Asian Children's Favorite Stories: A Treasury of Folktales from China, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia

by David Conger, Patrick Yee (Illustrator), Marian Davies Toth

Overview

This beautifully illustrated multicultural children's book showcases many of the stories and fairy tales from Asia.

For thousands of years, parents around the world have been telling their children stories; at bedtime, over the dinner table, and around the fire. Each country has its own set of fascinating tales, which are especially enjoyable for children to discover. Asian Children's Favorite Stories is a marvelous collection of 13 beautifully told folktales from eight major countries in Asia-China, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Open the pages of this fascinating storybook to introduce your child to the wonders of Asia-and the joy of finding new favorites for story time or bedtime reading.

Asian children's stories include:

• The Waters of Olive Lake--CHINA
• Why Cats and Dogs Don't Get Along--KOREA
• The Clever Rabbit and Numskull--INDIA
• The Crane's Gratitude--JAPAN
• Why the Tapir Has No Tail--MALAYSIA
• Baka the Cow and Kalabaw the Water Buffalo--PHILIPPINES
• And many more!

The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China&Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Korean Children's Favorite Stories, Balinese Children's Favorite Stories, and Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462907915
Publisher:	Tuttle Publishing
Publication date:	11/27/2012
Series:	Favorite Children's Stories
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
Lexile:	780L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	5 - 14 Years

About the Author

David Conger studied electrical engineering and Japanese at Brigham Young University. He became interested in Asian history and folklore while living in Japan for two years.

Marian Davies Toth's work has achieved national recognition in the United States. While living in Thailand, she taught creative writing at the International School in Bangkok.

Kay Lyons has lived in Malaysia for over thirty years. She is the author of Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories.

Joan Suyenaga grew up with Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, the first title in this popular series. She has been writing, translating and editing for the past twenty years in Indonesia.

Liana Romulo lives mostly in the Philippines but has also lived in Thailand, Belgium, and the United States. Her first picture book, Filipino Children's Favorite Stories, was a national best-seller in the Philippines.

Table of Contents

Contents
The Waters of Olive Lake—China
Why Cats and Dogs Don't Get Along—Korea
Numskull and Rabbit—India
The Crane's Gratitude—Japan
Why the Tapir Has No Tail—Malaysia
Baka the Cow and Kalabaw the Water Buffalo—Philippines
How the Sea Became Salty—Japan
The Mousedeer Becomes a Judge—Indonesia
The Fake Gem—Thailand
The Golden Ring—Philippines
Liang and His Magic Brush—China
A Tale of Sticks and Turnips—Korea
Brave Bear, Snake, and Crocodile Killer—Thailand

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 4
Some of these 13 stories have been widely retold, such as "The Crane's Gratitude" from Japan and "Liang and His Magic Brush" from China. Others have variations told in other cultures, such as "How the Sea Became Salty." Most of the selections are six to eight pages in length. Yee's watercolor illustrations add lushness as well as humor in all the right places. The final story, from Thailand, "The Lucky Farmer Becomes King," is the longest in the collection at 15 pages. There is a bit of gore when the farmer's wife kills a bear—she is shown holding a bloody knife, standing over the prone animal. The volume includes a brief glossary, but lacks source notes. While the retellings, done by a number of different people, are not consistently strong, this title will make an attractive addition to larger collections.
—DeAnn OkamuraCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

"The illustrations allow the reader to picture the culture as well as the setting. The stories bring in various parts of the culture…as well as some of the structure of the society. As always I find these stories a fun way to bring the culture alive…" —Crafty Moms Share blog

"The stories are retold in crisp, contemporary idiom and use rich, expressive language that makes them great for reading aloud, whether at home or in school." —Papertigers.org blog

From the Publisher