Traditional Tales

The Legend of the Panda By Linda Granfield

Publisher: Tundra Books (1998)

ISBN: 0887764215

The story begins in China, a shepherdess named Dolma takes her flock of sheep to the mountainside.  A white cub befriends the flock, and grazes with them every day.  Unfortunately, a snow leopard attacks the cub and Dolma leaps to his protection.  She passes away from the attack and the whole village mourns.  The cubs cover themselves in ash in mourning, everywhere they touch is stained black.  

Rating:  

I give The Legend of the Panda a little smile.  I enjoyed the art, containing realistic representations with rich texture.  This Chinese tale tells of the selfless sacrifice of the shepherdess and the pandas who mourn her, but is a little weird for the American reader.  After Dolma dies, her sisters do not want to live without her. So the mourning mountain they are standing on crumbles and the women fall inside to their deaths.  That ending was too melancholy for me.  From that, I also think the ending is not entirely appropriate for the child listener/reader.  

The Magic Horse of Han Gan By Chen Jiang Hong

Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books (2004)

ISBN: 1592700632

Han Gan grew up as a poor boy in China, but he loved to draw horses.  One fateful day, he met a great painter who saw immense potential in Han Gan.  This allowed him to go to a great art academy, where he honed his talents for drawing horses.  The legend is that a warrior came to his home, and asked him to paint him a horse.  When the horse did not come to life, Han Gan threw his picture in the flames in disappointment.  The mighty horse lept from the flames, and fought with the warrior.  All the deaths made the horse sad and disappeared.  When the warrior returned to Han Gan's home, they discovered that the horse returned to a painting on the wall.

Rating: 

This book gets a BIG SMILE.  The art is reminiscent of the real Han Gan's art style, which is painted on silk.  It takes the reader back to ancient China, over 1200 years ago.  The story displays the love a man has for his craft and his dedication to it.  It is an exciting story for the imagination and those who enjoy ancient Chinese legends.

Cinderella By K.V. Craft

Publisher: Sea Star Books (2000)

ISBN: 1587170043

A girl named Cinderella was left with her wretched step mother and step sisters after her father's passing.  She went into the woods and found a wounded bird, who she mended back to health.  While she was out there, she met the prince, who she fell in love with.  The next night, she stayed at home while her step sisters went to the prince's ball.  The bird that she cared for appeared as her god-mother and granted her wish of going to the ball.  There she had the most marvelous time with the prince, but had to scurry home at midnight to hide her identity.  She left behind her glass slipper, which the prince promptly picked up.  He went around his kingdom searching for the owner of this shoe.  When it was Cinderella's turn, he recognized her from the woods and wanted to get married immediately.  They lived happily ever after...

Rating:

Cinderella deserves a BIG SMILE.  This classic fairy tale brings me nostalgia from the Disney movie that I watched as a child.  The illustrations look very medieval, with the text on a separate page.  The story is easy to follow at any age.  The lesson that I took at the end was to forgive those who were mean to you, and this makes you a better person.