The Pandas and Their Chopsticks

June 16, 2014
Award-winning author-illustrator Demi (The Empty Pot) brings her considerable artistic skill to this collection of 10 animal stories. Themes of generosity, humility, and cooperation are presented through the antics of pandas, hedgehogs, hummingbirds, and turtles. Most of the tales unfold in a single illustrated spread, ending with a moral, set in italics (“Pride often opens our mouths. Humility tells us when to keep them closed,” reads the conclusion to “The Turtle Who Couldn’t Stop Talking”). Not all of the stories are original to Demi—for example, “The Pandas and Their Chopsticks” is a reworking of the traditional parable of the long spoons—but the illustrations set her version apart. Rich in color and pattern, with distinctive, whimsical borders that feature the animals mentioned in the stories, they will certainly draw the eye of young readers; “The Fox Who Was King of the Forest” depicts a small menagerie of animals in addition to the titular fox. The moral associated with each tale could be used as a teaching tool for parents or caregivers who want to discuss, or encourage, these qualities. Ages 6–up. (Aug.)■

July 15, 2014
Ten fables with pretty pictures and explicit, if not always apt, morals.Recast from unspecified originals, this collection of minitales opens with the titular vision of hungry pandas seated around two tables and holding very long chopsticks-a version of which appeared previously in the author's Chinese Zoo (1987). They solve the problem of how to eat by feeding one another with their 3-foot chopsticks. Its moral-"Be generous. It brings happiness to everyone"-seems a little off-target given that nobody's giving away any food that belongs to them. Hubris is examined in an encounter between a kite and a butterfly ("Hello butterfly! I am so much higher than you! Aren't you just a little bit jealous of me?") and another between a proud river and the huge but humble ocean. Humility also features in the moral to the story of a turtle who "flies" on a stick lifted by birds until he opens his mouth. Since he's cast as garrulous rather than proud and lands in a lake as he wanted to do rather than dying, there's not much cautionary force to the episode. Creatures drawn with delicate, calligraphic strokes float in negative space on the pages within patterned borders, and though details in some stories aren't depicted literally, the art adds a vivacious energy to each episode.A sparse if nutritious (at least valuewise) gathering. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2014

K-GR 3-Each of these Fables (nine are about animals and one about a river flowing into the ocean) Includes A Moral Or Proverb Worthy Of Discussion. Six Of The Selections Were Previously Published In A Chinese Zoo (Harcourt, 1987), two in Demi's Reflective Fables (Grosset & Dunlap, 1988) and one in The Dragon's Tale (Holt, 1996). Vocabulary has been updated, animals switched, and the lessons revised, but overall the stories are very similar. Demi's signature motifs are used generously, often in the faint patterns filling many of the mainly pastel backgrounds. Borders around the illustrated pages are filled with gesturing, parading, and cavorting animals from the particular tale. An author's note is missing here, but A Chinese Zoo credits ancient Chinese sources going back to the Indian Jataka Tales. Libraries missing Demi's earlier works or in need of replacements for worn copies may find this a worthy addition.-Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.