The Great Wall of China

We are still learning about China, and our favorite book this week is Ms. Frizzle's Adventures:  Imperial China by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen.  During a Chinese New Year's celebration, Ms. Frizzle (the teacher from the Magic School Bus series); a Chinese-American student, Wanda; Wanda's older brother Henry; and the ever-reluctant Arnold travel back in time 1000 years and arrive in a farmers' village in China. While there, they learn to grow rice, eat with chopsticks, and make silk. Ms. Frizzle and her students travel by barge, cart, and foot to the Great Wall and finally to the capital city. The endnotes explain which aspects of the story are historically accurate and where the author and illustrator have taken small liberties.  Small panels on each page highlight facts about Imperial China, such as items first invented in China, how to bow, and the basics of writing.

C and R made their own Great Wall out of blocks.  I loved that they kept looking at the picture of the Great Wall in the book to try to make their wall as accurate as possible.  They are both very intrigued by the Great Wall and have asked when we can go see it (not any time soon!).

China

I recently wrote about the new boy in C's class who moved to this country from China with his family.  C is very happy to have a new friend and to have the opportunity to learn a little about China.  I requested a few books from the library to add to C's learning experience.

The first book we read is The Dragon and the Phoenix retold by Lesley Sims.  This book is from the Usborne First Reading series and it was very easy for C to read, but he really enjoyed the story.  It is based on The Bright Pearl, a folktale from China.  We learned that dragons and phoenixes are often shown together in Chinese stories.  As if dragons aren't cool enough, C is now very intrigued by phoenixes and hopes to read more stories about both of these creatures.  At the end of the book, there are a few pages of puzzles (spotting differences, finding opposites, putting pictures in order, etc.); C enjoyed these.

C, R, and I all enjoyed Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story from China.  The story is very similar to Cinderella, but according to information in the book, this story is at least 1,000 years older than the earliest known Western version of Cinderella.  I was very proud when C and R began comparing this Chinese version to the Western version - they did this on their own and it became a competition to see who could come up with the most differences.  

C is for China by Sungwan So is a photographic alphabet book featuring the culture and beauty of China.  We enjoyed this book, but liked the next one better.

C and R both enjoyed Look What Came From China by Miles Harvey.  We learned about inventions, food, animals, toys, musical instruments and more that came from China.  At the end of the book there are a few English words translated into Chinese and there is a recipe for fried rice.  Usually, I can't resist recipes in books like this, but C and R do not like rice so I had to skip this one.  One thing we all learned is that fortune cookies were not invented in China; they are a U.S. invention.

After reading this book, I gave C and R maps of China and they drew some of the things that came from China.

C drew a dragon, fireworks, a bowl of noodles, a peach, a goldfish, and a Panda Bear.  Did you know that the Chinese were the first people to discover the flavor of the peach?  They used to think that by eating a lot of peaches, you would live forever!

R drew an abacus, fireworks, a bowl of noodles, and a cup of tea.


To find out what other children are reading, visit What My Child is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

A New Friend for C

Recently, a new boy joined C's first grade class.  This boy is from China and is just learning to speak English.  C is very excited about his new friend and about the opportunity to learn a little about China.

The class has learned a few Chinese words and they even practiced drawing/writing a few of the words.

We are going to look for a few good books about China, but since many of my blogland friends have studied other countries, I thought I would begin by asking for book suggestions.  If you have read any good books about China, please leave me a comment and feel free to leave a link to a post if you have one with books about China!