White Wave: A Chinese Tale
Kindergarten-Grade 3.  A well-told Chinese folktale, first published in 1979 (Crowell), has been reissued with a handsome new jacket and a few changes in the text. The moon goddess, White Wave, appears in the form of a moon snail to keep house for a poor farmer. When he discovers her in human form, she ascends to heaven in awesome glory, but promises to return in his hour of need. Wolkstein has added an author's note to this version, made some editorial changes, and given the farmer a name. Young's black-and-white pencil drawings, repeating the spiraling moon snail motif while poignantly evoking the farmer's loss and White Wave's majesty, come to the new edition unchanged. They are now printed on matte paper with red borders and subtle illuminations of silver and look slightly more dramatic than they did in the earlier edition. Libraries with a clean copy of the older version may not need this new one. Those with a demand for authentic Chinese stories to read aloud will value a second chance to purchase this title.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.