The Year of the Sheep: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac

K-Gr 2—Young sheep Sydney and the shepherd's daughter Zhi "were best buddies who watched each other's back, took unusual strolls, and always swung for the fences." As in Chin's earlier introductions to animals of the Chinese zodiac, colloquial narrative and cartoon-style scenes sketch a year's activities shared by the featured animal and a child. The story here consists of bits of daily misadventure. In unsheeplike fashion, Sydney climbs to high places, getting caught in an apple tree and falling down a chimney. Zhi comes to the rescue most times, but midway in the telling, a plot develops in which Sydney discovers the problem in a damned-up river and rounds up animals, tame and wild, to carry out her plan. "Naturally everyone wasn't used to cooperating. Yet, big and small, they agreed to lend a hand" in applying a lever to move the large rock impeding the river's flow. Awkward in telling and construction, the story includes multiple lessons in basic engineering (STEM alert!), friendship and teamwork, and fundamentals of the Chinese zodiac, explained prior to the story and at the conclusion. The comical characters, most with large round eyes, move through meadows softly sketched in pretty colors. In the end, readers are invited to apply an app symbol to their iPads, where "kids will be locked in thanks to plenty of interactive games and activities, quality narration and music." With 2015 being the Year of the Sheep, some teachers in the early grades may like the possible uses.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston