Why Snails Have Shells: Minority and Han Folktales from China

by Carolyn Han, Li Ji (Illustrator), Ji Li (Illustrator)

The twenty stories that comprise this collection reflect some of the ethnic diversity of China. Through a cast of familiar animals we get a glimpse of the cultures from which the stories emanate, and we see that the world is interconnected and the planet quite small. The tales show that our similarities are much greater than our differences. Besides their literary value, these tales convey moral instruction.
The second part of the book gives background information about the nationalities from which the tales have been selected. Carolyn Han describes the geographical area each group occupies and its social life and customs.
Each tale is enhanced with an illustration by Li Ji, an artist and lecturer at Yunnan Art Institute of Kunming, China. He brings to this volume his first-hand knowledge of minority peoples and a deep understanding and love for animals and the environment.

73 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

Reviews

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting folk tales from China that we read in our homeschool history class.

[Csenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short and sweet animal tales from several Chinese ethnicities. I appreciated the collection notes in the introduction and the short chapters on the ethnic groups in the end, they rounded out the reading experience.