THE ADVENTURES OF RUTHIE AND A LITTLE BOY NAMED GRANDPA

by Elliot Aronson

Then the old woman said, "Ruthie, I have a cake and some cookies baking in the oven. They may be almost done. I am getting old and feeble. It hurts me to bend over. Would you kindly open the oven door, lean in, and see if the cake and cookies are done?"Ruthie opened the oven door and stuck her head way inside while the woman stood behind her peering over her shoulder.Grandpa was so frightened that he closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. He could not bear to watch.When six-year-old Ruthie embarked on an adventure with her grandfather, she got more than she bargained for. Her grandfather, magically transformed into a six-year-old, is as stodgy as an old man. Ruthie leads him into situations that seem familiar, such as the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and Hansel and Gretel. But the familiar characters turn out to be much more interesting than they appear in this wonderful world where things are not always what they seem to be. Along the way, both Ruthie and the little boy named Grandpa learn some valuable lessons about trust and prejudice.

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2005

About the author

Elliot Aronson (Born January 1932) is listed among the 100 most eminent psychologist of the 20th Century, best known for his Jigsaw Classroom experiments, cognitive dissonance research, and bestselling Social Psychology textbooks. He is the only person in the 120-year history of the American Psychological Association to have won all three of its major awards: For distinguished writing (1973), for distinguished teaching (1980), and for distinguished research (1999). In 2007 he received the William James Award for Distinguished Research from APS.

Aronson has taught at Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Texas, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the recipient of many honors. He was chosen by his peers as one of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and won the prestigious William James Award from the Association for Psychological Science for his lifetime achievements. He has won distinguished research awards from a variety of professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Experimental Social Psychologists, and others. He also won the Gordon Allport Prize for his work on reducing prejudice. In 1982 he was named "Professor of the Year" by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.