Warlord's Fish

In ancient China, an artist and his young apprentice are kidnapped and taken into the desert, where their captors' caravan is lost until the artist's carved wooden goldfish points the way to safety.

In ancient China, an artist and his young apprentice are kidnapped and taken into the desert, where their captors' caravan is lost until the artist's carved wooden goldfish ...

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-When a Chinese sculptor and his apprentice, Chuan, are captured by foreign traders, they find themselves lost in the desert far beyond their civilized world. Dust storms cause the caravan to lose its way. With the sun obscured, all are stranded with no means of escape until Chuan pulls a carved fish from his pocket. Embedded with a magnet formed from a lodestone, the fish points the way south. Luckily, his captors agree to follow his directions, and they soon arrive at an oasis. There, grateful to the artist and his apprentice, the traders free both of them. Although there are some unlikely coincidences in this narrative, the story provides an interesting introduction to the Chinese use of both the magnet and the compass as early as the third century B.C.E. Endnotes give information about these developments and offer instructions for children to create their own fish compasses from simple materials. Debon's stunning illustrations enhance the tale; the figures appear to be three-dimensional carved or Claymation characters but are, intriguingly enough, executed in pastels. With realistic landscapes, the drawings have subtle shading and engaging design, and evoke the vastness and isolation of the desert wasteland.-Laurie Edwards, West Shore School District, Camp Hill, PA Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Nicolas Debon is a freelance illustrator in Versailles, France. In addition to his illustrations for the Warlord’s Series , he is also the author/illustrator of several other books, including two Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award finalists.