Chinest FolkTale: The Monkeys Fish On the Moon

The Monkeys Fish On the Moon is a lovely story about how a group of monkeys use teamwork to discover that the Moon did not fall into the well! The title is close in meaning to the saying "ask for the moon” or “cry for the moon”, or simply means “trying for the impossible".

One day, a little monkey is playing by the well. He looks into the well and shouts: “Look! The moon has fallen into the well!” An older monkey runs over, takes a look, and cries out, “Yes! The moon is really in the water!”

A group of monkeys run over to the well. They look at the moon in the well and shout: “The moon did fall into the well! Come on! Let’ get it out!”

The oldest monkey hangs on the tree upside down and pulls the next monkey’s feet with his hands. All the other monkeys follow his suit. The monkeys join each other one by one down to the moon in the well. Just before they reach for the moon, the oldest monkey looks up and finds out the moon is still shining in the sky.

The charming illustrations and graphic design help engage young children and compliment this well-known Chinese folktale. The pictures are big enough for a small story time and kids will find plenty to look at in one-to-one sharing.

The book comes with Chinese characters and the Pinyin (phonetic transcriptions), making it an excellent means of learning elementary Chinese. The book ends with a Q & A, which helps parents engage their children in a discussion about the story.