Author : Ying Chang Compestine, Illustrator : Yongsheng Xuan
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

The Story of Chopsticks

The Story of Chopsticks, Hardcover, English, Book, Ying Chang Compestine, Yongsheng Xuan, Kindergarten - 3rd Grade, 9780823415267, $17.95

Poor Kuai Kang! The youngest in his family, he never gets enough to eat. Then one day he comes up with a brilliant plan: He will use sticks to grab the food when it's still too hot to touch. Before long, his brother and entire family are eating with sticks. Soon comes a big wedding the whole family will attend. Along with many gifts, the boys each bring a pair of sticks. Will the chopsticks be a hit? Or will Kuai get in the biggest trouble of his life? This humorous tale of how chopsticks may have been invented includes an author's note on how to use chopsticks and chopstick etiquette. 

Listen to Vienna Rose read The Story of Chopsticks to you.  A marvelous example of the magical encounter between a child and books that we wish for all children.

School Library Journal : K-Gr 3-A Chinese-American cookbook author invents an explanation for the origin of chopsticks. Long ago, Compestine tells readers, when "all Chinese people ate with their hands," Keai (Quick), the youngest of three boys, was never fast enough to grab some nourishment before his brothers. In desperation born of hunger, he pulled two sticks from the kindling pile and used them to spear chunks of hot food. His family members immediately copied the tools and named them Keai zi (quick ones) after him. When they were invited to a wedding banquet, the brothers, wielding their sticks, gobbled up the delicious, festive dishes. The village children caught on quickly, but the elders had to consider whether using the new implements conflicted with established etiquette. An author's note offers facts about the history of chopsticks, explains how to hold them, describes good table manners in a Confucian context, and gives a simple recipe for one of the dishes served at the wedding feast. Xuan's handsome illustrations, boldly colored cut-paper designs recalling a traditional Chinese art, are abstract enough to suggest the "high and far-off times" of this modern pourquoi tale, yet lively enough to engage viewers. Unlike the spurious "Chop-Sticks," in Arthur B. Chrisman's Shen of the Sea (Dutton, 1968), this story is rooted in Chinese culture and offers American readers an authentic glimpse of its traditions.

Booklist : Ages 5-8. The story begins, "Long ago all Chinese people ate with their hands . . ." The three boys in the Kang family love to eat, but little Kuai is always hungry. His dilemma: if he picks up his food too soon, it burns his fingers; if he waits too long, his brothers don't leave enough for him. After he invents chopsticks to solve the problem, his family, then the people of his town, his whole country, and even other countries adopt his innovation. In the cut-paper collage artwork, strips of black paper define each shape and line. The spaces between are filled with other colors. Like the hues in a stained glass window, these look all the more brilliant for their proximity to black. A little long for most preschoolers, this well-designed book will please children in the primary grades most.

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