THE GOLDEN CARP

Six intriguing tales, retold by an author who's taught ESL in Vietnam, whose husband is Vietnamese, and who's had a lifelong interest in folklore. Similar in their conversational style to Vuong's The Brocaded Slipper and Other Vietnamese Tales (1982, 1992), the stories here involve ordinary people, kings, ogres, and members of the fairy world; in ``Second in Command,'' a girl disguised in her brother's clothing and armor reports for military duty in place of her aging father. Vuong cites Vietnamese-language sources in her introduction; her notes for each story provide interesting historical, cultural, and religious background, including traditions inherited from China. A concluding chapter (a revision of material in the earlier book) describes Vietnamese pronunciation and lists words and proper names from the tales. An inviting collection. Illustrations not seen. (Folklore. 9+)