Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo

I'm giving this one a poetry tag even though it's not strictly poetry. It's a collection of short stories and whimsical poems that take place in many places and times. Think "The Book of Virtues", but the stories are generally longer. Characters of all races are equally picked on, and there isn't any overt racism, just fun. The book itself is very large, and would be great to read aloud to a child.

Many thanks to the Bangor Public Library for the interlibrary loan. Many of my requests are routed from there and I can't help but think that if they'd hired me when I applied, they wouldn't have to keep mailing books to me ;)

8 comments:

  1. Yeah, but Melanie, then I wouldn't be able to bug you for Relais help - or have breakfast with you and Malcolm when Paulina visits. ;-)

    What a crazy-seeming book. I will have to get a look at this one day.

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  2. And I wouldn't have met my husband or enjoyed warmer autumns and winters :)

    The book *is* a lot of fun! In the chapter named in the book's title, there is a silhouette illustration on each page, accented with Chinese characters. I made a photocopy of the chapter so I can ask some one who speaks Chinese if they really say anything, or are merely decorative characters!

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  3. Did you find out about the Chinese characters yet?

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  4. Not yet! We have a Chinese ESL student who makes use of the Library for her lessons from time to time; I haven't seen her lately and I was holding out hope :)

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  5. Here's a thought about those characters: bring the photocopy to the next ILL WG meeting and ask Chaichin. She's so nice, I bet she wouldn't mind at all.

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  6. Update please! Any character reveleations?

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  7. I asked a patron who is Chinese and she said some of them were related to the story, but others didn't say anything at all.

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