The Rock Maiden – A Chinese Tale of Love and Loyalty #ReadYourWorld

The Rock Maiden – A Chinese Tale of Love and Loyalty

By Natasha Yim (author) and Pirkko Vainio (illustrator)

Wisdom Tales: 2017 picture book ages 4-9

 

Today I am excited to share a wonderful book as part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. I love it when books transport me to another time and place. From the beginning of the The Rock Maiden – A Chinese Tale of Love and Loyalty, I was immediately swept away…

“There was once a beautiful maiden named Ling Yee. She lived in Hong Kong, a village on the southern coast of China. All the young men in the village wanted to marry her, but Ling Yee loved Ching Yin, a young fisherman. She was touched by his kindness.”

 Ling Yee and Ching Yin do marry and have a son. Unfortunately, Ching Yee is lost at sea during a terrible storm. Ling Yee refuses to believe that he won’t return. She stands on a cliff overlooking the sea with her young son on her back. Her family and friends plead with her to give up her vigil but she continues to hopefully wait.

Tin Hau, the patron goddess of fishermen, sees and takes pity on the grieving Ling Yee and turns the mother and child into stone.

Eventually a stranger comes to the village. It is Ching Yin who had been cast onto a faraway shore. He is distraught when he learns his wife and child are now stone. But, once again, Tin Han takes pity on the family. She splits the rock open to reveal Ling Yee and their son.

This lyrical and beautiful book shares the universal story of the importance of love and family. Set in old China, the illustrations by artist Pirkko Vainio shimmer on the pages.  The Rock Maiden is an updated retelling of an old Chinese legend about the Amah Rock in the Sha Tin area of Hong Kong. Author, Natasha Yim, explains that because of the legend, the Amah Rock is a symbol of love and loyalty to many of the women in Hong Kong.

The Rock Maiden – A Chinese Tale of Love and Loyalty will appeal to those who enjoy traveling to new places through books and learning about the customs and traditions of others. I am grateful to author Natasha Yim for sharing her book with me for Multicultural Children’s Book Day and to Wisdom Tales for publishing this very special book.

This is the actual Amah Rock in Hong Kong which I hope to visit someday.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.  

Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.

2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors

HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild

PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs

GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies

SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press

BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press

 

2018 Author Sponsors

Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina

Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo,  Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles,  Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen,  Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and  MFL Publishing  Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham  Author Natasha Yim

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.

Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.