Book Review -- The Hunter (Module 2)

Picture Book - Folktale

1. Bibliography

Casanova, Mary. THE HUNTER: A CHINESE FOLKTALE. New York: Atheneum Books, 2000. ISBN 068982906.

2. Plot Summary

This Chinese folktale centers on the ideas of credibility and self-sacrifice. Hai Li Bu was a good hunter as well as a man of conscience in a time when food was scarce. The prospect of keeping the people of his village fed weighed on him daily, and daily Hai Li Bu set out in search of food. One such day he saved a snake from being devoured by a crane, and the Dragon King of the Sea rewarded him for his compassion with a gift of a luminous stone. However, the gift had a condition placed upon it. This condition would test the depths of Hai Li Bu's love for his people.

3. Critical Analysis

This folktale is told in an unpredictable narrative style. As each page turns, more details combine to set up Hai Li Bu’s eventual fate. It is engaging in its likeable, selfless hero, trying to save his village from starvation and destruction against the odds.

The illustrations throughout are drawn as if with a calligraphy pen. There is the impression of small splatters of ink, reminding the reader of ancient Chinese scrolls. The images are simply drawn primarily in black ink outlines with some color embellishment, and forms tend to be hinted at rather than completely defined. Perhaps this is meant to hint at the tenuous quality of life.

This story is poignant in its dual lessons: a person with a record of selfless behavior should be believed even if his statement seems absurd, and sometimes the only way to save others is through extreme self-sacrifice.

4. Review Exert(s)


Awards:
2000 Parent's Choice Award
2000 Aesop Accolade

Reviews:

Booklist review: "Casanova, who lists several sources for the story, tells the tale in a dignified yet moving way that is complemented by the stark artwork."

Parent's Choice review: "The reader/viewer has the sense of having been transported to ancient China and seeing the story unfold through the eyes of a gifted Chinese scroll painter. A rare work of picture-book art."

5. Connections

This book could be used in a study of folktales in general or a study of folktales around the world. It could be used to show how stories told for useful life lessons cross cultures. It might be used to study the concept of the dragon across cultures; in this particular story the dragon is seen as essential and benevolent.