Upon picking out this book, the title seemed more interesting than the content of the actual book was. Because of this, I gave it a relatively low score, and would not recommend it. This story comes from China, where they call the Milky Way the “silver river.”
One thing that I noticed about the book that I did not like was how boring and dull the Illustrations were. They lacked depth, detail, and barely had any color, which lead me to the fact that this book lacked creativity.
The man in the story is a weaver, who plays the instrument near his small house in the mountains with his only friend, the water buffalo. The Princess hears the lovely music and leaves her “heavenly home” in the clouds to follow the sound. The author writes, “She married the earthly young man and lived happy with him in his small house.”
Once the Princesses’ family realizes that she has left home, “to separate the pair forever, the Queen mother turned them into stars, one on each side of the river.” I liked this part of the book because this is when I realized where the idea of the Milky Way came into play. Before this part, I did not understand the meaning behind the title of the book. The Queen allows the couple to see each other once a year, and that is said to be the only time that we can see the Milky Way from earth, when the couple reunites and shines.
The main idea of this book is that true love always prevails, no matter the circumstance. I also think that the story focuses on the strength of love even when two people come from different economical backgrounds. ( )