Margaret and Raymond Chang, illustrated by Lori McElrath-Eslick,
Da Wei's Treasure: A Chinese Tale
Simon and Schuster, 1999.

This book is said to be the re-telling of a traditional tale, although apparently the authors couldn't find a printed English source for the entire story, and believe it may be a combination of elements from many tales. The story certainly has the elements of many classic folktales. A poor peasant has only a rock from the sea for his inheritance. But the rock holds magic and through the peasant's hard work and kind actions he finds a wonderful wife, becomes wealthy, runs the bad magistrate out of town and lives happily ever after.

While this book hardly seems destined to be a classic, it is a pleasant enough story. Lori McElrath-Eslick's illustrations, while uneven in quality, are sometimes quite interesting and evocative.

Sumi Hayashi