What do you think?
Rate this book
Fu Finds The Way
When the warrior Chang challenges young Fu to a duel, Fu panics. His only hope is that the Master will train him, just as he’s trained all the young warriors of the village. But instead of teaching Fu to fight, the Master teaches him…to pour tea. Fu learns purpose , flow and patience in the process, but will it be enough to defeat the mighty Chang?
With his signature breathtaking art, John Rocco has created a modern parable full of adventure, heart, humor, and a gentle message about the importance of focus and finding joy in simple tasks.
With his signature breathtaking art, John Rocco has created a modern parable full of adventure, heart, humor, and a gentle message about the importance of focus and finding joy in simple tasks.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
73 people want to read
About the author
John Rocco
71 books138 followersRocco studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is the author of four acclaimed books for children: Wolf! Wolf!, winner of the Borders Original Voices Award for best picture book; Moonpowder, part of the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators; Fu Finds the Way, and Blackout, a New York Times Best Book of the Year and winner of a 2012 Caldecott Honor. Rocco also illustrated Whoopi Goldberg‘s Alice and the covers for Rick Riordan‘s multi-million copy internationally bestselling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and The Heroes of Olympus. Most recently, Rocco illustrated the fantasy fairy tale, The Flint Heart, written by Katherine Paterson and her husband, John.
me with samFor many years Rocco has been an art director in the entertainment industry, both in the US and abroad. At Dreamworks, Rocco was the pre-production art director on the top-grossing animated film Shrek. For Walt Disney Imagineering, he designed attractions at Disney’s Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest, a virtual reality theme park in Downtown Disney. Rocco has worked with computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel, the creator of some of the first CGI commercials and special effects, and contributed to several museum projects including Newseum in Washington D.C. and Paul Allen‘s Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
Rocco lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Aileen and their daughter, Alaya.
me with samFor many years Rocco has been an art director in the entertainment industry, both in the US and abroad. At Dreamworks, Rocco was the pre-production art director on the top-grossing animated film Shrek. For Walt Disney Imagineering, he designed attractions at Disney’s Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest, a virtual reality theme park in Downtown Disney. Rocco has worked with computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel, the creator of some of the first CGI commercials and special effects, and contributed to several museum projects including Newseum in Washington D.C. and Paul Allen‘s Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
Rocco lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Aileen and their daughter, Alaya.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 11, 2011
When I first read this book, all I was taking from it was patience, purpose, and flow lead to the "way" but I was unsure of what the "way" was. I re-read this book a few times and liked the lessons being taught, but felt as though the storyline was a little slow in keeping my attention. Still unsure exactly what was meant by the way, I tried re-reading with the author's note in mind. Knowing the story behind this book really helped me to keep better focus and see into the story. When reading this book to children, mentioning the author's note and purpose for writing this book will make the story more interesting.
May 16, 2022
The visuals are beautiful. It is great to introduce some Chinese fantasy to young readers. My daughter enjoyed reading it with me.
June 3, 2011
Beautiful art work that makes you feel you are in another place. A sweet story about practice and patience.
September 7, 2016
an excellent book about the value of patience and having purpose.
June 3, 2012
5 stars for the illustrations, but 2-3 for the text, and I just couldn't quite bring myself to give the overall effort more than 3 stars.
A young boy, Fu, accidentally angers a mighty warrior, who challenges him to a duel. In a panic, Fu goes to the village master and begs the master to teach him how to fight before the duel the next day. The village master tells him to pour tea and instructs Fu in the art of the tea ceremony. In pouring tea all night, Fu learns purpose, flow and patience. The next day, still not knowing how to fight, he asks the warrior if he can serve him tea before the duel. After "nine perfect rounds of tea", the warrior says he will not fight Fu, because Fu has "the Way". "The Way" is not explained.
The illustrations truly are beautiful. There's a wonderful element of magical realism -- sometimes the master's head is as big as Fu, and sometimes the master is "the size of a teacup." Fu suddenly finds himself in a bamboo forest, and standing in the wet leaves at the bottom of the teapot. (It may sound odd, but it works!) The text sometimes captures the mind of a young boy very nicely ("Fu could think of at least thirty-seven things that were more fun than planting rice"... with the illustrations showing the dragon that he's fighting off with a rice plant :) ). But overall, it felt a bit preachy, a bit heavy-handed, a bit esoteric/abstract, and bit too Karate Kid-ish. I kept thinking "wax on, wax off" as I read it!
So by all means pick up this book, but maybe talk to your child about the pictures and what might be going on rather than sticking slavishly to the text provided.
(Note: I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Disney Hyperion!)
A young boy, Fu, accidentally angers a mighty warrior, who challenges him to a duel. In a panic, Fu goes to the village master and begs the master to teach him how to fight before the duel the next day. The village master tells him to pour tea and instructs Fu in the art of the tea ceremony. In pouring tea all night, Fu learns purpose, flow and patience. The next day, still not knowing how to fight, he asks the warrior if he can serve him tea before the duel. After "nine perfect rounds of tea", the warrior says he will not fight Fu, because Fu has "the Way". "The Way" is not explained.
The illustrations truly are beautiful. There's a wonderful element of magical realism -- sometimes the master's head is as big as Fu, and sometimes the master is "the size of a teacup." Fu suddenly finds himself in a bamboo forest, and standing in the wet leaves at the bottom of the teapot. (It may sound odd, but it works!) The text sometimes captures the mind of a young boy very nicely ("Fu could think of at least thirty-seven things that were more fun than planting rice"... with the illustrations showing the dragon that he's fighting off with a rice plant :) ). But overall, it felt a bit preachy, a bit heavy-handed, a bit esoteric/abstract, and bit too Karate Kid-ish. I kept thinking "wax on, wax off" as I read it!
So by all means pick up this book, but maybe talk to your child about the pictures and what might be going on rather than sticking slavishly to the text provided.
(Note: I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Disney Hyperion!)
May 12, 2010
After having taken a course on multiculturalism in children's literature here's how this book rates:
Storyline: Character development but with sentimental story that students will most likely find boring, especially since they are expecting a battle.
Author: There is an author's note about how this story came about, but the author himself has no real authority or knowledge of the culture that is represented and gave no indication that any research was done on the culture.
Illustration: Slightly stereotyping, but there is some facial feature differences. Setting looks realistic to culture.
Text accuracy: Culture is clearly represented, names and tea ceremony are fitting to culture.
My son just picked this up at the library because he liked the picture on the front of the book. I think this story was heading in the right direction, the author just got a little too involved in such a simple idea that it will easily loose young readers.
The story is about a young Chinese boy who accidentally angers a soldier who then challenges the boy to a duel. Frightened the boy goes to the village's finest trainer and asks him to train him to fight. The teacher asks the boy to pour tea, in order to learn purpose, flow, and patience. When the final cup of tea is poured the boy finds it is already time to fight his duel and he hasn't even touched his sword. He arrives at the designated spot for the duel carrying just the teapot and offers the soldier some tea. As the boy pours the tea he shows the soldier he has learned purpose, flow, and patience, and the soldier departs without fighting the boy because the boy has shown that he has "The Way".
Storyline: Character development but with sentimental story that students will most likely find boring, especially since they are expecting a battle.
Author: There is an author's note about how this story came about, but the author himself has no real authority or knowledge of the culture that is represented and gave no indication that any research was done on the culture.
Illustration: Slightly stereotyping, but there is some facial feature differences. Setting looks realistic to culture.
Text accuracy: Culture is clearly represented, names and tea ceremony are fitting to culture.
My son just picked this up at the library because he liked the picture on the front of the book. I think this story was heading in the right direction, the author just got a little too involved in such a simple idea that it will easily loose young readers.
The story is about a young Chinese boy who accidentally angers a soldier who then challenges the boy to a duel. Frightened the boy goes to the village's finest trainer and asks him to train him to fight. The teacher asks the boy to pour tea, in order to learn purpose, flow, and patience. When the final cup of tea is poured the boy finds it is already time to fight his duel and he hasn't even touched his sword. He arrives at the designated spot for the duel carrying just the teapot and offers the soldier some tea. As the boy pours the tea he shows the soldier he has learned purpose, flow, and patience, and the soldier departs without fighting the boy because the boy has shown that he has "The Way".
October 23, 2013
Purpose, flow, and patience. These three aspects are the basis for the perfect tea, as well as many other activities in life. Having learned this on a trip, the author now teaches it to us through the story of an impatient boy who gets into a bit of trouble.
For this ancient teaching, the tale occurs in an ancient setting, represented with a painted style reminiscent of eastern art. Washed-out earthy tones dominate, giving both a sense of age, as well as a tranquil atmosphere. Therefore, in order to distinguish the boy from the background, he wears orangey-red clothes. Only one instance of red is brighter, and that is when he first meets the soldier with a temper.
Every few pages there is a panelled approach similar to eastern panelled screens. Little touches like this give the book a unique cultural feel that some others lack.
Fu learns his lesson from a teacher whose wisdom prevents a tragedy. His teaching method is a bit psychological, which makes it difficult for younger children to understand, but this soul searching aspect is a good reason to change. Fighting physically is not something we should do, rather words and actions should be read with compassion, and in the spirit of compromise and understanding.
For this ancient teaching, the tale occurs in an ancient setting, represented with a painted style reminiscent of eastern art. Washed-out earthy tones dominate, giving both a sense of age, as well as a tranquil atmosphere. Therefore, in order to distinguish the boy from the background, he wears orangey-red clothes. Only one instance of red is brighter, and that is when he first meets the soldier with a temper.
Every few pages there is a panelled approach similar to eastern panelled screens. Little touches like this give the book a unique cultural feel that some others lack.
Fu learns his lesson from a teacher whose wisdom prevents a tragedy. His teaching method is a bit psychological, which makes it difficult for younger children to understand, but this soul searching aspect is a good reason to change. Fighting physically is not something we should do, rather words and actions should be read with compassion, and in the spirit of compromise and understanding.
January 18, 2012
Gorgeous illustration using a muted palette to tell the story of preparing the fight the offended warrior Chang by learning to pour tea from the wizened Master. Rocco places the reader at unexpected angles that strengthen the sense of being at the edge of -- or in one case above -- the scene rather than just looking at a book. The Eastern mysticism in the story is pretty oblique, while the preferred path to the Way by process over impulsive reaction or honor is a bit too preachy for the children the book is intended for. But what sticks with me is Rocco's style in capturing the environment, and the character's expressions and gestures. And the author's note offers an interesting peek into the historical background to the story and his own experience and process of creating the book.
February 11, 2016
Where to begin...I dont know, this book is weird. It has a good setting, like ancient Asia, and its well illustrated, really giving you a promise that it will be an interesting book? Will the child get to defeat the dragon? Wrong.A strange story which just ends abruptly, basically gets cut off. I guess the message there is about patience, peace, purpose etc. Not really engaging. But still, how would young Fu learn to fight by pouring tea? Pictures are somewhat funny though and beautiful, like the Master having a very long neck, or the grimaces the characters make...so it can be a conversation piece for children. It gets a 2 out of 5. Waste of money to be honest, so dont judge a book by its good looking cover next time.
September 20, 2009
Lovely illustrations highlight this story of the ancient Chinese tea ceremony "Gong Fu." Young Fu hurries his way through things that don't interest him, and when he is forced to clean up a mess he made, he accidentally offends the much bigger and better-trained Chang. When Change challenges him to a duel he goes to the Master to learn to fight. The Master has different plans, however, and insists that Fu must learn to pour tea, instead, and to pour it with purpose, flow, and patience. How will Fu ever learn to fight if he spends all his time pouring tea?
Great opening line: Fu could think of at least thirty-seven things that were more fun than planting rice.
Great opening line: Fu could think of at least thirty-seven things that were more fun than planting rice.
Read
October 25, 2011Hmmm. Not sure. It's a little LSD and a little non-violent preachy. Pictures are wonderful of course because of John Rocco, but the overall effect is odd.
I think he was going for a Zen Shorts effect but it fell flat.
I think he was going for a Zen Shorts effect but it fell flat.
August 16, 2009
Most readers will find this story of a young boy preparing for a duel slow, but for those interested in Daoism, the tale shows one path that leads to the Way.
November 9, 2014
Cool story, bro.
August 3, 2012
An interesting story with an important message
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews