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Cricket Boy: A Chinese Tale
A poor Chinese scholar is invited to match his cricket in a fight against the Emperor's. Then his son accidentally kills the cricket.
- GenresChina
46 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1977
3 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Feenie Ziner
16 books2 followersFeenie Ziner is Professor of English Emerita at the University of Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 21, 2013
In this Chinese tale father and son bond over the hobby of collecting crickets for the purpose of fighting them. When the son accidentally breaks the back of their prizefighter who is set to square off against the Emperor's crickets the boy attempts to drown himself.
When the father figures out what has happened he sits at the boy's bedside willing him to live and awake from the coma he is in. The father discovers another cricket beneath a rock after a spirit vision sent him to find it and the cricket defeats the Emperor's cricket.
The Emperor offers the father a wish and the father wishes only for the impossible: for his son to live. His wish is granted and the boy tells fantastic tales of dreaming he was squaring off against the Emperor's cricket. Could it be? Readers decide for themselves.
Watercolor and ink illustrations in an earth tone palette appear in the round mirroring lengthy text.
This story was eh for me. I didn't like the suicide attempt, though the Dorothy-like quality of awaking from the coma with tales of defeating the Emperor's cricket was kind of cool.
When the father figures out what has happened he sits at the boy's bedside willing him to live and awake from the coma he is in. The father discovers another cricket beneath a rock after a spirit vision sent him to find it and the cricket defeats the Emperor's cricket.
The Emperor offers the father a wish and the father wishes only for the impossible: for his son to live. His wish is granted and the boy tells fantastic tales of dreaming he was squaring off against the Emperor's cricket. Could it be? Readers decide for themselves.
Watercolor and ink illustrations in an earth tone palette appear in the round mirroring lengthy text.
This story was eh for me. I didn't like the suicide attempt, though the Dorothy-like quality of awaking from the coma with tales of defeating the Emperor's cricket was kind of cool.
December 4, 2016
First, I put off reading this book for a while because for a kids' book, there were a lot of words and not many pictures. But once I started, I finished it in one sitting because I wanted to see how things would turn out.
Second, the artwork just isn't for me. The story deserves 4 stars, and the pictures look appropriately Chinese, but are just too dull.
Third, my favorite part of this book is seeing the ways we are all alike (e.g., father's and grandmother's love for Hu Sing). And even the cultural differences (i.e., who would attach so much importance and prestige to cricket fighting?) show how alike we basically are (we may not care about crickets, but are even more focused on professional sports teams and players).
Second, the artwork just isn't for me. The story deserves 4 stars, and the pictures look appropriately Chinese, but are just too dull.
Third, my favorite part of this book is seeing the ways we are all alike (e.g., father's and grandmother's love for Hu Sing). And even the cultural differences (i.e., who would attach so much importance and prestige to cricket fighting?) show how alike we basically are (we may not care about crickets, but are even more focused on professional sports teams and players).
December 29, 2010
this is my project ...... my xerox copy! i miss placed it! :/
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews