Review: THE DRAGON PRINCE by Laurence Yep

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yep, Laurence. 1997. The Dragon Prince: a Chinese beauty and the beast tale.Ill. by KamMak.Harper Collins. ISBN-10: 0064435180

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Dragon Prince is a Chinese re-telling of a beauty and the beast story. When a poor farmer who has seven daughters, is captured by afierce dragon, it is up to one ofhis daughters to save him by marrying the ferocious creature. One by one, all of his daughters refuse until the youngest daughter, Seven, agrees to marry the dragon to save her father’s life. She is taken by the dragon to his magical underwater home deep in the sea, where the dragon turns into a handsome prince. As with all fairytale princesses, Seven is given beautiful clothes, maids, and lives happily until she becomes homesick and begs to go see her family. Seven is allowed ten days to visit her family, but trickery by her jealous older sister, Three, almost keeps Seven from returning to her prince.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In The Dragon Prince, Laurence Yep has created a picture book which is "a Southern Chinese version of a traditional Chinese tale."He has skillfully woven a lesson about family loyalty, sibling rivalry, and the triumph of kindness and integrity over evil into the captivating and magical story. The figurative language in this text such as “the sleepy words became a ball of dark velvet and the lakes silvery sequins” and “his scales gleamed like jewels in a golden net and his eyes shone like twin suns,” make the narrative flow and capturing the attention of the 5 through 8 year olds who are its targeted audience.

Cultural markers are present thorough this story beginning with the naming of the farmer’s daughters who are named in birth order, following Chinese tradition.Also representative of the Chinese culture, are the rich colors and the presence of the dragon in the mystical story. This story is beautifully illustrated with rich colors and textures by KamMak. His illustrations add to the cultural markers in the book. The rich, jewel toned paintings are typical of the culture, and scenes captured, such as the dragon seen flying over the tile roofs of China, traditional clothing of the characters, and the realistic features and skin coloring of the characters further exemplify the characteristics of the culture. Mak, who grew up in New York’s Chinatown, intersperses the magical illustrations of the dragon and his powers with the realistic paintings of the farmer’s dry and barren field in a way which adds suspense and mystery to the plot.

Young readers will be fascinated by the magic, mystery and beautiful illustrations in this story, whether they read it themselves, or it is read to them.

4. REVIEWS/EXCERPTS
KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Yep tells the tale with colorful descriptions and repeated refrains, while Mak's splendid, realistic paintings, in dark jewel tones bordered with white, extend the text elegantly--the scene of the dragon flying over Chinese tile roofs is especially beautiful.”
BOOKLIST REVIEW: “In this Chinese variant of "Beauty and the Beast," dragon and girl soar into the night sky and then plunge into a deep sea, where the girl's courage and character are tested again before she discovers that her future husband is a handsome human and ruler of the sea kingdom. After spending some time in her husband's kingdom, she visits her family's home, where both her inner and her outward strength are further tested. Mak's illustrations dramatically combine realism and fantasy. The suspense of the story and the charm of its language should appeal to readers of different ages. A good choice for reading aloud.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Students could read different versions of Beauty and the Beast stories from different cultures and make comparisons.
How does Seven show that she honors her father? What other family relationships are present in this story? Do the characters and the way that they treat each other make the students think of any personal experiences?

Otherbooks by Laurence Yep:

Yep, Laurence. Dragon’s Gate – An Image of Poetry. ISBN-10: 0064404897
Yep, Laurence.Dragonwings. ISBN-10: 0064400859
Yep, Laurence.The Earth Dragon Awakes. ISBN-10: 0060008466