The Year of the Panda

by Miriam Schlein

Book Overview

Daxiong mao is rare and mysterious, like a god, living in the midst of the mountains. Strange things are happening on Lu Yi's farm. First, some men from the Chinese government ask Lu Yi's father to sell the property that has belonged to the family for generations. Then a giant panda appears in a neighbor's field, A rare occurrence, given the farm's distance from the high-mountain bamboo forests that pandas inhabit.Lu Yi has a feeling that the two...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064403661
• ISBN13: 9780064403665
• Release Date: October 1992
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.2" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Panda O.A.T

I am a kid in Kendall Elementary 6th who loves to read books. My Nina {godmother} and I really like the year of the panda it was os interesting I read it again. I learned alot of new things like for incense the differnt types of bambo like thet some bambo is twisted, or some is purple.... I'd like to give a shot out to my friends MCN, HB, DA, AL, BL, MA, CA

A review by 6 Fifth-Graders (TDL, SYZ, KL, RL, JH, BL)

We are six fifth graders that read a book called The Year of the Panda by Miriam Schlein. This book is mostly about a boy named Lu Yi and his panda. One day, the Chinese goverment sent two men to tell Lu Yi's parents to move, so it can use their lands to save the pandas. But Lu Yi's parents said "no". Later, Lu Yi and his father went to to the mountain to chop wood. Then they found a baby panda, brought him home, and gave it milk. Lu Yi named the panda, Su Lin. Then messengers came and said "Whoever finds a panda must bring it to the Rescue Center and you will get 300 yuan." Lu Yi didn't talk about the panda because he didn't want anyone to find out about Su Lin, but his father wants the reward of 300 yuan. So Lu Yi's father tells the messengers about Su Lin. The Chinese goverment were planning to drop food for the pandas because their bamboo was dying out. The Chinese goverment ask the villagers if it could use their lands for the Chinese government's plan. What would happen if the bamboo died out forever? Would Su Lin die if the bamboo dried out forever? Would the panda become extinct? This story is very nice because we learned new information about pandas. For example, we learned that there are a lot of different colored bamboo. Also, pandas in Chinese are called daxiong mao. We enjoyed this book because it taught us a lesson. The lesson we learned is to take care of the endangered animals before they become extinct. We liked this book because the Chinese government cared about the animals. Some of us think Lu Yi did the right thing to keep Su Lin because he could save the panda for now. But some of us think Lu Yi did the wrong thing because it might have been dangerous to give the panda other milk. It might have killed Su Lin. We think Lu Yi is taking good care of the panda. We liked the part when Su Lin urinated on the bed because it was very humorous. We didn't like the part when Lu Yi had to give the panda to the Rescue Center because we felt sad that they would never see each other again. We recommend this book to all ages of people but especially those interested in science. We think this book would be an appropniate book for people who enjoy pandas.

Doing the Right Thing for Animals

The Year of the Panda by Miriam Schlein is a very good story. Inever knew what was going to happen to the panda. I loved this storybecause it's so happy and suspenseful. It tells a story of a boy whofinds a baby panda in the forest beside his mother who had died. Heasked his mom and dad if he could keep the baby panda. They sayyes. The boy's name is Lu Yi. He takes care of the baby panda for along time. [...] I recommend this story for kids 8-10 years old. Ithas big letters. Younger people wouldn't understand the story. It's agreat story. If you love animals, you have to read this story.

Great Classroom Book

I am an educator in Indianapolis and we have used this book in our 3rd grade class the last two years. This book offers a lot of insite into the lives of pandas and keeps the children interested until the end. We used this book along with other information about pandas. In addition, we held a Pennies for Pandas campaign to benefit the Pennies for the Planet campaign by the World Wildlife Fund. This book offers a great chance to explore Chinese words, like Daxiong Mao, and geography of China. Our 3rd graders loved this story, and so did I.

This book is fantastic for teaching about China and pandas.

As a 2nd grade teacher who does a 6 week unit on China, I love to use this book to teach about the plight of pandas, the life of Chinese farmers, and some of the differences between our two cultures. Because the main character in the book is close to the age of the children I teach, they can relate to him when he rescues the baby panda and takes care of it. Ms. Schlein does a fantastic job of writing a story which evokes caring for wildlife. In addition to teaching about pandas, I also use the book to kick off "Pennies for Panda." In this campaign, we collect pennies(and any other money donations) and send it to World Wildlife Fund to assist in panda rescue. Without this book, my unit on China would not be as rich and the children's knowledge about China as extensive as it is.