The moon bamboo /

Storytelling is becoming such a lost art in the West that it is now taught in special workshops. These four tales by a renowned Vietnamese exile (poet, author of such works as Being Peace, and chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist peace delegation during the war) provide the storyteller's old magic even as they recount details of recent wartime experience. As easily read as fairy tales, all four stories focus on children whose plights become occasions of spiritual transcendence: a blind girl is rescued by a Stone Boy, a girl of the boat people becomes a fish to save her folk, ambiguities in the title story reflect the pain of exile. The final tale unites two exiled brothers, scientist and artist, in a Buddhist epiphany created by the stress of a child's illness. A rare treasure of the heart: it is hoped that the illustrations (not seen) will attract readers to its warm message.-- Jeanne S. Bagby, formerly with Tucson P.L., Ariz. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.