Dragon Parade: A Chinese New Year Story (Stories of America)

Chin, Steven A.; Haley, Alex

ISBN 10: 0811472159 ISBN 13: 9780811472159

Publisher: Heinemann/Raintree, 1992

Synopsis

Examines life as a Chinese immigrant in 1850s San Francisco, and describes the tradition, preparation, and excitement of the Chinese New Year

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4-- Norman Ah Sing, a young Chinese man, leaves his homeland for the Land of the Golden Mountain--San Francisco. Within a year, he has established a successful grocery store. For the New Year Celebration, he organizes a Dragon Parade and a feast to share his customs with the people of San Francisco. A footnote gives a synopsis of the Lunar New Year and states that "Norman Ah Sing organized the first big celebration," in 1851. With this implied factual basis for the story, the omissions and half-truths combine to present a superficial picture. While there were certainly opportunities for hardworking and prudent men to make money in those heady Gold Rush days, it seems as though Norman, said to have left his homeland due to hard economic times, was able to establish a well-stocked grocery store upon arrival. How did he pay for it? Where did he get the supplies? Some of the problems are the fault of Tseng's illustrations, which, while attractive, are sometimes implausible. Chinese women are pictured twice as richly dressed, and in the banquet scene one is chatting companionably with an elegant white woman. Chinatown in 1851 was a bachelor society. The rare wife would have shielded herself from the public, and it is unlikely that she would have sat willingly among non-Chinese. And how did Norman, immersed in the insularity of Chinatown, learn to set a table with knives and forks? He also serves a "whole fried chicken," something even today's deep fryers would find challenging. Even young children deserve an accurate historical background for their stories. --Carla Kozak, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Heinemann/Raintree
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0811472159
• ISBN 13: 9780811472159
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Tseng Mou-Sien