Honor Book for the Society of School Librarians International’s Best Book Award – Language Arts, Grades K-6 Novels. Selected as one of four recipients of the 2004 Aesop Accolade. Selected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003. At about the time the Grimm Brothers were gathering their famous collection of folk stories and fairy tales in Europe, in China a similar collection of almost five hundred stories had just been compiled by the scholar Pu Sing-ling. Drawing on oral and written sources, he called his collection of the strange and wondrous Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure. The fruits of his life’s work become immensely popular with storytellers who performed the stories in teahouses, where rapt audiences would sit for half a day drinking tea and listening to tales of ghosts, fox fairies, and other wonders. Almost unknown in the West, the stories are given new life in this important work by the masterful Michael Bedard.
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Along The River
Bestselling Chinese American author Adeline Yen Mah weaves her authentic accounts of life in China into an absorbing novel about a Chinese girl and her vision of a previous life. After a fall, CC is whisked away to a hospital. As she drifts in and out of consciousness, she is haunted by vivid dreams that seem strange-yet somehow familiar. Thus begins CC’s emotional journey back to a privileged life lived eight hundred years ago during the Song dynasty. CC is the daughter of a wealthy and influential man, but she finds herself drawn to a poor orphan boy with a startling ability to capture the beauty of the natural world. As the relationship between these two young people deepens, the transforming power of art and romantic love comes into conflict with the immovable rules of Chinese society. This stunning fantasy adventure novel, inspired by Chinars”s most famous painting, Along the River at the Qing Ming Festival, tells the story of a friendship both tender and bold. CC’s remarkable journey reminds readers that though time moves on, art and love endure. From the Hardcover edition.
Japan (Globetrotters Club)
An overview of Japan emphasizing its cultural aspects.
Korean Children’s Favorite Stories
Presents thirteen Korean folktales featuring commoners, royalty, demons, and human-like animals, with the good being rewarded.
Kubla Khan
Always cast in a supporting role in the many books about Marco Polo, the great Kubla Khan now takes center stage in a splendid picture-book biography. He is a wonderful subject, Ã man who liked to live large, building the imperial city of Beijing from scratch, siring a hundred children, throwing birthday bashes for 40,000 guests. He ruled over the greatest empire of the time, one that was lightyears ahead of Western civilization in terms of the arts, sciences, and technology. With astonishingly beautiful and detailed illustrations by Robert Byrd and a clever text by Kathleen Krull, this portrait finally gives Kubla Khan his due.
The Dwarf Giant
Prince Mainichi and Princess Ichinichi are visited by a rude dwarf, who inflicts upon them evil and dangerous games before revealing his true self.
The Ancient Chinese (Worlds Of The Past)
Explores various aspects of ancient Chinese culture, including art, government, societal structure, religion, and everyday life.
Anno’s Twice Told Tales
This book presents two tales from the Brothers Grimm, combined with Mr. Fox’s highly unusual interpretations of them.
The Moon Maiden And Other Asian Folktales
Twelve folktales of China & East Asia come alive in this brightly illustrated children’s book. A great addition to world folktale collections.