Asia Books - Page 5

Liang and the Magic Paintbrush (Reading Rainbow Book)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A resourceful boy triumphs over evil... 5 out of 5 stars.
30 of 30 people found this review helpful.

In this lively tale, a poor boy in China who longs to paint is given a magic paintbrush by a mysterious visitor. Suddenly the boy has the power to bring life to things that he paints. Liang uses this gift for good, until he must use his skill to outsmart an evil emperor who wants to use the magic brush for his own greedy purposes. The ending is a bit troublesome- not as completely fair and peaceful as we might like - but then, the tale is based on an old Chinese legend which, like Grimms' fairy tales, were probably a lot more scary than story books today. Still, the story is wonderful and exciting and the illustrations, though subtle, are lovely --delicate but colorful ink and watercolor drawings with lots of detail.

Editorial Review:

When a poor boy in China receives a magical paintbrush, everything he paints turns to life. But the wicked emperor wants to capture the boy when he hears the news. The story will excite readers as the ruler gets his just reward when the boy creates a masterpiece that spells his doom.

The Paper Dragon

Marguerite W. Davol

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( S ) -> Sabuda, Robert

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

great story, Sabuda artwork and a non-violent resolution 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This peaceful story is a lovely way to introduce another culture to young readers, and Robert Sabuda's artwork is beautiful. Mi Fei is an artist who is content to paint scrolls and live within his community until the villagers hear that a dragon has awakened to threaten the countryside and nominate him to face the foe. After a long journey, Mi Fei finds the dragon, who offers him a series of riddles/challenges to perform. Sabuda, better known for his pop-up masterpieces, brings the story to life with breathtaking images of vibrant color and flowing imagery.

Wonderful tale.

Editorial Review:

Mi Fei is a humble painter of scrolls. Between each day's sunrise and sunset, he paints scenes of the gods and their festivals' portraits of heroes and their deeds. Although the scrolls bring him fame, Mi Fei is content to live in his village, surrounded by people he loves.

But one day a messenger enters the village with terrible news: the dragon Sui Jen has awakened from its hundred years' sleep and is destroying everything in its path. Someone must find a way to return Sui Jen to its slumber. To the villagers, only one among them is wise enough to confront the scaly beast -- Mi Fei.

The power of the artist's vision and the ever-sustaining nature of love are brought together in Marguerite W. Davol's beautiful story, strikingly interpreted by Robert Sabuda in a series of gatefold illustrations that convey the storytelling majesty of the Chinese narrative scrollmaker's art.

El Reino del Dragon de Oro

Isabel Allende

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An extremely good story for the hole family!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I already finished City of the Beast and had to get this one!This book is awesome!! I love the adventures of Kate Cold, his grandson Alexander, the International Geography photographers and all the characters like; Nadia, Boroba (the monkey), and in this particular story the people of the Himalayas; the budist monks, Pema, Judit Kinski, Tensing and the future king, Dil Bahadur. The author Isabel Allende writes this stories so that you can almost feel like you're part of it. In this one, she writes about a Sacred Dragon statue of gold with beautiful gems and magical powers, that is secretly protected in the Kingdom of Tunkhala on the Tibet. Only the King knows the code to use this magical powers and of course the bad guys (the blue men from the scorpion sect) under the command of Tex Armadillo who wants to steal the Holy Gold Dragon. All that and more happen in the Gold Dragon Kingdom.
I can't wait for the next adventure of Kate Cold, Alexander Cold, the International Geographic group and maybe Nadia Santos.

Editorial Review:

Unas meses después que el joven Alexander Cold se internara con suabuela en el corazón del Amazonas en busca de una legendaria Bestia, vivirá otra aventura. En esta ocasión, la reportera Kate Cold acompaña a su nieto y a Nadia, la mejor amiga de Alexander, junto con los fotógrafos de la International Geographic, en un viaje a otro remoto rincón del mundo. La misión del equipo es adentrarse en un reino prohibido, oculto en los picos helados del Himalaya, y localizar el legendario dragón de oro, una estatua sagrada y oráculo invaluable capaz de presagiar el futuro del reino.

En su carrera para llegar a la estatua antes de que sea destruida por la avaricia de un intruso, Alexander y Nadia deben usar el poder espiritual de sus animales totémicos: el Jaguar y el Águila. Con la ayuda de un sabio monje budista, su joven discípulo, el príncipe heredero, y una feroz tribu de guerreros Yeti, Alexander y Nadia lucharán para proteger el reino del dragón de oro.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven

Elizabeth Coatsworth

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Stuck with me for 20 years 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best children's books I've ever read. I came across it at my school's library many, many years ago and must have read it 10 times before returning it. I haven't seen it for 20 years, but I think of it often... maybe its time to pick up a copy again!

Editorial Review:

In ancient Japan, a struggling artist is angered when his housekeeper brings home a tiny white cat he can barely afford to feed. But when the village's head priest commissions a painting of the Buddha for a healthy sum, the artist softens toward the animal he believes has brought him luck.

According to legend, the proud and haughty cat was denied the Buddha's blessing for refusing to accept his teachings and pay him homage. So when the artist, moved by compassion for his pet, includes the cat in his painting, the priest rejects the work and decrees that it must be destroyed. It seems the artist's life is ruined as well -- until he is rewarded for his act of love by a Buddhist miracle.

This timeless fable has been a classic since its first publication in 1930, and this beautifully reillustrated edition brings the magic and wonder of the tale to a new generation of readers.

The Way We Do It in Japan

Geneva Cobb Iijima

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

"Adjusting to a New Culture" 4 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Gregory moves with his Japanese father and Caucasian mother from San Francisco to Japan. The author captures the boy's eagerness for adventure, yet his timidity as he faces the unknown. While Gregory and the reader learn "the way they do it in Japan," they will learn to speak some Japanese words.

The author has depicted loving parents who do all they can to help their son fit in to a new way of life. The surprise comes in the end when Gregory's classmates learn "the way they do it in America."

A great book to encourage children to value another culture. Adult and child will gain information about Japan that could lead to a whole unit of study. But what I liked best was the author's theme of love and friendship, where there could be fear and alienation. The principles of the book could be applied to the study of any culture.

Editorial Review:

Gregory and his family are moving to Japan for his dad’s job. After the long flight, they arrive at their new apartment. Gregory is surprised to find lots of things that are different: he needs to remove his shoes and wear slippers, he has to sit on pillows at the table, and he has to take a shower before getting into the bathtub! As Gregory’s dad points out, "That’s the way they do it in Japan."

When Gregory starts school, he’s afraid that the kids won’t like him. That morning, he works hard writing the letters of the Japanese alphabet and is glad when it’s time for lunch. But he’s embarrassed when he takes out his peanut butter sandwich and sees everyone else eating rice and soybeans. Gregory wonders if he’ll ever fit in.

My Brother, My Sister, and I

Yoko Kawashima Watkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Possibly not fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I read this book several years ago and could hardly put it down until I finished it. I wrote to the publisher to ask if this book was fiction, but I got no reply. I had the impression in reading it that is was not fiction, and yet the words 'fictionalized' and 'novel' are used for it on Amazon. I was curious to know what is fiction in it and what is not.

I differ with some reviewers criticizing the book's language or style. There is nothing wrong with either, as I recall. Nor is the book only for children or "young readers" by any means.

An everyday yet new lesson taught 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

From this book My brother, My sister and I, I learnt quite a lot, though a lot of the dialogue seems to be cold and unnatural, the theme is the most important part of it. In this book the orphans Hideyo, Ko and Yoko squeeze through all the hard times and find new ways of over coming these things. In the end, the three of them find a special someone who may not look the same but is the same person, they live happily ever after (at least for now)

Editorial Review:

Thirteen-year-old Yoko and her older brother and sister live in abject poverty in Japan at the end of World War II. When the clog factory warehouse they call home is destroyed by fire, their lives become even more desperate, particularly when Yoko's sister, Ko, is injured and must be hospitalized and her brother, Hideyo, is accused of murder. "Beautifully direct and emotionally honest."--Publishers Weekly, starred review.

The Big Wave

Pearl S. Buck

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• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Early Childhood
• Books

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

accepting the grief after a tsunami 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I read this book many years ago, and have been waiting for the right moment to read it to my child. This week, while we are absorbing the 12/26/2004 tsunami in South Asia, I deemed the moment right.

The story is set in Japan at some time in the past, when the farmers and fishermen in the community are following the paths their fathers and grandfathers set. We see the story through the eyes of Kino who lives on a mountain farm, and learns about the sea through his friendship with Jiya, who lives "in the last house in the row of houses toward the ocean, and [whose] house [does] not have a window toward the sea" because, as Jiya tells Kino, "the sea is our enemy." Kino is relieved that he does not live near the sea, but his father reminds him of the great volcano, twenty miles away, and tells him that they "must learn to live with danger."

The storyline is simple, almost inevitable. A volcano erupts under the sea and causes a tsunami, which sweeps away the fishing village by the sea. Many lives are lost. As the survivors slowly recover, and Kino's friend Jiya starts to accept life again, Kino asks his father all the questions that children need to ask after a natural disaster. His father's answers each question with patience and wisdom, in a manner open-ended enough so that the reader (or reader and parent) can pause and talk about their own beliefs and feelings. Or the reader can turn the page and stay absorbed in this well-crafted story.

My only disappointment with my paperback edition (HarperCollins, 1986, ISBN 0-06-440171-5) is that it left out the famous woodblock prints by the 19th century Japanese artists Hokusai and Hiroshige. I pored over these illustrations as a child and immediately recognized them when I saw them in my library copy. Pearl Buck selected each individual print to allow her readers to see the beauty of Japan, and they form an integral part of the story. I would recommend you buy the Library Binding version by HarperCollins (1999, ISBN 0-38-199923-8) or check out a book with illustrations from your library.

Editorial Review:

Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya's family, too. As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, he understands it is in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and to appreciate how wonderful life can be.\n\nThe famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village.

The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Tale

Laurence Yep

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Chinese fairy tale story. 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 24 people found this review helpful.

An excellent book on Chinese fairy tales about a Prince/Dragon and a poor, but skilled and beautiful peasant girl. It contains exquisite illustrations that captured my preschool and grade school daughters attention. I highly recommend this fantasy book for preschoolers, through grades three. The reading level and some content (reasoning) for older grades. Recommended for students, teachers, and parents.

The Dragon Prince Review 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is about a prince who can turn into animals and a farmer who had 7 daughters. The third sister is the evil and greedy one and the seventh sister the youngest daughter, was the prettiest. If it wasn't for her weaving fine shoes the family would have died. In the story the prince is trying to find a wife. So he searched everywhere for one.
If you like Beauty And The Beast you will like this book because this is the same only that it is the Chinese version. They also have the same theme which is don't judge a book by its cover. I know this is the message because in both stories they disguise themselves and they are really are princes
This is an awesome book. I recommend it to young readers for it has excitement, romance, adventure, and more. So pick it up at your local library or buy it at a book store. Hope you enjoy.

Editorial Review:

When a poor farmer falls into the clutches of a dragon, only Seven, his youngest daughter, will save him—by marrying the beast.
Publishers Weekly praised "Yep's elegant, carefully crafted storytelling" and Mak's "skillfully and radiantly rendered illustrations" in this captivating and luminous Chinese variation of the beauty and the beast tale.

A 1998 Notable Children's Trade Book in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
A 1997 Pick of the Lists (ABA)

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon

Isabel Allende

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Very good read 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed reading this book because of Isabel Allende's ability to recreate and capture the desolate and harsh environment of the Himalayas. This is present at the beginning when the two Monks are traveling about the mountains and discover the Yetis for the first time. I also liked the idea of having the protagonists evolve in terms of their courage and attitude towards protecting the statue. This is important because you should always fight for what you believe in and sometimes making the decision to go on is difficult, but in the end, it can make a huge difference.One of the few things that I disliked about this book is that sometimes the story moves at a slow pace and the plot becomes predictable to the reader. Overall, I would highly recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

Alexander Cold and his best friend, Nadia, the heroes of Allende's City Of the Beasts, are reunited in a new adventure. This time, Alexander's fearless grandmother and International Geographic are taking them to another remote niche of the world -- a forbidden kingdom tucked into the frosty peaks of the Himalayas. Their task: to locate its fabled Golden Dragon, a sacred statue and priceless oracle, before it is destroyed by the greed of an outsider.

With the aid of a sage Buddhist monk, his young royal disciple, and a fierce tribe of Yeti warriors, and armed with the power of their totemic animal spirits, Alexander and Nadia fight to protect the holy rule of the Golden Dragon.

Operation Typhoon Shore: The Guild of Specialists Book 2 (The Guild of Specialists)

Joshua Mowll

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent, takes me back to my Youth 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Having grown up with Edgar Rice Burroughs - this is exactly the sort of high adventure I loved. These are more sophisticated technically (no need for strange powers etc). I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and am not disappointed with the second. The presentation is superb, with excellent facsimile documents and photographs, made to look like a real journal, beautiful fold out maps and schematics of Ships, and submarines, captivate. The story is fast paced and has and authenticity to it. A real Indiana Jones meets the league of extraordinary gentlemen. Enough to stimulate the imagination of any reader, adult or child.

Editorial Review:

After being lashed by a typhoon on their uncle's ship, THE EXPEDIENT, intrepid siblings Becca and Doug MacKenzie want nothing more than to escape from the volcanic island on which they're stranded and resume the search for their parents. But their uncle, Captain MacKenzie, seems more concerned with the missing gyrolabe than their missing mother and father, and he refuses to discuss the role the mysterious Guild of Specialists played in their disappearance. As the formidable Kalaxx warriors close in on their hidden cove, Becca and Doug unearth a riddle linked to a 1533 painting, which may hold the key to the Guild's dark secrets and to finding their parents. But how can they possibly solve the puzzle and escape with their lives — before their enemies attack?