We've all been greeted by the seated, squat kitty with one paw raised as if saluting her 'come-on-in-hello' to anyone and everyone either entering or just passing by in front of Asian shops and restaurants. Her name, in Japanese, is more of a description: she's...
A Quartet of Unsalable Gems: Madras Press Debuts Series One A modern eco-fable about an almost-royal swan and just-a-common-bluebird couple whose lives intersect with a miner and a logger who turn away from their destructive careers… a contemporary fairy tale about a witch with one heck...
Without a doubt, the most remarkable part of this striking new edition of Jane Yolen's 1977 title are the pictures. The story is simple: a Chinese emperor's daughter, blind since birth, learns to "see" with the help of a wise old man and his mysteriously...
Missing his usual buckets of left-out food (garbage, unbeknownst to him), a hungry Beijing ghost happens upon a plump little boy out too late with his lantern. The ghost traps his tasty morsel, hurries home, thinking he's going to have a special feast. But the...
"At the center of the universe, at the beginning and end of all creation, sits the planet of Vermonia, ruled by Queen Frasinella." Thus begins the first of a 10-volume series that stars none other than a heroic skateboarding foursome of 12-year-old warriors-in-training. But I...
High atop a mountain lives a wealthy, wise, kind old man everyone calls Ojiisan, which means 'grandfather' in Japanese. While the rest of the village gathers to celebrate the annual rice ceremony, Ojiisan chooses to stay home, feeling something is not quite right. His prescience...
Spunky and independent Minli can't bear to see her parents leading such harsh lives, especially her mother who is so discontented with the family's poverty that she can't even enjoy the glorious stories Minli's father regularly tells her. Minli is determined to change her family's...
When two bickering sisters are left alone by their mother, she reminds Big Sister she must take care of Little Sister and Little Sister must listen to Big Sister. No sooner does she leave when Auntie Tiger knocks on the door. When the sisters don't...
“A beautiful blue stone lies peacefully in the heart of a forest” for thousands of years until someone decides he wants it, splits it in two and takes half away. The separated half will travel...
The first two volumes of one of Japan’s top 10 manga bestsellers make their Stateside debut. Join the over-the-top adventures of newly inducted magic-key-carrying wizard Lucy (did she have to be so Barbie-like? Please!), motion-challenged fire...
Part of Canongate’s much-praised Myths Series. Su Tong – best known Stateside for his novella Raise the Red Lantern, which became an Oscar-nominated film by legendary Zhang Yimou – breathes life into one of China’s oldest...
Here's a delightful new spin on how adoptive parents and children are bound together. Using the age-old Chinese belief that a red thread binds people together in love, Lin has created a touching fable about a...
One too many uses of what my kids call ‘the s-word” – as in ‘stupid’ – somewhat mars an otherwise entertaining tongue-in-cheek version of an age-old tale, this time narrated by a Chinese fisherman and his...
Here’s the Cinderella tale with an entertaining twist … ever wonder what happened from Prince Charming’s – that’s actually Prince Stephen’s – point of view?
Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, November 3,...
The second in this exciting new series about five young brother monks who are the only survivors when an errant sixth brother destroys the temple which they all once called home. Malao,...
A collection of short folktales about an entertaining little man who is both wise and foolish, beautifully illustrated with traditional hand-sewn tapestries.
Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, September...
The inaugural title of an entertaining new series introduces five 17th-century Chinese young monks, each with special powers, who must save their world from destruction by one of their fellow brethren gone...
Thirteen leftover travelers from a 323-passenger cancelled flight to Tokyo are left stranded overnight at the airport. They pass the time by each sharing a story – haunting, surprising, delicious, tales that span time...
A gorgeously rendered tale about yet another evil stepmother who turns the good and beautiful stepdaughter into the Loathsome Dragon, awaiting three kisses from her beloved but missing brother. Of course, since Bruno Bettelheim...
A collection of five tales, starring different birds, including a quail tale from Sri Lanka about the power of prayer and a swan story from China about lost-and-found ancestors.
Review: <a...
