23 Mobile Things: Thing 1

Minnesota Library Systems is offering a new program for librarians called 23 Mobile Things and I will be doing them. In 2008 and 2009, I  participated when they did 23 Things on a Stick and More Things On a Stick, so naturally, I want to keep learning. I will be doing the things on my iPhone.

It's funny, but a few years ago, I had no interest in having a smartphone. As far as I was concerned a phone's whole purpose was to ring, dial and take a message. Now, I'm pitifully attached to my iPhone. Aside from the pleasure of having a pink phone case, I love having instant access to Facebook, Youtube and other Internet joys, plus my camera and photos, and apps like The Weather Channel, Pinterest, and a solitaire game where you also collect virtual cats. It's great! Yet, I know as these things go, it's barely the tip of the iceberg. So, I'm eager to find out what other play and work help awaits me in 23 Mobile Things.

What's already on my phone:

Apps:

• Castle Solitaire
• Dakota County Library Mobile
• Find iPhone
• Flashlight
• Gmail
• Goodreads
• Google
• Hennepin County Library Mobile
• iTunes
• Kitty Solitaire
• Pinterest
• Safari
• Samegame
• ScanLife
• Skyview Free
• Weather Channel

The Luminous Pearl: a Chinese Folktale

The Luminous Pearl: a Chinese Folktale retold by Betty L. Torre, Illus. by Carol Inouye, 1990.

Under the sea, the Dragon King and his advisers attempt to find a husband for his daughter, the intelligent and lovely princess. She knows her own mind and refuses everyone that they suggest, waiting instead for a man who is honest and brave. Admiral C. Horse knows of such a fellow,Wa Jing, so they devise a test for the young man to prove himself worthy. He dreams of a beautiful maiden, but shares this with his older brother, and soon both are in a contest to win the heart of the sea girl. She will marry the brother who can bring her a magical pearl that shines by night. Each brother sets off to find the treasure, but along the way they both promise to help the people of a flooded village. Eventually, each must make a choice: bring back a pearl for the Dragon King's daughter or honor his promise to the villagers. So, the brothers are tested. Which one will become the bridegroom of the fair princess?

Carol Inouye's artwork is a fine accompaniment to the story of The Luminous Pearl. Readers will enjoy the weird and whimsical pictures of the dragon-headed king and his sea creature/humanoid advisers that resemble a crab, tortoise, octopus, etc. People who like pretty princesses will not be disappointed in the beauteous sea maiden. The colors and details of the underwater kingdom should please everyone, with waving plants, lacquered screens and curious fish.

8,000 Stones: a Chinese Folktale

8,000 Stones: a Chinese Folktale by Diane Wolkstein, Illus. By Ed Young, 1972.
This folktale centers around the gift of an elephant from the prince of India to Ts'ao Ts'ao, the Supreme Governor of China. The amazing creature is ten feet tall, but no one knows how much it weighs. The royal advisers can't figure out how to weigh the elephant, but Ts'ao Ts'ao's little son P'ei has a method that just may work. The clever child eventually becomes the emperor of all China in a.d. 200.

Like many of the Chinese folktales mentioned on this blog, 8,000 Stones is illustrated by Ed Young.

The Hunter: a Chinese Folktale

The Hunter: a Chinese Folktale retold by Mary Casanova, Illus. by Ed Young, 2000.

During a drought, the village hunter, Hai Li Bu, has occasion to rescue a pearly colored snake from a hungry crane. The reptile, not just what she seems, is the daughter of the Dragon King of the Sea, who rewards the hunter with the treasure of his choice. Although he is offered rubies, emeralds, sapphires or pearls, Hai Li Bu asks that he may understand the animal's language. With this talent he is able to provide food for his village and restore health to his people. Then one day he learns from the creatures that a flood is coming that will destroy the village. He has been told that if he reveals the source of his gift, he will be turned to stone. Yet, without proof his people will not believe his story of danger. Will Hai Li Bu sacrifice himself to save the lives of so many others?

Ed Young's pastel and gouache illustrations have graceful line drawings against warm sepia backgrounds, highlighted with white and subtle color.

The Real Story of Stone Soup by Ying Chang Compestine

The Real Story of Stone Soup by Ying Chang Compestine, Illus. by Stephane Jorisch, 2007.

You've probably heard the story of Stone Soup, but this is an amusingly different version of the tale. The unreliable narrator, a somewhat self important and lazy fisherman, hires the three Chang brothers to help him with his boat. At lunchtime, he realizes they have nothing to cook in, but the boys manage without a cooking pot. They have some fun with him as they secretly introduce fish, vegetables and eggs into the soup, but tell him the ingredients come from whispering to special stones. The fisherman takes the credit for inventing stone soup, and everyone has a swell lunch. The soup recipe follows the story.

Jorisch's comical watercolor illustrations add to the book's fun. The narrator tells us one thing, but we readers see another. The fisherman claims he's doing the "hardest job" while lying back with his hat over his face, as the "lazy and...somewhat stupid" boys struggle to heave the fish-filled net into the boat. While cooking the soup, the brothers rush the gullible man off to find some salt or sesame oil, while they slyly add fish or eggs, then show him how to  listen and speak to the stones.

Apparently, stone soup really is a traditional dish in southeast China in a region called Xi Shang Ban Na. The legend is that fishermen created the recipe, which is cooked in a hole in the ground lined with banana leaves and brought to a boil by dropping in hot river rocks.These rocks bring out a unique smell and taste. Compestine visited and found that her favorite of the various soups was Egg Drop Stone Soup!

Little Sima & the Giant Bowl: a Chinese Folktale

Little Sima & the Giant Bowl, Adapted by Zhi Qu, Illus. by Lin Wang, 2009.

In Little Sima's great-great-grandfather's day, dragons wove clouds in the sky that would bring about the rain or snow that the people needed. One day, the village dragon decided to stop his duty and went to live in the river instead, bringing about a drought, and making a nuisance of himself by breathing out fire and draining the villagers' wells of much needed water. For one hundred years, the people suffered, until Sima's family fed and offered shelter to a fragile old man, who in return gave them a gift that would save the village. Some years later, young Sima and his friends are playing when an accident occurs that forces him to choose between following the rules and ensuring regular rainfall or saving his friend's life and facing the consequences.

The tale's Afterword explains that, like several of the other Chinese folktales mentioned on the blog, the story features a real person, in this instance Sima Guang, who lived during the Song dynasty from 1019 to 1086. He was a government official, a scholar and an author whose book Zizhai Tongjian (A Mirror for Good Governance) is still read in China. The fictionalized Sima is intended to be a heroic role model for children. This story is in the "On My Own Folklore" series from Lerner publishing. Although it is thoroughly illustrated, it it not in the picture book format, but is the size of an early reader book. A glossary is included as well as a list of further reading and websites to explore.

Wang's attractive, dreamy illustrations set the mood for the story. Muted washes of pale green and speckles of blue, or burnt orange and pink streak the skies. The highlights are the paintings of the dragons snaking through the sky, with antlered heads and whiskered snouts.

The Cricket's Cage

 

The Cricket's Cage: a Chinese Folktale retold by Stefan Czernecki, 1997.

 

This pleasing Beijing folktale is about emperor Yongle's desire to place four watchtowers at the corners of the newly built imperial palace and the humble cricket who proves to be the perfect designer. Yongle is incredibly hard to please and his minister Wu Zhong has already presented him with more than sixteen different plans, only to have each rejected. The emperor threatens to behead his minister, which causes a chain reaction as the minister in turn menaces the Master Builder with execution, who passes the ultimatum down to the carpenter, who builds the tower models. The carpenter doesn't know what to do, so he visits his friend the cricket seller, who gifts him with a cricket for inspiration and good luck. Although the carpenter is in despair, he promises the cheerful cricket that he will build it a new cage before he dies. After the carpenter has retired to bed, the cricket draws a plan for an elaborate cage that he hopes to make his home. It proves to also be perfect for a tower, saving the lives of several men and ensuring happiness for the emperor, the carpenter and the cricket!

 

In Czernecki's Author's Note, we learn that Yongle was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty and he really did restore the imperial palace at the capital. He had the royal buildings protected by a wall and created the Forbidden City. He then found his way into this tale, which was originally published in Beijing Legends by Jin Shoushen in 1957.

 

 

Czernecki's artwork is made with Chinese mineral and vegetable pigments and the pictures are bordered with dragon designs of the emperor's robe, in yellow, because only he was allowed to wear that color during his rule. The little green cricket appears at the bottom of every page of text. Overall, this is a bright and beautiful book.

 

 

 

Some charming examples of cricket cages: