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When she is forced to leave Vietnam, a young girl brings a lotus seed with her to America in remembrance of her homeland. “Exquisite artwork fuses with a compelling narrative--a concise endnote places the story effectively within a historical context--to produce a moving and polished offering.”--Publishers Weekly
Lexile Measure: 880 (What's this?)
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 15, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0152014837
ISBN-13: 978-0152014834
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.2 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #25,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Books > Children's Books > Geography & Cultures > Multicultural Stories > Asian & Asian American #19 in Books > Children's Books > Geography & Cultures > Explore the World > Asia #79 in Books > Children's Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Fiction
Age Range: 6 - 9 years
Grade Level: 1 - 4
This story is easy for young children to understand and is good enough for them to ask for repeat readings, again and again. It contains a few factors that make for a great childrens book. It's relatively short, the illustrations are exceptional, it's easy to understand and it's a compelling story.Follow the life of Ba, a young Veitnamese girl, who collects a lotus seed from the imperial garden of her emperor to serve as a momento of a time in her childhood. She takes the seed with her through her tumultous life, as she grows, and moves to a new country, and to a new life. The seed seems to serve as a symbol of her past and her endurance.
An exceptional story with outstanding illustration. A girl wanting something to remember the Emperor by takes a seed from a lotus pod from the Imperial Garden. Throughout all of the trials and changes in her life she cherishes that seed until one day it is taken and planted by her grandson. Finally it grows to be beautiful and strong, "It is the flower of life and hope, no matter how ugly the mud or how long the seed lies dormant, the bloom will be beautiful. It is the flower of my country." A superb book that looks at families and Vietnamese culture. (explained further in author's note)
The pictures are lovely and the story is simple, yet eloquent. My own daughter was born whilst I was living oversees. I like to choose books that have a universal (mind expanding) appeal, or that tell a unique story from a far away land, or teach us about tradition. I would recommend this to anyone with small children that want to forego the tradtional fairy tale night time reads.
I can't get over how beautiful this book is. I can't wait to share it with my Vietnamese students and those who are war refugees. I would like to see if they can relate to the story.
This is a multicultural and historical delight that sensitively addresses the themes of loss, memory, and change as well as highlighting the special place ordinary items can have in our lives.
This is an excellent book for teaching reading. It is one of those books you can call a "real book" It was written with children in mind. The illustrations are beautifully done and very naturally help the young reader create meaning.
This has to be one of my favorite children's books and being a soon to be teacher I have read a lot of children's books. One of the reasons it's my favorite is that it touches a subject that is close to my heart, the Vietnamese culture. My mom came to America after the Vietnam war with my sister who was 5 and brother who was 1. I never knew how important the lotus seed could be, but growing up I enjoyed eating the fruit and peeling it off the seed. This book is truely one of a kind and as I read it I learned more about my mom's culutre and just how special it is.This is one book that I'll keep for many, many years even when I retire from teaching.
As I look at this book through the eyes or ears of a child, I could easily become baffled about what this book is about. In order to understand the meaning behind the text, I would have to know more than I am given by the author. I would have to know about the Chinese culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who Emperor's were and what were their powers, and what events led to the end of the Emperor's reign. Further, I would have to know what a lotus is and why it is so magical. With all of that safely in my mind, I could then begin to read a very quiet, spare, and thoughtful book about another time and another place. A book that could be called historical fiction, but is so much more than that sterile label. I highly recommend this book but only if you do some prep work before opening the cover.
Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma: (The Lotus Sutra) (Translations from the Asian Classics) The Lotus Sutra: Saddharma Pundarika Sutra or the Lotus of the True Law The Lotus Seed Seed by Seed: The Legend and Legacy of John "Appleseed" Chapman The Dandelion Seed's Big Dream (The Dandelion Seed Series) Vegan Fusion World Cuisine: Extraordinary Recipes & Timeless Wisdom from the Celebrated Blossoming Lotus Restaurants The Stories of the Lotus Sutra Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan Lotus in the Fire No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic The Essential Lotus Threefold Lotus Sutra (Chinese, English and Sanskrit Edition) Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra Readings of the Lotus Sutra (Columbia Readings of Buddhist Literature) White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: A Discussion, Vol. 1 Jewel in the Lotus/The Tantric Path to Higher Consciousness Echo: Black Lotus, Book 2 Holding the Lotus to the Rock: The Autobiography of Sokei-an, America's First Zen Master
