Chang and the Bamboo Flute
Chang, a mute Chinese boy whose father uses cormorants to fish, becomes a hero when a heavy rain strands his father’s fishing raft. Chang and his family live in a small boat on the water, surviving off the fishing his father does. The family’s livlihood depends on his fishing and they are humble and cherish what they have. Unfavorable weather makes fishing, as well as living on the water, treacherous. They have to barter, trade, and specialize to be able to survive. The supply of fish is scarce and the demand is high. A flood which not only tests the courage of Chang but also causes Chang, his family and their birds to leave their house boat, ends up causing devastation that only Chang will be able to rise to the occasion to fix.
Economic Concepts
- Barter
- Trade
- Scarcity
- Opportunity cost
- Productive resources
- Supply
- Demand
Grade Levels
- Intermediate (4-6)
Related Subjects
- Multicultural Education
- Entrepreneurship
Lesley Liu’s black and white illustrations are scattered throughout the book with care. They are detailed and add just enough animation for transitional aged readers to bridge the gap between picture books to young adult books. This is a wonderful story of bravery and love. I think that some children might find difficulty with the vocabulary and the references to China, but otherwise a fun and relatively easy read.