A greedy emperor demands an impossible task from Lao Lao, a peasant woman who makes beautiful shapes from paper. Includes instructions for making traditional Chinese paper-cuts. - (Baker & Taylor)
Tells the story of a greedy emperor who demands an impossible task from Lao Lao, a peasant woman who makes beautiful shapes from paper - (Baker & Taylor)
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 1-3?This ambitious undertaking includes an original tale told in both English and Chinese, a brief description of the Chinese language, and directions and four patterns for making Chinese paper cuts. Lao Lao, who lives near the mountain where the Ice Dragon rules, is happiest making paper cuts while surrounded by children. Her fame spreads, and when the cruel emperor hears she can make anything, he imprisons her in a tower with a huge stack of fine white paper and orders her to produce jewels. The Ice Dragon comes to her rescue, turning the emperor and his guards into pillars of ice and taking Lao Lao up into the sky, from where her cuttings fall to the ground as snowflakes. This ordinary telling doesn't quite satisfy, in part because the idea of Lao Lao's paper cuts being anything other than paper is not fully developed. The illustrations, which look like Chinese paintings mounted on faintly patterned silk, are rather flat. The paper cuts are intriguing but require the dexterity of children older than those who will most appreciate the story.?Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA