The Five Chinese Brothers

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The Five Chinese Brothers
Author Claire Huchet Bishop
Cover artist Kurt Wiese
Country USA
Language English
Genre(s) children's books
picture books
Publisher originally Coward-McCann; currently Putnam
Publication date 1938
ISBN 978-0698113572

The Five Chinese Brothers is an American children's book written by Claire Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. It was originally published in 1938 by Coward-McCann.

[edit] Plot

The book is a retelling of a Chinese folk tale. At the beginning, a young man swallows the water in the sea so a boy can retrieve fish and treasures. When the man can no longer hold in the sea, he frantically signals to the boy, but the boy ignores him, and drowns when the man releases the water. The man is accused of murder and sentenced to death. However, his four brothers, who look exactly like him, each slip into his place and use their superhuman abilities to avoid execution. One has an iron neck; one can stretch his legs; one can survive fire; and the last can hold his breath forever. At the end of the story, a judge decides that the brother accused of murder must have been innocent, since he could not be executed, and the five brothers return home.

[edit] Reception

Though often considered a classic of children's literature, The Five Chinese Brothers has been accused of promoting racial stereotypes about the Chinese. In 1977, Albert V. Schwartz of the College of Staten Island criticized Wiese's illustrations, saying that they portrayed all Chinese people with "bilious yellow skin and slit and slanted eyes".[1] Others have made similar accusations,[2][3] and many teachers have removed the book from their classrooms.[4] However, the book has had some defenders. In a 1977 School Library Journal article, Selma G. Lanes described the illustrations as "cheerful and highly appealing", characterizing Wiese's "broad cartoon style" as "well suited to the folk-tale, a genre which deals in broad truths". She added, "I cannot remember a tale during my childhood that gave me a cozier sense of all being right with the world."[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Albert V. Schwarz. "The Five Chinese Brothers: Time to Retire". Interracial Books for Children Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 3, 1977.
  2. ^ Gillian Klein. Reading into Racism: Bias in Children's Literature and Learning Materials. Routledge, 1990. 55.
  3. ^ Joe L. Kinchloe. How Do We Tell the Workers?: The Socioeconomic Foundations of Work. Westview Press, 1998. 289.
  4. ^ Tim McCaskell. Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality. Between the Lines, 2005. 102.
  5. ^ Selma G. Lanes. "A Case for the Five Chinese Brothers". School Library Journal. October 1977. Vol. 24, Issue 2. 90-1.