The Magic Brocade : A Tale of China (English/Chinese Edition) [Hardcover]

Aaron Shepard (Author), Xiaojun Li (Illustrator), Isabella Chen (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2000 | Age Level: 4 and up

No brocades are more lovely or lifelike than the ones the widow weaves to sell at the marketplace. But so fine it is that the fairies of the palace send a wind to carry it off for themselves. Knowling his mother will die without her beloved creation, the widow’s son starts out after it. But the way to the fairy palace lies over Fiery Mountain and across the Icy Sea. Even if he gets there, will the fairies give up the brocade? This popular Chinese folktale will enchant young and old as the widow and her son find their way to a happiness beyond their dreams.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-An old widow, famous for weaving lifelike pictures into silk brocade, lives beneath a mountain in China. She supports herself and her son, Chen, by selling her crafts-until the day she becomes obsessed with re-creating an ideal landscape depicted in a painting she finds in the marketplace. She spends three years at her loom, while her son chops wood to earn money. At the moment the brocade is finished, a wind carries it away. Chen promises his heartbroken mother that he will recover it, and immediately sets off on a quest that demands great sacrifice and courage. In the end, he returns with the brocade and a beautiful bride. The story appears in He Liyi's The Spring of Butterflies (Lothrop, 1986; o.p.) and M. A. Jagendorf and Virginia Weng's The Magic Boat (Vanguard, 1980; o.p.). Marilee Heyer cast the tale as a phantasmagoria in her picture book The Weaving of a Dream (Puffin, 1989). Grace Tseng used it as the foundation for an original picture-book fantasy, White Tiger, Blue Serpent (Lothrop, 1999), illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng. Shepard acknowledges his source as Folk Tales from China (Foreign Languages, 1958; o.p.). He has tightened the plot, eliminating two greedy elder brothers who set out to recover the brocade and fail. The art, soft-toned watercolors anchored by line drawings of important details, is pleasant enough, but breaks no new ground and lacks the verve, style, and specificity of the versions mentioned.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Aaron Shepard is the author of Master Man, The Sea King's Daughter, The Baker's Dozen, and many more picture books, as well as numerous stories in Cricket. His retellings of folktales and other traditional literature have been honored by the American Library Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. He lives in California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Edustar Press; Chinese fiction edition (December 2000)
• Language: Taiwanese Chinese, English
• ISBN-10: 1572270667
• ISBN-13: 978-1572270664
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,450,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Magic Brocade, June 6, 2010

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Donna Mcenery (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magic Brocade : A Tale of China (English/Chinese Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a lovely book with incredible illustrations. I bought it because I found the play online and we (my class) wanted some visuals to go with it. It was just what we were looking for.