Books about filial piety

We often talk about what parents should do for the kids. Most English books for children only teach them that their parents love them, especially The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein which is about parents' unconditional love for their kids.

I feel that it is more important to teach the kids how they can love their parents, and what they should do to repay the kindness.

二十四孝 is a very old series of stories. Each story is about a person who was very filial to his parents. Many people think that these stories are out of fashion and are no longer relevant in the modern world. However, I found the following series of books, in which the stories are re-written in a way that teach children the true meaning of love.

For example, one story is about a young boy who heard that deer milk was good for his parents' health, so he went through a lot of difficulty to get milk from a deer.

One story is about a boy who tried his best to make his father comfortable, by cooling his father's bed in summer, and warming the bed in winter.

Another story is about a woman who willingly walked long distances to a river, so that she could get fresh water and fish for her mother-in-law.

Some stories can be quite shocking. Like a man who insisted on washing his mother's 马桶 (bucket used as a toilet), because he knew that his mother loved cleanliness, and he did not trust others to clean it properly. I talked about this story to my mother, and she told me that one of our relatives took care of his elderly parent, cleaning and changing diapers, etc, which is equivalent to what the man did in the story.

I think that all adults and children should read these stories.

I was very happy when I saw this series of books selling at NTUC Hypermarkt (Jurong Point). Each book costs only $1.00 ! There are 2 stories in each book. There are a total of 12 books in this series. I found 5 books at NTUC. I really hope to find the rest of the series.