Illustrated by Kees de Kiefte
Little, Brown, 1992

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Summary: Yingtao, the youngest of an exceptionally talented musical family, bemoans the fact that he is tone-deaf. Normally he suffers through agonizing practices but all the time he wishes he could play baseball. Events come to a head when his father arranges for a recital of his music students with the featured highlight being the family quartet. Yingtao is faced with the dilemma of playing his violin and heaping dishonor on his father or of trying to get out of the recital.

Level: Grades 4-6

Themes:

Family expectations vs children's talents
Immigration and cultural prejudices

Activities:

1. Yingtao tries hard to fulfill his father's expectations of him. But he also attempts to explain to his father that music is not his strong suit and that he may have other talents. This may illustrate a cultural difference between Chinese and American. Research free time is spent and careers are chosen by Chinese children. For the U.S. viewpoint, conduct a survey of students in your school addressing the topic. (It may include questions such as: What do you do in your free time? What do your parents wish you would do in your free time? What do you want to be when you grow up? What do your parents say? Also ask adults what they wanted to be when they grew up and what their parents said about their choices.) Although this book is aimed at a younger audience, middle school students may benefit from keeping a log throughout the year about societal and parental expectations found in literature. (Compare with Baseball Fever by J. Hurwitz.)

2A. Contemplating a career in music evokes stereotype images or controversy. Parents may encourage music lessons for their children because it enriches their lives but the same parents might discourage their children from pursuing a career in music because "there is no money in it." Brainstorm and then research the types of musicians who are paid for playing. Find out the salaries of professional musicians in your area. Compare with the salaries of a few famous rock stars or well-known singers. What proportion of would-be musicians actually "make it?" Write to both local and internationally famous musicians and inquire about their dreams as children or teens, their goals in life, and their level of contentment.

B. Using the format and pictures in I Can Be a Musician, rewrite the text for an older audience. Be sure to include the latest technology. A more ambitious project might include retaking some of the pictures or creating an entirely different book. Bind the new text and donate it to your library.

3. Read In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord and compare the events that lead Shirley Temple Wong and the Yangs to better understand the culture into which they have emigrated. (A humorous scene in Yang occurs when Yingtao speaks Chinese to an "Asian-American" only to have the girl respond that she doesn't understand Japanese; she and her parents had been born in America. Ask students to draw conclusions about the dangers of instantaneously judging of people by their appearances.) Other books are listed in the resource section.

4. How did the individual members of the Yang family learn to speak English and adapt to a foreign culture? Make a list. Read I Hate English! to get another perspective on becoming immersed in a different culture. Why wasn't Mei Mei interested in learning the new language? How did she finally get motivated to learn English? Write all these techniques down and ask a foreign language teacher his or her opinion of the best way to learn a new language.

5. Read the blurb about Lensey Namioka and do some research on Bette Bao Lord, author of In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. . What elements of these books are actually autobiographical. How did Namioka solve her problem? Respond to this quote from Lord: "Many feel that loss of one's native culture is the price one must pay for becoming an American. I do not feel this way. I think we hyphenated Americans are doubly blessed. We can choose the best of both." Use examples to support your statements.

6. Second Sister appeared lonely and seemed to have the most trouble adapting to life in the United States. "In China, people always said she would turn out to be a real beauty. She had been popular at school there, always surrounded by friends. But in America not many people told her she was beautiful. These days she was often cranky and sad. Mother told the rest of us that we just had to be patient with Second Sister" (p. 19). Write a short piece about how Second Sister might have experienced a school day in Seattle. (Use Yingtao's first days at school as a starting point). Remember to include new sights and feelings. You might wish to do some preliminary research on Shanghai in order to feel the differences.)

7. Yang the Youngest is caught in a dilemma. Can he/ should he participate in the recital when he knows he is tone-deaf and still help his father demonstrate to prospective students that he is a good music teacher? Before the solution and climax are reached in this book, ask students to write a "letter" to Yingtao giving him the best advice they can. This could be done in pairs. Students could also write in their journals about a time that they were stuck in a difficult dilemma. Re-read the letters at the end of the book and discuss how your advice stacked up.

8A. Read Chinese folktales and make a web of the traditional values that are evident here. Make a matching list with feelings and sensitivities that cross cultures and are the same for children everywhere. While reading these traditional stories ask students to make a list of questions that intrigue them. Encourage the research that is sure to ensue. Compare the information with the illustrations and text of the folktales.

B. Have students prepare one of these for a storytelling session with younger students. Be sure that story openings and endings have a traditional ring to them.

9. The Yangs serve fortune cookies at the recital. Learn how to make fortune cookies and write your own wise sayings to go inside them. Serve them after a traditional Chinese meal.

10. Culture Shock: Mr. Conner has trouble with Chinese names and Third Sister changes her Chinese name for an American one. Ask the class to explain to another group about the manner in which the Chinese give names. Contrast other name giving around the world; especially the Icelandic. As an interesting extension, they may wish to read Tikki Tikki Tembo and retell it. See the article in School Library Journal for a different point of view

Resources:

Chang, Margaret. "Chinoiserie in American Picture Books: Excursions to Cathay." School Library Journal . April 1994.
Chang doesn't argue that Tikki Tikki Tembo should be avoided. However she makes a strong point it doesn't belong in a unit on Chinese culture.

Hankin, Rebecca. I Can be a Musician. Children's Press, 1984.
Describes different kinds of work musicians can do.

Hurwitz, Johanna. Baseball Fever. Illustrated by Ray Cruz. Morrow, 1981.
Ten-year-old Ezra tries to convince his scholarly father that his baseball "fever" won't waste his mind.

Levine, Ellen. I Hate English! Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman. Scholastic, 1989.
When her family moves to New York from Hong Kong, Mei Mei finds it difficult to adjust to school and learn the alien sounds of English.

Lord, Bette Bao. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Illustrations by Marc Simont. Harper and Row, 1984.
In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn, where she starts to feel at home and make friends when she discovers baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Wallace, Ian. Chin Chiang and the Dragon Dance.
Chin Chiang is anxious to please his grandfather by performing the Dragon Dance but instead he runs away because he is concerned that he won't be good enough. Set in Vancouver.

Yee, Paul. Tales from Gold Mountain: Stories of the Chinese in the New World.
Includes eight original stories about Chinese immigrants to the U.S. and Canada.

Yep, Laurence. Child of the Owl. Harper, 1977.
Casey realizes that she knows more about racehorses than about her Chinese heritage.

Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings Harper and Row, 1975.
Based on a true incident, Chinese Americans build and flew an airplane in 1903 San Francisco.

Yep, Laurence, Mountain Light. Harper and Row, 1985.
This story is set in both China and California during the 1850's.

Yep, Laurence. Sea Glass. Harper and Row, 1979.
A boy must deal with his unhappy experience of leaving Chinatown and learning to live in a non-Chinese community and make his father understand his desires.

Folktales

Hearn, Lafcadio. The Voice of the Great Bell. Retold by Margaret Hodges. Illus by Ed Young. Brown, 1989.
A young girl gives her life for her father.

Heyer, Marilee. The Weaving of a Dream: A Chinese Folktale. Viking, 1986.
A retelling of "The Chuang Brocade."

Louie, Ai-Lang. Yeh-Shen. Illustrated by Ed Young. Philomel, 1982.
This ancient Chinese tale bears remarkable similarities with Cinderella stories from other cultures.

Mahy, Margaret (retold by). The Seven Chinese Brothers. Illustrated by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng. Scholastic, 1990.
The new illustrations for this traditional tale are watercolors which do much to eliminate the stereotypes found in earlier versions.

Mosel, Arlene. Tikki Tikki Tembo. Illustrated by Blair Lent. Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1968.
A Chinese folktale which "explains" why people in China give their children short names.

Roberts, Moss. Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies. Pantheon, 1979.
A collection of tales dealing with enchantment, greed, animals, ghosts and judges.

Yep, Laurence. The Rainbow People. Illustrated by David Wiesner. Harper and Row, 1989.
A collection of folktales collect from Chinese Americans living in California.

Young, Ed (translated by). Lon Po Po. Philomel, 1989.
The young girls outwit the wolf in this Red-Riding Hood story from China.

Prepared by Abigail Garthwait, Asa Adams School, Orono

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