Moon Lady, The

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent illustrations...
Review: I was drawn to this book as an Amy Tan fan and found myself fascinated by the illustrations. They are gorgeous and vividly detailed. The story, narrated by a grandmother, of her childhood adventures while growing up in China will give kids a tantalizing glimpse of another time and place.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read At Any Age
Review: In The Moon Lady, Amy Tan author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter, presents a small tale for young children which adults will also enjoy. Focusing on a story set in China, Tan brings her wealth of knowledge about China and its folktales as well as her love for this country and its traditions. In addition, the illustrations by Gretchen Schields add a wonderful dimension to the story since readers can also visualize the tale by viewing these pictures.

On a rainy day as grandchildren whine that they can't play outside their grandmother tells them a tale based on her own experiences as a child. Using this method Tan provides an allegorical tale concerning children and their wishes. Telling the children of her wishes as a young girl, Ying Ying tells the children a story about her own wishes at the times of the Moon Festival. And as all folk tales provide, Tan is adept at providing her readers with an adventurous tale compete with the mysterious Moon Lady and a moral to the story.

This is a good book for young children who cannot only learn about the Chinese culture but the saying "Be careful what you wish for." I also recommend this book at any age since it is also important to remember this as we move on in life.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read At Any Age
Review: In The Moon Lady, Amy Tan author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter, presents a small tale for young children which adults will also enjoy. Focusing on a story set in China, Tan brings her wealth of knowledge about China and its folktales as well as her love for this country and its traditions. In addition, the illustrations by Gretchen Schields add a wonderful dimension to the story since readers can also visualize the tale by viewing these pictures.

On a rainy day as grandchildren whine that they can't play outside their grandmother tells them a tale based on her own experiences as a child. Using this method Tan provides an allegorical tale concerning children and their wishes. Telling the children of her wishes as a young girl, Ying Ying tells the children a story about her own wishes at the times of the Moon Festival. And as all folk tales provide, Tan is adept at providing her readers with an adventurous tale compete with the mysterious Moon Lady and a moral to the story.

This is a good book for young children who cannot only learn about the Chinese culture but the saying "Be careful what you wish for." I also recommend this book at any age since it is also important to remember this as we move on in life.

Rating:
Summary: Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!
Review: Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Moon Lady was one of her picks.

Adapted from Amy Tan's best selling book, The Joy Luck Club, The Moon Lady is a perfect book for encouraging children to read with and talk to their grandmother. The book also very subtly encourages children to take more responsibility for their own lives. The story provides a model for parents and grandparents for how to create their own stories to help children learn important lessons.

The story begins as three girls, Maggie, Lily and June, are bored because they have to stay in on a rainy day and can think of nothing that they want to do. Their grandmother, Nai-nai, is with them. Nai-nai tells them a story about when she was a young girl in China, and she ran and shouted and could not stand still also.

The story is about the day she told the Moon Lady her secret wish. Then unfolds a wonderful story of a young girl's adventure on a special trip to see the Moon Lady. Along the way, she sees many things she has not seen before, falls overboard, is rescued by a fishing family, and finds her family again after meeting the Moon Lady. In the process, she has one of those epiphanies that make all of our lives better -- that she is in charge of creating her own future.

The story is filled with references to family bonding and what is and is not proper behavior. The story also shows what family life was like for a somewhat well-to-do Chinese family in China at the beginning of the 20th century. These references are made all the more realistic by a wonderful series of drawings by Gretchen Schields with bright colors, beautiful detail, and authentic depictions of the China of years ago. It's almost like living a beautiful dream.

Then Nai-nai takes her granddaughters out to dance in the moon after the story is over.

Of all the children's books I have read, I place this one in the top ten for the 4-8 age category.

A central problem for many children today is that too much television, too many structured activities, and too little free time leave them feeling lost when nothing is on the agenda. Our misconception is that they need regimented lives like those that soldiers lead to fulfill their potential. This book will encourage you to readdress that misconception, and focus on how to make your children more competent in thinking about others, being more independent, and designing their own beneficial activities. That is all very important to actually unleashing their full potential. When you are done, think about how perhaps your own life needs a little improvement along these same lines.

Enjoy!

Donald Mitchell ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!
Review: Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Moon Lady was one of her picks.

Adapted from Amy Tan's best selling book, The Joy Luck Club, The Moon Lady is a perfect book for encouraging children to read with and talk to their grandmother. The book also very subtly encourages children to take more responsibility for their own lives. The story provides a model for parents and grandparents for how to create their own stories to help children learn important lessons.

The story begins as three girls, Maggie, Lily and June, are bored because they have to stay in on a rainy day and can think of nothing that they want to do. Their grandmother, Nai-nai, is with them. Nai-nai tells them a story about when she was a young girl in China, and she ran and shouted and could not stand still also.

The story is about the day she told the Moon Lady her secret wish. Then unfolds a wonderful story of a young girl's adventure on a special trip to see the Moon Lady. Along the way, she sees many things she has not seen before, falls overboard, is rescued by a fishing family, and finds her family again after meeting the Moon Lady. In the process, she has one of those epiphanies that make all of our lives better -- that she is in charge of creating her own future.

The story is filled with references to family bonding and what is and is not proper behavior. The story also shows what family life was like for a somewhat well-to-do Chinese family in China at the beginning of the 20th century. These references are made all the more realistic by a wonderful series of drawings by Gretchen Schields with bright colors, beautiful detail, and authentic depictions of the China of years ago. It's almost like living a beautiful dream.

Then Nai-nai takes her granddaughters out to dance in the moon after the story is over.

Of all the children's books I have read, I place this one in the top ten for the 4-8 age category.

A central problem for many children today is that too much television, too many structured activities, and too little free time leave them feeling lost when nothing is on the agenda. Our misconception is that they need regimented lives like those that soldiers lead to fulfill their potential. This book will encourage you to readdress that misconception, and focus on how to make your children more competent in thinking about others, being more independent, and designing their own beneficial activities. That is all very important to actually unleashing their full potential. When you are done, think about how perhaps your own life needs a little improvement along these same lines.

Enjoy!

Donald Mitchell ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: The Moon Lady is a fabulous book by Amy Tan and has wonderful color pictures by Gretchen Schields . The picture was so colorful I couldn't take my eyes off it. This story is about an old lady telling a story to her grandchildren about the Moon Lady. She saw a lady that was dancing while the moon was shining on her. She saw the Moon Lady when she was little. This story is set in China. I think that this story could be true if someone saw the Moon Lady dancing while the moon is shining. This book was outrageous when the old lady was a little girl on the boat and a swimming snake or some other creature scared her. I recommend this book to a anyone who wants to learn about what people wore in the olden days because it has pictures that show how they dressed. It if anyone wants to read the Moon Lady, I can tell you that it has a lot of fabulous pictures and stories about the old lady saw the Moon Lady.

Rating:
Summary: Happy Chinese New Year!
Review: To be honest, this book is reminiscent of a certain chapter in Amy Tan's other book, "Joy Luck Club". In fact, the whole story is lifted from the mentioned novel, and loosely edited to create an entirely detached story for children. But, the whole bit about Nai-nai telling the story was probably the only drastic change. I've no complaints about it though, as a lighter tone seems to be induced in this version, which is (yes) perfect for children, as compared to the more melancholy tone produced in "Joy Luck Club". As a Chinese myself, and having a younger brother and a few kid relatives, I find this book to also be educational with the respect of reintroducing a familiar yet distant tradition to them. Through this wonderfully crafted story which is set at a (Chinese/Lunar) New Year Festival in the bygone days of China, children are taught to find themselves and their loved ones through a series of journeys to undertake and overcome. The great artwork is a bonus. Of course, a better understanding of the background of the legendary moon lady wouldn't do any harm. Still, read the "Joy Luck Club" to get a bigger picture of the story's presence. It's not in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Happy Chinese New Year!
Review: To be honest, this book is reminiscent of a certain chapter in Amy Tan's other book, "Joy Luck Club". In fact, the whole story is lifted from the mentioned novel, and loosely edited to create an entirely detached story for children. But, the whole bit about Nai-nai telling the story was probably the only drastic change. I've no complaints about it though, as a lighter tone seems to be induced in this version, which is (yes) perfect for children, as compared to the more melancholy tone produced in "Joy Luck Club". As a Chinese myself, and having a younger brother and a few kid relatives, I find this book to also be educational with the respect of reintroducing a familiar yet distant tradition to them. Through this wonderfully crafted story which is set at a (Chinese/Lunar) New Year Festival in the bygone days of China, children are taught to find themselves and their loved ones through a series of journeys to undertake and overcome. The great artwork is a bonus. Of course, a better understanding of the background of the legendary moon lady wouldn't do any harm. Still, read the "Joy Luck Club" to get a bigger picture of the story's presence. It's not in the movie.