The Magic Brocade: A Tale of China

by Aaron Shepard

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN SEVERAL ENGLISH ONLY, ENGLISH/SPANISH, ENGLISH/VIETNAMESE, AND ENGLISH/CHINESE (TRADITIONAL) TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS -- A READER'S THEATER SCRIPT OF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN AARON'S BOOK "FOLKTALES ON STAGE," OR FREE ON AARON'S WEB SITE. No brocades are more lovely or lifelike than the ones the widow weaves to sell at the marketplace. One day she returns home with a marvelous painting of a fairy palace, and her son Chen suggests that she weave the image as a brocade. Devoting all her loving skill, she creates the finest brocade of her life. But so fine it is that the fairies of the palace send a wind to carry it off for themselves. Knowing his mother will die without her beloved creation, Chen starts out after it. But the way to the fairy palace lies over Fiery Mountain and across the Icy Sea. Even if he gets there, will the fairies give up the brocade?

Genres: Asia

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Aaron Shepard is the author of many books, stories, and scripts for young people, as well as professional books and resources for writers and educators. He has also worked professionally in both storytelling and reader's theater, as a performer, director, and teacher trainer. Aaron's lively and meticulous retellings of folktales and other traditional literature have found homes with more than a dozen children's book publishers, large and small, and with the world's top children's literary magazines, winning him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. His extensive Web site, visited by thousands of teachers and librarians each week, is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater, while his stories and scripts have been featured in textbooks from publishers worldwide, including Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, SRA, The College Board, Pearson Education, National Geographic, Oxford University Press, Barron's, Hodder Education, and McGraw-Hill.

Reviews

[Elise Ravenclaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars just because it ends a bit abruptly and I wish it went on.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read two other versions of this tale, but this is the best (I think). At first I was unsure about the art, but by the end my doubts fell away. Unfortunately, I haven't read this tale with any of the kids, but my guess is that they'd rate it a 3.