title: The Master Swordsman & the Magic Doorway: Two Legends from Ancient China
author:  Alice Provensen 
description: Two inspiring tales of paradox from the Middle Kingdom captivate Caldecott winner Provensen (The Glorious Flight; A Visit to William Blake's Inn). In the first, the Master, who maintains that he no longer teaches, trains his apprentice Little Chu in an unorthodox way to develop the lightning instincts that will make the boy an extraordinary swordsman. In exquisitely timed painted panels, Provensen chronicles the boy's improving skills until one day Little Chu successfully dodges the Master's sword and the man bequeaths to him the weapon and releases him from service ("You will never need to draw it. No enemy can touch you. Use the sword to chop cabbage"). In the second tale, a greedy emperor commissions a great wall painting by Mu Chi, then plots to behead him so that the artist can never top his work for the emperor. But the painter outsmarts the ruler. Taken together, the tales contrast the outcome of generosity versus parsimony. Both the action-packed panels in the first story and the spreads in the second contain traditional Chinese motifs; the paintings never lose their simplicity of line and narrative clarity. Oil painting on cream-colored vellum and calligraphy-like type add to the feeling of ageless calm. These magic tales with impeccable visual pacing prove once again that Provensen is a master storyteller and a consummate artist. Ages 5-8.
zlib_text: The Master
  wordsman
  Sryi
  -
  The Magic
  Doorway
  /
  i5^
  :--
  pf
  £^
  TWO LEGENDS FROM ANCIENT CHINA
  Retold and Illustrated by ALICE PROVENSEN
  
  $i6. 9sU5
  $15.95 CAN
  Ages 5-8
  Little Chu wants to defend
  his family and protect the
  village from bandits. He
  apprentices with Master Li,
  the greatest teacher of the
  sword in all of China—and
  finds that having the skill
  means he'll never have to
  use
  it.
  When the Emperor sees
  Mu Chi's magnificent mural,
  he decrees that the painter's
  reward shall be death. Aftei
  all, no one but the Emperor
  should own such a perfect
  painting. Wielding the rt^-.^t
  of art, Mu Chi
  •
  _„ find
  a way out of his dilemma.
  These two stories about
  masters of their arts are
  retold and illustrated by
  Caldecott Medalist Alice
  Provensen, a master artist in
  her own right. Readers and
  listeners will be enchanted
  by the humor and
  irrepressible spirit with
  which these characters take
  on obstacles and triumph
  over them.
  Guaranteed Reinforced Binding
  1001
  
  WIT!
  No longer ths property of U
  Bosto