Nov7

Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Monkey

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Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Monkey
Characters from the Year of the Monkey

Characters from the Year of the Monkey

THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY

Chin, Oliver. The Year of the Monkey, Tales from the Chinese Zodiac. San Francisco, CA: Immedium, 2016.

The Jade Emperor sat on his cloud and observed the Monkey King and Queen’s new baby, Max.

“If this child follows in his parents’ footsteps, heaven below had better take notice,” the Jade Emperor said.

Max was a rambunctious monkey both in and out of school. He often reported to the principal’s office to answer for one prank or another.

He became friends with Kai. One day, their teacher introduced them to the game of shuttlecock or jianzi. Max and Kai showed talent for the sport and the friends practiced hard.

Max’s family heard about a shuttlecock tournament and encouraged Max and Kai to enter it. The friends had to make the team roster first so Max and Kai continued to practice. They learned many moves including the “Leopard Head” and Standing Crane.”

Max and Kai became one of the county’s best teams but they barely qualified for the tournament tryout.  But Max’s dad had a thought about how to improve his son’s game. He taught Max a new move.

When the contest began, Max and Kai made it through the first two rounds. They beat the Snake, a formidable opponent, in the semifinals and squeaked to the finals.

In the finals, they came face to face with Tiger and Dragon. Tiger and Dragon won the first set but Max and Kai hung on in the second. Max and Kai earned a match point.

Max served a hard shot but Dragon leashed a hard return. This was the moment.

Max leaped high and smashed through Tiger and Dragon’s defense utilizing the “Monkey Spike” move his dad taught him. This was the deciding move! Max and Kai won the contest.

“This upset shows us that magic can still surprise us all,” the Jade Emperor said.

Shadow Puppets:

Max the monkey

Kai, a friend

The Jade Emperor

Tiger

Dragon

Monkey Queen

Monkey King

Act out The Year of the Monkey. Show Max and Kai competing and wining in other sports, too.

Shadow Theatre

Shadow Theater made of recycled materials

 

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About marion

I first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. I received her first recognition for my creativity when I won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in my first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan. I was fourteen and a half when I moved to Cyprus with my family. I experienced culture shock but I continued to write about and sketch the sights and sounds of another country and many other things. I am a creative person. I write children's and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I write historical and Coming of Age Young Adult novels. I also write picture books and art books for elementary school children. I am in the process of writing a fictionalized biography of a member of the Belgian Resistance who also fought for the US Army during World War II. I worked as a freelance editor for two local companies: College Prowler and SterlingHouse Publisher. I also worked as an assistant literary agent for Lee Shore Agency. I was attending Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction Program at the time and the experience was invaluable. My course work toward my Master of Arts degree in turn helped me at work. As an assistant literary agent, I reviewed all incoming manuscripts, cultivated a relationship with the writers we contracted and marketed our books to book publishers for sale. I “freelanced” my editing skills which included working with the manuscript acquisitions editor, selecting book covers with the art department, writing the book jacket blurb, reading film scripts and executing general office duties as assigned. Oh, by the way, I edited books, too. I even utilized Adobe InDesign for the editing that I did for College Prowler. I’ve also reviewed published books and conducted research. I have published nonfiction articles and books online and in print. As an artist, I have exhibited my mixed media drawings and collages nationally and regionally and have worked as a freelance designer and calligrapher. I have a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

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