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THE STORY OF CHOPSTICKS

Name: THE STORY OF CHOPSTICKS
Author: Ying Chang Compestine
ISBN: 0-8234-1526-0

by Ying Chang Compestine & illustrated by YongSheng Xuan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2001

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Kùai, the hungry younger brother in a large Chinese family, never gets enough to eat. Straight from the fire, the food is too hot to touch. If he waits for it to cool, his brothers beat him to it. Frustrated, Kùai devises a way to get the food first. While his family washes for dinner, Kùai snatches two pieces of kindling, sits down at the table, and spears a steaming sweet potato with one stick and a sizzling chicken chunk with the other. Inspired, his family fetches sticks themselves. They name them Kùai zi, or “quick ones,” after the quick-witted boy. As the story goes, “this was the first time that a family in China ate dinner with sticks instead of their hands.” When Kùai and his brothers whip the sticks out at a wedding buffet, their idea catches on. The wise Mr. Lee commands the family to visit the village elders, whom he convinces that using Kùai zi does not violate any Chinese rules for eating. Word reaches the Emperor and soon, people throughout China start using chopsticks. Compestine (The Runaway Rice Cake, 2000) concocts a delicious blend of fact and fiction. But children may wonder why Kùai can put the too-hot food in his mouth and not in his hands. An author’s note explains the true origins of chopsticks, leaving out Compestine’s fabled details. Back matter also includes directions for using chopsticks and a recipe. Burning questions aside, Compestine’s charming tale deserves a place in the multicultural curriculum. Xuan’s richly colored traditional Chinese cut paper illustrations lend authenticity. (Picture book. 5-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2001

ISBN: 0-8234-1526-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CHINESE NEW YEAR HELPER
by Ying Chang Compestine ; illustrated by Ginnie Hsu

- BOOK REVIEW
GROWING UP UNDER A RED FLAG
by Ying Chang Compestine ; illustrated by Xinmei Liu

- BOOK REVIEW
RA PU ZEL AND THE STINKY TOFU
by Ying Chang Compestine ; illustrated by Crystal Kung

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WHEN I GROW UP

by Al Yankovic & illustrated by Wes Hargis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2011

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A disappointing exploration of career options from an entertainer who should know better. Maybe it has something to do with the decision to take the "Weird" out of his authorial name, but musical satirist Yankovic doesn't deliver the kind of precise zaniness adults of a certain generation will expect. Little Billy may be small in stature, but he doesn't limit his thinking when it comes to what he'll be when he grows up. As soon as Mrs. Krupp gives him the floor at show-and-tell, he grabs it and doesn't let go, reeling out a dizzying series of potential careers. Beginning with 12 rhyming couplets on what kind of a chef he might be, he follows up with snail trainer, machinist, giraffe milker, artist and on and on. At its best, the verse approaches Seussian: "maybe I'll be the lathe operator / Who makes the hydraulic torque wrench calibrator / Which fine-tunes the wrench that's specifically made / To retighten the nuts in the lateral blade." But the pacing never allows readers to stop and chuckle at the foolishness, and it doesn't leave enough room for Hargis' light, humorous cartoons to expand and ramp up the goof factor. In children's books, as in satire, less is more—here's hoping Weird Al's next effort is both tighter and funnier. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-192691-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
MY NEW TEACHER AND ME!
by Al Yankovic ; illustrated by Wes Hargis

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN I GROW UP
by Al Yankovic & illustrated by Wes Hargis developed by Bean Creative

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DOG HEAVEN

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Cynthia Rylant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1995

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Rylant's debut as a picture book illustrator (not to be confused with her board book debut as a collagist in The Everyday Books, 1993) offers sweet comfort to all who have lost loved ones, pets or otherwise. ``When dogs go to Heaven, they don't need wings because God knows that dogs love running best. He gives them fields. Fields and fields and fields.'' There are geese to bark at, plenty of children, biscuits, and, for those that need them, homes. In page- filling acrylics, small, simply brushed figures float against huge areas of bright colors: pictures infused with simple, doggy joy. At the end, an old man leans on a cane as he walks up a slope toward a small white dog: ``Dogs in Dog Heaven may stay as long as they like. . . .They will be there when old friends show up. They will be there at the door.'' Pure, tender, lyrical without being overearnest, and deeply felt. (Picture book. 5-9)