38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!, August 19, 2000
Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.
To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Moon Lady was one of her picks.
Adapted from Amy Tan's best selling book, The Joy Luck Club, The Moon Lady is a perfect book for encouraging children to read with and talk to their grandmother. The book also very subtly encourages children to take more responsibility for their own lives. The story provides a model for parents and grandparents for how to create their own stories to help children learn important lessons.
The story begins as three girls, Maggie, Lily and June, are bored because they have to stay in on a rainy day and can think of nothing that they want to do. Their grandmother, Nai-nai, is with them. Nai-nai tells them a story about when she was a young girl in China, and she ran and shouted and could not stand still also.
The story is about the day she told the Moon Lady her secret wish. Then unfolds a wonderful story of a young girl's adventure on a special trip to see the Moon Lady. Along the way, she sees many things she has not seen before, falls overboard, is rescued by a fishing family, and finds her family again after meeting the Moon Lady. In the process, she has one of those epiphanies that make all of our lives better -- that she is in charge of creating her own future.
The story is filled with references to family bonding and what is and is not proper behavior. The story also shows what family life was like for a somewhat well-to-do Chinese family in China at the beginning of the 20th century. These references are made all the more realistic by a wonderful series of drawings by Gretchen Schields with bright colors, beautiful detail, and authentic depictions of the China of years ago. It's almost like living a beautiful dream.
Then Nai-nai takes her granddaughters out to dance in the moon after the story is over.
Of all the children's books I have read, I place this one in the top ten for the 4-8 age category.
A central problem for many children today is that too much television, too many structured activities, and too little free time leave them feeling lost when nothing is on the agenda. Our misconception is that they need regimented lives like those that soldiers lead to fulfill their potential. This book will encourage you to readdress that misconception, and focus on how to make your children more competent in thinking about others, being more independent, and designing their own beneficial activities. That is all very important to actually unleashing their full potential. When you are done, think about how perhaps your own life needs a little improvement along these same lines.
Enjoy!
Donald Mitchell (donmitch@2000percentsolution.com)
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read At Any Age, January 22, 2003
This review is from: The Moon Lady (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback)
In The Moon Lady, Amy Tan author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter, presents a small tale for young children which adults will also enjoy. Focusing on a story set in China, Tan brings her wealth of knowledge about China and its folktales as well as her love for this country and its traditions. In addition, the illustrations by Gretchen Schields add a wonderful dimension to the story since readers can also visualize the tale by viewing these pictures.
On a rainy day as grandchildren whine that they can't play outside their grandmother tells them a tale based on her own experiences as a child. Using this method Tan provides an allegorical tale concerning children and their wishes. Telling the children of her wishes as a young girl, Ying Ying tells the children a story about her own wishes at the times of the Moon Festival. And as all folk tales provide, Tan is adept at providing her readers with an adventurous tale compete with the mysterious Moon Lady and a moral to the story.
This is a good book for young children who cannot only learn about the Chinese culture but the saying "Be careful what you wish for." I also recommend this book at any age since it is also important to remember this as we move on in life.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent illustrations..., March 4, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Moon Lady (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback)
I was drawn to this book as an Amy Tan fan and found myself fascinated by the illustrations. They are gorgeous and vividly detailed. The story, narrated by a grandmother, of her childhood adventures while growing up in China will give kids a tantalizing glimpse of another time and place.
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