The Frog In The Well
Retold by Irene Y. Tsai,
Illustrated by Pattie Caprio, Translated by Joyce Lin
Reviewed by A. E. Jaskiewicz
Are you a
Frog or a Sea Turtle? Not sure what that
means. Read The Frog In The Well to find
out. You may learn something about
yourself, and learn a little bit of a new language in the process.
The Frog In
The Well is a Chinese idiom. An idiom is
based on folklore, myth or historical fact and is used to demonstrate a
moral
teaching. This Chinese idiom is brought
to colorful life by Irene Tsai and Joyce Lin as the writers, and Pattie
Caprio
as the illustrator. The fun part about
this story is that it is written in English, with Chinese text beneath
or next
to the English. There are four forms of
Chinese text used on each page, Simplified Chinese, Pinyan (which is
Romanized
so readers can sound the words out), Traditional Chinese and Zhu Yin Fu
Hao. There is also an English/Chinese
dictionary at the back of the book which covers the basic words in the
text.
The story of
The Frog In The Well is about just what the title implies, a frog that
lives in
a well. The frog is happy, believing
that he is the best and smartest creature alive. For
him, the well is his world. Then one day,
he meets a Sea Turtle and
learns much about not only himself but also his way of thinking. The story is good to show children that they
need to keep their minds open, and never believe that they have learned
all
they need to know.
The
illustrations of the book enhance the story.
The text and pictures work together beautifully to bring the
idiom to
life in a way that children will enjoy.
Kids will love the bold colors that help bring the story to life. The pictures will help make kids want to keep
coming back to the book.
The fact
that the book is bilingual is also a plus for children.
They will have fun learning even just a
little bit of a new language. I’m sure
that even parents will try their hand at reading and sounding out the
Chinese
text. The added bonus is that four forms
of Chinese text are included, providing both traditional Chinese
symbols with a
version of text that even beginners can sound out.
The
Frog In
The Well is a book that children will not only enjoy, but also be able
to learn
from. The core message of the story
alone is a good learning tool for kids.
But, it should also be noted that bilingual books are beneficial
for
children, especially at a young age when their minds are forming. This book in particular is interesting
because it covers a language which is not as widely used in bilingual
books. Definitely worth a read.
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