Chopsticks

by Jon Berkeley

In a busy harbor, in the faraway island of Hong Kong, there is a floating restaurant. This restaurant is home to Chopsticks, a tiny gray mouse. Chopsticks befriends a wooden dragon who wants to fly. On the night of the full moon, during Chinese New Year, they share a high-flying adventure with the help of Old Fu, the dragon’s creator.

Genres: Picture Books, China, Dragons, Animals, Childrens, Asia, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2005

About the author

Jon Berkeley was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and says he went to a school where "you were only allowed go to the bathroom if you asked in Irish." His love of art led him to study at the National College of Art and Design. From there he went to work as an illustrator in Hong Kong, Barcelona, London and Sydney.

Jon worked as an illustrator for twenty years before turning his hand to writing. He wrote Chopsticks in 2004, a story about the friendship between a mouse and a dragon, and his first novel, The Palace of Laughter, is in bookshops now! Jon currently lives in Spain with his wife and their five kids, five cats and a "small colony of stick insects."

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chopsticks, a small gray mouse, is whispered to by a wooden dragon, who wants to fly. With the help of Fu, the dragon creator, the wooden dragon and Chopsticks magically fly every full moon.

Beautiful, vibrant illustrations of Hong Kong at night are presented from a mouse's perspective in this book. Magic is in the air when the wooden dragon whispers to Chopsticks. Fantasy comes alive when the dragon flies on the full moon. This delightful book will spark the imagination of young children.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains beautiful, brightly colored, attention grabbing illustrations including a two page spread that shows a panorama of Asia from the sky. The book cover is captivating with a simple red background and golden Chinese dragon framing the cute main mouse character. The story tells of a mouse who helps a beautifully crafted wooden dragon come to life as they forge an unlikely friendship and fly across the world. A fun and magical story.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fancy Hong Kong restaurant. A mouse who visits the restaurant and a wooden and lacquer dragon who wants to be free. The mouse meets the dragon and the dragon convinces him to help him fly and be free.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in China, a mouse named Chopsticks finds a way to help a wooden dragon fly. I enjoyed the colorful, mouse-perspective illustrations better than the story, frankly, but I'm sure young readers will find it enchanting.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why yes I did accidentally put this book from the children's section on hold when I was trying to get a different book titled "Chopsticks" at the library. It's a cute book though.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it! Sadly, it was put on hold for me DURING my China Book Time. Just a little too late. It would have been a good one to put at the end because it was a good medium length. The pictures are fantastic. And how can you not want to read a book about a mouse named Chopsticks? Very simple story, sweet friendships formed. Loved it. I also loved the illustration of the mouse sleeping in the dragon's mouth.

[Stephanie Denison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some books are more about the artwork than the story. While the story was nice enough, the artwork was wonderful. In a picture book this can be a very important point. Boop and I have graduated to the story taking the focus over the artwork which is why I gave this story three stars instead of more.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story with gorgeous illustrations. The little mouse is so cute and the adventures he has with the dragon are exciting. We really enjoyed reading this story together.

[Therese Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations are the best feature of a tale of a wooden dragon who wants to come alive and explore the world and the little mouse that helps him. It’s a little confusing, because the dragon is only free to fly on the night of each full moon, so is essentially not truly transformed to a real dragon and the mouse takes a report back to the dragon’s maker after each monthly flight. I kept thinking, “You little snitch!” 😂

[Stephanie Gou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure whether Jon Berkeley knew that Rat and Dragon are one of the most compatible pair in Chinese Astrology. It is a very sweet story about friendship, and well-illustrate picture book with beautiful sceneries of HongKong's night.
My 4 year old daughter absolutely loves the adorable mouse: chopsticks. Pre-schoolers don't "read books" and they "look at" books. She enjoyed this book and asked questions.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the fantastic illustrations.

It's a story about a mouse named Chopsticks, a wooden dragon that can come to life with magic, and an old man. There isn't much conflict in this friendship story, but the illustrations help transport you to a "magical" world.

It also showcases Hong Kong, for kids who like to read about different places in the world.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so it’s cheesy and takes the easy route into representing “Chinese culture” (whatever that might be) with its dragons and chopsticks and lacquer and junks in the harbour, but what kids’ books aren’t just a little bit cheesy? Wood comes to life and there’s a lot of flying. Fun, to be fair, and the illustrations are eye-grabbing and well done.

Reading for the 10th time... ;-)

[Danielle T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous art, though lunar new year is barely relevant here (despite getting mentioned on the flap- I wonder if the publisher was like, "if it's a Chinese story you need to mention a significant holiday!" versus just like... the full moon).

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about an adorable mouse who helps a dragon to fly and they set off on adventures during the night with wonderful illustrations.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art is lovely

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite sweet

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

W0uld work for kindergarten ST.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too short to convey the story in as meaningful a way as could be done, but still very remarkable with it's fanciful story and it's vivid and beautiful illustrations.

[Freddie D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much of a narrative to this one. But there is a dragon and a cute mouse, and the illustrations are wonderful, so it's still lots of fun.

[CR Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when Chinese dragons come to life!

[Patrice]

BookTree
S&E loved it!

[skcocnaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too kooky for me.

[Bookslut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, great art. The kids wanted to read it over and over.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mouse and a wooden dragon find a way to venture out into the world, seeing sights some can only dream of. Gorgeous artwork with engaging use of perspective, but font was hard to read. The story is simple, perhaps too much so. The relationship between the mouse and the dragon feels incomplete: why did the dragon choose the mouse as a helper? They seem to become close after sharing the experience of travel but it's a bit too subtle.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought to life by a gorgeous selection of colours, textures and settings, this simple story of friendship and dreams transports us to another world.

Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:

http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/1...

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures, an imaginative story, and my breath caught when they flew above the world. There are only 3 characters, and they are all male, which detracts from the appeal a bit for me. But it does take place in China, and is by an international author, which adds some diversity, and I just change the animal genders when I read it to my kids.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wee beastie only thought this book was ok. The artwork makes up for what the story lacks. Truly I think this book would be better appreciated by children younger than mine. She really has outgrown picture books. We just are not at chapter books yet. We are at that inbetween place.

[Whirl Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solidly good book, just not that memorable. It is the story of a mouse who helps bring a dragon to life so that they can travel the world on full moon nights. The illustrations are bold and are a highlight of the book.

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read if you live in Hong Kong - such a cute story that will definitely make you want to visit the famous floating restaurant in Aberdeen, no matter how little one might generally appreciate places that have become a bit too touristy ;)