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Overview
"Drawing on a Chinese form of storytelling with seven shapes cut from a square of paper, Tompert recounts the tale of two fox fairies. Parker's pen-and-watercolor art adds drama, while the tangram insets will motivate children to try their own versions."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.Grandfather tells a story about shape-changing fox fairies who try to best each other until a hunter brings danger to both of them.
Synopsis
"Drawing on a Chinese form of storytelling with seven shapes cut from a square of paper, Tompert recounts the tale of two fox fairies. Parker's pen-and-watercolor art adds drama, while the tangram insets will motivate children to try their own versions."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
Publishers Weekly
Here's a folktale with a twist: Tompert uses tangrams, a traditional ``visual aid'' employed by Chinese storytellers, to spin a tale about two shape-changing fox fairies. Seven ``tans'' (standard-sized pieces of a square) are arranged and rearranged to represent various characters in the story. The fox fairies vie to outdo each other--the first one becomes a rabbit, the other a dog who chases him, and so on--but when the two chase each other right into danger, they finally have to set their competition aside and pull together. Parker's graceful, impressionistic illustrations have a gentle Oriental flavor, and the constantly changing tangram configurations add a novel touch. A traceable tangram is provided at the end for do-it-yourselfers. Ages 3-7. (Apr.)