The Chinese Mirror retold by Mirra Ginsburg

 illustrated by Margot Zemack

Folk Literature, Multicultural Fiction

This retelling of the Korean folk tale, The Chinese Mirror, tells the story of the first mirror in which a Korean village had ever come in contact. One villager journeys all the way to China and stumbles upon a strange new circular object he has never before seen. He looks into the mirror and sees a man's face looking back at him, he is amazed and buys the strange object immediately.  The man loves his new purchase and delights in looking into the mirror, however, he hides the mirror from everyone because he is afraid it will lose its magic. The man's young wife sees him hiding something and one day finds the mirror in his trunk.  The young wife is distressed because she sees a young beautiful woman staring back. The young wife is afraid her husband is being unfaithful to her.  She takes the mirror to her in-laws and they see other people in the mirror, an old woman and the neighbor's grandpa.  Each villager takes a look into the mirror and believes there to be another person staring back.  Eventually the mirror is shattered into a million pieces, and so are the people they saw in the mirror. This book is a great read for students because the text is not overwhelming and the pictures do a great job of complementing the text which allows readers to visualize what the characters are experiencing. I would use this book in my classroom as a multicultural piece of literature.  In my classroom library I plan on having a section of books that are specifically divided into different literature from around the world.  I plan on having a "traveling section" in which my students can go and select a book from a particular country in order to learn a little more about different nations of the world.  

The Blue Jackal 

retold and illustrated by Mehilli Gobhai

Fable, Multicultural Fiction

This retelling of the ancient Indian fable, The Blue Jackal, is a story that has been passed down in Indian culture since 200 B.C. The story is a tale of Long Howl, a Jackal who is scared of many of the other animals and spends a lot of time hiding by himself. However, his one great quality is his long and loud howl.  One day he decides to go into the village marketplace to look for some food.  The village dogs sniff the Jackal hiding in the thicket and chase him into a vat of indigo dye.  The story progresses as each page is turned. The author chooses to illustrate the pages from the Jackal's perspective in black and white and the pages from the others' perspective as beautifully colored illustrations.   The Jackal is worshipped as King by the other animals because they fear his beautiful coat.  The other Jackals leave the forest because they do not want to have another Jackal as their King. One night, Long Howl hears the other Jackals in the distance howling, Long Howl cannot resist and howls a great big howl at the moon.  The other animals realize he his nothing more than a Jackal and chase him out of the forest.  I would use this story in my classroom to share a message: that you should be humbly confident in who you are and to not try to be someone you are not.  Another great use of this book would be to introduce Indian culture to the classroom.  Throughout the book the author includes Indian words within the text and at the end of the book offers a Indian vocabulary page.  I would place this book in my classroom library in the multicultural section because it allows children to step into another culture and learn valuable lessons along the way. 

The Egyptian Cinderella

by Shirley Cimo illustrated by Ruth Heller

Multicultural Fiction, Traditional Literature

This Egyptian version of the tale Cinderella is actually one of the world's earliest Cinderella stories.  This book is a retelling of the tale of a young girl named Rhodopis from Greece who though sold into slavery in Egypt, ends up marrying Pharaoh Amasis.  In this retelling of the story, Rhodopis is teased by the female servants because she is nothing more to them than a poor slave. They also are spiteful towards her because she is Greek and not a true Egyptian.  Rhodopis' master see her dancing one night and rewards her beautiful feet with rose-red slippers.  One day a falcon snatches one of her slippers, her prize possession.  The flacon takes the slipper to the Pharaoh and he decides the falcon was a sign from the gods that he is to marry the girl whose feet fit the slipper.  Rhodopis is the only girl in the kingdom who fits the slipper.  Pharaoh marries Rhodopis and makes her queen of the land.  I would use this story in my classroom as a comparison piece.  I would have my students read the traditional story of Cinderella and compare the story to various versions from different countries, including this particular version.  

Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk 

an Irish tale told and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

Folk Literature, Multicultural Fiction

This Irish tale tells the story of Tim O'Toole and his wife, Kate.  The story begins with describing the extent of poverty that this couple is experiencing and how Kate demands that her husband go and find some work.  Tim eventually goes out to find some work when he luckily finds a group of little people and demands their treasure.  The little people tell Tim to go home with his treasure, but he ends up staying with the McGoon family for the night. The McGoons trick poor Tim by switching his golden egg laying goose with one of their own. Tim is astonished when he realizes his goose does not lay golden eggs. He finds the little people and angrily demands their treasure, they again tell him to go directly home. However, Tim once again stays at the McGoons home and is tricked by them a second time. The following day the little people tell Tim of the evil McGoons and how he should have listened to them by going directly home. The little people raid the McGoons house and Tim is given is treasure back.  The end of the story closes with the O'Toole family resting happily with their treasure.  I would use this book in my classroom as a piece of folk literature.  Children enjoy stories where the main character is given opportunity for fortune, especially when the characters do not have much. This story is exciting for many young readers because it includes mystical tales of little people and a golden egg laying goose.  The illustrations are vivid and allow children to really put themselves into the story.  Furthermore, this story offers a great lesson to teach children: to always listen to directions. The little people again and again tell Tim to go directly home and he continually goes to stay the McGoons who end up tricking him.  I would certainly place this book in my classroom library.  

The Bicycle Man

by Allen Say

Multicultural Fiction

This book gives readers a chance to step into the lives of a post World War II Japanese school house.  The school house sits high upon a mountain in a south island of Japan.  As the students are eagerly awaiting a school sporting competition, two American soldiers interrupt the event by casually walking up to the school playground.  The students are unsure how to react because they have never seen American soldiers.  The soldiers begin to put on a show for the children by performing amazing bicycle tricks. The children are amazed and the principal awards the soldiers for their performance.  This book is a great way for children to see how though America and Japan had just been at war with one another, the children did not show hatred towards the American soldiers. Although the children were hesitant, they welcomed the Americans in their competition.  I would use this book in my classroom to show how hatred is not the answer, that each person on this earth is valuable and we are to be accepting of one another.  I would also use this book to offer my students a different point of view by placing themselves in a different cultural mindset.