Dorothy Lewis Robertson

As I always do, I enjoyed this compilation of traditional literature. It was a different read for me because it was stories from Vietnam whereas before this I only had knowledge of American fairytales. I liked and enjoyed the illustrations. Since this text was a chapter book there were very few of them, but when they were used it was tastefully and helped put an image with the text. On page 42 the text read, “Immediately their noses began to grow. They grew and grew until they were as long as elephant trunks. The people had to hold them up to keep them from dragging on the ground.” The following page had a frightening illustration displaying what the text described. I also liked how the illustrations showed the Vietnamese culture behind the fairytale. The style of drawing, the setting, and the way people were dressed has a heavy influence of Vietnam culture. Additionally, despite each chapter being its own story, I liked how all the stories gave some insight into the chapter and beliefs of Vietnamese people. The story had similarities that tied it together such as tales of emperors and wealthy mandarins, beautiful princesses, talking animals, magic jewels, and supernatural creatures. All the stories in the collection are set by a war refugee in Saigon. Each individual story had its own main idea but all the main ideas taught lessons to the readers.… (meer)