Review of Chinese Graded Reader “Two Children Seeking Joy Bridge” (“两个想上天的孩子”) published by Chinese Breeze
“Two Children Seeking the Joy Bridge” is a level 1 Chinese graded reader, which assumes a knowledge of 300 Chinese characters, which is suitable for someone with one year of college level Chinese.
I am amazed at what can be written at the 300 Chinese characters level! When words outside the scope of those 300 words are used, they are properly footnoted. With repetition, these new words are quickly absorbed by natural reading.
Two story lines within one book
“Two Children Seeking the Joy Bridge” is intriguing because the authors were able to weave two story lines into a single graded reader. Furthermore, the book provides insight into aspects of Chinese culture.
The main story is about two elementary students, a second grade boy named Mingming (明明) and a first grade girl named Zhenzhen (真真）. They are studying for an English test during their summer “vacation”!
I won’t say much else about them because I don’t want to spoil the plot, but they are big fans of the story of 牛郎 (Niú Láng) and 织女(Zhīnǚ), a famous Chinese love story.
The Story of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu
Niu Lang was a cowherd who ran across an old cow with magical powers. One day, the old cow told him to go to a pond where he’d see a woman Zhi Nu, bathing. To marry her, all he had to do was hold on to her robe while she was bathing. If she wanted it back, she had to agree to marriage.
It was love at first sight! They married and had a son and a daughter. But the bliss didn’t last long. Zhi Nu was the daughter of Queen of Heaven. She dispatch her soldiers to apprehend her and she was taken into the heavens.
Niu Lang and his children were able to follow her because he made shoes from the hide of the old magic cow who recently died. The Queen of Heaven removed her hairpin and used it to separate them creating the Milky Way.
But the family wasn’t separated for long. A large group of magpies formed a bridge (hence “Joy Bridge” in the title) to allow them to get closer.
The Queen of Heaven gave in just a bit, and allowed Niu Lang and Zhi Nu to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This is Chinese Valentine’s Day
If you want to see how this ties in with two grade school students, well, you’ll have to get the book!
How to reinforce your learning as you read
- After reading a chapter, go through the questions for that chapter located in the appendix section.
- The book comes with a CD. Listen to both the slow and fast versions of the story. That way you’ll kick up your listening skills.
- If you have the Pleco app with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and flash cards, make a flashcard list for “Two Children Seeking Joy Bridge” (“两个想上天的孩子”) to better retain the new words you read.
Watch this video to see how much you understand!
