Joseph and the Sabbath Fish is written by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Marina Peluso. Joseph lived in Israel and celebrated the Sabath by opening his home to everyone who wanted to come and often times helped those who were less fortunate. His neighbor, Judah, also celebrated the Sabath, but he believed in giving to charity, and only allowing important people to his Sabath. Judah mocked Joseph for his generosity and told him he would become poor by trying to help people. As you can imagine Joseph ended up prospering and Judah learned that greed benefits no one and began opening his doors to those less fortunate. This tale has several sentences to a page and is a brilliant tale of the hazards to greed that is good for children ages 4-9.
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella story from China is retold by Ai-Ling Louie and illustrated by Ed Young. This tale is very much like the Disney version of Cinderella except that there was only one step sister and it was a fish with magic bones that transformed a servant girl into a beauty. This is a longer tale with several paragraphs to a page and beautifully hazy pictures and natural coloring. The book is geared toward older children about 9-12 years old.
The Boy From The Dragon Palace is a tale retold by Margaret Read McDonald and illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa and is a folk tale from Japan. This tale is adorable and made me giggle out loud. A down on his luck flower seller had flowers that no one wanted to buy so he put them in water and gave them to the Dragon King. As a thank you the Dragon King gave him a "snot nosed" little boy. The flower seller quickly learned that if he fed the boy shrimp with vinegar and sugar and asked for something the boy would blow his nose and the flower seller would get what he asked for. The flower seller never said thank you or appreciated the boy in any way and when he had what he wanted he rudely put the boy out and the flower seller went back to being very poor. This book has adorable and brightly colored illustrations with just a few sentences to a page making this a great book for kids ages 4-7 and it's a great way for them to learn about appreciation.
The Korean Cinderella as told by Shirley Climo and illustrated by Ruth Heller. This retelling is very similar to the Disney version of Cinderella as well. There is a step mother, but only one step sister and they are very cruel to Pear Blossom who is treated like a servant. This tale takes place long ago "when magical creatures were as common as cabbages" and it's these magical creature that Pear Blossom has to thanks for the fortune of meeting a man that could take her away from her wicked step mother and sister and give her more than she could have ever dreamed of. This book has brilliant illustrations and several paragraphs to each page making this book good for older readers who have a little more patience.
Medio Pollito: A Spanish Tale is adapted by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Valeria Docampo. Medio Pollito means half chicken and there once was a half chicken with a whole heart and because he gave to others he was rewarded ten fold. This half chick had the spirit of adventure and decided to travel to Madrid to see the big city and meet the king and along the way he helped the water, the fire and the wind and these friends that he had made helped him a great deal once he'd made it to Madrid and it was there that the wind helped him find his true calling as a weather vane. Anytime the people of Madrid saw the half chick talking to the wind they knew which way the wind was blowing. This adorable story is heart warming and the pictures are the same. Medio Pollito doesn't inspire pity, but the strong will to follow ones own dreams. I thought this book was adorable. It has several sentences to each page and teaches a little Spanish along the way. This book would be great for children between the ages of 4-8.
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