The Greatest Treasure
Written by: DEMI
Illustrated by: DEMI
Published by: Scholastic Press in NY in 1998
Genre: Traditional Literature (folklore) (Multicultural Work)
Ages: grades K-2
Summary: This story parallels two Chinese men named Pang and Li. Pang is a wealthy man who loves to count his money, but has little time to spend with his children because of it. Li is a carefree poor man who plays the flute and enjoys time with his family dancing. One day Pang loses count of his money because of all the flute playing and decides to give Li something that will occupy his time so he will play the flute less often--a bag full of gold coins. The trick does work because Li becomes so preoccupied with counting, recounting, and finding a hiding place for his gold that several days pass without him being able to play the flute and be merry with his family. Soon, he realizes what has happened to his life and decides to give the money back to Pang with a special gift of his own handmade flutes for Pang's entire family. In the end, both families are much happier with their flute-playing than with the money.
Response: This book is great for teaching about the Chinese culture as well as about money. The Chinese culture is well-represented in this book by the proverbs taught throughout. They include: "With money you are a dragon, without it you are a worm" (3), "He who had heaven in his heart is never poor" (17), and "Gold and silver have their price, but peace and happiness are priceless" (24). Even without the cultural connection to China, these proverbs are good morals for children to understand. Money is important in our world, but to some people like Pang, it has become too important and has taken over people's lives. Children should come to understand that that situation is wrong. The first proverb teaches that money makes one mean, the second teaches that what is in one's heart matters more than what is in one's pocket, and the third teaches that no amount of money can buy peace or happiness. What great lessons for children!
This book also teaches much about Chinese culture through the illustrations. DEMI uses circles on every page in which to place his illustrations. My thought is that the circle represents the world and that, because readers are learning about the Chinese and those are the only figures in the pictures, the circles represent the "Chinese world." The illustrator used Chinese inks and brushes to create his work. Due to this, there exists little to no texture in the work. In order to place the art in a book, it "was reproduced using four-color separations and then overprinted with gold." Utilizing more than one type of illustration,, such as is the case here, is called mixing media. All the characters in this story is wearing traditional Chinese clothing in vibrant colors. The characters also wear traditional Chinese hats and don wild hairstyles. The illustrations are very detailed although the characters are relatively small in each illustration.
Teaching Connections: A great activity for students in coordination with this book is to have them form groups and research parables from other cultures, ie Japanese, Russian, etc. Then have them present a story to the class that revolves around those parables.
Teachers could also ask students to think of parables that we have in our culture and then have a class discussion about what they mean. Learning from one another about parts of our own culture is always great!
Written by: DEMI
Illustrated by: DEMI
Published by: Scholastic Press in NY in 1998
Genre: Traditional Literature (folklore) (Multicultural Work)
Ages: grades K-2
Summary: This story parallels two Chinese men named Pang and Li. Pang is a wealthy man who loves to count his money, but has little time to spend with his children because of it. Li is a carefree poor man who plays the flute and enjoys time with his family dancing. One day Pang loses count of his money because of all the flute playing and decides to give Li something that will occupy his time so he will play the flute less often--a bag full of gold coins. The trick does work because Li becomes so preoccupied with counting, recounting, and finding a hiding place for his gold that several days pass without him being able to play the flute and be merry with his family. Soon, he realizes what has happened to his life and decides to give the money back to Pang with a special gift of his own handmade flutes for Pang's entire family. In the end, both families are much happier with their flute-playing than with the money.
Response: This book is great for teaching about the Chinese culture as well as about money. The Chinese culture is well-represented in this book by the proverbs taught throughout. They include: "With money you are a dragon, without it you are a worm" (3), "He who had heaven in his heart is never poor" (17), and "Gold and silver have their price, but peace and happiness are priceless" (24). Even without the cultural connection to China, these proverbs are good morals for children to understand. Money is important in our world, but to some people like Pang, it has become too important and has taken over people's lives. Children should come to understand that that situation is wrong. The first proverb teaches that money makes one mean, the second teaches that what is in one's heart matters more than what is in one's pocket, and the third teaches that no amount of money can buy peace or happiness. What great lessons for children!
This book also teaches much about Chinese culture through the illustrations. DEMI uses circles on every page in which to place his illustrations. My thought is that the circle represents the world and that, because readers are learning about the Chinese and those are the only figures in the pictures, the circles represent the "Chinese world." The illustrator used Chinese inks and brushes to create his work. Due to this, there exists little to no texture in the work. In order to place the art in a book, it "was reproduced using four-color separations and then overprinted with gold." Utilizing more than one type of illustration,, such as is the case here, is called mixing media. All the characters in this story is wearing traditional Chinese clothing in vibrant colors. The characters also wear traditional Chinese hats and don wild hairstyles. The illustrations are very detailed although the characters are relatively small in each illustration.
Teaching Connections: A great activity for students in coordination with this book is to have them form groups and research parables from other cultures, ie Japanese, Russian, etc. Then have them present a story to the class that revolves around those parables.
Teachers could also ask students to think of parables that we have in our culture and then have a class discussion about what they mean. Learning from one another about parts of our own culture is always great!
(Image retrieved from http://www.childrensbooksforparents.com/books/0590313398.jpg 19 April 2008)
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