This story is an adaptation from the book Therapeutic Storytelling by Susan Perrow.
Have you ever met somebody who was unkind to you or treated you poorly? It really hurts us when that happens and its hard to know how to respond.
Often we want to get revenge or hurt them back but that just puts twice as much anger and aggression into the world.
In this story a kind king teaches us how our response can make a difference and break the cycle of unkind and aggressive behaviour.
After listening to the story consider these questions:
1. Can you remember a time when somebody was unkind to you?
a). How did it make you feel?
b). How did you respond?
c). How might you have responded differently?
2. In the story the king shows what a great leader he is by understanding and supporting rather than punishing- can you think of time when you have been understanding to others or when somebody has been understanding to you?
3. If the king had dismissed the gnome from the kingdom what do you think would have happened? How might the story have been different?