Synopsis "Chinese Myths; An Illustrated Collection: Volume 1: The Beginning"
Volume 1 contains the first five stories of a 25-story collection of illustrated Chinese myths. Each classic story is roughly 8 pages with 8 original illustrations per story.These books were written for children, in hopes of sharing fascinating Chinese tales and culture with young readers around the world.In this volume, the earth is formed, and newly created people strive to survive in their new world amidst help and mischeif from gods and goddesses. The volume's five stories include: "Pangu Forms the Land and Sky," "Nuwa Prepares People," "Gonggong Strikes Buzhou Mountain," "Nuwa Patches the Sky with Swirls," and "Kuafu Chases the Sun."About Our TeamRETELLING AUTHOR - TOBY JOHNSONToby Johnson has lived in Beijing, China for the past 10 years, where he currently serves as Education Director of USA English. As a student and teacher of languages, he values the role stories play in enhancing student attention and retention. With a Classical Studies minor from Depauw University, Toby has always loved classical cultures and mythology.In addition to retelling these 25 myths, Toby is author of the Animal Pals series, a collection of 25 decodable readers for USA English's Phunics - Fun Phonics decodable reader program.ILLUSTRATOR--HAO Hao is a high level illustrator who prefers to keep a low profile. EDITOR - MARIE FURNARYMarie Furnary founded The North Fork School in McCall, Idaho in 1996, where author Toby Johnson took English and history classes from grades 6-12. The school's dual-enrollment, private, academically challenging, college-preparatory humanities classes supplant coursework at local public schools, which retain all government funding.Marie was the Boise Alternative Education Examiner for Examiner.com, and has been a full member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for more than twenty years. She has been a freelance writer for National Geographic WORLD Magazine, and has sold articles to various other publications.RESEARCH CONSULTANT - JUNZHE GAOJunzhe Gao researched and discussed Chinese myths in weekly meetings over several years with Toby Johnson to retell them in English. Through analyzing Chinese language print books, academic papers, and online sources, Junzhe advised on the accuracy, timeline, and cultural background of the different versions of these selected myths to distill five coherent volumes. Elegantly navigating the line between myth and history, Junzhe helped retain the original cultural flavor of these stories.Junzhe has a Master of Arts from Renmin University of China, and a Bachelor of Science in Education Technology from Beijing Normal University.
