The Story About Ping

Rating:
Summary: My Children Loved It
Review: I just read so many negative reviews of this book, I felt that I needed to write a positive one. I read this book to my children (aged 5 and 2) numerous times over the course of a week, and they both loved it. They could not wait to read "Ping" each day, and my two-year-old still talks about Ping and China, 2 months after we read it.

Yes, Ping received a switch (not a beating) for being last, but he learned that being safe with his family was much better than being alone. He (and we) also learned that facing up to the consequences of being late (or any error) is definitely better than trying to hide from the consequences or lying about it. Much bigger trouble comes then. During the time we read the book, we learned about China (then and now), the Yangtze River, the artwork (drawing water, repetition, etc.), taking responsibility for one's actions, water safety, and many other things.

(...)


Rating:
Summary: Not the book I remember!
Review: I made a long list of books I remembered from childhood when my son was born. He pulled this one off the shelf the other day, and though he moved on to another book more age-appropriate, I continued to read Ping to myself.

Though the illustrations are lovely and the exploration of culture interesting, the portrayal of corporal punishment (especially for no offense, not that that should excuse it!) made me sick to my stomach. The "moral" of the story seems to imply that Ping should be grateful for his physical abuse, for at least he is safe from unknown abuses. This is not a message I want to pass on to my son.

As we already own the book, I may keep it around to read to him when he is much much older, so that we can discuss how the message is wrong and that no one, including Ping, deserves to be hit. However, I would not recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Controversial--Judge for Yourself
Review: In a 1998 survey, (www.randomhouse.com/features/treasury/vote), online participants ranked Marjorie Flack's now-controversial 1933 book as highly as such favorites as "Horton Hears a Who," "Jamberry" (Bruce Degen), "Thomas the Tank Engine," (W. Awdry), and "In the Night Kitchen" (Maurice Sendak)!

Note that Random House asked that readers name their most "memorable" books of the century, and most participants were probably adults. As seen in these reviews, "memorable" is not necessarily favorable. It appears from the diversity and intensity of feelings here that, depending on adult and child values, personalities, and sensibilities, reading this book can be a springboard for discussion or an incubator for nightmares.

I'm always impressed with the number of excellent children's books available. If you think that the book may upset you or your small ones, or if it offends you or your values, then do not buy it. I will try to list some of the objections that reviewers have mentioned. The book shows little duck "Ping" almost being struck, his later escape and separation, birds yoked about the neck (Fishers yoke the birds so that they can't swallow the fish that they retrieve for the "Master"), Ping tricked, caught, and almost becoming dinner, and, finally, actually getting hit by a long stick. For some, it's like a kid's version of El Greco's war series. In the tradition of "Hansel and Gretel," there is horror aplenty here, and there's no ultimate escape to freedom. I can also respect those who object to the stereotypes of the Chinese and China (the boy who captures and subsequently releases Ping is as brightly yellow as the duck, and the Yangtze River is colored yellow).

Marjorie Flack wrote this and many other very popular books, and the book--written during the Depression and the sociopolitical movements of the 1930's--has historical interest. For example, one could argue that the book supports--or indicts--Fascism, Communism, Capitalism, or Social Darwinism. However, in a brief search on Google.com, I did not see any scholarly works about the book. Obviously, these are the concerns of adults and mature young teens.

There is the potential, at least, that this book will be disturbing. So, please be aware of the controversial content and the differing reactions that your young audience could have. If you get the book, talk it over with them, as several people here have suggested. On another note, there's a lot to admire in the pictures. Kurt Wiese's simple but evocative color drawings are beguiling. Wiese, a man who illustrated over 300 children's books and who twice received Caldecott honors, draws in a soft, evocative, "crayon-y" style that is appealing and powerful. "Ping" has 32 pages, excellent illustrations, and sturdy binding (if you purchase the book with the ISBN of 0-670-67223-8).



Rating:
Summary: Grosset & Dunlap edition is very cheaply made
Review: Others have written regarding content; I am simply alerting people that this edition (ISBN 0448421658) was more cheaply made than I expected; the cover is simply folded over (no glue). I doubt it will hold up to much use.

Rating:
Summary: Ping! I love that duck!
Review: PING! The magic duck!

Using deft allegory, the authors have provided an insightful and intuitive explanation of one of Unix's most venerable networking utilities. Even more stunning is that they were clearly working with a very early beta of the program, as their book first appeared in 1933, years (decades!) before the operating system and network infrastructure were finalized.

The book describes networking in terms even a child could understand, choosing to anthropomorphize the underlying packet structure. The ping packet is described as a duck, who, with other packets (more ducks), spends a certain period of time on the host machine (the wise-eyed boat). At the same time each day (I suspect this is scheduled under cron), the little packets (ducks) exit the host (boat) by way of a bridge (a bridge). From the bridge, the packets travel onto the internet (here embodied by the Yangtze River).

The title character -- er, packet, is called Ping. Ping meanders around the river before being received by another host (another boat). He spends a brief time on the other boat, but eventually returns to his original host machine (the wise-eyed boat) somewhat the worse for wear.

If you need a good, high-level overview of the ping utility, this is the book. I can't recommend it for most managers, as the technical aspects may be too overwhelming and the basic concepts too daunting.

Problems With This Book

As good as it is, The Story About Ping is not without its faults. There is no index, and though the ping(8) man pages cover the command line options well enough, some review of them seems to be in order. Likewise, in a book solely about Ping, I would have expected a more detailed overview of the ICMP packet structure.

But even with these problems, The Story About Ping has earned a place on my bookshelf, right between Stevens' Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment, and my dog-eared copy of Dante's seminal work on MS Windows, Inferno. Who can read that passage on the Windows API ("Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous, So that by fixing on its depths my sight -- Nothing whatever I discerned therein."), without shaking their head with deep understanding. But I digress.

Rating:
Summary: Nightmares!
Review: Thank goodness I don't remember this book from my childhood! I'm so glad I read this book before I got a chance to share it with my 4 year old.

It teaches some horrible lessons. Conformity at all costs. Corporal punishment. Animal cruelty. No matter how hard those ducks race to get on the boat, someone will always be last and will be hit with a stick.

I realize this book is a classic and the illustrations are wonderful, but I think it is time to retire this one.

Rating:
Summary: A book on the futility of thought
Review: The Story About Ping is a beautiful allegory for the futility of free thought. While conforming may be painful [as shown by Ping's daily swat for being last and least of the conforming], it triumphs over the frightening world of the unknown. Leaving us with the message that overcoming adversity through intellectual superiority is impossible and in vain. A perfect story for the proletariat children of the future, or for a President supporting the PATRIOT Act, though the latter may have problems tackling its big words.

Rating:
Summary: duck!
Review: This book is cleverly written, but I wouldn't read it to my children. Basically the premise is that this duck gets hit every day because he's the last on the boat. He gets tired of this and strikes out on his own but nearly gets eaten. Eventually he makes it back home where he gets hit again and he thinks that it's better to be safe back home, getting hit, than out there getting eaten.

So, what this book is telling children is that it's better to be abused at home than to chance making your life better by, say, reporting your situation to the authorities. Because, what if they hurt you worse? Just go home and live with the abuse like a good little kid.

And, that's a terrible message for a kid.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: When I was a kid growing up in the south, I used to read this book over and over. That was in the 1960's, when the Chinese, who's side we were on during the war, were a people we were supposed to hate, and the Japanese, who we hated during the war, were a people we were supposed to like. Nevermind all those reruns of anti Japanese war movies that were still playing on TV at the time.

The wise-eyed boat, the fishing birds with the rings around their necks, the boy with the wacky hairdo and peculiar barrel tied to his back. The hand-made wicker basket and complete absence of anything material or useless.

It humanized Asians for me in a way that was not only healthy, but induced a curiosity of the region and its peoples that I have still yet to satisfy, even after living for 18 years of my adult life in Northeast Asia. (Maybe I'm still running away from that dreaded spank!)

Every time I see those Peking ducks strung up in those shop windows in Hongkong I can't help but think of Ping and his mother and his father and two sisters and three brothers and eleven aunts and seven uncles and forty-two cousins.

Read Ping to your kids. It just might change their lives!!