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The Race For The Chinese Zodiac (2010)

by Gabrielle Wang(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Black Dog Books, an imprint of Walker Books Australia

review 1: Many years ago the Jade Emperor, ruler of Heaven and Earth, declared a race across the river to determine which animals would have appear in the Chinese zodiac. Tiger dove in enthusiastically, Rabbit floated across on a log, and Cat and Rat rode atop Ox. Goat, Rooster and Monkey rode a raft, Snake rode across in Horse's mane, but Dog chased his shadow and nearly forgot about the race entirely. Pig chose to eat herself silly and only floated across after a long nap, and Dragon was delayed by good deeds. That makes 13 animals racing across the river, but there are only 12 places on the Chinese zodiac; one of these animals does not finish the race in time. If you know the Chinese zodiac, you know which animal was eliminated, but if you don't, I guess you'll have to read this ... morepicture book!Sally Rippin's illustrations, done in Chinese ink, linocuts, and digital media, are striking. Their distinctly Chinese feel is a perfect match for the story. The Chinese characters for each animal appear on every spread featuring that animal. An appendix lists the Chinese zodiac animals in chronological order along with traditional traits of persons born under each sign.I plan to take this to my Kindergarten teachers, who teach a unit on Chinese New Year each January.
review 2: Illustrations created with Chinese ink, linocuts, and digital media, are the stars here, filling each page of this familiar story about the background for the Chinese zodiac. Each of the 12 years in the zodiac ends up being named for an animal after the Jade Emperor sets up a competition. The animals behave in a way that is true to their nature, and Cat and Rat, once friends, become lifelong enemies after Rat's betrayal. This is a good book to add to a multicultural classroom collection. less

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