Book - Parent/Child
Tradition honors Si Ling-Chi, wife of the legendary "Yellow Emperor," Huang-Ti, who ruled China nearly 5,000 years ago, with the discovery of silk. In Hong's well-paced narrative, the empress is a creative, curious, and determined woman who heeds omens and dreams. When a cocoon falls out of a mulberry tree into her morning tea, she is intrigued by it and unwinds a softened lustrous thread from its core. In a dream, she sees her husband garbed in a "shimmering yellow robe" woven of this thread, and she persues her vision in the face of ridicule by courtiers, eventually creating the first silk cloth. An endnote summarizes what is known about the history of Chinese silk and explains how it is made. The illustrations feature Hong's soft, clear blocks of color and static, doll-like figures, familiar to readers of How the Ox Star Fell from Heaven (1991) and Two of Everything (1993, both Albert Whitman). The gorgeous gowns and buildings suggest China during the Ching Dynasty (A.D.1644-1912).
All Ages
Preschool/Kindergarten (3-5), School Age (6-12)
English
Lily Toy Hong
1995 Whitman
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