It’s been a long while since I reviewed a book for younger children—though 10 years ago that had been my norm, when I worked in the kindergarten and my kids were students!

Now that we’re back in Asia, we’re looking through all the books on our shelves, and it appears we’ve got a trove of Asia-related novels and books we’ve never read. I don’t have time to work through them all, but again, I can at least start with one.

Book Summary

This is an old Chinese story retold for a modern audience. A princess needs a husband, but her father the Emperor does not like the poor yet handsome man she’s eyeing. Pong Lo shows himself wise through multiple tests, and only when he thinks his way into the King’s Summer Palace and becomes the wealthiest man in the Kingdom does he hope to have a chance to marry the Princess.

Things to Appreciate

The story had a number of interesting scenes, and I wondered as I read just how many similar kids’ books could be written based solely off the folktales of other cultures. One of my favorite books to read in my after-school classes was Ming Lo Moves the Mountain (1982)—and if you’ve never read that to a kid, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Sweet and Sour (1978) was also a good book of Chinese short stories that might be stylized for a younger audience like this. Why aren’t there more artists bringing these old stories to life?

Author Pittman includes in this book many beautiful charcoal-type drawings to illustrate the scenes. The clothing and fixtures are certainly ancient Chinese, though occasionally the faces seem a bit more modernized or occidental. I think she could have gotten away with old-school Chinese faces (like in this illustration) as depicted in their own historical artwork without coming across as insensitive—though maybe in 1986 racial insensitivity wasn’t yet a thing.

Technical Quirks I Didn’t Like

Perhaps it’s pointless to critique a 40-year old book with the precision I’m about to, but the editor in me can’t keep silent. If this book has been reprinted since the 1986 Yearling edition that I own, then my points are also moot. Nevertheless…

• The blurb on the back cover essentially tells the entire story, which annoyed me immensely. Discuss the author or Chinese culture on the back cover—don’t spoil the story!
  
• There were many words in this book that were well above the early-elementary age of reading, if not comprehension—”mathematician,” “melancholy,” “postponed indefinitely,” etc. While I’m all for tossing young listeners into the deep end with words like these, I’d hate to discourage those same kids when they try to read the book themselves.
  
• The type-setting of the book was all off. There’s so much white space that no sentence should be split to the next page, yet it happens often. This is obviously a book to be read aloud, and readers like me hate getting cut off mid-sentence just so we can turn the page. Page-turning also doesn’t allow for longer enjoyment of the illustrations, which is really how the kids are going to understand the story best.

Conclusion

If nothing else comes of this review, I’ve at least taught myself some pointers about publishing proper kids’ books in the future:

• Embellish great folktales from the past and from other cultures for a unique niche.
• Illustrate them well but accurately, and go for those hidden details that make the illustrations worth studying.
• Keep all the vocabulary easy to understand and read, if that’s the point.
• Bear the read-aloud teacher or parent in mind when designing the text and setting the type. They’re a key part of the audience too.

©2025 E.T.

Read Some Other Kids’ Books Based on Asian Folktales:

• Crow Boy by Taro Yashima (1955)
• Thrump-O-Moto (The Little Samurai) by James Clavell (1976)
• Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold Lobel (1982)
• A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman (1986)
• Peach Boy by William H. Hooks (1992)
• The Emperor’s Garden by Ferida Wolff (1994)