE BAD COMPANY THE SILLY ARGUMENT THE STRONG OX THE LEAN CAT A SANDY ROAD THE CLEVER WOLF THE MEASURE OF RICE THE SELFISH ASCETIC THE QUARREL OF THE QUAILS THE KIND TURTLE THE EARTH IS BREAKING THE GOAT WHO LAUGHED AND THEN CRIED THE ELEPHANT, GIRLY-FACE THE PIGEONS AND THE FAKE HERMIT THE PRINCES AND THE WATER-SPRITE THE DISOBEDIENT STUDENT THE CARPENTERS AND THE ELEPHANT THE MAN WITH A GOLDEN HEART THE BANYAN DEER THE BRAHMIN AND THE WISE ASCETIC GRANNY'S BLACKIE THE KING AND THE DISCIPLE THE TWO MERCHANT'S OF RAMGARH THE PRINCE AND THE GIANT THE OX WHO ENVIED THE PIG THE DEER, THE WOODPECKER AND THE TURTLE A HUGE LUMP OF GOLD A FRIEND IN NEEDTHE GANG OF DRUNKARDS THE FOOLHARDY WOLF THE TORTOISE AND HIS HOME THE PRINCE OF MONKEYS THE SNAKE AND THE FOOLISH DISCIPLE THE WOLF AND THE WISE GOAT A BOY HELPS THE ANTS THE DANCING PEACOCK THE FOX AND THE CROW THE KIND APE THE WHAT NOT TREE THE SPELL THE BEAUTY AND THE GREY A MOTHER'S PAIN THE TREE THAT ACTED LIKE A HUNTER THE PRICE OF GREED