Learn Chinese for Kids

十兄弟 Book Review

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Title: 十兄弟 (shi2 xiong di4)/The Ten Brothers

ISBN: 9789861614717

Author: 小翔

Publisher: 信誼

Level: Beginning Reader, Zhuyin, Fiction

Summary: Ten brothers with special talents (eg: far sightedness, extra sharp hearing, steel skin, super long legs, etc.) rescue their father from being wrongfully imprisoned in the Emperor’s prison. The Emperor thinks they are bad guys so he keeps sending guards to stop the brothers. The brothers’ unique abilities get them out of these dangerous situations and eventually rescue their father.

Sample Pages:

  

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5 Minute Review: This book is Cookie Monster’s (7.5) new favorite. He learned a lot of new terms (especially famous Chinese super powers – the Chinese equivalent of American super hero tropes such as x-ray vision, flying, or quick healing) but most importantly, loved the illustrations and story.

He enjoyed trying to guess which brother was which based on their illustration alone and often paused between pages so he could fully enjoy and examine the drawings.

The story itself is a different version of the story I read as a child, but the gist is the same. It was a little bit hard for Cookie Monster to understand some of the terms and plot points, but he still had no problem telling Gamera (5.5) about some of the story and claiming that this book was his new favorite.

Author

Virginia Duan is the entertainment editor for "Mochi Magazine," a freelance writer, and an Asian American author who writes stories full of rage and grief with biting humor and glimpses of grace. She spends most of her days plotting her next book or article, shuttling her children about, participating in more group chats than humanly possible, and daydreaming about BTS a totally normal amount.

4 Comments

  1. Hi! Do you review books that use Pinyin? I can read some characters but don’t know bpmf well enough to decipher the characters on my own. Thanks!

    • Hi Shannon, thanks for reading! I don’t review pinyin books because I don’t really own any and my kids can’t read it. Also, they are fewer and farther between.

      The perils of the functionally illiterate! Sob!!

      However, if you DO know pinyin, you can learn and master zhuyin in about a weekend. 🙂 (Because you have so much time. Lol.)

      • Thanks MM! Now, any suggestions for good resources for this busy mom to learn zhuyin in between weekend activities? lol! thanks again for your terrific blog!

        • Lol. If you scroll to the bottom of this post, there are some resources there.

          https://mandarinmama.com/the-case-for-zhuyin-bopomofo/

          There are also some good YouTube videos that might help. Since you already know pinyin, you likely only need to know which zhuyin correspond to which pinyin. (Since you already know how to blend, etc.)

          Good luck! You can do it!!