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Three Monks, No Water.
Ting-Xing Ye. Illustrated by Harvey Chan.
Subject Headings:
Grades 1 - 4 / Ages 6 - 9.
*** /4
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excerpt:
Each of them was saying the same thing to himself: "Tomorrow, those two must go down the mountain to get water!"A day passed. No water. A second day went by. No water.
And so the onerous task of going down to the foot of the mountain to haul water up to the temple was neglected. The young Buddhist monk had hoped that his two new visitors would relieve him of this chore. But, as author Ting Xing Ye recalls, excuses for not doing chores or passing on a household task to someone else would result in her mother quoting the old, widely used expression, "It's typical. Three monks, no water." As the story unfolds concerning how this saying might have originated, the reader learns how accepting responsibility and the essential lesson of cooperation would have averted the disaster the monks eventually encounter.
On opening the cover, attention is immediately drawn to a simple, stamp-sized seal. This seal was specially designed using Chinese characters to depict the expression 'three monks, no water'. Ye's clear and concise style emphasizes the human tendency to avoid tedious chores. The varied characterization of each of the three monks adds humour to the story. Harvey Chan's illustrations, rendered in acrylic and coloured pencil on gessoed board, complement and enhance the text. The repeated orange-yellow textured background gives the appearance of linen or woven grass paper often associated with Chinese art. Throughout the book, the book's title saying is repeated in Chinese calligraphy.
Young readers will enjoy Three Monks, No Water for the humour and easy to read style in which the origin of this expression is told. The clever illustrations add to the appeal of the book.
Recommended.
Janice Foster is teacher-librarian at Oakenwald School in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © 1998 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - FEBRUARY 27, 1997.
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