The seven Chinese sisters

Tucker, Kathy. The seven Chinese sisters, Morton Grove, III. : A. Whitman, 2003

A Chinese traditional folktale narrates a story of how six talented Chinese sisters rescue their youngest sister from a dragon. This is a picture book for children aged 0-8 years old. A long time ago, there were seven Chinese sisters who lived together happily in the countryside. Each of them has a unique talent: The eldest sister rides a scooter as fast as the wind; the second eldest knows karate; the third can count to 500 and beyond; the fourth can talk to dogs; the fifth sister can catch any balls; the sixth can cook delicious noodle soup, all, except the youngest baby’s talent has been discovered. One day, a hungry red dragon from faraway smells the noodle soup and flies to their house. The dragon snatches the seventh sister for his dinner instead of the noodle soup so the six sisters go off to rescue her. Each of the sisters utilizes their unique skills in the rescue mission such as the fifth sister using her dog talking ability to communicate with the dragon.

Where the mountain meets the moon

Lin, Grace. Where the mountain meets the moon, New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2009.

This book narrates a Chinese traditional adventure fantasy folktale story and it has won the Caldecott Medal award.

A poor girl, Minli, is living at the confluence of the Fruitless Mountain and the Jade River with her desperate parents. Her family is working in rice fields where they barely grow enough to feed themselves. Every night her father tells her stories about Jade Dragon the creature that keeps the mountain poor. only the old man of the moon can change everyone’s destiny. One day, a goldfish salesman promises that his wares will bring  good luck, Minli spends one of her only two coins in order to save her family. When her mother ridicules her foolish purchase, Minli insists to set out to find the old man of the Moon in her quest to change her family’s fortunes. The journey is full of excitement, danger, humor, magic and wisdom. Along the way of her adventure, she makes friends with the talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey, a flightless dragon who becomes her partner, an orphan and other helpmates including a king.

The storyline of this book is intricately plotted and plot-driven with stylistically complex writing style and beautiful language. It received a five star rating of popularity in the  children’s book catagory.