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The Long Haired Girl: A Chinese Legend
Below the Lei-gong Mountains, the villagers' newly planted crops are withering in the sun-scorched earth. The unmerciful God of Thunder refuses to send them rain. One day Ah-mei climbs high in the mountains and discovers the God of Thunder's secret spring. Plagued by his ruthless threats, Ah-mei challenges the god and risks her life to save her village. Full color.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1995
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About the author
Doreen Rappaport
62 books78 followersDoreen Rappaport has written many books of fiction and nonfiction for young readers, specializing in thoroughly researched multicultural history, historical fiction, retellings of folktales and myths, and stories of those she calls the "not-yet-celebrated." Among her recent books is Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier, which received a Caldecott Honor Award and a Coretta Scott King Honor Award for illustration. Doreen Rappaport divides her time between New York City and a rural village in upstate New York.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 22, 2013
When a long-lasting drought threatens life in her village, Ah-mei offers her own life as a sacrifice so that the people may have water. An old man places a statue as her substitute, so she can continue to live happily with her family.
A classic example of the Chinese value of sacrificing one's self for the benefit of the group, and thus a well-loved tale in Chinese culture. Yang Ming-Yi has created beautiful woodcuts printed on rice paper and painted with watercolor and ink to bring this touching legend to life.
A classic example of the Chinese value of sacrificing one's self for the benefit of the group, and thus a well-loved tale in Chinese culture. Yang Ming-Yi has created beautiful woodcuts printed on rice paper and painted with watercolor and ink to bring this touching legend to life.
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November 7, 2016Title: The Long-Haired Girl
Author: Doreen Rappaport
Illustrator: Yang Ming-Yi
Genre: Non-European folktale
Theme(s): good vs. evil, life and death
Opening line/sentence: “Ah-mei was so tired, she could barely lift her head to nod at the other villagers.”
Brief Book Summary: Ah-mei’s village is in a drought, and she and everyone in her village must walk very far to bring water back to their home. One day, Ah-mei finds a spring covered by a turnip, but the God of Thunder told her if she told anyone about it, that he would kill her. She leaves but is still very troubled because the people of her village need the water, so she tells them of the water even though she knows she must die. Then she runs into an old man who has a statue that looks just like Ah-mei, but he has to use her hair to cover the statue. The statue tricks the God of Thunder, and Ah-mei’s hair grows back, and she returns to her village.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Publishers Weekly
In this fine retelling of a Chinese legend, a terrible drought has come to the land near the Lei-Gong Mountains. When Ah-Mei discovers a secret spring of water as "sweet as pear juice," Lei-Gong, the God of Thunder, threatens her with death if she breathes a word of her discovery to anyone. Ah-Mei withers under the burden of this knowledge, longing to tell the villagers of the water source that could save their lives. Her raven hair fades and worry ravages her beauty. Finally, the sight of a suffering old man proves more than she can bear. In dramatic detail, Rappaport (previously teamed with Yang for The Journey of Meng) describes how the girl saves the village despite the risk of death, and then receives help from the once-suffering old man to thwart the vengeful Thunder God. Vivid writing captures Ah-Mei's courage, presenting her dilemma as tangible and relevant. Woodcuts complement the prose. With bold lines set against delicate backdrops in pastel colors, the art, while pleasingly simple, conveys considerable emotion and movement. Especially noteworthy is Yang's attention to costume.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Children’s Literature - Uma Krishnaswami
In a time when Lei-gong, the God of Thunder, is unrelenting and will not send rain, young Ah-mei finds the magic turnip that marks his secret spring. Lei-gong appears and warns her under threat of death not to reveal it to her people. But her silence weighs heavy on Ah-mei's soul, turning her pale and her long hair white. Finally, she cannot stand it any longer, and leads the villagers to the spring. In the manner of all mythology, the plot takes a few twists and turns. Finally, with the help of an old man, Ah-mei is saved from the wrath of Lei-gong, and the people are assured of a constant supply of water, even when the capricious god decides to withhold rain. Yang Ming-Yi's woodcuts beautifully illustrate this retold tale.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: My favorite sentence from review #1 is “With bold lines set against delicate backdrops in pastel colors, the art, while pleasingly simple, conveys considerable emotion and movement” because this accurately describes the entire book. Rappaport’s amazing pictures only add to the extreme detail in her words. Review #2 agrees that the pictures “beautifully illustrate” the story.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book has great pictures that I think children would really enjoy. The plot is a little boring, and in the end, everyone gets to live happily ever after, but it does also tell a story of right and wrong. Ah-mei chooses to give up her life so the people of her village can survive. The characters and storyline are very predictable though.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book could be used best as a read-aloud in an elementary classroom. Students can learn order of events from this book, and they can also learn to talk about character description. Students can work together or individually to note character differences and the good vs. evil themes.
Author: Doreen Rappaport
Illustrator: Yang Ming-Yi
Genre: Non-European folktale
Theme(s): good vs. evil, life and death
Opening line/sentence: “Ah-mei was so tired, she could barely lift her head to nod at the other villagers.”
Brief Book Summary: Ah-mei’s village is in a drought, and she and everyone in her village must walk very far to bring water back to their home. One day, Ah-mei finds a spring covered by a turnip, but the God of Thunder told her if she told anyone about it, that he would kill her. She leaves but is still very troubled because the people of her village need the water, so she tells them of the water even though she knows she must die. Then she runs into an old man who has a statue that looks just like Ah-mei, but he has to use her hair to cover the statue. The statue tricks the God of Thunder, and Ah-mei’s hair grows back, and she returns to her village.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Publishers Weekly
In this fine retelling of a Chinese legend, a terrible drought has come to the land near the Lei-Gong Mountains. When Ah-Mei discovers a secret spring of water as "sweet as pear juice," Lei-Gong, the God of Thunder, threatens her with death if she breathes a word of her discovery to anyone. Ah-Mei withers under the burden of this knowledge, longing to tell the villagers of the water source that could save their lives. Her raven hair fades and worry ravages her beauty. Finally, the sight of a suffering old man proves more than she can bear. In dramatic detail, Rappaport (previously teamed with Yang for The Journey of Meng) describes how the girl saves the village despite the risk of death, and then receives help from the once-suffering old man to thwart the vengeful Thunder God. Vivid writing captures Ah-Mei's courage, presenting her dilemma as tangible and relevant. Woodcuts complement the prose. With bold lines set against delicate backdrops in pastel colors, the art, while pleasingly simple, conveys considerable emotion and movement. Especially noteworthy is Yang's attention to costume.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Children’s Literature - Uma Krishnaswami
In a time when Lei-gong, the God of Thunder, is unrelenting and will not send rain, young Ah-mei finds the magic turnip that marks his secret spring. Lei-gong appears and warns her under threat of death not to reveal it to her people. But her silence weighs heavy on Ah-mei's soul, turning her pale and her long hair white. Finally, she cannot stand it any longer, and leads the villagers to the spring. In the manner of all mythology, the plot takes a few twists and turns. Finally, with the help of an old man, Ah-mei is saved from the wrath of Lei-gong, and the people are assured of a constant supply of water, even when the capricious god decides to withhold rain. Yang Ming-Yi's woodcuts beautifully illustrate this retold tale.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: My favorite sentence from review #1 is “With bold lines set against delicate backdrops in pastel colors, the art, while pleasingly simple, conveys considerable emotion and movement” because this accurately describes the entire book. Rappaport’s amazing pictures only add to the extreme detail in her words. Review #2 agrees that the pictures “beautifully illustrate” the story.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book has great pictures that I think children would really enjoy. The plot is a little boring, and in the end, everyone gets to live happily ever after, but it does also tell a story of right and wrong. Ah-mei chooses to give up her life so the people of her village can survive. The characters and storyline are very predictable though.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book could be used best as a read-aloud in an elementary classroom. Students can learn order of events from this book, and they can also learn to talk about character description. Students can work together or individually to note character differences and the good vs. evil themes.
July 2, 2012
The charmingly rendered woodcuts of artist Yang Ming-Yi are the highlight of this interpretation of an ancient Chinese legend. The story itself is a bit unusual and strange, concerning magical turnips, vengeful gods and a girl who challenges the wrath of the Thunder God to bring water to her drought plagued village. It is a curious and imperfect story. Children may be able to overlook it's shortcomings.
April 26, 2015
What a great book with great illustrations. I am really starting to admire Doreen Rappaport for all she tries to do for multicultural awareness. I liked how the girl in this folktale was willing to sacrifice her own life for the good of her village. This is a story of a true heroin.
April 9, 2010
story of chinese folk tale
March 28, 2012
It was nice =)
October 23, 2012
I loved reading this story about a brave long haired beauty who faced the wrath of a pagan god to help her people.
I want to reread this book again the moment I go to the library.
I want to reread this book again the moment I go to the library.
October 1, 2017
This legend tells of a girl who wants to bring water back to her village. In order to bring the water, she must die. She agrees to it in order to free her people from the drought. It is the creation story of the Lei-gong mountains and the white hair falls.
December 2, 2020
I first read this book when I was in elementary school. I always had a fascination with the story of Rapunzel and assumed that this was a retelling of that fairytale because of the front cover art, but it was something totally different. I ended up really enjoying this book, and after rereading it, I still think it’s a great book with beautiful illustrations and a fascinating retelling of a Chinese legend.
October 9, 2018
I enjoyed the cleverness at the end of the story. The six traits of writing are found in this book. The book has voice and the reader can sense that he or she is inside of the story.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews