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D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet
Winding its way like a long dragon through 4,000 miles of mountains, desert, and grasslands, The Great Wall of China was built entirely by hand, taking hundreds of years and millions of workers to complete. That's just one of the myriad wonders of China children will discover in this far-reaching book. "D is for Dancing Dragon" brings China's history and culture alive by describing its unique customs, art works, music, foods, geography and wildlife. Children will learn, for example, that paper, ink, printing, umbrellas, kites and fireworks are all Chinese inventions. They'll find the secrets of how silk is made, how chopsticks work and why you should never cry on the Chinese New Year's Day. They will even learn a few Chinese words, as well as which astrological animal sign belongs to them. This captivating book is sure to be of special interest to anyone curious about this beautiful and mysterious land.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
7 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 17, 2019
The only other installment I've read in this series of alphabet books is
M is for Maple
... and I wasn't impressed with that one, either. D is for Dancing Dragon could have been a nice non-fiction book highlighting all things Chinese. Instead, it comes across as paradoxically braggy and clueless.
I don't know if the author has any connections to China. In the section about the author, it's stated that she's written a lot of picture books about various U.S. states. The lack of Chinese flavour shows in the writing. So many times, even when it's claimed that China came up with the concept or has been using it for centuries, the word used is not Chinese. (A few examples are marionettes, macramé, and sweet dumplings that are eaten at Chinese New Year; surely those all have Chinese words to describe them.) And Chinese New Year and the zodiac are muddled as concepts. The timing of Chinese New Year is described twice in slightly different ways, neither of which make sense (the wording is off). And as for the zodiac, the book states: To tell which month the calendar is in, every year is given an animal name or sign according to a repeating cycle. From what I understand of the Chinese zodiac, the animals correspond to the years, not the months. I have no idea how you tell what month you're in with that calendar... but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with the animals.
Over and over we hear about how Chinese inventions or landmarks are the biggest, the longest, the earliest, the most important, etc. It's like the book itself has a fragile ego and needs to constantly be talking itself up to its readers. I would've preferred more facts (and fewer legends) about the origins of certain things. Some of the sections are quite interesting (I particularly liked the pages for J, which are about jasmine flowers and tea; O, which are about Chinese opera; and X, which are about language). But there's a distinct rose-coloured-glasses tone to the whole book in that it ignores all of China's problems. (Of course, a highly politicized book might not be as suitable for kids. However, I had the same issue with M is for Maple in that it barely talked about Canada's Indigenous peoples and their history. D is for Dancing Dragon likewise makes no mention of issues with Hong Kong, Tibet, or Xinjiang.)
This book is really heavy on the text. Each letter is explained with a few paragraphs of prose, a short rhyming verse, and an illustration. Maybe it's just because of the particular e-book format I read, but this didn't really seem like a picture book to me. It looked more like an illustrated textbook... and, as such, I found it rather boring on the whole.
I don't think this series is for me. I like the basic idea of tailoring alphabet books to different locations to highlight their special traits... but the two examples I've read so far have not impressed me.
I don't know if the author has any connections to China. In the section about the author, it's stated that she's written a lot of picture books about various U.S. states. The lack of Chinese flavour shows in the writing. So many times, even when it's claimed that China came up with the concept or has been using it for centuries, the word used is not Chinese. (A few examples are marionettes, macramé, and sweet dumplings that are eaten at Chinese New Year; surely those all have Chinese words to describe them.) And Chinese New Year and the zodiac are muddled as concepts. The timing of Chinese New Year is described twice in slightly different ways, neither of which make sense (the wording is off). And as for the zodiac, the book states: To tell which month the calendar is in, every year is given an animal name or sign according to a repeating cycle. From what I understand of the Chinese zodiac, the animals correspond to the years, not the months. I have no idea how you tell what month you're in with that calendar... but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with the animals.
Over and over we hear about how Chinese inventions or landmarks are the biggest, the longest, the earliest, the most important, etc. It's like the book itself has a fragile ego and needs to constantly be talking itself up to its readers. I would've preferred more facts (and fewer legends) about the origins of certain things. Some of the sections are quite interesting (I particularly liked the pages for J, which are about jasmine flowers and tea; O, which are about Chinese opera; and X, which are about language). But there's a distinct rose-coloured-glasses tone to the whole book in that it ignores all of China's problems. (Of course, a highly politicized book might not be as suitable for kids. However, I had the same issue with M is for Maple in that it barely talked about Canada's Indigenous peoples and their history. D is for Dancing Dragon likewise makes no mention of issues with Hong Kong, Tibet, or Xinjiang.)
This book is really heavy on the text. Each letter is explained with a few paragraphs of prose, a short rhyming verse, and an illustration. Maybe it's just because of the particular e-book format I read, but this didn't really seem like a picture book to me. It looked more like an illustrated textbook... and, as such, I found it rather boring on the whole.
I don't think this series is for me. I like the basic idea of tailoring alphabet books to different locations to highlight their special traits... but the two examples I've read so far have not impressed me.
July 31, 2012
Now I know why they say if you're going to rhyme in a picture book, do it well. The informational side-bars were good, and the illustrations weren't horrible, but overall, this book is kind of forgettable.
May 4, 2014
A lot of detail for an ABC book. So it's not about learning letters here but rather about learning something about the country and culture.
May 30, 2019
Beautiful oil paintings for each letter and a short poem. Sidebars provide additional information about each subject.
March 1, 2021
Fun information about China. Love the illustrations.
February 14, 2024
Another alphabet book, another great love for Bebe. He loves them all. Was also appearing to seriously study the pictures which was cute.
February 15, 2024
We only read the main storyline this time, and will read the extra info next year.
February 20, 2024
Great book for younger students about the Chinese New Year and different aspects of Chinese culture! I used it with my kindergarten students and they really enjoyed it!
March 30, 2013
APA: Crane, C., & Wang, Z. (2006). D is for dancing dragon: a China alphabet. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.
Subgroup: Chinese Spring Festival
Genre: Fiction
Language: English
Relate: This book allows children an exceptional insight of the Chinese culture through each letter of the alphabet. Students are exposed to the different materials used during the everyday life and Chinese Spring Festival.
Synopsis: This Chinese cultural alphabet book allows children to look inside the Chinese culture and see specific preparations for special celebrations. This book illustrates beautiful pictures of characters rehearsing acrobatic acts for the great festival that keeps students interested at all times. Students are then exposed to the different activities shown throughout the festival such as fireworks, dragons, the dragon tale, and the decorations of the lanterns. This joyous celebration will give your students the opportunity to see the step by step process of this glorious festival.
Subgroup: Chinese Spring Festival
Genre: Fiction
Language: English
Relate: This book allows children an exceptional insight of the Chinese culture through each letter of the alphabet. Students are exposed to the different materials used during the everyday life and Chinese Spring Festival.
Synopsis: This Chinese cultural alphabet book allows children to look inside the Chinese culture and see specific preparations for special celebrations. This book illustrates beautiful pictures of characters rehearsing acrobatic acts for the great festival that keeps students interested at all times. Students are then exposed to the different activities shown throughout the festival such as fireworks, dragons, the dragon tale, and the decorations of the lanterns. This joyous celebration will give your students the opportunity to see the step by step process of this glorious festival.
September 17, 2010
Yes, I do love this series. It helps me play "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader". Seriously, I love reading short books on occasion, the kind I can knock off in less than half an hour, as a break from novels. I've chosen to read the Discover the World series and other books by Sleeping Bear Press because they can be read on multiple levels. Not once have I read one without learning something new and that's a good enough reason for me. My only wish is that this series would take illustrations a little more seriously, and incorporate just a little more detail from the culture of the subject. For instance, this book would have benefited with pages numbered in Chinese characters (with the Arabic equivalent next to it) and a little more stylized illustrations or at least examples of Chinese art.
February 12, 2013
An English alphabet of Chinese things to help you learn more about China. These books are fun because the illustrations are great and there are short bits to read on each page as well as more in depth side bar info for older children. My four year old and my ten year old like to read these.
October 29, 2010
It was good it,s about Chinese culture.My favorite letter is the z is for zodiac and I ended up being the horse. Well if you read this you actually get some knowledge from it.I hope you read it!
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July 3, 2008951 Cra
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews