The Sons of the Dragon King: A Chinese Legend

The Sons of the Dragon King: A Chinese Legend

Author: Ed Young

Illustrated by: Ed Young

Copyright:  2004

Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Number of pages: 23

Genre: Traditional Literature-Multicultural

I just happened to find this book by accident one day.  This is the story of the Dragon King.  He had nine sons.  When they grew up they moved away.  The king began to hear rumors about his sons.  The Dragon King observes what everyone else sees as weaknesses in his sons.  He is able to look beyond the weakness and come up with an attribute that is useful to the kingdom.  Many of the symbols that each son is given are still used in architecture still today.

            The illustrations in this book are rendered in brush, ink and cut paper.   This book uses several different types of text placements.  On some pages the text is on one side of a page spread and the illustrations are on the opposite side of the page spread.  On other pages the text is placed around an illustration on the page.  The only colors in the illustrations in this book are black and red.  The illustrations are placed in a single panel on a page.  A few of the pages have vignettes on them.  The ink illustrations in this book are very reminiscent of calligraphy.

            This book would be appropriate for grades one through four.  I would use this book to teach of about China.  I would also use this book to teach about the Dragon King and how it is used in Chinese culture.  I would also use this book to talk about discovering strengths.  In this book the sons had not discovered their full potential.  In this story the Dragon King helps the sons find their gift.  This book has not received any awards but Ed Young is a Caldecott winner for another book he wrote and illustrated.