Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook

Gr 4 Up—This is a fine collection of quintessential Chinese fairy tales and recipes. The stories are told with tangy and intriguing details that invite American readers to consider the Chinese perspective. The symbiosis between the recipes and the stories is impressive; paired with each dish is a traditional tale. Yee and Wang share the Chinese characters that go with proverbs that pair traditionally with dishes. The stories are short, requiring only 15 or 20 minutes to read aloud. The renditions of the tales are impressive and will be appreciated by a wide age range; they are easy to read but not oversimplified. While this work has the potential for broad appeal, it does not have an obvious niche in most K—12 collections; librarians would be wise to promote and display this unique offering in order to get it into the right hands.