Lon Po Po

Bibliography:

Young , Ed. Lon Po Po.  Scholastic, Inc. New York, NY. 0-59044069-1.

Plot Summary:

This book is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood.  It is the story of three sisters who are left home alone while their mother goes to visit their grandmother PoPo.  A mean wolf comes to their house and pretends to be PoPo, but the sisters will not be outsmarted. The sisters work together and convince the wolf that he should allow them to hoist him into the tree to eat some Ginko nuts.  The clever sisters outwit the evil wolf and tell their mother all about it when she returns home.

Critical Analysis:

Lon Po Po won the Caldecott Medal in 1990. The pictures are in dark, watercolors and add to the suspense of the story.  Ed Young does a nice job of retelling an American favorite with a Chinese twist. He incorporates Chinese elements into the story such as Ginko nuts, the names of the girls, Shang, Tao, and Paotz and the name they refer to their grandmother by, Po Po.  The clever way the sisters trick the wolf and get away would be interesting to children. I do feel the pictures are a little bit scary for small children. I also wonder why Ed Young chose to draw the sisters all looking so much alike. In one illustrations the sisters look almost identical except each is a little larger than the other.

Review Excerpts:

School Library Journal:  The text possesses that matter-of-fact veracity that characterizes the best fairy tales.  The watercolor and pastel pictures are remarkable: mystically beautiful in their depiction of the Chinese countryside, menacing in the exchanges with the wolf, and positively chilling in the scenes inside the house. Overall, this is an outstanding achievement that will be pored over again and again.

Connections:

This website is a wealth of information on everything related to the book LonPoPo

http:.www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/lonpopo.html

http://web.bsu.edu/00smtancock/Cyberlesson/LonPoPo/

http://www.uvm.edu/~outreach/units/LonPoPo.pdf