Cat and Rat Review

Cat and Rat: The legend of the Chinese Zodiac
By Ed Young
Review By: Jessica Glenn- elementary substitute- Central PA
This book explains the legend about how the Chinese calendar was named for animals. The emperor announced a race for all the animals and he promised to name each year in the twelve year cycle after the winners, the first twelve animals who finished the race. This story also gives a reason as to why the rat and the car are enemies still until this day.
I thought this Chinese folk tale was an engaging story. The pictures in this book are also amazing! This story would be great to be used with children in either first or second grade. The culturally based literature would be appropriate to read around the Chinese New Year. The students then could further research the reasons behind the different animals that were chosen to represent the years in the Chinese calendar.