Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Chinese Twist on Favorite Tales

Fairy tales and folktales are a great way to learn about another culture. This post highlights a collection of my favorite fractured or twisted fairy tales that have been given a Chinese twist - or, in the case of Yeh-Shen, have a Chinese origin. Several of these stories are also based around the Chinese New Year which begins this year on February 19th.

A Chinese Twist on Favorite Tales


 

The Runaway Rice Cake and The Runaway Wok: a Chinese New Year tale by Ying Chang Compestine. These two retellings of the Gingerbread Man story feature some unexpected characters - a naughty rolling rice cake and a quickly-moving wok! Kids will love the humor and dialogue in these entertaining tales and might also learn something about Chinese culture and the Chinese New Year. Read more in my in-depth analysis of patterning in The Runaway Wok.


Lon Po-Po: a Red-Riding Hood story from China by Ed Young. The sparse palette of the illustrations adds to the doom and gloom in these Chinese version of the Red-Riding Hood story. This time there are three children visited by a wolf.


Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (2014) by Natasha Yim and illustrated by Grace Zong (A Junior Library Guild Selection). Goldilocks is given a Chinese-American twist in this story set on Chinese New Year. Poor Goldy Luck is worried about being unlucky for another year. Her fear of bad luck (and her extreme tiredness) lead her into some predictable situations ... but at least she learns a valuable lesson in the end.


Yeh-Shen: a Cinderella story from China retold by Ai-Ling Louie. This Chinese version of the Cinderella story is perhaps the oldest-known recorded version, dating back to the ninth century. In this original Cinderella tale, Yeh-Shen finds help from the magical bones of the fish she had fed and raised who had been killed by the stepmother. There is also a tiny gold sandal and a dramatic end for the stepmother and stepsister. (Read other worldwide Cinderella stories from Asia, Africa, and Europe and from the Americas.)

Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes retold by Robert Wyndham and illustrated by Ed Young. This bilingual collection translates traditional Chinese nursery rhymes for English readers. A delightful addition to any youngsters' library!

Do you have a favorite Chinese twist that I missed?

20 comments:

  1. I'm always looking for good Chinese tales, with and without a tweist. These are some of my favorites, but Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes is new to me. I'll have to add it to my list.

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  2. How fabulous, I believe we simply must read the runaway wok. Thanks so much for the great recommendations on the Kid Lit Blog Hop

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    1. Thanks, Jambo! My favorite thing about Ying Ching Compestine's books are the recipes at the end too, yum!

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  3. You have some gorgeous books here! I pinned a couple I want to read :) Have you read Lin Yi's Lantern? I love that one too!

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    1. No, I have not. Thanks for the recommendation, Erika!

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  4. Wonderful list! I must look for the Runaway Wok. Thanks for hosting the #KidLitBlogHop and for sharing these books.
    ~Cool Mom for the
    Stanley & Katrina Gang

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    1. Thanks so much! I love hosting and finding great new books. Hope you enjoy The Runaway Wok!

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  5. we loved Lon Po Po. Thanks for sharing the list. Pinning it :)

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Resh! Glad you liked it.

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  6. I really like your description of the Cinderella story. I am always looking for classic tales with a fresh twist. Pinned this to remember to look for the book for my oldest.

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    1. It's amazing, and actually it's the "familiar" Cinderella story that's the twist, since it came much later than the Chinese version. I have a lot more Cinderella posts, if you are interested: http://www.thelogonauts.com/2015/01/worldwide-cinderellas.html

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  7. Love this great list of books! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Stacie, and hope you enjoy them!

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  8. Great collection! Thanks for sharing in the Kid Lit Blog Hop! :-)

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  9. these all sound interesting

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    1. Thanks, Linda. I think you'll really enjoy them.

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  10. Love fractured fairy tales! For all the writers out there, try writing your own when you come up with writers' block! Thanks for sharing with the Kid Lit Blog Hop!

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    1. Great suggestion! We are doing a play on fractured fairy tales performed by the first through fourth graders, and I borrowed liberally from some of these titles for inspiration.

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