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Summary
Summary
Mi Nuong, the daughter of a great mandarin, hears an enchanting song from a singer who may be the man she is destined to marry. It is only that man and his lovely song that can cure Mi Nuong when she becomes ill. Written in elegant prose and visually told with stunning illustrations, this story from Vietnam reveals the power of expectations--and of words. Full color.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-In this attractive retelling of a folktale from Vietnam, a young maiden of the privileged mandarin class comes to understand the results of her heartless behavior toward a poor fisherman. From her tower room overlooking the Red River, Mi Nuong hears a beautifully sung melody float up from a fishing boat. She fantasizes that the singer is young and handsome and perhaps the mandarin destined to marry her. When an old man in ragged clothes is finally brought before her, she laughs and closes the door on him-but not before he is smitten with love. He returns home to die, his wounded heart turning to crystal from the pain of her laughter. Friends set the crystal heart adrift in his boat, where Mi Nuong's father finds it and has it made into a teacup. Drinking from it, the young woman sees the fisherman's face and again hears his haunting melody. One of her tears falls into the cup, thereby releasing his soul. Fiedler's textured, impressionistic oil paintings are as spare and elegant as Shepard's retelling. Except for two double spreads, the illustrations are framed in white and placed opposite the text, which is handsomely set within ample white margins. The palette is generally subdued yet bursts forth with luminous reds and oranges, from something as small as the father's belt to the brilliant blood-orange sweep of the Red River. The art shows a significant Chinese influence. A fine selection for reading aloud or savoring alone.-Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this haunting tale of unrequited love, a mandarin's beautiful daughter hears the "deep and sweet" voice of an unseen fisherman as he sings, and imagines him to be a mandarin's son in disguise. The girl pines away for him until the bewildered singerdressed in rags and stinking of fishis brought before her. When she sees him, she laughs at her own folly; the fisherman, however, has instantly fallen in love with her, and her laughter causes him to die of heartbreak. His heart becomes a crystal, which winds up a teacup for the mandarin's daughter; she sees in her tea the fisherman's sad eyes and repents of her thoughtlessness. Shepard (The Sea King's Daughter) paces his polished storytelling to accommodate atmospheric details (e.g., the girl sits on a bench by a moon-shaped window), although the ending feels hurried by comparison. Debut artist Fiedler reinforces the weight of the prose with densely hued paintings of almost theatrical tableaux: the girl lies listlessly on her bed, enveloped in a mosquito net that almost looks like a light flowing over her; the crystal heart glows as it is placed in the fisherman's empty boat. Despite the Vietnamese setting, this sophisticated story has much in common with Hans Christian Andersen's sorrowful romances, and its words and images will likely linger with readers. Ages 6-9. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Mi Nuong, daughter of a great mandarin, falls in love with the fisherman she hears singing as he rows by. She imagines he's young and handsome, but when she learns he's a lowly fisherman, she laughs in his face. He pines for her, and when he dies his heart turns to crystal. The lyrically told story (at times sentimental) is accompanied by stiff illustrations. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
High in her lonely tower, a mandarin's daughter, Mi Nuong, gazes through a crescent window. A song floats up to her: ``My love is like a blossom in the breeze. My love is like a moonbeam on the waves.'' The girl is smitten. The song comes from a man gliding past the palace, rowing a fishing boat on the river. Her maid suggests it may be Mi Nuong's intended, a mandarin's son, in disguise. ``Yes. Perhaps he is,'' Mi Nuong murmurs, now really star-struck. But when it is revealed to her that the singer is only a poor fisherman, she laughs in his face. The fisherman, who had fallen in love with Mi Nuong at first sight, shrinks back to his humble cottage and dies, his heart having ``turned hard to stop the pain.'' It has also turned into a wondrous crystal that sits on the chest of his lifeless body, and the fisherman's fellow villagers float it down the river to mingle with the ocean. It ends up on Mi Nuong's beach, fashioned into a teacup, and when she goes to drink from it, she meets the fisherman's eyes and realizes her folly. Her tears, falling into the cup, set his soul free. It is a keen tale of false expectations and confused priorities that Shepard (Master Maid, 1997, etc.) retells, where the power of a naive comment tips over into mortal cruelty. For his first picture book, Fiedler produces exquisite artwork; the landscapes are magically transporting, while the lustrous colors radiate an antique, spiritual quality. (Picture book/folklore. 6-9)
Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. The author of numerous retellings of traditional tales (most recently Master Maid: A Tale of Norway [1997]) offers this legend from Vietnam. Mi Nuong, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy mandarin, hears a man's beautiful voice and assumes he is singing to her. Truong Chi, a humble fisherman, is summoned to Mi Nuong's house and falls in love with her, but she laughs thoughtlessly at him because he is neither young nor handsome. His heart turns to crystal, and after his death, the tears of a now repentant Mi Nuong finally set his spirit free. Shepard's simple yet elegant prose meshes well with Fiedler's dramatic artwork. Featuring a palette of earth tones accented with red and blue, the paintings have a traditional feel, and the rice paper-style endpapers complement the classic look. A good choice for storytellers, this romantic tale will be popular with a wide range of audiences. (Reviewed October 1, 1998)0689815514Kay Weisman