This book is suitable for primary or intermediate grades. It is about a young boy who made others sad because of his sad face. The boy runs away and finds himself on a journey with dragons and giants. The young boy proves during his journey that he is capable of great things despite his face. This book conveys how you are more than the stereotypes people label you as. I would include this book in my library because it is a great representation of my students who come from a Chinese heritage. It would also convey to my students that their worth should not be found in what others think about you. ( )

This story would captivate intermediate readers. It tells the story of a boy with a very sad face who is left out of his community's events because he makes others feel sad. When he runs away, he joins a caravan of giants and helps them maintain their livelihood of trading for pearls in the City of Dragons.
Students who enjoy fantasies or who often feel left out or different will also appreciate this short story. ( )

3-4 grade book, slightly more words but still some illustrations. Its about a boy who is outcasted for how he looks, and he decided to run away. When he ran away he found a group of people who needed help and he was the only one who could help them, he had found his place in the world. When he finally came home everyone apologized for treating him poorly since he was now a spec person who had a job and a place to use his "talents".

A book with a simple story and a simple moral that tells a powerful story of not taking someone for 'face' value. A sad-faced boy runs away from home when his village elders ban him from the Harvest festival. He seeks a way to become useful, and enters into a world of legend in the City of the Dragons. Through skills that only he possesses, the boy returns home. Wisely, the elders realize that they had been wrong, learning lessons from both their own actions, and the mistakes of those in the past. We should all do so well to learn these lessons, and not judge people based on their appearance.

Beautifully illustrated and told, this book will create a haunting memory and hopefully a lesson that even the young will understand. ( )

In my opinion this is an inspirational book. I say this because it depicts the rule of judging someone on what they do and not how they look. This is a common theme for many children story books and it is a part of this story as well. I enjoyed the mystery the illustrator created by not revealing the boys face to the reader. This invoked the same curiosity that the author invoked in the characters. By promoting this desire to know what the boy looked like in the story it brought more emphasis to the fact that it did not have an affect on his ability to complete a task. I also enjoyed how the story was organized in a chronological approach. With each passing scene the reader gains a closer look into the strength of the boy to persevere despite what he had faced in the past. Young readers can gain an idea of self confidence in what they do as well as the knowledge that not everything is based on looks. This is such an important point to make since most media focuses on the exterior beauty of a person rather than the accomplishments a model or star has made academically. Overall I enjoyed this book because of its moral values. ( )