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Library | Shelf Number | Material Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Bayview Library | OJ LIN 8 | Juvenile Picture Book | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Tongaat Beach Library | OJ LIN 8 | Juvenile Picture Book | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A king and queen should be full of joy and contentment, but they both feel a strange pain that worsens every day. Then a peddler's magic spectacles reveal a red thread pulling at each of their hearts. The king and queen know they must follow the thread.
Author Notes
Grace Lin won the Newbery Honor award for her novel "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon".
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Lin offers a contemporary fairy tale, using a story within a story to weave in a Chinese belief that "an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all who are destined to be together." It begins with an Asian girl, who looks no older than five, asking her Caucasian parents to read a favorite story "again," thus introducing the main story: a royal couple both suffer a mysterious pain in their chests that nothing can remedy or explain, until a peddler gives them magic spectacles that allow them to see a red thread bound tightly around their hearts. They follow its loose end for days, crossing a sea, the pain gradually easing, until they reach a small village in a foreign land and find a gurgling, smiling baby at the end. A wise old villager tells them, "This baby belongs to you." Bright illustrations and vivid language will likely appeal even to preschoolers, though some children will need to have the connection to adopting a baby from China made more explicit through additional discussion. Karen Acres's Little Miss Ladybug & Her Magical Red Thread (Ladybug, 2003) also deals with this theme. This lovely book has general appeal, but it's particularly suitable for patrons requesting adoption titles, and especially transracial adoption of children from China.-Deborah Vose, Highlands Elementary School, Braintree, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A childless king and queen, who are clearly Western in appearance, follow a wondrous red thread that tugs at their hearts and draws them to a "faraway land." They ultimately arrive at a remote village (it is obviously Chinese, although never identified as such), where they discover that a giggling baby girl has been pulling at their heartstrings. An elderly woman tells them, "This baby belongs to you." Lin (The Seven Chinese Sisters, see Picture Book Reprints) bases this imaginative story on an ancient Chinese belief that "an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all those who are destined to be together." Some parents (and children), however, may be troubled by the conspicuous absence of the birth mother, or by the tale's resolution, which, in making the adopted child even a metaphorical "princess in the kingdom," draws attention to the economic disparity between the child's original circumstances and those of the adoptive family. But it's hard to resist the story's plainspoken magic. Lin builds a sense of awe and mystery as she unspools the monarchs' journey, and although her homey rendering style can border on stiff, the intense expressiveness of her characters and a regal palette make for emotionally vivid compositions. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
An ancient Chinese belief that an invisible . . . thread connects all those destined to be together leads off this heartfelt story-within-a-story about destiny, love, and what really makes a family. A contemporary family reads a tale about a king and queen with aching hearts. A peddler explains their hearts are being pulled by a red thread, only visible with special glasses, which they must follow in order to ease their pain. The bespectacled pair follows the thread across the globe until they reach an Asian village where they find their hearts' connection: a child just for them. The straightforward narrative is enlived by pattern-filled, color-saturated pictures, with the contemporary family set against a neutral background, while the characters in the fairy tale are surrounded by bright colors. Details in the modern pictures reference those in the make-believe tale: the last page shows the three readers wearing crowns. Adults may need to talk more about the connections between the two families, but this is a good tale to open adoption discussions. Pair it with Ed Young's My Mei Mei (2006).--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2007 Booklist