Most Popular Books by Shanghai Animation

This series of popular Chinese stories have been taken from their original movie format by Shanghai Animation and Film Studio and adapted to book form by Sammu Tang. Gorgeously illustrated, all six of these tales are sure to delight, regardless of age or cultural background.

One day, a school of tadpoles were born, and the first thing they asked was, "Who is our mother?" With that, the tadpoles start searching for their mother. After mistaking goldfish, crab, tortoise and even a big catfish for their mother, the tadpoles eventually find their real mom-a frog. The water-ink animations of China in the 1950s and 1960s were treasures in the world''s animation field. Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother was one of the representative works.

Kids will love this colorfully illustrated Chinese fairytale. In ancient times, a man drowning in a river was rescued by a deer shaded with nine colors. In exchange for his life, the man promises not to talk about the deer''s whereabouts. Later, the man reached an imperial palace where the king insisted on hunting down the deer to make clothes out of the deer skin. The man could not resist the opportunity for profit and led them to the same spot as before. He falls back into the water, hoping the deer would show up to rescue him. But this time, the man drowns and the warriors'' arrows turn to dust, leaving the deer unharmed.

Nezha--a boy who was born from a lotus--is destined for extraordinary adventures. When Nezha is seven years old, the cruel Dragon King of the East Sea (who controls the rain) sends his servant Yecha onto the shore to hunt for children to eat. A clash breaks out between Nezha, Yecha, and Ao Bing, the third son of the Dragon King who comes to help Yecha. Nezha kills them both. Faced with the Dragon King''s threat to flood the Chen Tang Pass to avenge Ao Bing, Li Jin (Nezha''s father and the governor of the city) chooses to ignore the fact that his son has committed murder. Worrying about the security of the city and disappointed by his father''s reaction, Nezha decides to take matters into his own hands . . .

The wicked White Demoness wants the flesh of Monk Tang, the leader of the group of four on the journey to the West, as it is rumored to be able to give her immortality. She disguises herself as a village girl, and offers poisonous fruits to him and his disciples, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng. Only Sun Wukong, the mighty Monkey King, can see through her disguise. He tries to kill her but fails, and she manages to trick the others into believing she''s an innocent girl, making them angry at Sun''s behavior. Sun tries to convince them of the truth, but to no avail. Later, the same thing happens again, and again. When the fact is finally revealed, how will the four friends face each other? How will they mend their friendship and continue their pilgrimage together?

This Chinese myth for Children tells the story of Nezha. One day, Nezha encounters a patrolling Yasha demon, stealing children to feed his master, the Dragon King. Nezha wounds the Yasha demon with his Firmament Ring. In a rage, the Dragon King sends his third son to capture Nezha, but the son is killed instead. Now completely infuriated, the Dragon King unleashes a raging storm, wreaking havoc on Chentang Pass and demanding Nezha''s magic weapons. Nezha transforms his spirit into an exact duplicate of himself, and, with his newly acquired fire-tipped spear, Nezha heads straight for the Dragon Palace. In a final fury, he turns the palace upside down and beards the Dragon King.

Sun Wukong becomes the Monkey King after being born out of a rock on the Huaguo Mountain. Amused by his fellow monkeys'' attempts at military drills, he decides to find a better weapon, as his sword is useless. The nearby Dragon Palace, which is full of treasures, seems like the perfect place. But Sun finds that the weapons there are too light. That is, until the proud Dragon King presents him with the cudgel that tamed the waters in ancient times. It weighs over six tons, so Sun shrinks it to fit into his ear. Unable to get it back, the Dragon King turns to Heaven for help. The gods try to tame Sun by giving him minor positions in Heaven--firstly as the head of the stables, and then the guardian of the garden. When this fails, they resort to force. The gods have never tried to tame such a free and rebellious soul before. They put too much faith in their army, which turns out to be a huge mistake!

This colorfully illustrated children''s book tells a Chinese fairy tale about the monkey king and his attempt to capture the moon. One night, the monkey king saw the moon in the night sky and desired to have it for himself. He ordered all the monkeys to climb to the top of the mountain and form a monkey ladder, standing on one another''s shoulders. The smallest monkey was on top, trying to pluck the moon from the sky. The little monkey tried hard but simply could not reach it. The king, looking down in disappointment, saw the moon in a pool down below. Jumping up into a tree, the king clasped hold of a sturdy branch with his legs and hung downwards. Then, one by one, the monkeys held one another''s feet until the long line of hanging monkeys reached the surface of the water. The little monkey reached into the water to scoop up the shining moon, but all he got was…a few drops of water.

This fun multicultural children''s story tells a Chinese parable. One monk shoulders two buckets of water. Two monks lift one bucket of water. Three monks have no water! This is a story told generation after generation, and has much in common with the western saying "too many cooks spoil the broth." When there is one monk in the temple, he fetches water for himself. When there are two, they share the duty. But as the third comes, it''s hard to divide the responsibilities. Everyone thinks for himself and nobody fetches water any more. At last, a fire in the temple teaches them the importance of cooperation. From then on, they cooperate and have water every day.