Norton’s PHASE IV: Historical Fiction
Studying the historical fiction in Phase IV introduces types of conflict that were encountered by members of the culture.
Bateson-Hill, M. (1996). Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain. New York: De Agostini Children's Books.
A greedy emperor demands an impossible task from Lao Lao, a peasant woman who makes beautiful shapes from paper. Includes instructions for making traditional Chinese paper-cuts. Gr. K-3
Cheng, C. (1991). A young painter: The life and paintings of Wang Yani--China's extraordinary young artist. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Examines the life and works of the young Chinese girl who started painting animals at the age of three and in her teens became the youngest artist to have a one-person show at the Smithsonian Institution. Gr. 4-8
Coerr, E. (1988). Chang's paper pony. New York: Harper & Row.
In San Francisco during the 1850's gold rush, Chang, the son of Chinese immigrants, wants a pony but cannot afford one until his friend Big Pete finds a solution. Gr. K-3
Fritz, J. (1982). Homesick, my own story. New York: Putnam.
The author's fictionalized version, though all the events are true, of her childhood in China in the 1920's. Gr. 5-7
Krensky, S. (1994). The iron dragon never sleeps. New York: Delacorte Press.
In 1867, while staying with her father in a small California mining town, ten-year-old Winnie meets a Chinese boy close to her age and discovers the role of his people in completing the transcontinental railroad. Gr. 3-7
Lewis, E. (1932). Young Fu of the upper Yangtze. Philadelphia, The John C. Winston Company.
In the 1920's a Chinese youth from the country comes to Chungking with his mother where the bustling city offers adventure and his apprenticeship to a coppersmith brings good fortune. Newbery award ; 1933. Gr. K-6
Lord, B. (1964). In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn where she becomes Americanized at school, in her apartment building, and by her love for baseball. Gr. 3-7
Tan, A. (1992). The moon lady. New York: Macmillan.
Nai-nai tells her granddaughters the story of her outing, as a seven-year-old girl in China, to see the Moon Lady and be granted a secret wish. Gr. 2-5
Yep, L. (1975). Dragonwings. New York: Harper & Row.
In the early twentieth century a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine. Gr. 7-9