Customer Reviews

The Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven

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My kids are a bit familiar with this story already, because we live in Hong Kong and have seen parts of the series on TV and because they've also read parts of it extremely abdridged in Chinese "comic book" form.

They (aged 7 and 5) loved this book. It is written in clear English, that nonetheless gives a feel for the names amd action of the characters. It is abridged enough so the kids don't get bored, but is complete enough to be faithful to the full-length novel. We just finished reading it aloud 5 days ago and the kids REALLY wanted to know what happens next.

Unfortunetely, the second installment of the story is not yet published. So, my family is now waiting impatiently for the next bit.

The only thing that could be better were the illustrations. They were small and in black and white. While I know that making the book larger and with color illustrations would have made it more expensive, I would have been willing to pay for it.

Excellent book.

Also available in a paperback edition (1885008255, $6.95), The Magical Monkey King is a retelling of classic Chinese folktales by Ji-Li Jiang. Ideal reading for children ages 7 to 10, and enhanced with black/white drawings by Youshan Tang. The Magical Monkey King tells of the Monkey King's rambunctuous adventures, from his studies with a wise sage to learn the secret of immortality, to taking a job as royal gardner in the Kingdom of Heaven, and his encounter with the great Buddha. Simple yet delightful prose of Monkey King's fantastic exploits make The Magical Monkey King an amazing, enjoyable, and whimsical read for all ages.

I purchased this book, hoping it would stimulate my ten year old grandson to enjoy his introduction to The Monkey King, and want more. It did just that! He has enjoyed the action, and the unique stories, and is now ready to delve further into a more mature rendering of The Monkey King. This book is an excellent first step into this magical world.

Excellent!. These Monkey King episodes have kept the interest of middle school students examining the idea of heroes and superheroes.

I've read or recommended Ji-li Jiang's retelling of the classic Monkey stories to dozens of kids, and have never met a kid who wasn't completely captivated. This selfish, boastful, impulsive, hilarious creature causes the worst kinds of trouble, and seems to get away with it all.

The more chaos Monkey stirs up, the more stunned we are that no one can stop him.

Kids seem to zero in on the unfairness of a creature being so powerful, and yet so unworthy of the power he's been given. We hope against all evidence that Monkey will gain some wisdom.

This volume contains only the beginning of the Monkey saga. And we hope the rest will be published soon.

A film based on Monkey King is in production now with Jet Li and Jackie Chan which I'm sure will fan interest in the original stories, once it is released.

Ji-li Jiang's retelling is the best available in English for intermediate students. We look forward to her finishing the story. And seeing more of You-shan Tang's energetic and fresh ink painted illustrations.