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

The Story of Noodles

The Story of Noodles, Hardcover, English, Book, Ying Chang Compestine, Yongsheng Xuan, Kindergarten - 3rd Grade, 9780823416004, $16.95

Left alone to prepare their family's prize-winning dumplings for the annual cooking contest, the young Kang boys accidentally invent a new dish, "mian tiao," or noodles. Includes a cultural note and a recipe for long life noodles.

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

Publishers Weekly : Back from The Story of Chopsticks, the Kang brothers are in for another culinary misadventure in The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, illus. by YongSheng Xuan. When they fool around instead of following their mother's instructions on making dumplings for the village cooking contest, they inadvertently invent a new food. A recipe for sauce and author's note on the history of noodles close the volume.

School Library Journal : PreSchool-Grade 3-The Kang family hopes to win the emperor's annual cooking contest with Mama's special dumplings, but when a pig turns up missing, the three boys are left in charge of rolling out the dough while their parents hunt for the stray. The brothers jump on the grinder to flatten the dough and-"BOOM!"-the table breaks. When Mama returns, she is horrified to discover strips of dough dangling everywhere. Ever inventive, though, the boys come up with novel ways to consume them-"eating a drumstick" (rolling large portions around chopsticks), "sucking a worm" (slurping individual strands), and "cutting the grass" (biting off short pieces). Their creation turns out to be the hit of the competition. Xuan's lively, paper-cut illustrations, bordered by heavily textured cream paper, reveal interesting details of Chinese life. Heavy, stylized black outlines give them the appearance of stained glass and make them suitable for group sharing. Although the ending is a bit too good to be true, this tale of the origin of noodles in China will be a welcome addition to multicultural units. A recipe for "Long-Life Noodles" and an author's note are included.

Booklist : Gr. 1-3. The author and illustrator of the boisterous Story of Chopsticks (2001) bring back their trio of young cutups for another Chinese culinary innovation. While "helping" their mother make dumplings for the annual cooking contest, the Kang brothers--Pan, Ting and Kuai--scatter shreds of dough all over the room. After convincing their angry parents to enter the contest anyway, and teaching the judges three ways to eat these mian tiao ("flour strips"), the Kangs walk away with the prize--and give the world one of its most widely consumed foods. Compestine appends a recipe and a brief cultural note to her original tale; Xuan's softly colored, cut-paper figures smile and stand in informal positions, reflecting the infectiously humorous tone. What will the young Kangs dream up next?

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