Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu

by Ying Chang Compestine (Author) Crystal Kung (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

A playful, feminist retelling of Rapunzel with a Chinese-cuisine twist.

The story of Rapunzel where she's being locked in a tower by a witch is a good one--but it's not totally the truth. The real story is about a young princess in China named Ra Pu Zel who doesn't want to talk to princes or look proper. What Pu Zel wants is to cook and eat in peace, her long hair neatly braided to keep it out of her food. And when she gets tired of everyone telling her what to do, she locks herself in a tower with her dog Bao. Although princes from everywhere try to convince her to come down, it's not until a young chef arrives with an intriguing food to share that Ra Pu Zel finally has a reason.

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Kirkus

A delicious mashup of fairy tales and food. 

Publisher's Weekly

Affectionately told and vibrantly illustrated, this empowering "Rapunzel" retelling, set in long ago China, features a determined princess in charge of her own fate. Ra Pu Zel, who loves to cook, wears her hair in a braid. Scolded constantly by the empress for being in the kitchen and taking big bites, she locks herself in a tower and refuses to come down, appearing at the window only to draw up baskets of food the empress ties to her braid. Though the princess enjoys eating and playing her flute in peace, the delicious smells of her meals and the sound of her music attract the interest of princes, who set out to coax her down, until the scent of a unique tofu dish beckons her. Kung’s richly hued scenes shimmer with golden-hour light and communicate the protagonist’s spunk through facial expressions and gestures that, combined with Compestine’s well-paced story, makes for a tale that dishes up delight. 

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.


Ying Chang Compestine
Ying Chang Compestine grew up in Wuhan, China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which she has written about in her acclaimed novel Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party and this new picture book memoir. She graduated from Central China Normal University with a degree in English, then earned her Master's in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an award-winning author of 25 books (fiction, picture books, and cookbooks), a leading national authority on Asian culture and cuisine, a former food editor for Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine, and has taught writing and sociology in both the U.S. and China. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband.

Xinmei Liu was born and grew up in Shanghai, China and is inspired by vintage Chinese art and design. She earned her BFA from the Pratt Institute and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and now works as an award-winning freelance illustrator and publishing assistant. She has illustrated for the New York Times, New Yorker, NBC News, and Foreign Policy, among others, and her artwork has been exhibited in galleries in New York and Shanghai. She now lives in Indiana with her pet rabbit and cat. This is her first published book.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593533055
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Rocky Pond Books
Publication date
January 20, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV012020 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Country & Ethnic - General
JUV030020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Asia
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
Library of Congress categories
-

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