In two original stories set in ancient China, Little Chiu masters the sword and Mu Chi escapes death through his marvelous painting.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Alice Provensen is a preeminent American illustrator. With her late husband, Martin, she received the Caldecott Medal for The Glorious Flight and a Caldecott Honor for Nancy Willard's Newbery Medal-winning A Visit to William Blake's Inn. The Provensens have appeared on the New York Times list of the Ten Best Illustrated Books eight times -- the second most of any book illustrator. Alice Provensen lives on Maple Hill Farm in New York State.
K-Gr 3-A distinguished illustrator uses the China she imagines as a setting for two philosophical fantasies. Though the stories are described as "legends from ancient China- retold," the CIP information is more accurate, categorizing the book as fiction rather than folklore. In the first story, a small boy from a village beset by bandits travels far to apprentice himself to a master swordsman. After two years of dodging talking objects like jugs and teapots, Little Chu learns to be attentive and alert, to anticipate danger. Master Li then presents him with his great sword and tells him to use it to chop cabbage. The bandits are so daunted by his skillful chopping of vegetables that they leave the village in peace. The second story concerns the conflict between a great painter and a greedy, cruel emperor. Commissioned to fill a huge, blank wall, the artist spends years painting a mural, knowing that the jealous emperor will kill him when he is finished. His solution to the problem, while echoing many Chinese stories about a picture coming to life, is not a traditional one. Although Provensen tells a good story in crisp, dramatic sentences, her stock characters engage in overly formal dialogue and have been placed in whimsical situations that exist only in the Western imagination. Her art pays respectful homage to Chinese narrative hand scrolls, and her sense of composition, color, and narrative flow are products of her distinguished career. Nonetheless, Emily Arnold McCully's Beautiful Warrior (Scholastic, 1998) and Molly Bang's Tye May and the Magic Brush (Morrow, 1992) are more authentic and accurate depictions of China.
Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Destination, rates & speedsSeller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00090832816
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00085379229
Quantity: 2 available
Seller: ZBK Books, Carlstadt, NJ, U.S.A.
Condition: good. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Fast Shipping - Good and clean conditions used book. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Seller Inventory # ZWM.P1I0
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI3N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI5N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI3N00
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI4N00
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI3N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI5N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Provensen, Alice (illustrator). Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.1. Seller Inventory # G068983232XI3N00
Quantity: 1 available