Bitter Dumplings

By Jeanne M. Lee

Book Overview

A tasty, original story This striking picture book ends with a new beginning for three people who never expected to be friends an orphaned girl cast out by her siblings, a slave escaping from a mighty emperor's ship, and a hunchbacked old woman known for the bitter-melon and shrimp dumplings she brings to market each day and for living in a haunted house at the edge of the marshes. As their hardship-filled paths cross, each of their lives begins to change for the better, in a moving affirmation of the power of compassion. Set long ago in a Chinese village by the sea, Jeanne M. Lee's meticulously illustrated story has an extraordinary flavor all its own.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374399662
• ISBN13: 9780374399665
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 10.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 3

Customer Reviews

Bitter Beginnings, Sweet Future.....

"Long ago in the middle kingdom, in a village by the sea, there lived a girl called Mei Mei. She was a girl with no prospects." So begins Jeanne Lee's evocative folktale set in a fifteenth century Chinese village. When Mei Mei's father dies on the eve of her wedding, her brothers use her dowry to pay for an extravagant funeral, then take all his possessions for themselves, and throw her out of the house. Unable to marry and shunned by the village, she eventually finds work and shelter with the crippled old woman, Po Po, another outcast who makes and sells her bitter dumplings each day at the market. When the Emperor's treasure fleet sails into the harbor, a ship's slave escapes, and asks the two women to hide him, and this, the three find is the start of a new beginning for all of them..... Ms Lee's dramatic text is filled with history as her story unfolds, slowly, towards its happy and satisfying conclusion, and is complemented by eloquent illustrations in soft and muted colors. Together, word and art transport the reader to a far-away place and time. With an author's note filled with historical details that enhance the story, Bitter Dumplings is an engaging tale, perfect for youngsters 7-10, or as a read-aloud for younger children.