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The Beggar's Magic: A Chinese Tale
A kind, old man comes to the village and asks for the people to help him because he is poor, thus everyone in the town gives him food, except Fu Nan, so on August Moon Festival Day, the old man put his magic to use and makes Farmer Wu the joke of the village.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1997
22 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Chang
7 books2 followers“Long ago, when I was sitting in my high chair in California having breakfast, my mother used to think, ‘The boy Margaret’s going to marry is somewhere eating his cornflakes.’ Little did she know.
“I grew up as an only child in Whittier, a suburb of Los Angeles, surrounded by people like my parents—transplanted Middle Westerners. Just beyond Whittier’s city limits stretched a vast, intriguing, multicultural city. I was five when we went downtown to eat Chinese food at Tang’s. It tasted a lot better than my mother’s Indiana cooking, and I still remember the small dish of yellow mustard with a drop of bright red hot sauce in the middle.
“My parents took me to the beach whenever they could, beginning my lifelong love of the Pacific shore. Another family pleasure was reading. Every night before bedtime, my father read aloud to me. I met Dorothy Gale, Robin Hood, Mowgli, D’Artagnan, Jo March, and brave, determined children from the Grimm and Andersen fairy tales. Later, reading on my own, I discovered Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennet, and Anna Karenina. But I never stopped reading children’s books.
“After graduating from Scripps College with a degree in English and a minor in art, I went east to library school at Rutgers to become a children’s librarian. I worked as an elementary school librarian for the Lexington Public Schools in Massachusetts and as a children’s librarian for the New York Public Library. I met Raymond Chang, the boy who’d been eating his rice porridge in Shanghai while I was having breakfast in my high chair in California. We married at my home in Whittier and moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts, where Raymond taught chemistry at Williams College for many years. We have one daughter. With her, I returned to the West Coast for yearly visits with my parents and our Chinese family.
“A master’s degree from the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College enabled me to pursue two parallel careers: writing and teaching. While Raymond and I coauthored four children’s books set in China, I taught both graduate and undergraduate students of children’s literature at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. The Institutes offered by Children’s Literature New England (CLNE) inspired my teaching for twenty years.
“After taking a long break from teaching to finish Celia’s Robot, I expect to continue writing stories and promoting children’s literature for many years to come.”
How Celia’s Robot Came to Be:
“I was thirteen when I discovered science fiction. Even though the characters were mostly active guys and helpless girls (because the books were written mostly by men), I loved science fiction for the same reasons I had loved fairy tales and fantasy as a child: I could leave my everyday life behind and travel to worlds of imagination and possibility. It wasn’t long before I read Isaac Asimov’s I Robot series, with its Laws of Robotics.
“When I was a school librarian at Joseph Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts, I loved talking to boys and girls about all kinds of books, from my favorite childhood family stories such as the Little House books to fantasies such as The Chronicles of Narnia books and Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain.
“My marriage to Raymond Chang, who grew up in Shanghai, China, during World War II and the civil war that followed, made me part of a large Chinese family. My mother-in-law welcomed me, though she didn’t speak a word of English, and taught me to cook some of Raymond’s favorite dishes. I read about the events and beliefs that shaped his family’s life and carried what I learned into the field of children’s books.
Raymond and I had already written a popular book on the Chinese language when I took a graduate course in writing for children that led to a novel and three picture books set in China, coauthored with Raymond. Because I was also te
“I grew up as an only child in Whittier, a suburb of Los Angeles, surrounded by people like my parents—transplanted Middle Westerners. Just beyond Whittier’s city limits stretched a vast, intriguing, multicultural city. I was five when we went downtown to eat Chinese food at Tang’s. It tasted a lot better than my mother’s Indiana cooking, and I still remember the small dish of yellow mustard with a drop of bright red hot sauce in the middle.
“My parents took me to the beach whenever they could, beginning my lifelong love of the Pacific shore. Another family pleasure was reading. Every night before bedtime, my father read aloud to me. I met Dorothy Gale, Robin Hood, Mowgli, D’Artagnan, Jo March, and brave, determined children from the Grimm and Andersen fairy tales. Later, reading on my own, I discovered Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennet, and Anna Karenina. But I never stopped reading children’s books.
“After graduating from Scripps College with a degree in English and a minor in art, I went east to library school at Rutgers to become a children’s librarian. I worked as an elementary school librarian for the Lexington Public Schools in Massachusetts and as a children’s librarian for the New York Public Library. I met Raymond Chang, the boy who’d been eating his rice porridge in Shanghai while I was having breakfast in my high chair in California. We married at my home in Whittier and moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts, where Raymond taught chemistry at Williams College for many years. We have one daughter. With her, I returned to the West Coast for yearly visits with my parents and our Chinese family.
“A master’s degree from the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College enabled me to pursue two parallel careers: writing and teaching. While Raymond and I coauthored four children’s books set in China, I taught both graduate and undergraduate students of children’s literature at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. The Institutes offered by Children’s Literature New England (CLNE) inspired my teaching for twenty years.
“After taking a long break from teaching to finish Celia’s Robot, I expect to continue writing stories and promoting children’s literature for many years to come.”
How Celia’s Robot Came to Be:
“I was thirteen when I discovered science fiction. Even though the characters were mostly active guys and helpless girls (because the books were written mostly by men), I loved science fiction for the same reasons I had loved fairy tales and fantasy as a child: I could leave my everyday life behind and travel to worlds of imagination and possibility. It wasn’t long before I read Isaac Asimov’s I Robot series, with its Laws of Robotics.
“When I was a school librarian at Joseph Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts, I loved talking to boys and girls about all kinds of books, from my favorite childhood family stories such as the Little House books to fantasies such as The Chronicles of Narnia books and Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain.
“My marriage to Raymond Chang, who grew up in Shanghai, China, during World War II and the civil war that followed, made me part of a large Chinese family. My mother-in-law welcomed me, though she didn’t speak a word of English, and taught me to cook some of Raymond’s favorite dishes. I read about the events and beliefs that shaped his family’s life and carried what I learned into the field of children’s books.
Raymond and I had already written a popular book on the Chinese language when I took a graduate course in writing for children that led to a novel and three picture books set in China, coauthored with Raymond. Because I was also te
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 15, 2019
When a wandering beggar-priest arrives in his small farming village, young Fu Nan, like the other children of the area, is drawn to the cheerful newcomer, who soon reveals his magical abilities. Most of the villagers, aware that the priest has taken a vow of poverty, share their food, but wealthy Farmer Wu refuses. A confrontation at the August Moon Festival leads to an unexpected resolution to their conflict, and a lesson for Farmer Wu about stinginess...
Originally collected in the eighteenth century, in Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio , this traditional tale is ably retold here by Margaret and Raymond Chang, and beautifully illustrated by David Johnson, whose ink, watercolor and pencil artwork has a delicate charm that is very appealing. A teaching tale with a healthy dose of enchantment, The Beggar's Magic is one picture-book retelling that young folklore enthusiasts - particularly those with an interest in China - will want to take a look at!
Originally collected in the eighteenth century, in Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio , this traditional tale is ably retold here by Margaret and Raymond Chang, and beautifully illustrated by David Johnson, whose ink, watercolor and pencil artwork has a delicate charm that is very appealing. A teaching tale with a healthy dose of enchantment, The Beggar's Magic is one picture-book retelling that young folklore enthusiasts - particularly those with an interest in China - will want to take a look at!
April 27, 2022
The Beggar’s Magic – A Chinese folk Tale by Margaret Chang and Raymond Chang, Illustrator David R. Johnson- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates a Chinese Folk tale about a life of a Beggar Priest. In a village, young Fu Nan finds that a Beggar Priest has arrived in his village. Fu Nan welcomes him. The Priest enquires about a place where he can stay. Fu Nan show him a hut at the end of the village. Beggar Priest open the door and goes to sleep. In China, Priests are holy men who have taken a vow of poverty. The Priest does not demand much from the society. Therefore, the village folk provide him with rice and vegetables which he Priests takes and cooks. The Priest loves to move with the children of the village. The children also love to mix with him. One day, he finds that one boy has caged a bird in his cage. Priest places a cloth above the cage and paints the bird. The painting is beautiful and bird chirps. The boy opens the cage and the bird flies on the tree. The Priest blesses the child for freeing the bird. On August Moon Festival, a wealthy, greedy and selfish farmer Wu arrives with his donkey carrying fresh sweet pears to the market. Weather was hot, villagers were thirsty and Wu was selling pears at high cost. Priest asked for one pear for him, for which Wu refused to give. Fu Nan had money to purchase a kite. Fu Nan gave his money to Wu for which the Priest was thankful. He gave a paper to Fu Nan. Priest ate the pear, dig a hole in ground, placed the pear seed in it and put some hot water on the hole. Soon a pear tress grew and bore pears. Priest gave pears to all and went his way. In the evening, Fu Nan found that the paper given by the Priest converted into a Kite, he flew the kite. Wu found that all his pears had gone. Wu chased the Priest but he had gone far away by then. Message – People must help each other and be kind to their needs. Coloured illustrations help the reader to relate to the story. I have read the Hindi language translation of this book.
January 23, 2018
A children's story with a moral, a format common the world over. One can argue about the effectiveness as a lesson of the rich man becoming a laughingstock, but it is a common device used by many different cultures' stories. The lessons themselves are still good ones to hear.
This story is a little longer than some (I wouldn't use it for a storytime, I think, just because of the length - might drag for a group of preschoolers) but it's still a good story. The illustrations are beautiful, too. The Chinese tale and style of illustrations can make this a good addition to the reading list of children who (like me) love myths and legends and fairy tales from all over.
This story is a little longer than some (I wouldn't use it for a storytime, I think, just because of the length - might drag for a group of preschoolers) but it's still a good story. The illustrations are beautiful, too. The Chinese tale and style of illustrations can make this a good addition to the reading list of children who (like me) love myths and legends and fairy tales from all over.
June 15, 2018
I really enjoyed this Chinese moral tale about a priest that visits a small village and befriends a young boy there. I like the moral of helping others and being generous, of kindness being of more importance than wealth. I look forward to reading it to my LO when she's older. I read it to her now, but at 6 months she was more interested in the sound the pages make in her hands, and if mommy will let her chew on it.
October 17, 2017
Beautiful writing style, fantastic illustrations, interesting story, and important message. What more could you ask for from a children's book?
October 18, 2024
Chinese folktales, classicaly illustrated.
July 1, 2013
Of all the picture books on the shelf written by Chinese authors, I chose Margaret and Raymond Chang’s The Beggar’s Magic for two reasons. First, I like the classic feel of the cover illustration. Second, I like books that have “a (blank) tale” in the title because I am always fascinated by stories around the world.
The story of The Beggar’s Magic is longer than your average picture book. But what a tale it spoke of! While this book is mostly about kindness (and perhaps the kindness of strangers), there is no denying that children are naturally drawn to magic and the supernatural. I think this is what makes the story work despite its length.
On a nerdy level (meaning, anime), I like how this book portrays Alchemy’s First Law of Equivalent Exchange in the Japanese animated series called FullMetal Alchemist. According to this law, Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. If you grab a copy and read the story of The Beggar’s Magic, you’ll understand.
The story of The Beggar’s Magic is longer than your average picture book. But what a tale it spoke of! While this book is mostly about kindness (and perhaps the kindness of strangers), there is no denying that children are naturally drawn to magic and the supernatural. I think this is what makes the story work despite its length.
On a nerdy level (meaning, anime), I like how this book portrays Alchemy’s First Law of Equivalent Exchange in the Japanese animated series called FullMetal Alchemist. According to this law, Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. If you grab a copy and read the story of The Beggar’s Magic, you’ll understand.
September 11, 2008
A nice, simple story. Almost makes me want to eat a pear--if they weren't so squishy. It might do well for a story time, but then the length and slower pace could leave them feeling that the book dragged. Still, the magical aspects could be interesting. But I think I have a substantial pile to choose from, and it isn't the fast-paced, shorter book that I'm looking for any how.
October 2, 2014
For a picture book i felt like it took to long. the story sort of drug on and i know you would lose children in this book. i would maybe add it to my personal collection given that maybe this sparks some interest in other readers
September 6, 2016
The boy's generosity is moving, but the beggar's last magic act is not. The suggested motivation that to avoid being a laughingstock one should not be stingy begs for a nobler aim.
September 6, 2014
[3.5] Wasn't feelin' the art, but the story was nice.
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January 25, 2015870L
July 30, 2015
I got this by mistake, but I loved it anyway!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews