Winner of the 1926 Newbery Medal
A series of fascinating Chinese stories, strong in humor and rich in Chinese wisdom, in which the author has caught admirably the spirit of Chinese life and thought.---from the publisher
221 pages 978-0525392446 Ages 9-13
Keywords: Asian culture, diversity, diverse books, multicultural, historical fiction, short stories, humor, culture, China, Newbery Medal, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old, classic
Other reviews:
"Arthur Bowie Chrisman was a famous storyteller and collector of tales in the early part of the twentieth century, which is why the stories collected in Shen of the Sea read the way they do. Amusing tales and great adventures, but I'd like to hear them told aloud. I think they would be that much more powerful and humorous."- Warren Truitt on Goodreads
"The first thing to understand is that this is probably not a book that could be written today, and it's certainly not a book that could be published today. In order to deal with it at all, we have to have that understanding up front.
Although Shen of the Sea is subtitled "Chinese Stories for Children," it has no source notes of any kind, and none of the tales are recognizable versions of any standard Chinese folktales. All of the stories, in fact, seem to be either entirely Chrisman's invention, or so wildly changed from their original form as to be unidentifiable. This is true despite the fact that a large number of the tales are porquoi stories about the origin of such things as chopsticks, china plates, tea, and kites."--Samuel on Goodreads