Chinese Children's Favorite Stories: Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales

Children's Favorite Stories

by Mingmei Yip

Chinese Children's Favorite Stories is a delightful selection of thirteen Chinese folktales as retold by author and illustrator Mingmei Yip. Inspired by her beloved father's nightly story-telling when she was a child, Yip hopes that by retelling some of these thousand-year-old Chinese stories she can pass along Chinese folklore and fables to international readers of all ages.

These beautifully illustrated tales give children in other countries a glimpse into the traditions and culture of China, while emphasizing universal lessons about being kind and successfully overcoming obstacles. Readers will encounter many delightful characters--from an angry dragon to a wise cow--in stories such as:

The Dream of the Butterfly--A sweet tale about accepting who you are and fully appreciating the world around you

Carp Jumping Over the Dragon Gate--A popular story about the rewards of hard work

Playing the Qin for the Water Buffalo--A musical tale that highlights empathy and understanding
And many more!

Recommended for children ages five to ten.

Genres: Picture Books, China, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Asia, Asian Literature, Fiction

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2004

About the author

Mingmei Yip was born in China, received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She's published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Jessica Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A folklore book I have recently read is Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, for children ages five to fifteen years old. The book contains Chinese stories that have been passed down for thousands of years. Some of the stories included are Dream of the Butterfly, The Ghost Catcher, Carp Jumping Over the Dragon Gate, and many more. As most folklore stories go, all of these contain a moral. In The Wolf and the Scholar children learn to show kindness to others. Carp Jumping Over the Dragon Gate encourages children to overcome obstacles. Each character is carefully laid out to have a specific personality; carp is strong willed, frog is boastful and always sure of himself, wolf is kind. The illustrations are incredibly detailed. Every inch of paper in an illustration is brightly colored; there is something to take note of from the mice fainting over the mayors' daughter's handkerchief to turtle carrying frog on his back. If I were to read this book to younger readers they would lose interest because the stories are rather long. If I were to show those same students the illustrations and elaborate on them I could hold their attention much longer. My favorite part of the book itself are the front and back cover pages. There is a Chinese woman with a small child sailing down a river in a boat. Every character from each tale is hidden from view of the passengers on the boat by clouds, leaves, flowers, or wind. Every time I open and close the book I find something new in these illustrations.

[Jason Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible tales from Chinese culture!

Got this book on a whim and I got to say that I love it. I enjoy reading stories from my homeland of China. Love tales, trickster tales, or moral tales: each one of them were amazing and incredible to read. My favorites are the Cowherd and the Spinning Girl, the Dream of the Butterfly, and how the Fox Tricked the Tiger.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather uninspired by this set of children's stories. The pictures were colorful but the stories were dull. If you are looking for Chinese or Asian cultural stories, there are much better options.

[Jo-Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good variety of Chinese tales. The only one I didn't like was of Chang-E Flies to the Moon as I grew up with the other 2 versions of this tale which in my opinion are the better and more common ones.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty illustrations but not much to recommend it otherwise. Unenlightened retellings of Chinese traditional stories.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are wonderfully written stories with lovely illustrations to go with them. This is going to be a great present for a family member.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining short vignettes

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a supplement to ancient history for homeschool. Really nice collection of stories!

[Christine Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories used:
The Fish-Basket Goddess
Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of Chinese folktales that the author wanted to share with children of all cultures. Her inspiration (noted in the introduction) was the stories her father used to tell her before bedtime. The text is simply written and beautifully illustrated. Children will be drawn to Yip’s colorful drawings of traditional Chinese dress, customs and symbols.

The 13 stories in the book are written as fables, each containing a lesson to be learned. In "The Fish-Basket Goddess," the lesson is about helping others; in "Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate," the lesson is about overcoming obstacles; and "The Frog Who Lived Well" is about the dangers of boasting. The stories include classic Chinese elements such as dragons and talking animals. Yip does a nice job of incorporating Chinese culture into the stories with mention of traditional Chinese foods, occupations, dress and musical instruments. This book lends itself nicely to a class discussion of Chinese art and culture, as well as moral lessons in literacy.

For students in Kindergarten through second grade, this book would be a great choice for read aloud. Older students will be able to read the text on their own.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of traditional Chinese folk and fairy tales is beautifully illustrated and well-written. I was not really familiar with any of the stories before reading this book and I find myself reticent to review the stories based on content.

As a white woman from a western culture, I found a couple of the stories to be misogynistic and annoying, but they are probably accurate traditional Chinese tales. What I enjoyed the most were the incredible illustrations - they are gorgeous!

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Bridget Cabbiness · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Chinese Children's favorite stories" by Mingmei Yip is a collection of Chinese folklore intended for intermediate readers, ranging in age from eight to twelve. This book is a collection of 13 Chinese fairy tales and legends, retold and able to be shared with the rest of the world. These tales give children a look into the Chinese culture with tales of legends, gods and animals, passed on from years ago. I gave this book four stars for multiple reasons, for one the illustrations and it was just very interesting to read folktales from a different culture, especially when you are so used to the same ones. The tales are very descriptive and really engage you and give you great mental image of what is going on. If the stories themselves weren't enough to pull you in and help you visualize, the illustrations are bright and detail, and will hold the attention of younger readers. I believe the pictures alone will draw younger readers to this collection. The text is a little more advance and definitely aimed more towards the higher ages of the intermediate group, but for the younger readers this would make a great story to be read to children as well. If I were to use this book in the classroom, I would use it along with collections of folktale from other cultures, then compare and contrast the different works to give children a multicultural lesson.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from being too smelly for me to get beyond reading one or two short stories, this book is not as interesting for me to go through entirely in Book Time preparations. Reading one story from the book would work, but I don't think it would be an attention-grabber in any sense. The pictures are mostly either too childish or too weird. The stories are heavily-laden with some kind of moral. And I don't think the translation from the original tale did well in making it a well-written story to read aloud. It's pretty much like those Lesson books of familiar bedtime stories (one teaches charity, one teaches respect, etc.) but using well-known Chinese tales.

I did read "The Frog Who Lived in a Well" in which the bulge-eyed frog thought he was so great and that he knew everything and was very boastful. And then Big Turtle comes along and helps the frog learn that "Certainly your well is a great place to live, but there are many great places on earth--some much greater than your well." So, of course, I loved that in this story the turtle was the wise, great one who teaches the frog a lesson. (Ha ha, Caleb.)

[Gen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chinese Children's Favorite Stories is a children's book that contains 13 beloved Chinese fairy tales and legends. These thousand year-old stories enlighten kids about the heavens, gods, goddesses, emperors, and legendary animals traditional China believed in long ago. This early reader book contains descriptive text that is easy to read and conveys the folklore graphically. The watercolor illustrations are a delight to see and are actually my favorite components of this book. The detailed and colorful images instantly glue your eyes to the page and add another special and visual touch to each story. This book is a great and easy way for A.B.C. (American Born Chinese) children to learn more about traditional China and its culture. I believe this is a wonderful bedtime book and a fantastic book to read as a family.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice retelling of Chinese fairy tales. Sometimes they are a bit flowery, in the sense that the original story is short so more details are added to lengthen it, but not badly done for all that. I should add as a disclaimer that I know a lot of the stories from other sources, and not all of them end as cheerfully as the author has them here, so that may be coloring my impression. But overall a good book for kids.

[Ardyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and well-written collection of tales. The language is quite sophisticated, and the stories are entertaining. This is a lovely read aloud collection. Illustrations are colorful and engaging.

Fellow fans of The Gruffalo will recognize its roots in one entry. That was a nice little surprise. :)

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought in Shanghai, 24/06/08, for 120 RMB
for Catherine & Sara

[Yahya Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of Chinese stories, folklores and legends. It has 13 different stories with good illustration.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fantastic for kids and teaching morals. I echo what I said in my review of Japenese Children's Favorite stories.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

My niece and nephew loved me reading these stories aloud to them!
Highly recommend this book for ages 3 to 10 and the illustrations
are beautiful and hold the child's attention for a long time.