Today Caramel is talking to Sprinkles about Mysterious Tales of Japan, written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi, originally published in 1996.
Caramel reviews Mysterious Tales of Japan, written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about Mysterious Tales of Japan, another one of those books you read for that Asian Myths and Legends summer course you took a while back.
S: Yes, I think you are completing the set today. But this one is a bit different from the others, right? The stories are a bit spooky, I am guessing.
C: Spooky? No, they’re not that spooky. But yes, there are ghosts and spirits and such.
S: I see. Then please tell me a bit more about the book.
C: It has some stories shared with some of the others, like “Ho-Ichi the Earless” and “Urashimmo Taro”, which I had already read in Tamamo the Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories. Besides these, there are eight other stories, and I had not read those before; they were all new to me.
S: That’s cool Caramel. So ten stories and eight of them were totally new for you. Tell me a bit about the new stories.
C: The other eight stories are “Green Willow”, “The Snow Woman”, “Kogi”, “The Crane Maiden”, “The Pine of Akoya”, “A Frog’s Gift”, “The Boy Who Drew Cats”, and “Black Hair”. They are all about five pages or so.
Caramel is reading Mysterious Tales of Japan, written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi.
S: Okay, so tell me a bit about these stories. Any one that surprised you?
C: No, not really; most of the stories are sort of similar to others that I read before.
S: Okay, so I guess you are getting used to Japanese folk tales and their general feel. Then, maybe tell me which was the most interesting? Or the spookiest?
C: I think that “Ho-ichi the Earless” is the spookiest.
S: I remember that story from the other book. It was quite weird and spooky, I agree. But that book was basically a graphic novel adaptation, so it was very visual. Left not much to your imagination.
C: This book has pictures, too, but only one or two for each story. So you have a lot more to imagine.
S: That can sometimes be scarier.
C: True. Sometimes the imagining is the part where I like real books over picture books. Let me think about what I want the main character to look like. Let me think about how the house the author is describing actually looks like. And so on. And the pictures in this book are not all very detailed. They give you a feel for the story, but you still have a lot more to imagine on your own.
S: Yes, the pictures are beautiful and evocative, but you are right, they are not very detailed. They leave much room to create in your own imagination. So for example, the two stories you had already read before in that other book: when you were reading them here, did you have some new imagery in your mind to go along with the story line?
C: Yeah, sometimes the space not drawn is the spookiest. It definitely was like that for me for “Ho-ichi the Earless”.
S: Cool, thanks for all this Caramel. I think we have enough for a post, so maybe this is a good time to wrap things up.
C: Sure, why not?
S: Great! What would you like to say to our readers as your closing words?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel appreciated reading Mysterious Tales of Japan, written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi, and recommends it to all other young bunnies, but maybe they should think about reading it with a grownup bunny so they don’t get too scared.
Caramel reviews Favorite Children’s Stories from China and Tibet, written by Lotta Carswell Hume and illustrated by Lo Koon-Chiu.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, here we are, talking about another neat collection of stories!
Caramel: Yes, this one has stories from China and Tibet.
S: Tell me more.
C: Well, let me see. There are eighteen stories. Each of them is about three to seven pages long. And there are a lot of pictures. I really liked them!
S: Yeah, I saw that there are a lot of colorful illustrations. Apparently they were made by a Chinese artist named Lo Koon-Chiu.
C: That makes sense. Because a lot of the stories are Chinese. But the person who wrote them does not sound like a Chinese person. And I don’t know too many Tibetan names, but the author’s name does not sound Tibetan either.
S: You are right. The author was apparently from Baltimore, USA, and then got married and moved to Asia with her husband. She lived in China and India for decades, and her children got to hear a lot of traditional Chinese stories. So this is a collection she put together to share those stories with children who would read or be read to in English.
C: I see. Then she did not write the stories herself. That makes a lot more sense now.
S: Yeah, I was curious too, and then looked it all up. Anyways talk a bit about the stories. Can you tell which stories are from Tibet and which are from China?
C: Yes. There is a little note under the story title for each one. So there are five stories from Tibet. The rest are from China. But they separated those, too. Some are from West China, some from Southeast China, some from Central China, and so on.
S: Hmm, I guess that makes sense. China is a big country. Maybe they did not want to go into detail about the exact geography of China and give the province names and such.
C: I guess. But there are a lot more stories from China, so maybe they just split the Chinese stories so they would not look too uneven.
S: Interesting! That could be a good reason, too, Caramel.
Caramel is reading Favorite Children’s Stories from China and Tibet, written by Lotta Carswell Hume and illustrated by Lo Koon-Chiu.
S: Anyways, so why don’t you tell me more about the stories themselves?
C: Well, there is a story like Cinderella, and it is called A Chinese Cinderella, And there is this story about a woman who is called Mrs. Number Three who is an innkeeper.
S: That is a very strange name!
C: It is not her real name, but nobody knows her real name so they call her that. But the story is really interesting. Its name is “The Magic Pancakes at the Footbridge Tavern”. So as you can imagine, there are magic pancakes!
S: Oh, I know you love pancakes!
C: Yeah, but these are magic and you really don’t want to eat them.
S: Oh, that is interesting! I guess I just have to read the story to figure out what you mean.
C: Yep.
S: Okay, so that is two of the eighteen stories. What about the others?
C: A lot of the others are about animals. Like there is a Tibetan story about a tortoise and a monkey and another about some jackals and a tiger. And then there is another about a hungry wolf, and one about some mice.
S: Oh, that is interesting. Kind of like fables, I am guessing.
C: Yeah, kind of. But wait, it looks like the animal stories are almost all stories from Tibet. Some of the Chinese stories also have animals, but they also have people.
S: Very interesting observation, Caramel.
C: And then there are two stories like the ones we talked about before about how some things came to be the way they are. There is a story about how the rooster got its red crown and another about how the deer lost its tail. They are both from China.
S: Okay, so all in all it seems like you have enjoyed reading this book, right?
C: Yep!
S: Can you tell us if you have a favorite story?
C: No, I liked them all.
S: That is wonderful, Caramel. Okay, maybe this is a good time to wrap up this review. What would you like to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel enjoyed reading Favorite Children’s Stories from China and Tibet, written by Lotta Carswell Hume and illustrated by Lo Koon-Chiu, and recommends it to all the other little bunnies who enjoy reading or hearing short stories.
The book bunnies love various retellings of the classic fairy tales of the Western tradition, and through the years, they have reviewed many books that offered different takes on them. They also have explored, these past few months, several books that collect together fairy tales from geographies from around the world. Therefore they were delighted to learn that they made it to the list of 30 Best Fairy Tale Blogs and Websites in 2025, curated by Feedspot, a blog aggregation site.
To celebrate, today Caramel is reviewing yet another book of fairy tales: Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories, retold by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong, published originally in 2015. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Caramel reviews Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories, retold by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, what are we talking about today?
Caramel: Well, this is a book about the fairytales and stories that Vietnamese children would be told as they grew up.
C: Yeah, and just like those other books, this is a good book, too. I liked it a lot.
S: That sounds great! Tell us about it then.
C: This book contains fifteen stories that the author remembers from their own childhood. They were told these stories as they were growing up. Each story is around nine pages or so. The stories all contain some sort of moral, like most children’s stories do.
S: Yes, that is true; most fairy tales have some morals. The author Tran Thi Minh Phuoc writes in the introduction that all of the stories “paint a picture of a world that values the five great virtues: Nhan (compassion), Le (Rituals), Nghia (Righteousness), Tri (Wisdom), and Tin (Trust)”. What kinds of morals come up in these stories?
C: Don’t be greedy, be kind to others, and don’t be selfish.
S: Those seem like very standard morals, good values to pass on to young bunnies. Did you come across any that felt different?
C: No, not really. But there is a story called “Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg”, which, as you might guess, is about why ducks sleep on one leg.
S: Wait, does that one have a moral? What would it be?
C: I think it’s more of an explanation of why they sleep that way.
S: That is interesting. So not all have morals then. But all across different cultures, there are many traditional stories about how things are and they give explanations, sometimes humorous but always creative, about why things are the way they are.
C: Yes. Some of the stories do not have obvious morals, but they still contain at least an explanation of something interesting, like a duck’s behavior. There is another story, “Why The Sea Is Salty”, about why the sea is salty. And there is a story about a tradition and why it exists: “Why One Shouldn’t Sweep the House on Tet Nguyen Dan“.
Caramel is reading Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories, retold by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong.
S: I seem to recall a story about how the tiger got its stripes. The internet tells me it is also a Vietnamese story. Apparently such stories are called “pourquoi” stories, stories that purport to explain why some natural thing is the way it is. Anyways, does the story of the tiger stripes come up in this book?
C: I don’t believe so. But there is the origin story of the jade rabbit. The jade rabbit lives in the forest with his friends and his companion, the goddess Chang’e, and he makes immortality elixirs.
S: Wait, the jade rabbit is not a natural being. It is a mythical creature, isn’t it? And didn’t we read about it in another story before? And the goddess Chang’e?
C; Yeah, the moon goddess Chang’e appeared in one of the stories we talked about before from Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures. And I remember the jade rabbit from the movie Over The Moon, which we talked about when we discussed that book. Anyways, according to the story “The Jade Rabbit” in this book, the jade rabbit used to be a normal rabbit, who sacrificed himself to help someone who happened to be the jade emperor in disguise. The rabbit did not know this though. Then the emperor carried him to the moon, and the goddess Chang’e turned him into the jade rabbit, an immortal being who makes immortality elixirs.
S: That is neat Caramel! According to Wikipedia, the character of the jade rabbit shows up in many East Asian traditions. And how wonderful that we now know one of its origin stories!
C: Yeah, it’s cool. I told you this is a good book!
S: So you did. Okay now, please tell me a bit about the illustrations. I see that this is really a beautiful book.
C: Yes! The pictures are very interesting! They are made in the sort of painting type. I mean, the individual pictures look like they were made with water color and acrylic paint. Very pretty. Sometimes people look like they are floating and there is a lot of color.
S: Cool! Alright, so it seems like you approve of this book and would recommend it to other young bunnies?
C: Yeah, the stories were kind of made for younger bunnies. At least the book is very much meant for us.
S: Then maybe young bunnies like you can read the book on their own, and even younger ones can maybe get an adult bunny to read it to them.
C: Yeah that would be a good idea! They should do that!
S: Okay, Caramel. Thank you for this review. Do you want to say something to our readers as we wrap up this post?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel enjoyed reading Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories, retold by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc and illustrated by Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong, and recommends it to all young bunnies curious to hear more fairy tales from around the world.
In the summer of 2024, Caramel took an online course on Asian myths and legends and as part of this course, he read several books on the topic. He has already reviewed a couple of these for the book bunnies blog; see these here and here. Today he picked up a third book from that summer experience and is talking to Sprinkles about Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures, retold by Shelley Fu, illustrated by Patrick Yee, and published originally in 2018.
Caramel reviews Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures by Shelley Fu and Patrick Yee.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, I see you have for us another book about Asian myths and legends today.
Caramel: Yeah, and it is a very good one at that.
S: Please do tell us a bit about the book.
C: It is about Chinese myths. There are seven stories in it. The first one is “Pan Gu and The Creation of the Universe.”
S: That is quite sensible, to start at the beginning with a universal creation myth.
C: Yeah, it’s also cool, it’s a cool concept.
S: So how was the universe formed according to this story?
C: This guy named Pan Gu was holding the universe in a ball away from the earth or something similar, and he became satisfied and lay down and became part of the earth.
S: Hmm, you say some guy, but if he was holding the universe, he is probably not just a regular person. Maybe a giant.
C: Yeah, he is a god.
S: Interesting! In Greek mythology, too, there is a giant deity named Atlas who carries the world on his shoulders.
C: Yeah, that is interesting. I guess a lot of people thought about how the world began.
S: It is an interesting question after all, no? Anyways, there is a long and detailed Wikipedia article on Pan Gu too, if our readers want to know more. We can maybe move on. You said there were six more stories in the book.
C: Yes, let me see. The next one is “Nu Wo: The Mother of Mankind.” It is told in six parts, and it is about the creator of humans, Nu Wo.
S: That is interesting. So the universe was created by one deity and humans were created by another. Or are these competing theories of creation?
C: Yup, there are two creators, one of earth, and the other of humans.
S: That is very interesting. In the three Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there is one creator who created everything. But Chinese mythology takes a different path.
C: Yeah, it’s cool, isn’t it?
S: Yes, very much so. I looked it up and will link to the Wikipedia article for Nu Wo (apparently more typically called NuWa) in case some of our readers want to learn more about her.
C: Good idea!
Caramel is reading Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures by Shelley Fu and Patrick Yee.
S: So that makes two stories. What comes after?
C: Then the next is “Ho Yi the Archer,” about a god loving another god. Ho Yi himself is an archer and a god, and he is married to a goddess of the moon. This story has five parts.
S: That is neat Caramel. I looked up this character, too, and the Wikipedia article about him made me realize we watched an animated movie that retold the story of Ho Yi and his wife, the lunar deity Chang’e. Do you remember it?
C: Yes, I do! It was called Over the Moon! It was a really good movie, and a bit strange. Can we maybe put a link to the trailer so our readers can see it a bit too?
S: Sure: here it is:
C: Thank you, and now for the next one! This one is a bit longer, and has nine parts. It is about the Monkey King, who is a monkey that becomes immortal and angers the gods.
S: Yes, I see that this chapter is titled “Journey to the West”. It is the story of the Monkey King, who angers the gods because of his impetuousness, and then travels to the West to find some scrolls of wisdom. There is a whole Wikipedia article about the classical version of the story too.
C: Yes, the book version is also neat. And we watched a TV series about it a while back; maybe you remember?
S: Yeah! When you said that I looked it up, and apparently there are many movies animated and not, about the Monkey King. But the one we watched was really funny.
C: Though it did get violent and a bit scary sometimes.
S: True. But we can still put a link to the trailer of The New Legends of Monkey!
C: Yes, good idea!
S: Okay, here goes:
S: So what other stories are there in the book? You told us about four so far. There should be three more.
C: Well, there is one called “The Man in the Moon” and it is one of the shorter stories. It is about a kid who saved a bird and he got rewarded with treasure, and another boy is angry and is bad and gets punished with being sent to the moon.
S: Hmm, the moon sounds like it could be lonely and cold.
C: yeah but he is busy attempting to cut a tree down, and guess who else is there?
S: Who?
C: Ho Yi’s wife!
S: Oh cool! Small world! Or rather, small solar system, I guess!
C: Exactly.
S: Does she teach the boy a lesson or help him somehow?
C: No, he ignores her.
S: That is not a good idea, to ignore a goddess.
C: Yeah, but she was in trouble too, so it’s most likely fine.
S: So interesting that the stories are kind of intertwined! Okay, so there are two more stories left.
C: Yes, the sixth one is “The Story of the White Snake,” and this is one of the longest stories in the book. It has twelve parts. It is about two snakes or snake spirits, one who wants to see humans and their world, and another one who wants to complete their training in immortality. But they do go into the human world and the first snake spirit falls in love with a human. And then it all goes wrong.
S: I remember this story! Here is the Wikipedia article about it in case our readers are curious to read more. I also remember we watched a Chinese opera about this legend!
C: Yes, that was also kind of different. Maybe we can put a link to that video, too.
S: Sure, why not? Here it is:
C: Thanks. It is very long. This video is only one part of two and it is already one and a half hours, but it will still give people an idea of the story.
S: And also they will get an idea of what classical Chinese opera is like, if they don’t already know.
C: Yeah, that is a good point. Anyways the last story is “The Heavenly River” and it is also one of the shorter stories. It is about a cowherd who is treated badly by his sister-in-law. When he comes into some money, she wants some of it, and he doesn’t want to give any money, so he asks some gods and goddesses for guidance. He meets a weaver girl, who is not just a girl but maybe a deity herself. When they try to run away from their duties, they are separated and sent to the two opposite sides of the Milky Way. They can only see each other every seven years.
C: Well, they can also just read this book! I mean it is really a neat book. And it has really cool illustrations on each page. And if you really want, there are notes in the back about each story, so curious bunnies could learn even more about them.
S: Yes, of course. Our readers can just read this book! It seems like you really enjoyed it. This is one of our longest reviews so far!
C: Yup, I did like it and there was a lot to talk about. A lot of interesting stories that I had not heard before.
S: This sounds like a good place to end this post then, upbeat and enthusiastic.
C: Yup, I agree.
S: So what do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel enjoyed reading Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures by Shelley Fu and Patrick Yee and recommends it to other young bunnies interested in learning about the famous stories of people from around the world.
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