The cat's tale: why the years are named for animals

Orgel, Doris. The cat's tale: why the years are named for animals, New York: Roaring Brook, 2008.

This is a well-know Chinese folktale explaining the naming of the Chinese zodiac. When Willow’s grandma is reading a titular story, the child’s cat, Mao, scratches her granddaughter, Nai Nai, so Nai Nai pushes the cat away from her lap. Mao gets angry and tells her own story. Mao narrates the story of how the Emperor Jade once invited his 13 favorite animals including the Ox, Rat, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig and Cat to a river race. Because some of the animals cannot swim, the emperor arranges that Rabbit and Rooster ride on Dragon’s back, Rat and his friend Cat sit on Ox’s back, and the rest of other animals plunge into the river. The cunning rat betrays the Cat by pushing him into the river. By clawing his way onto a rock in the river, Cat watches how Rat leaps ashore ahead of Ox and comes first to win. Jade Emperor is very happy, and decides to name the first year of the cycle the Year of Rat with every successive year named for the animals that completed the race, except Cat who has not finished. So the Cat and Rat became enemies from that time on. This is a beautiful picture book for children with bright watercolour painting illustrations.

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 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.

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.