1944 Honor: The Good-Luck Horse
Adapted from an old Chinese Legend by Chih-yi and Plato Chan
The son of a Chinese diplomat, Plato was born in New York, but grew up in Germany, France, and England. He began drawing at eighteen months and by the age of six was designing patterns for French fabric companies. He had several public exhibitions in Europe and painted a portrait of England's queen, which he hand-delivered to Buckingham Palace. When World War II broke out, Plato's father was sent to an internment camp in Germany and the rest of the family finally returned to New York. It was there that Plato's mother, Chih-Yi, adapted a traditional Chinese tale for her son to illustrate. THE GOOD-LUCK HORSE was published in 1943, when Plato was barely thirteen years old.
Book Summary
Adapted from an ancient Chinese Legend, the story line is about a young boy who makes a paper horse. The horse is magically transformed into a real horse by the magician that lives next door to the young boy. Then the Good-Luck Horse begins to prove that he may indeed be a Bad-Luck Horse. It’s not until the end of the story that we discover what is the true fate of the magical paper horse!
Illustrations:
Wow! Think about it! This illustrator was 12!!!! 12!!!!! He won one of the most prized awards in Children’s Books at the age of 12! What an accomplishment! The illustrations are a delight to look at and I enjoy the attention to detail. The fact that a 12 year old could draw accurately and make the subjects look realistic yet playful at the same time is just amazing! The illustrations bring the characters to life! There are emotions represented on the faces of the human and animal characters! Just amazing!
Art Medium: pen and ink and color
Final Thoughts:1. Would this be a book I would pick up again? Yes
2. Would I recommend it to others to search out and take a look at? Yes
3. Would I spend my hard earned money on the book? When I looked it up on Amazon it was a bit out of my price range @ $175.00! WOW!
4. Where did I get the book? Pierce County Library system borrowed this book from Southern Oregon State College
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