Customer Reviews

The Year of the Panda

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We are six fifth graders that read a book called The Year of the Panda by Miriam Schlein. This book is mostly about a boy named Lu Yi and his panda. One day, the Chinese goverment sent two men to tell Lu Yi's parents to move, so it can use their lands to save the pandas. But Lu Yi's parents said "no". Later, Lu Yi and his father went to to the mountain to chop wood. Then they found a baby panda, brought him home, and gave it milk. Lu Yi named the panda, Su Lin. Then messengers came and said "Whoever finds a panda must bring it to the Rescue Center and you will get 300 yuan." Lu Yi didn't talk about the panda because he didn't want anyone to find out about Su Lin, but his father wants the reward of 300 yuan. So Lu Yi's father tells the messengers about Su Lin. The Chinese goverment were planning to drop food for the pandas because their bamboo was dying out. The Chinese goverment ask the villagers if it could use their lands for the Chinese government's plan. What would happen if the bamboo died out forever? Would Su Lin die if the bamboo dried out forever? Would the panda become extinct?

This story is very nice because we learned new information about pandas. For example, we learned that there are a lot of different colored bamboo. Also, pandas in Chinese are called daxiong mao. We enjoyed this book because it taught us a lesson. The lesson we learned is to take care of the endangered animals before they become extinct. We liked this book because the Chinese government cared about the animals. Some of us think Lu Yi did the right thing to keep Su Lin because he could save the panda for now. But some of us think Lu Yi did the wrong thing because it might have been dangerous to give the panda other milk. It might have killed Su Lin. We think Lu Yi is taking good care of the panda. We liked the part when Su Lin urinated on the bed because it was very humorous. We didn't like the part when Lu Yi had to give the panda to the Rescue Center because we felt sad that they would never see each other again.

We recommend this book to all ages of people but especially those interested in science. We think this book would be an appropniate book for people who enjoy pandas.

This book was a realy great book. I really liked it. It was about a little boy named Lu Yi who found a very rare Panda bear (and he named it Su Lin) in china called a Daxiong Mao. So he took it home and took care of it. But since that type of Panda was so rare these scientists in another counrtry were offering 300 yao(chinese money) for a Daxiong Mao.
So Lu Yi's father told him to give the bear to the scientists. So he decided to give it up. When they were going to take the bear , Lu Yi decided to go with them, only for a few days though. So the people there showed him the enviornment that he was going to live in. But Lu YI was going to miss him. so the scientist who was going to take care of Su Lin asked Lu Yi to stay but he refused.
I chose this book because it seemed like a good book to read. And plus it looked like an easy book to read. And when i read the back of the book and i liked it. It also looked very interesting.
I had a lot of favorite parts. One of them was when Lu Yi found the panda. That was my favorite part. I liked that part because that is were he found his pet Panda.

If you like animals this is a very good book to read, especially if you love pandas. The story is set in China. I learned about how farmers in China don't always like Pandas, but how some people try to save them. The story is about a boy who is out cutting wood with his father and he finds a baby Panda. The story is all about what is the boy going to do with the Panda. I think this is a good book for both boys and girls. I'm in third grade and had no trouble reading it myself.

Let me tell you about The Year of the Panda by Miriam Schlein. Lu Yi, the main character in this book, lives with his family. The family farm, in rural China, where Lu Yi lives seems like quite a scary place because bearcats come down to steal honey from the people. I have never really been to a place like this, but reading this story, I feel like that I am really spending the summer there. Miriam Schlein, a skilled author who wrote nearly one hundred books, makes this whole place quite real.

This story is about a young boy named Lu Yi who finds a panda and names it Su Lin. Everybody else wants Su Lin because the person who finds him will get a lot of money. Lu Yi then takes Su Lin to a place where he can be kept safe from harm. Dr.Di, the doctor who takes care of all kinds of bearcats, lets Lu Yi stay over. Lu Yi really wants to help the panda but also wants his family to have the money. He wants to help Su Lin by finding him a good place to stay, and wants to help his parents by helping out with the garden and household chores. I also thought that the story is much more interesting because of Lu Yi's friend, Ho Yen. He does not take either side. For example, he does not want to say goodbye to Su Lin because he is his friend, but he also wants money for his family to keep them well. So he does not know which side to take. He should either tell everybody that Lu Yi has the panda or not say anything about it and keep quiet.

The reason I liked this book is because there is a very cute panda, named Su Lin. The panda is very cute in some ways, but also a little boring in other ways. For example, the panda does not say anything and just moves, so that is a little bit boring, but is very cute when it sleeps inside its basket.

The author makes up many characters such as the people in town and the main characters and the animals. The characters make the story interesting because they are all quite different. For example, Lu Yi wants to keep the panda, but the people in town do not.

If you like realistic stories and animals, you will like this story because it is very realistic with many animals in it. Even though this story is a little sad, it is quite enjoyable. Reading this book, you learn how important your family is to you.

If you want to know what happened with Lu Yi and Su Lin, you will just have to read the book!

I am an educator in Indianapolis and we have used this book in our 3rd grade class the last two years. This book offers a lot of insite into the lives of pandas and keeps the children interested until the end. We used this book along with other information about pandas. In addition, we held a Pennies for Pandas campaign to benefit the Pennies for the Planet campaign by the World Wildlife Fund. This book offers a great chance to explore Chinese words, like Daxiong Mao, and geography of China. Our 3rd graders loved this story, and so did I.

As a 2nd grade teacher who does a 6 week unit on China, I love to use this book to teach about the plight of pandas, the life of Chinese farmers, and some of the differences between our two cultures. Because the main character in the book is close to the age of the children I teach, they can relate to him when he rescues the baby panda and takes care of it. Ms. Schlein does a fantastic job of writing a story which evokes caring for wildlife. In addition to teaching about pandas, I also use the book to kick off "Pennies for Panda." In this campaign, we collect pennies(and any other money donations) and send it to World Wildlife Fund to assist in panda rescue. Without this book, my unit on China would not be as rich and the children's knowledge about China as extensive as it is.

What a tear jerker! This story "The Year of the Panda" is about an animal that is becoming extinct. A young boy finds a baby Panda cares for it. He becomes attached to the little animal. And he wants to help the Pandas to keep it's habitat. I am sharing this book with a sixth grade boy and he is loving the story. He wants to read it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Lu Yi Boy, main character

Where do they live: In China In the shadow of the great snow covered mountains
Isolated farm area with no electricity, no telephones, a few roads. Goods were carried on barges on the canals in and out of the town.

Language: Putongua, the common language spoken in China. At home Lu Yi's family spoke Sechuan dialect. But he spoke Putongua at school.

What were Lu Yi's chores:
* Milked 2 female goats Nim & Lei
* Fed 2 Oxen's Bim & Bam
* Rubbed ointment on Bim & Bam's shoulders when they had sores.
* Fed the chicken's corn
* Cleaned the courtyard where the animals stayed.
* He helped his dad stack the ripe yellow wheat; that had to be threshed, dried and bagged.
* He helped his father in the upper slopes to gather firewood from fallen limbs.

The story started off with Lu Yi waking up to the sound of people talking to his parents, he did not recognize the voices. He overheard them asking his parents if they would move. His parents agreed not to and said no. The two strangers were from the government. Lu Yi's father told Lu Yi that everything was ok and dropped the subject. The land that they lived on was Lu Yi's grandfathers and passed down to his family and the plans were to pass it down to Lu Yi.

One morning Lu Yi woke up to Mr. Po wrestling with a panda. The panda had one paw stuck in a bee-hive. Mr. Po came out with a shot gun to stop the panda. Lu Yi's father stopped him. If you kill a panda, they will make us move. Mr. Po decided not to shoot the panda and let him walk back up to the mountains.
It was rare that the panda came down from the mountains. Panda's are a creature of mystery, and live deep in the bamboo forest.

Lu Yi and his friend were walking to school and they kept glancing up into the mountains hoping to see a panda, but did not see one.

Lu Yi and his father went up towards the mountains to chop branches. While they were there they spotted a panda that was dead. As they were leaving Lu Yi heard a squeak, when he went to see where it was coming from and what it was he found a 7" baby panda. His father said that the dead panda must have been its mother. Lu Yi's father let him bring the panda home so it would not starve and to protect it from the dogs.

When they got home Lu Yi tried to give it milk and it was too hard for the baby panda to drink on its own so he came up with an idea to squirt the goat's milk into his mouth.

That night the panda slept curled up with Lu Yi in his bed close to his chest. As he got bigger he grew content to sleep in a basket. Lu Yi's Mom made a sling so he could place the panda in it so he could carry him around while he completed his chores.

Lu Yi decided to give his panda a name and called him Su Lin. His father did not want him to give him a name...he said that he could not keep a wild animal and if you name a creature you build a connection. He also explained that it would be harder for him later, when they would have to give him away.
Lu Yi's father explained to his son that he spoke to a bargeman who agreed to take Su Lin to a zoo in Jinan. He then told him that they would need to make a cage soon to transport him.

Chapter 5:
Barges carried more than corn, honey, wheat and vegetables, they carried news as well. Through the bargemen, people in the country side would learn what was happening in far-off places. Government officials would learn what was happening in isolated farm areas such as Lu Yi's.

How did the farmers get news?
Messengers were sent out from the cities with important news, traveling by foot. They would tack up notices along the way.

This is how Lu Yi learned why the panda's were coming down from the mountains. A messenger posted a notice letting the farmers know that the panda's were in trouble. Every 60 years the bamboo forest turns yellow and dries out, it then takes 2-3 years to grow back. This is why they are coming down from the mountain they are starving.

In order to save the pandas from starving to death the government came up with a plan to feed the panda's. A helicopter would drop sweet potatoes and corn for them. They were asking the people to help by placing the food along the high ridge of the fields. They were warned that the panda is a fierce animal and desperate for food and could be fierce. The town's people replied there are hungry people who is paying for this. They were told that the Government of the people's Republic of China, America and other countries were trying to save these animals from becoming distinct. The government was offering $300 Yuan to anyone who helps save a panda.
Lu Yi did not tell the messenger about Su Lin. His father suddenly spoke up and said, "We have a panda". The messenger said, what do you mean you have one? Everyone walked over to Lu Yi's home, Lu Yi wasn't even thinking about the reward. All he could think about was how he found him and carried him home and has been taking care of him. When they got to the courtyard the basket was tipped and the gate was open and they could not find Su Lin. They soon found him laying against
Lu Yi's sleeping mat and half covered with Lu Yi's jacket. His mother told him that Su Lin was laying on those items because they had Lu Yi's body smells and it makes the panda feel safe.

Lu Yi's mom explained how her son took care of Su Lin. The man said that he did a good job! Lu Yi asked what would happen to him, he was told that Su Lin would go to Wolong Reserve (which was far from his home). The messenger told him that he would be the youngest panda there and that he would tell them his name since he named him.

The moving plan:
Su Lin would be picked up by helicopter accompanied by Lu Yi and taken to the rescue center for a short while till another helicopter could take him back. The neighbors all gathered while the helicopter approached. It dropped off 2 large sacks of yam and sack of corn. They were told to spread the food on the ridge.
Lu Yi and Su Lin entered in the helicopter. The pilot introduced himself as Hu Shang. Lu Yi told the pilot how he found Su Lin. Hu Sang told Lu Yi that he learned to fly in the army. Su Lin fell asleep listening to the hum of the helicopter.

When they got to the rescue center and very tall women began to examine Su Lin. He explained to the women that he has grown 10 -11 centimeters, and is much heavier, about 3 kilos. The women told him that he did a great job taking care of him.
Hu Sang had to leave the rescue to pick up another panda. He told Lu Yi that he could sleep in his room for the night and he would take him back home tomorrow.
Dr Di showed Lu Yi where Su Lin would be staying for a few days during observations. Lu Yi did not like it, cement walls and floors with thick bars but understood it was temporary.

The tour:
She then showed him around.
The smokehouse - that's where they cook
High wire fence area - behind it was untouched land. It was separate large spaces divided by wire fences. This where the panda's would stay for about 1.5 years until they found them new homes.
Planted area - this is where they were trying to grow 6 different types of bamboo. Purple stalks from Japan, and one from Florida. The plan is to plant the different bamboo in the lower slopes, so in another 60 years when the bamboo in the mountains die the Panda's can eat the bamboo in the lower slopes. An emergency supply. This is why the government asked his parents if they wanted to move at the beginning of the book.

After the tour they ate dinner and Lu Yi went to bed, he woke up to the sound of the helicopter, he woke up to the helicopter returning. He went out to see them bringing in a panda that was rescued. The doctor checked the panda by listening to his heart beat, blood pressure and teeth. The doctor filled up a bowl and asked Lu Yi to slide it into the cage.

The next morning Lu Yi ate breakfast he helped Wo Ping (a student) prepare food for the pandas, they chopped up apples, and carrots along with corn and yam. He went into Su Lin's Cage he hugged him and then walked away quickly. He looked back once...Su Lin was eating her food.

Dr Di was outside her office and thanked him for his help. She then offered him the opportunity to be a student at the rescue. He thought to himself how could, I leave my parents. She told him that she wrote his parents a letter and wanted him to talk to them about the opportunity.

Lu Yi thought a scientist? I thought I was going to be a farmer. She told him to talk to his parents.

The helicopter engine was on that he left the rescue.
The end.

The book was good because Lu Yi gets to carry his little panda. What else I liked from the book is when his father used to tell his son about the daxiong mao. There used to be more daxiong mao in the forest but then some were killed. What I dislike from the book is when father told Lu Yi that the Bamboo was killed because it was shot. It was a sad part when I disliked it from the book. I even disliked the book when Mr. Po shot at the daxiong mao. This genre was mystery because they didn't know when the daxiong maos were killed every day. The theme was about Lu Yi and his little panda. The setting was in China and the conflict was there were no more daxiong mao.

I am a kid in Kendall Elementary 6th who loves to read books. My Nina {godmother} and I really like the year of the panda it was os interesting I read it again. I learned alot of new things like for incense the differnt types of bambo like thet some bambo is twisted, or some is purple.... I'd like to give a shot out to my friends MCN, HB, DA, AL, BL, MA, CA