An illustrated retelling of nineteen fables and tales from China, each of which features a nugget of ancient folk wisdom and introduces aspects of traditional Chinese culture and lore.
Chinese Fables
Asia
Materials from Asia
Monsoon Summer
Jasmine “Jazz” Gardner heads off to India during the monsoon season. The family trip is her mother’s doing: Mrs. Gardner wants to volunteer at the orphanage that cared for her when she was young. But going to India isn’t Jazz’s idea of a great summer vacation. She wants no part of her mother’s do-gooder endeavors.What’s more, Jazz is heartsick. She’s leaving the business she and her best friend, Steve Morales, started—as well as Steve himself. Jazz is crazy in love with the guy. If only he knew!Only when Jazz reluctantly befriends Danita, a girl who cooks for her family, and who faces a tough dilemma, does Jazz begin to see how she can make a difference—to her own family, to Danita, to the children at the orphanage, even to Steve. As India claims Jazz, the monsoon works its madness and its magic.
Rabbit Moon
Bedtime wishes take flight on paper airplanes, traveling all the way to the moon. There Rabbit gathers the night’s haul, grinds the wishes into stardust, and fills the sky with their starlight. It is a beautiful sight to behold, but lonely work. So one night, Rabbit takes a wish and makes it float down to earth; when it comes true, he makes new friends and the star work takes a back seat to some well-earned fun. But as each day fades, so do the night stars. And with the first starless sky, Rabbit realizes it’s time to make the journey home. It is a sad departure, but Rabbit’s friends make one last wish, and send an astronomical gift.
Tea Ceremony
The “Asian Arts & Crafts for Creative Kids series is the first series aimed at readers ages 7-12 that provides a fun and educational introduction to Asian culture and art. Readers can explore new crafts through hands-on projects that will give them a greater appreciation of Asian culture. “Tea Ceremony is an exciting and fun way to introduce Asian culture to kids. Readers will learn all the steps for performing a tea ceremony at home through easy-to-follow instruction plus all the elements of an authentic Japanese tea ceremony. This book is designed as an introduction to the Japanese art of tea; a wonderful way to explore Japanese culture and art.
A Refugee’s Journey From Bhutan
After 9 years in a refugee camp in Nepal, Amita remembers very little of her homeland, Bhutan. At two years old, she was forced to flee her country when her family was targeted because of their Nepalese heritage. When the camp becomes an unsafe place for Amita and her family to live, they make the difficult decision to seek a permanent home in a new country. Interspersed with facts about Bhutan and its people, this narrative tells a story common to many refugees fleeing the country. Readers will learn about the conflict there and how they can help refugees in their communities and around the world who are struggling to find permanent homes.
The Crocodile And The Dentist
Oh, it’s time to go to the dentist! Crocodile has a toothache, but he’s afraid of the dentist. The dentist wants to help, but he’s afraid of Crocodile. Never fear! Bestselling author-illustrator Taro Gomi cleverly and humorously presents both sides of the story, as the crocodile and the dentist learn to be brave and face their fears—of what might happen in that dentist’s chair and of each other!
Cai Lun
Cai Lun was called into the Palace to serve the Emperor at the age of 15. He was smart and studied hard. Soon he was promoted to be an attending official in charge of documentation. At that time, documents were written either on tablets of bamboo strips or on silk. Bamboo strips were heavy and silk was expensive. The Emperor was very unhappy about it. Therefore, Cai Lun was determined to find another durable material that would be good for writing including a light-weight quality with a soft writing surface.
The Peace Tree From Hiroshima
A fictionalized account of a bonsai tree that lived with the Yamaki family in Hiroshima, Japan, for more than 300 years before being donated to the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., in 1976 as a gesture of friendship and peace to celebrate the American Bicentennial.
Are You An Echo?
In early-1900s Japan, Misuzu Kaneko grows from precocious bookworm to instantly-beloved children’s poet. But her life ends prematurely, and Misuzu’s work is forgotten. Decades later her poems are rediscovered—just in time to touch a new generation devastated by the tsunami of 2011. This picture book features Misuzu’s life story plus a trove of her poetry in English and the original Japanese.
Manjhi Moves A Mountain
Dashrath Manjhi used a hammer and chisel, grit, determination, and twenty years to carve a path through the mountain separating his poor village from the nearby village with schools, markets, and a hospital. Manjhi Moves a Mountain shows how everyone can make a difference if their heart is big enough.