Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories - (Favorite Children's Stories) by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran (Hardcover)

About the Book

The tales chosen for this book share the Vietnamese five great virtues: Nhan (Compassion), Le (Rituals), Nghia (Righteousness), Tri (Wisdom), and Tin (Trust). The adapter notes that her parents used traditional stories to teach children values and morals.

Book Synopsis

**Winner of Creative Child Magazine 2015 Book of the Year Award**
**Winner of Moonbeam Children's Book Awards 2015 Gold Medal**

This colorfully illustrated multicultural children's book presents Vietnamese fairy tales and other folk stories--providing insight into a rich literary culture.

Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories is a charming collection of fifteen tales as told by prominent storyteller Tran Thi Minh Phuoc. In it, Tran--Minnesota's first Vietnamese librarian and an active member of the Vietnamese-American community--recounts cherished folktales such as "The Story of Tam and Cam" (the Vietnamese version of Cinderella), "The Jade Rabbit," and "The Legend of the Mai Flower." They make perfect new additions for story time or bedtime reading. With beautiful illustrations by veteran artists Nguyen Thi Hop and Nguyen Dong, children and adults alike will be enchanted by Tran's English retellings. Stories in which integrity, hard work and a kind heart triumph over deception, laziness, and greed--as gods, peasants, kings and fools spring to life in legends of bravery and beauty, and fables about nature.

The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories will keep Vietnam's folktales alive for them and the legions of young readers who enjoy multicultural children's books and stories set in faraway lands.

Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Asian Children's Favorite Stories, Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Filipino Favorite Children's Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China & Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Korean Children's Favorite Stories, Balinese Children's Favorite Stories..

Review Quotes

"Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories is a rainbow sampling of a rich culture's traditions for children, appealing to children of imagination everywhere." --Midwest Book Review

"Attractive watercolor illustrations by two Vietnamese artists are scattered throughout, and the appealing cover should invite readers. A welcome addition to any collection of folk tales." --Kirkus Review

"Phuoc Tran's stories remind us of the depth and beauty of Vietnamese culture. The folktales help heal us all from the tragic history of the Vietnam War and bring the deep enduring cultural traditions back into the light to be shared by all." --David Zander, Cultural Anthropologist, Co-Founder of Asian Storytellers Alliance

"The delicate and detailed watercolor illustrations elegantly enhance the appeal of this work. VERDICT A valuable and culturally authentic addition to folktale collections." --School Library Journal

"The stories reflect the traditions, myths, and history of Vietnam, with trees and flowers frequently serving symbolic purposes. Works such as The Story of Tam and Cam, an adaptation of Cinderella, will be familiar to readers, while a story about why the sea is salty (it's due to a greedy man's magical salt grinder at the bottom of the ocean) will be new to many. The husband-and-wife Nguyens' modest watercolors include both spot illustrations and larger, ornamental images that fill pages and spreads, resulting in a graceful balance between text and pictures." --Publishers Weekly

"This story collection provides an opportunity for children of Vietnamese origin to find out more about the beauty and depth of the culture of Vietnam, through stories full of self-nation, and is an opportunity for families of Vietnamese origin and transmission of conservation treasure tales Vietnam for the next generation." --Nguoi Viet Daily News

"This well researched and lovingly written book is destined to be a children's classic." --Wendy Woodfill, Senior Librarian at Hennepin County Library, MN; Chair of the 2014 ALSC Notable Children's Books Committee

About the Author

Phuoc Thi Minh Tran is the first Vietnamese-American librarian in Minnesota. A respected storyteller and award-winning author, her first book Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories won the Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award, the Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award, and the Moonbeam Children's Book Gold Medal Award. This and her other books, My First Book of Vietnamese Words and All About Vietnam, are all published by Tuttle. She was selected as a 2023 Blue Ribbon Author by Alphabet Forest/Minnesota State Fair and a 2024 Featured Author by the Anoka County Library for her book All About Vietnam.

Nguyen Thi Hop & Nguyen Dong are the illustration team behind My First Book of Vietnamese Words, Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories, All About Vietnam and Vietnamese Stories for Language Learners. Since beginning their careers as professional artists in Vietnam in the 1960s, they have exhibited their work and collaborated on book illustrations for publishers throughout Asia, Europe and the US. They live in California.