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The Seven Chinese Brothers
The Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy
48 posts | 17 read
Authentic retelling of the classic Chinese folktale of the seven brothers and their supernatural gifts.
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quote
bkloppman
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy, Jean Mou-Sier Tsang

The seven brothers lived very happily together, and Seventh Brother never once had anything to cry about. But one day as they worked on their hillside, First brother lifted his head…”

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sophiekinnett

“So the third brother went home, and the fourth brother took his place“

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sophiekinnett

It is considered a fable because it uses personification, moral lessons, and conveys Chinese cultural values. It has a lot of cultural wisdom and can teach students a lot. It also uses the number seven which is very popular is fables.

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sophiekinnett
Mehso-so

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy is about seven brothers who use their powers to overcome the evil emperor. The emperor is abusing his power by forcing the peasants to build the great wall of china. It is a fable and uses exaggeration to keep the story flowing and exciting.

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mariaacuff

“The seven brothers lived very happily together, and Seventh Brother never once has anything to cry about. But one day as they worked on their hillside, First Brother lifted his head with those sharp ears of his and said...“

blurb
mariaacuff

I enjoyed reading this book because the story is one of many triumphs. The story is a great example of traditional literature because it can be modified to fit in other settings while holding the same meaning.

blurb
bkloppman
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

This book would be an effective way to incorporate stories from another culture in your classroom. Providing windows into other cultures and representing the cultures of some students in your class is incredibly important.

review
bkloppman
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy, Jean Mou-Sier Tsang
Pickpick

The Seven Chinese Brothers is about a close group of seven brothers, all with their own special powers. The book is a tall tale with themes of sticking up for family. When the brothers become targets of the emperor, they must be clever with their powers to keep one another from being executed and keep their last brother from crying.

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Macey_Mitchell
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

“I promise never to cry again, unless I absolutely must.“

review
mariaacuff
Pickpick

This is an example of a tall tale, this story takes place in China. Seven chinese brothers look similar but are gifted with special abilities such as super strength, sight, and hearing. One day a brother gets in trouble with the emperor so the brothers take each others place as the emperor tries to execute the brother.

review
Macey_Mitchell
Mehso-so

This story is an example of a tall tale which is a type of traditional literature. It uses the element of extreme exaggeration in order to assist in telling the story. The book tells the story of seven Chinese brothers who work together to use their supernatural talents in order to overcome a very powerful emperor. This story depicts how a family's talents and cooperation can work together to beat the troubles that stand in their way of happiness.

blurb
Macey_Mitchell

I found this to be an engaging story. I think this story could be best utilized in an elementary classroom in order to discuss the importance of family, and how united as one a family can utilize everyone's strengths in order to overcome any obstacles thrown at them. This could also be applied to a classroom community and how all students' strengths can be utilized in the classroom in order to exhibit teamwork and overcome obstacles as a class.

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laurenkiernan

“Third Brother was a man of unusual strength He could walk across China in a straight line, lift up any mountains that got in his way, and putting them carefully back behind him.“

blurb
laurenkiernan

I would use this book in the classroom when talking about working together or how no matter the challenge if you work with other/family/friends you are able to overcome anything.

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liz.eng
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy
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This page has words on it but I was more focusing on the illustration and how it takes up two pages.

review
laurenkiernan
Mehso-so

“The Seven Chinese Brothers“ is a tall tale and this is because of the exaggerated senses and 'powers' that each brother has. It talks about how one can hear for miles away, or is super fast, and on can lift mountains and his strength is undefined.

blurb
liz.eng
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

The moment when each brother is being introduced as to what strength they have shows that each person is different from one another. This is a great part of the book to share with young children that each person is different and it is ok to be different from others because not everyone needs to be the strongest, tallest, fastest, etc.

review
liz.eng
Pickpick

This story is a tall tale in the way that exaggeration is used as the main point. This story is about 7 brothers who all have different aspects about themselves that make them unique. One of the brothers does not think he has any unique feature about himself compared to his brothers. After a major tragedy the brothers come together and lean on each other and learn to love on another no matter what strength they have or don't have.

blurb
Abbylippert

“He tiptoed past the guards to Fourth Brother, who was awake and waiting for him. Swiftly, they switched places, and Fourth Brother went home.“

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mcappel

“don't worry!“ cried the Fourth Brother. who saw the Seventh Brother was about to cry, too. “I will change places with him.“

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noradickens
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mcappel

This book would be great to use in the classroom when discussing tall tales. It could be fun to have students create their own tall tale if it fits with the correct age group.

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noradickens

This book would be great to use in a classroom as it expresses the value of family and coming together to solve a problem.

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merkerk4

“'We cannot leave Sixth Brother to die alone. We will go to the noble emperor (whose slightest frown makes the land shake like an earthquake). He can shoot arrows through all of us. At least we will be together.'“

review
mcappel
Mehso-so

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy is an example of a tall tale. It is an exaggeration of the different traits each brother has that are individualized to the specific brother. This story tells about how the 7 brothers each want to take care of each other / sacrifice themselves to try and save the others.

blurb
Abbylippert

I would use this book to discuss the power of exaggeration in bringing a story to life or making it more exciting for readers. I would also use this book to discuss the lesson of how people can work together, using each other's strengths, to solve problems.

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Abbylippert
Mehso-so

This book is a traditional literature example of a tall tale due to its elements of exaggeration. For example, each brother had an unnatural characteristic that they used throughout the book: super strength, vision, hearing, and speed.

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noradickens
Pickpick

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy is a tall tale about seven brothers. This book uses exaggeration as an element to express the story of seven brothers trying to help the emperor.

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sarahosterle

“Now that we are all together again, we can eat and forget our troubles”
I like this quote because it talks about the importance of family in this story.

blurb
merkerk4

This is a tall tale. This would be a good book to read to children around third grade. It teaches readers to build a community with the people around them. In school, this can be their class peers.

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sarahosterle

I really enjoyed this book. It would be great for classes who like superpowers. Also, it would be good for classes to talk about different saying in different cultures

review
merkerk4
Pickpick

This is an example of a tall tale story that takes place in China. In this story, the brothers look similar but are gifted with special talents. A conflict arises when one of the brothers gets in trouble with the Emporer. So the other brothers try to take the place of the emperor executing the one brother.

review
sarahosterle
Pickpick

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy. Exaggerated Tale. In this tale, each brother has very exaggerated superpowers like smelling, tree-like legs, super strong, etc. This story is about family and how important it is to work together. The story is about the brothers who have tried to keep the last brother from crying because he will cause a flood from his tears.

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miles.bryant
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

“he wept great big warm salt tears, and each tear was large enough to drown an entire village.“

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CarlyJohnson

“A hundred miles away on the beautiful hillside, First Brother heard Fourth Brother begin to cry.“

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CarlyJohnson

The Seven Chinese Brothers is an entertaining tale that shows how a family's talents can overcome something by coming together. Another note is that some young children may become upset when the emperor tries to have the brothers killed but it can still be useful to read in the classroom.

review
CarlyJohnson
Pickpick

The Seven Chinese Brothers is a Chinese folktale published in 1989. It was written by Margaret Mahy and illustrated by Jean Tseng. This tale tells the story of seven Chinese brothers who use their supernatural talents to overcome a powerful emperor. The illustrations depicts early Chinese culture, and the historical detail retells the development of human societies. Young children may relate the seven brothers to modern day super heroes.

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ClaudiaPicolo1234
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

“Seven Chinese brothers swallowing the ocean, Seven thousand years to sleep away the pain, She will return, she will return...“

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ClaudiaPicolo1234
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

I would use this book in my classroom to teach children about Chinese culture. The Seven Chinese Brothers is based on a Chinese folktale and contains references to the Han Dynasty. Each of the seven brothers in this story has a special power, and they all look alike.

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miles.bryant
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

This book uses “magic“ and supernatural powers to tell a cultural story of 7 brothers in China. It allows students to read about the cultural past of China, involving emperors and other prominent features. It demonstrates team work and selflessness. It has a focus on supporting others and was a good book.

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LexiPrice
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

“They tried throwing him into the deeper water, but the deep, deep water only just reached as far as his waist.“

review
ClaudiaPicolo1234
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy
Pickpick

This story is about seven Chinese brothers who have supernatural powers. They use their powers to overcome the emperor, who exploits the hard work of the peasants at the Great Wall of China.

review
miles.bryant
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy
Pickpick

This traditional story tells the story of 7 Chinese brothers with remarkable skills. With the rise of a powerful emperor who exploits the hard work of the townspeople at the great wall of China, they use these super natural powers to overcome him. Each brother supports and helps each other when they are in trouble.

blurb
LexiPrice
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy, Jean Mou-Sier Tsang

In some way, we always enjoy hearing the students retell the tale. Although it's entertaining, reenacting it in some schools can be too loud. You are the finest expert on your own pupils. You can have older pupils act out the story using puppets. For younger children, ask them to help you as you act out the narrative or have them act it out at their desks as you read it again.

review
LexiPrice
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy, Jean Mou-Sier Tsang
Mehso-so

Seven Chinese Brothers was written and published by Margaret Mahy in 1989. This ALA Notable Book tells the enchanted tale of seven Chinese brothers who utilize their superhuman abilities to defeat a strong emperor who takes advantage of the laborious peasants' efforts at the Great Wall of China. The detailed images capture the grandeur of ancient Chinese civilization.

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Mayadenoma
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

I love how the brothers used their different abilities to overcome the challenges they faced and worked together to win.

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Mayadenoma
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy

“Don't worry! I will change places with brother number five so he won't drown. Maybe that will make you feel better.“

review
Mayadenoma
Seven Chinese Brothers | Margaret Mahy
Pickpick

This story is a Chinese folktale about seven brothers who all have different abilities. It had vivid descriptions of the brothers' abilities and how they use them to overcome challenges. The book is more about the overall narrative and the moral lessons it gives to young readers, such as the importance of family and teamwork. I would definitely use this in my classroom.