Boy Dumplings

August 10, 2009
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.

May 1, 2016

BLK-Gr 2-A new, bilingual edition of 2009's Boy Dumplings adds Chinese text in simplified characters, changes where page breaks occur, includes some minor wording edits, and adds a new spread of Yamasaki's illustrations. In the streets of Old Beijing, a desperate, hungry ghost finds a nice plump boy, perfect for eating. The child provides the ghost with his recipe for the perfect boy dumplings, which occupies the ghost for the rest of the night. He is still not finished with the complex dish when the sun rises, and the boy is able to trap the ghost and escape. The end of the book has an author's note about the Chinese ghost festival and a much tastier dumpling recipe than the one the ghost tries to make. (Compestine has authored several cookbooks.) Yamasaki's cartoon illustrations have a palette full of dark blues and bright yellows, contrasting not only day and night but also the creepy ghost and the ingenious boy.

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