Chinese children's favourite stories

Ye, Mingmei. Chinese children's favourite stories, Boston, MA. : Tuttle Pub, 2004.

This children’s book collects 12 Chinese traditional folktales and legends, which feature talking animals, a ghost catcher, a trickster fox, the River Dragon King, and the prankish monkey Wu Kong, as well as cowherds, scholars, musicians, and emperors. Most of the stories are familiar to Chinese people. Some stories regard morals; others explain the origins of customs or traditions. These stories include “The Frog Who Lived in the Well” and “The Monkey King who Turned the Heavenly Palace Upside Down”, and they are all suitable for reading to children at bedtime. The art has traditional Chinese characters with abundant colorful illustrations and the writing is clear and acceptable to children.

The Silk Princess

Santore, Charles. The silk princess, New York: Random House Children's Books, c2007.

This is a picture book for children aged 9-12 years with beautiful illustrations. It is a vivid Chinese folklore legend which retells a story of how silk was discovered. A princess watches a cocoon fall from a mulberry tree into her mother’s teacup and the cocoon unravels in the hot water. She wonders how far the thread will stretch. She thinks up a fun game in which she ties one end of the thread to her waist, and her mother holds the remaining, then she walks away slowly. She walks through the palace and goes too far way. She goes onto the nearby mountains. There she meets a dragon and a wise old man, who is a silk weaver. The old man teaches her the secret of how to harvest the cocoons and weave the thread into gorgeous silk cloth. After a time, she goes back to her mother and shares her secret.

White tiger, blue serpent

Tseng, Grace. White tiger, blue serpent, New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, c1999.

A lovely original fantasy based on a folktale from China’s Yunan Province. Two lands are divided by a raging river, one of which is a rich and fertile land which belongs to a Jealous goddess Qin, and is protected by a white tiger and a serpent; the other shore is barren and poor. There is a bridge that connects the two lands, but no one goes to the rich land. Kai and his mother grow up on the barren west shore. Kai’s mother is a master weaver who is good at weaving gorgeous silk brocades, which she barters for food and firewood. Kai has loved brocades for years, and he persuades his mother to make one for him to keep. To compensate for the loss, they make a pact; during the day she works on it, Kai has to work harder and longer to support them. Kai works like a man for a thousand days to fulfill his promise, and becomes supernaturally strong, agile and sharp-eyed. When the brilliant brocade is finished, the greedy goddess Qin sends a wind that sweeps it away. Kai starts his journey bravely to regain the brocade. He uses his newfound strengths to defeat the white tiger and the serpent…

Yeh Shen: a Cinderella story from China

Louie, Ai-Ling. Yeh Shen: a Cinderella story from China, New York: Philomel, c1982.

This picture book won an award for children’s books. This Chinese folklore is set in the Chinese Han dynasty.  A poor girl named Yeh Shen lives with her stepmother and a stepsister. Her stepmother doesn’t like Yeh Shen because she is more beautiful and kinder than her own daughter and treats her poorly. Yeh Shen’s only one friend is a beautiful fish with golden eyes. But one day her stepmother kills the fish and cooks it for dinner. While Yeh Shen is crying for the dead fish, a mysterious old man appears and tells her a secret; the fish bones are filled with a powerful spirit, so Yeh Shen retrieves the bones from trash and hides them in a safe place. After a time, her stepmother and stepsister leave for the spring festival to look for a mate for her daughter and leave Yeh Shen alone at home. Yeh Shen desires to go to that party, so she begs the bone for clothes to wear. Her dream comes true. She is suddenly dressed in a brilliant gown and cloak. On her feet are a pair of gorgeous golden slippers. She grabs all the attention in the village, but she leaves one of her golden slippers behind when she is dashing out of the village due to the fear of being discovered by her stepmother. Soon a merchant finds her lost slipper and the slipper is passed on to the king. The king wonders who is the owner of this tiny slipper and sends people to search around his kingdom, and finally finds Yeh Shen. The king is captivated by her beauty and marries her and lives happily ever after.

The ballad of Mulan

Zhang, Song Nan. The ballad of Mulan, Pan Asian, 1998.

A Chinese folktale based on a poem from the Sung Dynasty that narrates the story of a poor young girl who is living in a small village in ancient China. One day, the government comes down to this village to recruit new soldiers. Due to the serious shortage of new soldiers to fight the enemy Tartars, Mulan Fa’s elder father has to join the army. In order to save her father, Mulan Fa disguises herself as a man to join the army. She becomes a women soldier but nobody knows. In the following years, Mulan Fa turns into a girl hero who leads the army of China to fight bravely against the enemy and make a great contribution to the country. Only when she is going to retire from the army, does a general discover she is a girl and starts to fall in love with her.

This is a Chinese picture book for children, with the text in both English and Chinese. The author, Zhang Song Nan is a Chinese artist, illustrator, and author who has published over 14 books. This folktale has been made into animation by Disney. 

Favorite children's stories from China and Tibet

Hume, Lotta Carswell. Favorite children's stories from China and Tibet, Boston: Tuttle, 2004.

A popular folktale collection from China and Tibet tells 19 fascinating, time-honored stories including “How the Cock Got His Red Crown”, “The Tower That Reached from Earth to Heaven,” “The Tiger in Court” and “Chinese Cinderella”, etc. These fresh and charming stories are filled with humor which reflects Chinese life and culture, and are suitable for children to read at bedtime.

Lon Po Po: a red-riding hood story from China

Young, Ed. Lon Po Po: a red-riding hood story from China, New York: Philomel, 1989.

The author, Ed Young, is a very famous Chinese illustrator who is well-know for drawing beautiful children’s picture books. This book was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1990. The genre of this book is a cautionary Chinese folktale and verse. An example of nonsexist children’s literature with a suspenseful tone, It describes three sisters who stay at home alone and a hungry wolf which sees them and tries to work out various methods in order to enter the house to eat them. The wolf disguises itself as their grandmother and knocks at the door. The clever elder sister discovers the wolf’s deception and thinks up a smart plan to capture the wolf and save her sisters and herself.

The dragon's tale and other animal fables of the Chinese zodiac

Demi. The dragon's tale and other animal fables of the Chinese zodiac, New York: H. Holt and Company, 1996.

This is a children’s book that collects Chinese tradition fables regarding the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Each of the collected fables/folktales contains meaningful educational messages with playful, richly colored illustrations. A clever fox demonstrates how a small creature must live by his wisdom.  An overconfident boar learns the lesson that pride causes calamities. A wise dragon educates that, the more you know, the more you need to know. The author, Demi, has published many books, including the picture book biographies of Buddha and The Dalai Lama.

The silk tapestry and other Chinese folktales

Atangan, Patrick. The silk tapestry and other Chinese folktales, New York: NBM, c2004.

A graphic novel collects three Chinese folktales revolving around the unique struggle of three artists including a wide spirit, an old woman and a young boy passionately devote themself to change the world around them. The first story, “The Story of Pan-Gu” describes a spirit named Pan-Gu separates the heaven and the earth, and creatives a barren world with his hope. He lives lonely in his entire long life. After he dies, the remaining of his body turns into our world including human being. The second folktale, “Silk Tapestry”, narrates a story about an old poor woman is given a silk cloth by the river spirit named Yangtze, and races death to sew it into a magic tapestry, so that her fondest dream will comes true. In the third folktale, “Sausage-Boy and His Magic Brush”, depicts a pudgy boy named Sausage whose drawing is so great that his paintings spring to life. A greedy dowager empress is attracted by his abilities, so she kidnaps the boy to create riches for her…

The dragon new year: a Chinese legend

Bouchard, Dave. The dragon new year: a Chinese legend, Atlanta, GA: Peachtree, c1999.

This is an awarded children’s book about a Chinese folklore that explains why people set off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year. This book is for young children aged 4-5 years old. A young girl is frightened by the big noise and bright light of the dragon dance in the traditional Chinese New Year celebration while she is sleeping. Her grandma comes to comfort her by telling her a Chinese folktale. In the old days, it is dead quiet during New Years because people escape due to the fear from a red fierce sea dragon, which comes out to massacre people and destroy villages every year. Since the dragon lives at the bottom of the ocean, it is very dark, cold and quiet. So a wise Buddha thinks out a plan to scare the dragon away by making loud noises and bright light. He invents firecrackers, which are made from explosives and paper. When people burn them, they can produce sharp light and big noise. After the red dragon is driven away forever, burning firecrackers and having firework displays have become a Chinese folk custom in order to remember the achievement of Buddha and celebrate the New Year.

Tales from Gold Mountain: stories of the Chinese in the New World

Yee, Paul. Tales from Gold Mountain: stories of the Chinese in the New World, New York: Macmillan, 1989.

A collection of eight original unforgettable folktales is based on the real background of the Chinese immigration’s role in the gold rush and is accompanied with brilliant and dramatic illustrations by Simon. It reflects the gritty spirit of the Chinese, despite the bitterness of daily toils to overcome prejudice and adversity to build a unique place for themselves in North America. Each story is relatively short; only two or three pages, but each one discusses some important themes such as prejudice, racism, and dishonesty. These unpleasant topics don’t  look good for children’s stories, but the nature of the book is aimed to stimulate children’s courage to face  a variety of difficulties in their life. It combines an attention-grabbing and a descriptive writing style with a suspenseful tone. This is an excellent children’s book, which is suited to talking about and reading out loud, so that children can learn from the past.

The sons of the Dragon King: a Chinese legend

Young, Ed. The sons of the Dragon King: a Chinese legend, New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2004.

A well-known Chinese folktale talks about a Dragon King who investigates each of his nine sons to discover their individual talents and find a role that suits their strengths. The Dragon King has nine immortal sons. After they grow up and leave their father’s palace, they seem to be aimless, and fritter their days away. The wise and watchful Dragon King quietly witnesses their various unseemly behaviors, and then discovers their individual strengths and finds a way to exploit their personal potential that can help to serve the kingdom. For instance, his second son, Chi Wen, constantly stares into the distance intently, so he gives him the  job of sentinel; Ba-Sha, spends most of her time swimming, so she is delighted to accept her father’s suggestion to   overseer water safety; the one who makes “monstrous noises” all day long finally gets the job to aid musicians; the strong one holds up roofs; and so on. The illustrations of this picture book are absolutely fantastic. It is rendered in brush ink and the nine-dragon sons use Chinese traditional cut-paper technology, which has an excellent appearance.

White wave

Wolkstein, Diane. White wave, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, c1996.

An award winning children’s picture book talks about a beautiful Chinese folktale.A poor solitary farmer, Kuo Ming finds an opalescent snail shell and takes it home. The next evening, when he goes home from the field, he is surprised that somebody has already made the dinner for him. He wants to find out what has happened, and by the spying, he discovers that a women of light, the moon goddess is living in the shell and comes out to make him dinner. He knows he can’t touch her, but eventually he cannot refrain, and as a result he loses her. As she is going, she tells him her name, white wave, and a promise that she keeps. He builds a shrine to keep the shell carefully and tells his children the tale. When he dies, both the shell and shrine become lost. The storyline of the book is plot-driven with a sad tone.This book is the second revised edition. The illustrator Young, Ed is a well-know Chinese children’s books illustrator who has published over eighty books. It has B&W illustrations with excellent use of negative space. 

Three monks, no water

Ye, Ting-xing. Three monks, no water, Toronto: Annick, 1997.

This is a picture book for children aged from 9-12 regarding a familiar Chinese folktale. It has a well-know Chinese proverb, “One boy is a boy, two boys  half boy, three boys no boy.”

This Chinese folktale is set a long time ago in a remote mountain temple, a Buddhist monk who lives alone has to travel a long way to the nearest stream to fill and carry two buckets of water for drinking every day. One day, when a second monk joins this temple, this hard job turns easy and is done efficiently. They share the task and carry the water together. But soon, after the arrival of a third monk into this temple, they start to pass the buck, and no one is willing to go for the water and because of this the temple suffers a drought. Then one night one monk carelessly sets the temple on fire, the monks have to negotiate and scramble to carry water to put out the fire. The story is telling people how individuals need to establish rules to avoid members shirking group responsibilities. This book is composed of very beautiful acrylic and colored pencil illustrations, on a textured golden background. It is recommend that every child read this book.