Stories from China (Multicultural Stories) [Paperback]

My daughter and I make a point of reading together every day - a story at bedtime, and often others in the afternoon if the weather is too bad to play outside. I particularly like reading stories from other cultures, as I think it is important for my daughter to be able to understand other beliefs and traditions.

When I cam across 'Stories from China' I was doubly keen to read it - you see, I'm a quarter Chinese myself (my grandmother is Chinese) , but I don't actually know many of the old folk tales from that country. This book is a mixture of Chinese creation myths, folk tales, and there is even a ghost story included. But the book is so much more than that !

Before each story there is a brief introduction page, that tells us what kind of tale we are about to read . For example, the story 'The Legend of Nu Kua' has an introductory page headed 'Stories of how the world began'. Not only does this briefly tell us key points to look out for in the tale, but also extra detail about some of the names mentioned. It also has a lovely little map of the part of China mentioned in the story, and some lovely facts (in this case that Everest is the tallest mountain in the world). These pages are wonderfully coloured and illustrated, and I found that my daughter happily listened to and absorbed the facts without really realising she was learning anything!

The stories themselves are, without exception, wonderfully told. They use simple plain words that most children of my daughter age would be able to read, yet manage to weave a great descriptive poetry into each tale . I find this remarkable, as I usually find that short stories fall flat because of a lack of time for description. Perhaps it is the brightly coloured illustrations that really help to tell the tale - glorious images in vibrant shades of red, orange, gold and green . They really bring the tale to life.

At the back of the book is a brief glossary, explaining a few of the words used that readers might have trouble with. Then there is a page that helpfully recommends some other books about China that might interest the reader - I loved this aspect of the book, as having read and enjoyed this one I really am quite keen to learn more traditional tales from China.

At the very end of the book is a page briefly outlining some activities you can do with your child to go along with some of the stories in the book. These are a good mix of activities including some fun writing tasks, discussion activities, and arts and crafts tasks. I think this is a brilliant addition, as it means you can continue the fun from the book, and offers up not only an extra opportunity for more bonding time, but also a way for my daughter to put her brain and her creativity to good use. These kinds of activities can only be a bonus, and will, I think , also help my daughter retain the information she has learned from the book.

I cannot recommend this book enough .I plan to buy more of the books in the series, which includes 'Stories from the....' Amazon, Carribean, India, Native North America and West Africa.

I can't wait to get reading - 5 stars!