Wednesday, 9 May 2012

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. 

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.

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…