When Xiaolong devises a way to capture the thief who breaks into his family's home, all the people in the Chinese village change their minds about the "lazy" boy.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Sloth does not a chipper tale make, at least not in this sluggishly paced story. As a baby, Xiaolong doesn't cry or kick much, "because it was too much work." In boyhood, washing his face proves so taxing that he cleans the left side one day and the right side the next ("There was usually a dirty stripe down the center of his face"). But while Namioka (The Loyal Cat) finds opportunity for amusing anecdotes in Xiaolong's lethargy, there is something inescapably sad and pathetic about him. Too long in arriving, the tale's turning point occurs after a thief creeps into the house one night and rouses Xiaolong to anger?and action. Xuan (Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend), using a combination of acrylics, watercolor, pen and colored pencil, gives Xiaolong's face a range of unorthodox expressions, but the task of rendering an almost inert hero seems to daunt him, too. Xiaolong ends up looking like someone who's mentally challenged as well as physically slow?in other words, like someone parents won't want their children to laugh at. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-In a rural village in old China, Xiaolong is born lazy. Since he is the youngest child and the only boy, his family indulges him to the point that he grows up barely able to take care of himself. Specific incidents dramatize just how lazy he is. When he is hungry, he won't turn over to reach for bread; when he falls off a water buffalo, he lies in the mud for hours looking at the sky. However, when he sees a thief enter his house one night, he pictures his family's grief at their imminent loss and cunningly foils the intruder. This unaccustomed action makes him a hero and changes his idle ways. The deliciously subtle humor of the text is not matched by the heavy-handed illustrations. While Xuan's dreamlike paintings, reminiscent of Marc Chagall's work, are authentic in detail, his portrayal of massive figures and a hero who is lazy of eye as well as of limb teeter just this side of grotesque, more caricature than character. Still, the well-written story should be fun to read aloud, and is sure to make the most indolent child feel superior.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Laziest boy in the village, no make that province, maybe all of China!,
By KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Laziest Boy in the World (Hardcover)
Xian was born lazy. Kicking and crying took too much effort. As the baby in a farming family with 3 sisters Xian was spoiled. So spoiled Xian watched his life pass him by until one night when a thief slipped into his home. Xian was angry and poured rice soup on the floor and the thief slipped and Xian slipped and landed on top of the thief. Xian's family woke up and praised him also the entire village who had thought of Xian as a useless lump. Xian like the praise and the feeling he felt when he used is muscles. Xian noticed his body getting stronger and participating in life rather than watching.
This book is written in both English and Chinese. And the illustrations are done using a combination of colored pencils, acrylic, watercolor and pen.
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