Boy Dumplings
A Tasty Chinese Tale
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A hungry ghost in old Beijing meets his match in a crafty boy. Tongue-in-check scary fun like Halloween with a bilingual Chinese translation.
Recipe for a Delicious Story: 1. Begin with one hungry ghost.
2. Add a tasty looking boy.
3. Mix them for an outrageous result!
Long ago in China, a ghost can’t wait to sink his teeth into his next meal — a plump boy! The child will need to think fast if he doesn’t want to turn into a midnight snack. What will happen when the boy convinces the ghost to make the mouthwatering “Boy Dumplings” recipe?
This hilarious tale is redesigned, featuring revised illustrations and a new bilingual simplified Chinese translation. Inspired by her son who enjoyed making dumplings, author Compestine adds a clever young protagonist who can befuddle any spirit! Plus Yamasaki's colorful art mines comedy from seemingly scary circumstances.
Every fall, the Ghosts Festival is like the Chinese Halloween: people leave offerings of food at night for hungry ghosts. Boy Dumplings plays with this cultural tradition and adds a humorous twist. The Chinese translation is ideal for students and teachers of language classes, schools, and immersion programs. The book includes an author’s note on the history of China’s Ghosts Festival, plus a delicious dumplings recipe.
"Exciting storytelling and Chinese culinary traditions create a delicious book for young readers”
- San Francisco Chronicle
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A macabre blue phantom ends up a comic foil for an animated, rotund Chinese boy in this tongue-in-cheek ghost story. Reminiscent of the clever rodent in Arnold Lobel's Mouse Soup, the lively hero (who resembles a young Buddha with hair) outwits his ghost captor and delays his demise by providing an involved recipe for boy dumplings, which sends the ghost traipsing through town to collect rotten onions and wormy cabbage, among other ingredients and supplies. (The boy's recipe explains, "1. Fill bucket with warm water. Wash boy thoroughly, especially behind ears and between toes. 2. Reserve bath water. Dry boy, massage boy's feet, and let boy nap.") Children will delight in the ghost's gullibility, though younger readers may not fully understand the ruse. Yamasaki's illustrations of the dim-witted ghost a cross between Fu Manchu and Nosferatu can be frightening, but it's clear the impish boy almost always has the upper hand. Compestine's (The Real Story of Stone Soup) haunting tale is an entertaining, not-too-scary offering, and an endnote explains some Chinese traditions and beliefs regarding ghosts. Ages 4 8.
