A collection of ancient tales of courage, translated faithfully to the Vietnamese oral tradition, features stories of prowling panthers, brocaded mandarins, hawking merchants, and fairy spirits.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-Of these six folktales on moral themes, five are traditional Vietnamese versions of clearly Chinese folktales; the remaining tale ("The Ogre's Victim") may be Indian or Cambodian. Vuong retells them with gusto and great attention to detail, making each an evocative gem. "A Friend's Affection" has an interesting and unexpected twist of plot, while "Second in Command" retells the warrior woman story of Mulan (here Moc Lan), who leads an army to victory while disguised as her brother. The most effective and affecting is "The Ogre's Brother," in which a strong, kind, and honest young man unwittingly forwards the wicked schemes of his sworn brother, though all is rectified at the last. The tales read well and are better suited to individual exploration than to group sharing. The only flaw, a minor albeit confusing one, occurs in the first two tales in which characters are newly introduced to already existing characters who cannot possibly know the newcomers yet call them by their correct names without benefit of introduction. Illustrations are unexceptional, but the stories have more than enough charm without them.
John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Six intriguing tales, retold by an author who's taught ESL in Vietnam, whose husband is Vietnamese, and who's had a lifelong interest in folklore. Similar in their conversational style to Vuong's The Brocaded Slipper and Other Vietnamese Tales (1982, 1992), the stories here involve ordinary people, kings, ogres, and members of the fairy world; in ``Second in Command,'' a girl disguised in her brother's clothing and armor reports for military duty in place of her aging father. Vuong cites Vietnamese-language sources in her introduction; her notes for each story provide interesting historical, cultural, and religious background, including traditions inherited from China. A concluding chapter (a revision of material in the earlier book) describes Vietnamese pronunciation and lists words and proper names from the tales. An inviting collection. Illustrations not seen. (Folklore. 9+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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