D is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture [Hardcover]

Maywan Shen Krach (Author), Hongbin Zhang (Illustrator)

Book Description

An alphabet book approach exploring the beauty and richness of the Chinese culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An introduction to culture, beliefs, legends with exquisite illustrations. All ages. -- Skipping Stones Magazine

Cogently explain the 'construction' of Chinese pictograms and interpret how their component symbols combine... -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Opens up the very rich and ancient traditions and history of China to young readers... -- American Booksellers Association

From the Publisher

This vital book introduces readers to Chinese culture, beliefs, and legends in today's context. It will help to narrow the cultural and philosophical gap between Chinese and Westerners. "D is for Doufu" explores the meanings of 23 Chinese words and phrases while providing an interesting historical and cultural background. Readers from all cultures are invited to experience the wealth of Chinese tradition as the alphabet is used to journey through five thousand years of Chinese history and relate ancient concepts to the modern western world.

This 32-page book illuminates 23 Chinese terms with both Chinese characters and hanyu-pinyin (Romanized Chinese), followed by an English translation and narrative. Chinese folk art illuminates the text and provides both whimsy and lyricism. Using handmade papers and brocades with mineral paints for the illustrations, the artist has perfected a style based upon China's ancient cave paintings created in the third century. Literature and art are brilliantly combined in this book, just as Chinese and Western thought have melded together in contemporary society.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Shens Books & Supplies; 1st edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885008066
• ISBN-13: 978-1885008060
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 10 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,996,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A visual treat!, April 6, 2002

By 

Elizabeth Yu - See all my reviews

This review is from: D is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture (Hardcover)

When I first leafed through this book I could not put it down because it is such a rich visual treat. Each page contains a luminous collage of paintings, calligraphy and graphics through which we are introduced to some of the many artifacts and traditions of the Chinese culture. Some words such as "gong fu," "feng shui," and "doufu" are already quite familiar to westerners. Less familiar but equally important are words such as "hong bao" (lucky red envelopes which all children receive for Chinese New Year), "qi pao" (the elegant high collared dresses worn by Chinese women),"shi er sheng xiao" (12 animals of the Chinese zodiac), "tu zhang" (hand carved seals bearing a person's name) and "xiao shun" (the words for filial piety, much emphasized in the teachings of Confucius). The pages are large and the graphics bold, making it a suitable book for sharing with a class. This is a book which visual artists, scholars, teachers and children alike will surely appreciate.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I expected..., March 17, 2007

By 

RFN (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: D Is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture (Paperback)

I expected a Read-aloud book for use in the classroom but this book is more for individual use as a resource for the Mandarin language. If I had a classroom set it would be great to let the students explore and then assign each a word and character to teach to the rest of the class. I would have preferred the pronunciation to be included with the word on each page. On the other hand, as a teaching resource the book is a good source of background information for me since I have little or no knowledge about the Chinese language. It has a succinct explanation of the sounds and tonality used in Mandarin and also explains the composition of the characters for specific words. For example, the character for "love" contains the characters BREATH, HEART, and MOVEMENT: "Love breathes life into the heart and brings grace to the body". The illustrations are beautiful and the text very informative. Although I will not end up using this book as I intended when I ordered it I still feel it will have value to me for teaching and learning about China.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, December 27, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: D Is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture (Paperback)

I hope that others will discover this book too. I am going to share it with my ESOL students for Chinese New Year. I am learning a lot from the book. I really enjoy trying to pronounce the words. My Chinese-Vietnamese students can probably assist me with the correct pronunciation and tones, now that I have some idea.