China's Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan [Hardcover]

Charlie Chin (Author), Tomie Arai (Illustrator), Wang Zing Chu (Translator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up

Chinese translation by Wang Xing Chu. A classic retelling of the Chinese maiden warrior legend. Bilingual in English and Chinese.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A simple rhyming text keeps the pace brisk in this adaptation of a fifth-century Chinese legend about a young woman who goes to war to save her family's honor. Hua Mu Lan's father has no eldest son, and so the faithful daughter decides "For love of her elderly father / she will dress in warrior's clothes, / walking and talking like a man, / so no one ever knows." Hua Mu Lan's "courage wins the day," and a "hundred battles," earning her the rank of general and the Emperor's highest esteem. Arai's jewel-toned paintings accurately portray the life of the period, and margins depicting a Chinese screen contain an inset of text in Chinese. But the flat, often expressionless figures move through the static compositions without making emotional contact with the reader. Children will nevertheless enjoy the heroine's exploits and the moment of revelation when her war companion discovers her true identity. When he proposes that the "best of friends" become husband and wife, the dignified Hua Mu Lan responds: "You treat your friends with honor. Can your wife expect the same?" The young man agrees, concluding this ancient legend with modern sensibilities and read-aloud appeal. Ages 6-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Mu Lan, often called "the Chinese Joan of Arc," is a young woman whose aged father is summoned by the emperor to fight an invading army. She dons her father's armor, distinguishes herself in battle, only revealing her true identity when the war is over. The English version presented here is in quantrains in which meter and detail are sacrificed to relentless, often forced, rhyming. The accompanying Chinese text provides many details that do not occur in the English as well as many different sentiments. For example, when Mu Lan's father is seeing her off, the English text gives him the line "'Farewell, my faithful daughter,'" while the Chinese version says, "'Farewell! I wish you win the battle!'" The Chinese text has problems with diction, mixing classical Chinese with modern colloquial (somewhat like mixing the language of the King James Bible with today's inner-city street slang). This provides much unintentional humor along the way. Both versions have Mu Lan asking for a camel, a slow-moving animal, so she can hurry home. Attractive, well-researched watercolor illustrations in vibrant primary colors have much child appeal. Another bilingual version of this significant tale, Wei and Cheng Jiang's The Legend of Mulan (Victory, 1992), provides somewhat different details but is also something of a mixed bag.
John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 30 pages
• Publisher: Children's Book Press (CA) (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892391200
• ISBN-13: 978-0892391202
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Asian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars China's Bravest Girl, January 13, 2001

By 

Carolyn Kernkamp (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: China's Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan (Hardcover)

This is actually one of my favorite books. I have owned a copy since it first came out, and keep having to buy new ones because my student's also love it. I am a 4th grade teacher, and when a student leaves my class, I allow the child to pick a favorite book - any book I own - to take as my gift. The kid's usually choose either China's Bravest Girl, or El Chino by Allen Say. That says a lot for a book! The story and illustrations engage the students strongly - they love the images, the poetry, the Chinese character. The story gives them hope that they too can be heroes and change the world. Please get yourself and your children a copy - in fact get two - you will end up giving one away.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat trite retelling of this classic story, July 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: China's Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan (Hardcover)

The Chinese language text seems to be "politically correct" hack retelling from the People's Republic, filled with jingoistic sentiments. I would not want to read the Chinese version to my kids. The English language version softens and rephrases some of the more irritating parts of the Chinese text, the artwork is OK, and young children actually seem to LIKE the simplistic rhyming, so I'm assigning three stars. If you want a close translation of the original poem with wonderful illustrations, buy Jeanne Lee's book. If you want a good prose retelling of the story with lots of details added (the original poem is somewhat elliptical in phrasing and short in detail) then buy Robert San Souci's book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice addition to any Mulan fans library., June 30, 2000

By 

"sunflower05" - See all my reviews

This review is from: China's Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan (Paperback)

This story is told in the format of a song. The song is the re-telling of the legend of Mulan. The story is close to disneys version of Mulan, but has several differences. One difference is that Mulan and her family decide together that Mulan shall go in her fathers place. Mulan fights in many battles intead of just one. No mention of her being hurt and then her gender being discovered. She is discovered when she returned home and another soldier who was traveling with her finds out her true gender.

Prior to reading this to my 5 yo, we discussed how this was the original story. It sparked a discussion on how sometimes a book and a movie can be very different. It was a hit with my child. One that I expect to read again and again. A nice addition to any Mulan fans library.